Recaps

After the Empire’s defeat of the Marines and takeover of the Four Seas, the Five Elders held back from acting while the Four Emperors reacted to the chaos in the New World. Shanks left alone for Mary Geoise to learn what the World Government knew, as Beckman worried that Shanks’s Celestial Dragon identity put him at risk.

• The Five Elders refused to send reinforcements into the Empire’s territory without Lord Imu’s orders and told Sengoku to hold the Grand Line.
• With Marine power shattered, Pirates rampaged across the New World and overwhelmed its branches.
• Whitebeard chose to protect his crew and ordered them to sink any Pirates who threatened their territory.
• Big Mom ordered her fleets to seize islands and expand Totto Land, while Katakuri warned her not to underestimate the Empire.
• Kaido sent his forces to seize weapons factories and laborers but forbade them from entering the Empire’s sphere of influence.
• Shanks decided to visit Mary Geoise alone to question the Five Elders, leaving Beckman in charge as Beckman feared the Empire might target Shanks for being a Celestial Dragon.

The Empire’s forces eliminated pirates, freed Nami after confirming she had been coerced, and brought water, food, and shelter to an impoverished North Blue island. After hearing reports of the Four Seas campaign, Chiba ordered all Jonin-level and stronger forces to gather in Orute Kingdom to begin the Empire’s advance into the Grand Line.

• In South Blue, masked Empire ninja crossed the sea and destroyed a Pirate ship with a massive fire technique, saving Captain Bard and the merchants aboard the Tulip Trading Company vessel.
• In East Blue, Imperial Anbu escorted Nami to Cocoyasi Village, revealed that she had joined the Arlong Pirates under coercion and harmed no civilians, and released her from Seastone handcuffs.
• The Anbu left Cocoyasi Village to pursue the Krieg Pirates, while Nami reunited with Nojiko and Genzo and vowed to serve the Empire.
• In North Blue, a Senju Jonin and his ninja restored water, fertile soil, houses, and food to an impoverished island, declaring its residents citizens of the Empire.
• In Orute Kingdom, Shikaku Nara, Fugaku Uchiha, Hyuga Hiashi, and Akimichi Choza reported the Empire’s progress across the Four Seas to Chiba.
• Chiba ordered the remaining Four Seas operations completed within three days and summoned all combatants at Jonin level or above to prepare for the Empire’s campaign in the Grand Line.

Orochimaru reported on fifteen Devil Fruits seized by the Empire and asked for Logia samples so his department could research a way to mass-produce their abilities. After Chiba assigned the fruits for research and Merit Point exchange, the clan leaders learned that Devil Fruit users were weakened by seawater, but Orochimaru claimed he could eliminate the flaw and left them racing to prepare for the Grand Line campaign.

• Orochimaru presented fifteen identified Devil Fruits and explained that Zoans contained similar violent consciousness while Paramecias held fragments of rules.
• Orochimaru asked to keep one Zoan and one Paramecia for research and requested a Logia fruit, saying his department could mass-produce the ability-altering medicine within a year.
• Chiba approved Orochimaru's two samples and ordered Shikaku Nara to put the remaining thirteen fruits on the Merit Points exchange list.
• The clan leaders argued over which fruits their groups should claim until Shikaku warned them that seawater and Seastone stripped Devil Fruit users of their strength.
• Orochimaru said he could use Cursed Seal techniques or genetic methods to remove the water weakness and might integrate Devil Fruit abilities into Chakra as new Kekkei Genkai.
• The clan leaders rushed away to gather their forces and prepare to earn Merit Points before the Grand Line campaign began in three days.

Chiba ordered the Empire’s hundred thousand ninjas to invade the Grand Line along nine routes and conquer it for the Empire. The armies set sail using their distinct abilities to cross the sea’s most dangerous barriers.

• Chiba announced that the nine armies would advance into the Grand Line under Super Kage Level commanders and crush anyone who opposed them.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen urged the Sarutobi, Utatane, and Mitokado clans to win glory and restore their standing, while Fugaku Uchiha sent his clan toward Reverse Mountain.
• Rasa and Gaara led the Wind Province fleet across the Calm Belt on a Gold Dust bridge and crushed a Sea King that attacked them.
• A led the Lightning Province fleet up the Red Line, with Killer B carrying ships on Gyuki’s back.
• Ōnoki lifted the Earth Province fleet over the Red Line, while Hyuga Hiashi and Neji used the Byakugan and Gentle Fist to guide the Hyuga fleet and destroy Sea Kings.

