Chapter Summaries

Louis completed his training in all Six Powers and spent the next months improving his Life Return. In the ninth month, an Instructor offered him a place in Skello’s CP9, but Louis made clear he would not pledge loyalty to Skello’s faction.

• Xiluo dismissed would-be followers and revealed to Louis that he did not consider them friends.
• Louis completed Rankyaku and Finger Pistol training, developing Fist Gun and Leg Gun along the way.
• Louis defeated his fifth-month opponent while Xiluo easily toyed with his own; Stuart injured his opponent, and Yerika fought with newfound composure.
• Louis spent the seventh and eighth months training Life Return until he gained greater control over his skin.
• An Instructor told Louis that Skello wanted him in his CP9, and Louis’s response led the Instructor to realize he would not promise factional loyalty.

Louis completed his work on his skin, gaining finer control over his body and the ability to alter his appearance, then faced Stuart in the practical assessment. He left Stuart unable to land a hit and invited him to attack for one minute without fighting back.

• Xiluo told Louis that refusing Skello's recruitment offer would likely bring punishment from the powerful people behind it.
• Louis finished training his skin, improved his Kami-e, and learned to change his appearance and apparent age, though he decided he still needed to work on his muscles.
• At the ninth-month assessment, Louis drew Stuart as his opponent, while Xiluo and Yerika also performed in the earlier matches.
• Stuart attacked Louis with Soru, Rankyaku, and Finger Pistol Storm, but Louis dodged every strike using Kami-e and Paper Drawing.
• Louis used Paper Drawing Wind Rider to let Stuart attack him for one minute without fighting back.

Louis defeated Stuart in their fight after exploiting the limits of Stuart’s Soru and overcoming his Tekkai with a hair-based technique. He left Stuart badly injured, and the Instructor intervened just as Louis forced him to surrender.

• Skello turned against Louis and Xiluo by recruiting Stuart, who was hostile toward them.
• Louis dodged Stuart’s relentless Soru attacks until Xiluo announced that a minute had passed and Louis could fight back.
• Louis struck Stuart out of his Soru dash, then used Six Powers techniques to attack him, but Stuart’s Tekkai withstood the blows.
• Stuart charged Louis with Iron Fist Great Pinwheel, but Louis’s Tekkai: Utsugi rebounded the attack and his strengthened hair bound Stuart.
• Stuart refused to surrender, so Louis pierced his mouth with a strand of hair before the Instructor stopped the fight.

After killing Stuart, Louis focused on improving his strength and made progress in mastering Rokuogan as the training year neared its end. The twelfth month arrived with the final assessment approaching and Skello still making no move against him.

• Louis told Xiluo that Stuart had died because Louis had no choice, and Xiluo jokingly asked whether Louis would kill him too.
• Louis recognized that his strength rivaled Stuart’s but still lagged behind Xiluo’s enhanced power, so he began training to control his arm muscles.
• Louis completed control of the muscles in his right arm and realized Rokuogan likely worked by sending muscle-generated vibrations through the body to create a shockwave.
• Louis continued practicing Rokuogan and controlling the muscles in his left arm as the eleventh month ended.
• The twelfth month arrived, and Louis awaited the final assessment without encountering trouble from Skello.

Louis and Xiluo faced each other in the training camp’s final combat test after months of preparation. Their battle began with both fighters moving too quickly to follow, leaving the outcome undecided.

• Anna congratulated Louis on earning full marks and warned him that Xiluo was more dangerous than he seemed.
• The examination continued for three days, narrowing the training camp to eight students, including Louis, Xiluo, and Yerika.
• The Instructor drew Xiluo’s opponent for the final test and announced that he would fight Louis.
• Yerika defeated her opponent with a barrage of Rankyaku and told Louis she intended to become stronger than him.
• Louis and Xiluo exchanged taunts, declined to postpone their long-awaited fight, and began their battle with a clash that cracked the arena floor.