Chiba summoned the imprisoned Marines and pirates to the palace, where he forced them to confront the horrors committed by pirates and challenged Luffy's dream of becoming Pirate King. He then revealed that Shanks was descended from the Figarland Family and was a Celestial Dragon, leaving Luffy and the Marines stunned.

• Kakashi brought the chained Marines, Luffy, Ace, and Zoro from the dungeon to meet Chiba in the palace.
• Luffy defied Chiba, who used overwhelming Six Paths pressure to force the group to their knees.
• Chiba trapped everyone in an illusion showing pirates murdering civilians and pillaging a town, then asked Luffy if he still wanted to become Pirate King.
• Luffy argued that good pirates like Shanks valued freedom and did not kill casually.
• Chiba revealed that Shanks carried the Figarland bloodline and was a Celestial Dragon, shocking Luffy and the Marines.

Chiba revealed that Luffy had eaten the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruit: Nika Form and claimed Shanks had guided him as part of a hidden scheme. He invited the Marine High Command to join the Empire after seeing its rule firsthand, leaving Garp and the others free to inspect the Four Seas for ten days.

• Chiba told Luffy and the Marines that the Gum-Gum Fruit was actually the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruit: Nika Form, a power the World Government had concealed for eight hundred years.
• Chiba claimed Shanks had brought Luffy to sea because the Nika Fruit had chosen him, and suggested Shanks might be using Luffy for the Figarland Family or Imu.
• Luffy rejected Chiba's accusations about Shanks, while Ace defended him and Garp asked Chiba what he wanted.
• Chiba announced that the Empire would march into the Grand Line and overthrow Mary Geoise, then urged the Marines to join him in protecting civilians.
• Chiba gave Garp, Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, and the others ten days to tour the Four Seas and judge the Empire, warning that resistance would mean death.
• Garp led Luffy, Ace, Zoro, and the other Marines out of the palace to inspect the Empire's rule.

After the Marine High Command left Orute’s palace, Garp took Luffy and Ace to a restaurant and warned them to abandon their plans to become Pirates. Akainu saw the Empire’s peaceful rule on a neighboring island, while the Marines began exploring the unfamiliar world.

• Garp led the Marine High Command away from the palace after their powers returned, and the Admirals admitted they feared Chiba’s strength.
• Garp took Luffy and Ace to a restaurant, restrained them, and ordered them to give up becoming Pirates.
• Garp told Luffy that Shanks was a descendant of the Celestial Dragons and had approached him because of the Devil Fruit he ate.
• Garp ordered Luffy and Ace to stay on the island and keep away from pirate ships, while Ace recognized how weak his Flame-Flame Fruit power was against the Empire’s ninjas.
• Akainu walked through a neighboring island and saw clean streets, smiling civilians, and Empire ninjas being warmly greeted during their patrol.

Akainu and Aokiji witnessed how the Empire had improved life for ordinary people, forcing them to confront the World Government’s failures and their own beliefs about justice. Akainu left the island shaken, while Aokiji decided to stop drifting and support the Empire’s rule.

• A little boy and the island’s residents recoiled from Akainu and drove him away, blaming the Navy for abandoning them to the World Government and pirates.
• Akainu left the crowd in anguish, reconsidering his Absolute Justice and the World Government he had served.
• Aokiji visited an island where an old man told him that the Navy had ignored a mayor and pirates who exploited the people.
• The old man explained that the Empire had executed the corrupt mayor and pirates, ended the tribute, and given locals grain seeds.
• Aokiji accepted that the Empire had brought ordinary people real safety and resolved to support its leader, thinking of Saul.

Momousagi and several Marine officers defected to the Empire after witnessing its care for ordinary people, while Sengoku lost faith in the Marines and the World Government. In Alabasta, Mei Terumi defeated Crocodile, captured Nico Robin, and set her sights on Enies Lobby.