Louis and Xiluo fought in the final test, pushing their speed and Rokushiki abilities to the limit. Louis trapped Xiluo with discarded hair and launched a final Rokuogan as Xiluo countered with Alloy Cat Claw, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Louis and Xiluo traded rapid attacks using Soru until Xiluo’s speed began to overwhelm Louis.
• Louis unleashed Rankyaku Blade Storm with his hardened hair, forcing Xiluo to defend against a barrage of slashes.
• Louis pierced Xiluo’s Tekkai with Drill Finger Gun, but Xiluo cut free and attacked with Shigan Cat Claw and Alloy Cat Claw.
• Louis dodged Xiluo’s strongest strike with Kami-e while both fighters grew exhausted and Louis’s hair spread across the arena.
• Louis used the discarded hair to bind Xiluo, then charged as Xiluo broke free with one claw and they attacked each other with Rokuogan and Alloy Cat Claw.

Louis defeated Xiluo in the training camp’s final battle, using Rokuogan and remotely controlling severed hair with Life Return. The yearlong training ended with seven survivors facing one last graduation exam before they could join CP9, and Xiluo warned Louis that his lack of powerful connections made him vulnerable to betrayal.

• Louis used Rokuogan to injure Xiluo, who admitted defeat after failing to cut through the tough keratin on Louis’s arm.
• The Instructor declared Louis the winner, and the trainees speculated that Life Return had let him control his severed hair.
• Louis finished the training camp as the strongest trainee, while Xiluo won his next fight despite his injuries and then passed out.
• Seven of the nineteen trainees passed the final test and were set to take a graduation exam for a chance to join CP9.
• Xiluo recovered by the next day, praised Louis, and warned that someone might take advantage of the graduation exam to betray him.

A young Cipher Pol agent took on the identity of Mario on an island under Golden Lion Shiki’s flag, where he claimed he would become a pirate. His boast drew the attention of a drunken pirate captain, who attacked him in the tavern.

• An elderly former intelligence agent helped a young operative prepare a disguise and warned him that he would have to live as a pirate.
• The island’s harbor flew Golden Lion Shiki’s flag, keeping outsiders wary of his territory.
• Mario entered the local tavern, drank from a passed-out patron’s bottle, and asked the owner for another drink despite owing him 135,000 Beli.
• The tavern owner and other patrons urged Mario to find work, but Mario insisted he would set sail as a pirate and repay his debts with treasure.
• A drunken pirate captain mocked Mario, smashed a table, and swung his fist at him.

Mario, secretly the CP agent Louis, infiltrated the Blood Hand Pirates to investigate Golden Lion Shiki’s plans as the crews gathered for a coming clash with Roger. After proving himself in a tavern fight, he sailed with Captain Rhode toward a merchant ship, ready for his first pirate raid.

• Mario knocked out a drunk who threatened Golden Lion Shiki, then defeated the man’s companions and paid the tavern owner with their money.
• A stranger asked Mario whether he wanted to become a pirate, prompting the owner and a fallen pirate to react.
• Louis reflected that Commander Skello had sent him on a dangerous mission to investigate Shiki from within the Golden Lion Pirates.
• Captain Rhode praised Mario’s enthusiasm for the sea as the Blood Hand Pirates sailed to answer Shiki’s summons.
• First mate Cutter Barlo spotted a merchant ship, and Rhode called Mario to join his first fight as a pirate.

Louis joined Rhode's pirate crew under the identity of Mario, hiding his true face while adapting to pirate life and trying to learn Haki. Ten days after joining, he reached a vast Sky Island with the Golden Lion Pirates.

• Louis killed guards during the pirates' raid on a merchant ship and joined the crew in celebrating their haul.
• Louis avoided drinking so his Life Return disguise would not fail, then exercised on deck while the pirates slept.
• Rhode praised Louis for training and explained that Haki could help people fight Devil Fruit users.
• Louis asked Rhode to teach him Haki, and Rhode said that not everyone could learn it.
• Ten days after Louis joined the crew, Rhode revealed that they had arrived at a huge Sky Island and announced the Golden Lion Pirates.