• Momousagi crushed Marine Headquarters' emblem and led Onigumo and other officers to join the Empire.
• Vice Admiral Tsuru told Sengoku the Five Elders feared Senju Qianye, and Sengoku bitterly questioned the justice he had upheld.
• Mei Terumi led Empire forces into Alabasta to seize Crocodile and dismantle his plans.
• Mei Terumi overwhelmed Crocodile with Water Style and sealed him for Orochimaru.
• Empire ninjas captured Nico Robin, but Mei Terumi offered her a place to study history rather than execute her.
• Mei Terumi declared Enies Lobby the Empire's next target.

The Empire's forces conquered several islands and destroyed a Marine base as their campaign advanced across the Grand Line. After Sasuke Uchiha killed Saint Charlos, the Five Elders decided to seek an audience with Lord Imu.

• Ōnoki ordered Kitsuchi to kill Buck and had Deidara wipe out the Fang Pirates while a squad stayed to secure the town.
• Neji Hyuga led the Hyuga Clan in capturing a Marine base and defeating its colonel.
• Akimichi Choza, Shikaku Nara, and Yamanaka Inoichi defeated the mafia ruling a commercial island and brought it under the Empire's control.
• Rasa and Gaara crushed a pirate alliance on a rocky island with their sand techniques.
• Itachi Uchiha stopped the Celestial Dragon fleet's cannon fire, Shisui defeated its CP0 agents, and Sasuke killed Saint Charlos.
• The Five Elders discussed the Empire's growing threat and went to request an audience with Lord Imu.

Imu ordered the Five Elders to activate Uranus against the Empire, sacrificing Celestial Dragons to power the weapon. Shisui Uchiha split Uranus's first beam with his Sage Art Susanoo and charged toward its source, while the Five Elders fed five more Celestial Dragons into the furnace to increase its power.

• Imu ordered the Five Elders to launch nine Uranus strikes against the Empire, and they agreed to sacrifice Celestial Dragons to power them.
• The Five Elders had twenty-seven Celestial Dragons dragged to Uranus's furnace and sacrificed three to target the Uchiha Fleet.
• Uranus fired a destructive beam at the Uchiha Fleet, and Sasuke, Itachi, Fugaku, and the Uchiha elites formed a Susanoo defense.
• Shisui entered Sage Mode, created a Sage Art Complete Body Susanoo, split Uranus's beam, and charged up its path toward the sky.
• The Five Elders watched Shisui's counterattack and ordered five more Celestial Dragons sacrificed to boost Uranus's power.

The Uchiha and Hyuga Clans each defeated Uranus’s attack, shattering its energy projection and terrifying the Five Elders. In Orute Kingdom, Chiba received Garp, Akainu, Aokiji, Momousagi, and the former Navy officers after their ten-day decision period and asked whether they understood the world.

• Shisui Uchiha used Susanoo’s Spiral Sword to split Uranus’s beam and destroy its energy projection above the Uchiha Fleet.
• The Five Elders burned three Celestial Dragons to replenish Uranus, then redirected its attack toward the island where the Hyuga Clan was helping civilians.
• Hyuga Hiashi and the Hyuga ninja formed a Rotation Formation that protected the town from Uranus’s beam.
• Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga entered Sage Mode and combined their vacuum palms to shatter Uranus’s projection.
• The Five Elders feared the Empire’s strength after Uranus was defeated twice, while Chiba observed the events from Orute Kingdom.
• Garp, Akainu, Aokiji, Momousagi, and dozens of Vice Admirals arrived to meet Chiba, who asked whether they had seen the world for what it was.

Garp and the former Marine High Command pledged themselves to Chiba’s Empire and were ordered to conquer the Grand Line. As the World Government prepared to defend Mary Geoise, Imu’s hidden illness and a plan to erase the Empire within a month revealed the limits behind her power.

• Garp, Akainu, Aokiji, Momousagi, Onigumo, and the other former Marine officers swore allegiance to Chiba after witnessing the Empire’s rule in West Blue.
• Chiba revoked their Marine designations, made them part of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, and sent them to conquer the Grand Line and subdue allied nations.
• Kakashi asked whether the officers should be monitored or given Cursed Seals, but Chiba dismissed the need and ordered the Anbu elites, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru to prepare for the Grand Line.
• The Five Elders reported Uranus’s failures and the Empire’s advance to Imu, who ordered CP0, the God's Knights, prisoners from Impel Down, and the Marines mobilized to defend Mary Geoise.
• After the Five Elders left, Imu coughed blood and revealed that the Empire’s Natural Energy and Chakra were damaging the world’s foundation and worsening her condition.
• Imu, unable to leave Mary Geoise, resolved to endure one more month before erasing the Empire and the sea.

Sakazuki urged the former Marine commanders to split up and help the Empire, while Garp called Sengoku and advised him to surrender. After speaking with Tsuru, Sengoku ordered every Marine branch to lay down its weapons, and G-8 commander Jonathan prepared to obey as an Empire fleet approached.

• Sakazuki proposed that the former Marine commanders divide their forces and crush the Empire’s enemies across the Grand Line.
• Garp called Sengoku and urged him to lead the Marines in surrendering to the Empire, but Sengoku angrily ended the call.
• Tsuru helped Sengoku admit that he had lost faith in the World Government, and he decided Garp’s call gave him the excuse to act.
• Sengoku broadcast an unconditional surrender order to all Marine branches.
• When an Empire fleet approached G-8, Jonathan stopped his Adjutant from preparing to fight and ordered the fortress to surrender.

Sarutobi Hiruzen’s forces took G-8 Fortress after Vice Admiral Jonathan and its 3,700 marines surrendered under Sengoku’s orders, disappointing the invaders who wanted battle merit. At Branch 77, Rear Admiral Karnes defied the surrender order and attacked the Cloud Ninja, who crushed the base, captured its officers, and prepared to advance.

• Vice Admiral Jonathan surrendered G-8 Fortress and offered Sarutobi Hiruzen its intact supplies, leaving Hiruzen’s team frustrated by the reduced merit for a peaceful takeover.
• Rear Admiral Karnes rejected Sengoku’s surrender order and prepared Branch 77 to attack the approaching Empire warships.
• Karnes’s cannons fired on the Cloud Ninja, earning A’s forces an S-Rank battle designation and prompting them to counterattack.
• A led the assault that broke Branch 77’s fortress wall, defeated Karnes, and captured him and the resisting officers.
• Darui reported the base’s fall and the seizure of smuggled Black Gold, and A ordered the troops to gather evidence and prepare to advance to another Marine Branch.

Akainu, Aokiji, and Garp supported the Empire’s campaign as the World Government gathered its strongest forces at Mary Geoise. After defeating Enel on Sky Island, Chiba learned the Five Elders had concentrated their defenses on the Red Line and ordered the Empire’s full army to assemble for a final battle.

• Akainu ordered his warship to Marine Branch G-5 after learning Lord A had defeated Marine Branch 77 and captured Rear Admiral Karnes.
• Aokiji backed Sengoku’s unconditional surrender and reaffirmed his loyalty to Chiba’s Empire after recalling its aid to civilians.
• Garp and Momousagi accepted the Empire’s advance against the Celestial Dragons, and Garp vowed to fight the Five Elders.
• Chiba defeated Enel on Sky Island, nullifying the self-proclaimed god’s lightning and knocking him unconscious.
• Kakashi reported that the Five Elders had withdrawn their forces to Mary Geoise and mobilized the God’s Knights and other elite fighters.
• Chiba ordered the Empire’s forces to assemble at the Red Line for a decisive battle against the World Government.

The World Government assembled its strongest forces at Mary Geoise to face the approaching Empire, while the Empire’s provincial armies and major shinobi clans gathered a hundred nautical miles away. The armies prepared for battle as the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Ino-Shika-Cho forces joined the front, leaving the two sides on the brink of confrontation.