Louis joined Captain Rhode’s crew as they answered the Golden Lion’s summons and saw the power that let the Golden Lion raise ships and carry them to his floating island. The Golden Lion entered a crowded hall to address the assembled pirate crews, leaving Louis waiting to learn why they had been summoned.

• Louis learned that the Golden Lion had urgently summoned his pirate crews, and that his mission was to discover why while facing a dangerous assignment from Mr. Skello.
• Rhode showed Louis how the Golden Lion raised a platform from the sea and carried the gathered ships into the sky to the floating island.
• Rhode and his crew landed on the island, where Louis recognized Flog, a rival Golden Lion subordinate with a 115-million-berry bounty.
• Rhode led his men through the island’s buildings to a crowded hall, where Louis and Baro sat with the crew.
• The Golden Lion strode into the hall and called out to the assembled pirates.

Louis joined Rhode’s crew at Golden Lion’s gathering, where the pirates prepared to attack Roger, and later trained Haki while secretly reporting to headquarters. Baro caught him after his coded call, leaving Louis unsure whether his cover had been exposed.

• Golden Lion announced that his forces would go after Roger, and the pirates cheered.
• Flog tried to recruit Louis and insulted Baro, but Louis defended his crewmates and Rhode backed him.
• The gathering ended, and Louis declined the banquet’s pleasures to train Armament and Observation Haki.
• Louis used a hidden Den Den Mushi to report that the Lion Pack was hunting Roger, then considered whether his mission was already complete.
• Baro approached Louis after hearing him speak during the call and asked whether he had been talking.

The Blood Hand Pirates searched Shiki’s territory for the Roger Pirates while Rhode avoided risking his crew needlessly. After Flog provoked them and threatened Louis, a hidden Den Den Mushi call drew Baro’s attention to Louis’s wrist.

• Louis concealed his late-night conversation from Baro, who told him to follow Rhode’s lead regarding Roger.
• The Blood Hand Pirates set sail to search for Roger, and Rhode explained to Louis that he would fight for Shiki’s ambitions but not die pointlessly.
• Flog’s oversized ship repeatedly rocked and struck the Blood Hand Pirates’ vessel, provoking Baro into attacking him.
• Flog deflected Baro’s slash, threatened Louis, then darted his tongue at him before sailing away.
• Baro noticed Louis’s defensive stance and then heard the hidden Den Den Mushi vibrating inside Louis’s compass wristband.

Louis concealed his Cipher Pol equipment from Baro while maintaining his pirate persona, then learned that the Golden Lion Pirates were gathering to fight the Roger Pirates. As the Blood Hand Pirates hurried back, Louis worried that he was being watched and might be forced into the coming battle.

• Louis passed off his Log Pose as a sentimental keepsake when Baro questioned him, and Rhode helped deflect suspicion.
• Baro tried to pry open the Log Pose, but Louis got it back and secretly withdrew the hairs he had used to jam its hidden snail.
• The Golden Lion Pirates announced that the Roger Pirates had been found and ordered their crews to return for war.
• The Blood Hand Pirates began their faster return voyage, while Louis feared being caught in the conflict and realized someone was watching him.

The Blood Hand Pirates attended Golden Lion’s banquet, where Golden Lion announced that he had found Roger and would begin a war to claim rule over the world. Louis reported his findings to his superior, who ordered him to cooperate with the Navy during the war; as Louis ended the call, someone confronted him about speaking to someone.

• The Blood Hand Pirates returned to Golden Lion’s base and joined a lavish banquet with thousands of pirates.
• Golden Lion announced that he had found Roger and rallied his crews to fight for control of the world.
• Louis asked Captain Rhode to bring him to the strategy meeting, but the First Mate discouraged Rhode from taking the new recruit.
• Louis slipped away from the banquet and contacted his superior, reporting Golden Lion’s plan to go to war with Roger.
• Louis’s superior ordered him to cooperate with the Navy during the war and gave him a contact frequency.
• After Louis ended the call, a man asked whether he had been speaking to someone.