• Kong and the Cipher Pol chief argued over the Marines’ defection as the World Government gathered more than twenty Admiral Level fighters, elite troops, and the God's Knights.
• Saint Figarland Garling warned the Five Elders that the Empire’s forces had crossed the Calm Belt, and the Elders resolved to hold them off until Imu regained his strength.
• Rasa, Ōnoki, and Mei Terumi assembled the Wind, Earth, and Water Province forces and discussed claiming Merit Points from the World Government’s fighters.
• Fugaku Uchiha led the Uchiha fleet to the gathering, while Shisui Uchiha announced that the clan had come to purge the rebels.
• Hyuga Hiashi used his Byakugan to report the enemy’s numbers and positions as Shikaku Nara’s Ino-Shika-Cho forces joined the army and coordinated its preparations.

The Empire’s forces launched their assault on Holy Land Mary Geoise and overwhelmed the World Government’s armies in battle. Just as the Empire seemed close to victory, a slain member of God’s Knights returned unharmed, revealing a power that stunned both sides.

• Sengoku led the Imperial fleet toward Mary Geoise, where Kong and the World Government’s forces confronted them.
• Garp, Sengoku, the Admirals, and the Four Provincial Governors fought the World Government’s top fighters, while Shikaku Nara coordinated the Imperial ninja’s attack.
• The Empire’s clans and strongest fighters defeated the World Government’s elite troops and drove back God’s Knights.
• The Five Elders entered the battle, but Shisui Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, and Jiraiya confronted them as the Empire continued to gain ground.
• Might Guy and Asuma Sarutobi killed a member of God’s Knights, but the knight reappeared unharmed from a distortion in the sky and declared that death was an illusion before the power of a god.

Sasuke and Naruto repeatedly destroyed a member of God's Knights, but his strange immortality let him recover until Garp realized Conqueror's Haki could break its source and killed him. The Empire's warriors turned the tide, but the Five Elders overwhelmed them until Senju Qianye appeared and froze the battlefield with his power.

• Sasuke and Naruto combined lightning, wind, and Amaterasu to destroy the knight, but he reformed after each attack.
• Garp recognized that Conqueror's Haki could overcome the knight's rule-bending recovery and killed him with Galaxy Impact.
• Garp explained the weakness, and Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, A, and other imperial fighters awakened or unleashed Conqueror's Haki against God's Knights and the Five Elders.
• Itachi sealed a God's Knight with the Sword of Totsuka, while the Five Elders counterattacked and injured Choza as their forces began to overwhelm the Empire's warriors.
• Horse Bone raised the First Generation Kitetsu over Choza, but Senju Qianye appeared in the sky and immobilized the Five Elders and the battlefield.

Chiba annihilated the World Government’s remaining elite forces with Haki-infused Wood Style and then vanished for Mary Geoise. The deaths of Imu’s followers triggered a backlash that weakened him, but he prepared to face Chiba himself.

• Chiba’s Advanced Conqueror’s Haki knocked out nearly the entire World Government army, leaving only a few dozen powerful fighters standing.
• The Five Elders and God’s Knights launched a desperate attack, but Chiba killed their leaders and destroyed the rest with Haki-infused Wood Style.
• Chiba’s attacks prevented the Five Elders from regenerating, and his black forest killed the fleeing God’s Knights.
• Chiba left the Empire’s forces to handle the aftermath and vanished toward Mary Geoise, where Imu collapsed after the deaths of his immortal followers triggered a backlash.
• Imu realized Chiba was approaching, rose despite his weakened state, and prepared to unleash the power that had created the seas.

Chiba defeated Imu and led the Empire to conquer the seas, killing Kaido and Big Mom and forcing Whitebeard and Shanks to surrender. After the Empire unified the world and advanced its research, Senju Qianye discovered a newly opened gateway to another world, setting up the Empire’s next conquest.

• Chiba erased Imu in the Flower Room, then declared that the Empire would clear out the New World.
• Sasuke defeated King and Chiba crushed Kaido and the Beasts Pirates at Onigashima, while Naruto destroyed Big Mom and Whole Cake Island.
• Whitebeard surrendered to Chiba to protect his sons, and Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates were captured and sent to the Imperial Capital.
• The Empire unified the seas, established its palace on the former site of the Orute Kingdom, and advanced research into cellular activation using Devil Fruit Lineage Factor.
• Senju Qianye detected a fully charged Myriad-World Crossing Gate and watched a new gateway open in the throne hall.