Rhode and Baro attended Golden Lion’s strategy meeting to prepare the pirate fleet for a battle against Roger, while Louis continued secretly pushing himself through training. The next day, Baro’s body was discovered.

• Rhode praised Louis’s hard work and said he believed the boy would become a formidable pirate.
• Baro mocked Flog as the captains headed to Tenshukaku, and Flog left after trading barbs with them.
• Golden Lion outlined a plan for his dozens of crews to coordinate their ships and overwhelm the Roger Pirates with cannon fire.
• After the meeting, Baro went to check on Louis, while Rhode returned to their quarters; Louis arrived later and resumed his secret plans.
• The next day, Baro’s body was discovered.

Rhode discovered Baro had been brutally murdered and led the Blood Hand Pirates to confront Flog, whom witnesses had seen near Baro the night before. The pirates restrained both captains and waited for Admiral Golden Lion to decide what would happen.

• Rhode arrived and found Baro's mutilated body, then ordered Aili to prepare it for a dignified burial.
• Witnesses said they had seen Flog return to his quarters after Baro, and Rhode set out to confront him.
• Rhode attacked Flog, who denied killing Baro, while their crews fought around them.
• About twenty pirate captains intervened, pinned Flog down, and restrained Rhode until Admiral Golden Lion arrived.
• Louis reached Flog and held him at swordpoint, but Rhode ordered him to wait for Golden Lion's decision.
• Golden Lion descended from the sky and remarked that the pirates had made a mess.

Louis manipulated events to make Flog appear responsible for Baro’s murder, then used Life Return to force Flog to attack Golden Lion. Golden Lion crippled Flog, Rhode killed him, and Louis left with a new way to control other people’s bodies through his hair.

• Golden Lion questioned Flog about Baro’s death, while Louis and Rhode presented witnesses and evidence that Flog had pursued Baro and threatened to kill him.
• Flog admitted chasing Baro but denied killing him, then suddenly grabbed a sword and attacked Golden Lion.
• Golden Lion cut off Flog’s limbs, Louis struck him, and Rhode executed him as Golden Lion departed.
• Louis revealed that he had defeated Baro, staged the evidence against Flog, and secretly used his hair and Life Return to make Flog attack Golden Lion.

After Barlo’s death, Louis helped Rhode overcome his grief as the Blood Hand Pirates joined Golden Lion’s fleet to confront the Roger Pirates. The fleets met at Aethelwold, where Shiki called out to Roger.

• Louis took charge of the grieving Blood Hand Pirates and urged Rhode to recover and lead them into the coming battle.
• Rhode scattered Barlo’s ashes over the sea as the crew departed with the Golden Lion Grand Fleet.
• Louis trained his Haki while the fleet pursued Roger, though he feared the coming battle.
• Three days later, the Golden Lion Pirates caught up with the Roger Pirates at Aethelwold.
• Shiki called out to Roger as Louis watched from the ship.

Louis watched the Roger Pirates face Golden Lion’s overwhelming fleet after Roger refused Shiki’s offer to join forces and seize the world. As the battle escalated, Roger and his crew countered the bombardment and charged into the enemy fleet.

• Golden Lion offered to join forces with Roger and use an Ancient Weapon to conquer the world, but Roger refused.
• Roger and Golden Lion traded powerful slashes, and Golden Lion’s fleet opened fire on the Roger Pirates.
• Louis ordered the Blood Hand Pirates to provide artillery support as the Roger Pirates fought off the cannon barrage.
• Roger, Rayleigh, and the other Roger Pirates used slashes to destroy cannonballs and sink enemy warships.
• Golden Lion struck the Olga Jackson with a Spiral Slash, so Roger went after Shiki while Rayleigh led the ship toward the enemy fleet.