Chapter Summaries

The Holy Church warned Red-Hair and withdrew its fleet to prepare an attack, prompting the pirates and Marines to react to its unseen reach. As the battle approached, Kizaru’s light attack failed against Hexia, and he fled while Akainu continued forward.

• Red-Hair tried to persuade Shishu and Hexia to spare the marines, but after the Holy Church’s final warning, he unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki.
• A mysterious voice shattered Red-Hair’s Haki, ordered the Holy Church fleets to retreat fifty nautical miles, and called for an attack.
• Ace explained to Whitebeard and the others that the Holy Church could observe the world and strike targets from far away, so Whitebeard agreed to organize his crew as Adventurers.
• Akainu ordered Kizaru to stop the Holy Church fleet, but Hexia absorbed Kizaru’s light beams, and Kizaru fled while Akainu cursed him.

Kizaru retreated after finding his abilities ineffective against the Holy Church, while Akainu fought Shishu and was captured by Hexia. Shishu urged Akainu to end the battle, and Akainu agreed to go with them after asking about Sengoku, Instructor Zephyr, and the Adventurers' Guild.

• Kizaru warned Kuzan not to approach the Holy Church fleet and retreated, prompting Kuzan to turn back as well.
• Akainu attacked Shishu and his companions, but Shishu's Light Curtain blocked his magma strike.
• Hexia trapped Akainu in a sensory void, then bound him with White Chains that sealed his abilities.
• Hexia challenged Akainu's claim to justice, and Shishu argued that the Holy Church could bring peace without the World Government's order.
• Akainu asked whether Sengoku and Instructor Zephyr were well and whether their colleagues had settled in at the Adventurers' Guild.
• Akainu agreed to go with Shishu and the others.

After the Holy Church defeated the Marines, Akainu announced their surrender, and Kizaru and Kuzan returned to surrender as well. Pirates scattered to seek legitimate identities as the old era ended, while Shanks struggled to accept the changes and reacted violently when a crewmate suggested becoming Adventurers.

• Shishu had Akainu address the pursuing Marines, and Akainu announced, "We lost!" before ordering them to stop fighting.
• The defeated Marines broke down, while Kizaru and Kuzan turned their ships around and returned to surrender to the Holy Church.
• Whitebeard reflected that the Marines' defeat marked the end of their power, while Ace chose to stay for the Ladder Tournament and Blackbeard secretly resented the new order.
• Pirates scattered to find ways to legitimize themselves, and Red-Hair Shanks mourned the passing of the Great Pirate Era.
• A crewmate suggested that Shanks and his crew register as Adventurers, and Shanks's Conqueror's Haki knocked the man unconscious before Shanks retreated to his cabin.

The Holy Church’s Second Fleet visited Ohara, where Robin asked Captain Hexia about the mysterious voice that had changed her life. Hexia identified it as the Holy Light and invited Robin to join the Holy Church, with Olvia encouraging her to go.

• Pirates in the West Blue and South Blue surrendered to naval branches as the Holy Church’s fleets approached, and the Church began investigating them before deciding how to treat them.
• Hexia and the Second Fleet arrived at Ohara, where Dr. Clover welcomed them and offered the island’s scholars’ cooperation in studying the Poneglyphs.
• Robin privately asked Hexia about the being she believed had changed her past, but Olvia arrived and revealed she had shared Robin’s dreams.
• Robin recounted her story, and Hexia said the Holy Light had noticed her and invited her to join the Holy Church.
• Olvia encouraged Robin to go, and Hexia reassured them that Robin could return home whenever she wished.

Ace reunited with Luffy and his companions in the East Blue as adventurers gathered for the Ladder Tournament. Sengoku opened the First Holy Grail Battle, and the Holy Grail transported the contestants into the tower.

• Hexia took Robin with him as the fleet continued patrolling the South Blue under the Holy Church's reign.
• Ace reunited with Luffy, Zoro, and Nami, and they headed to a tavern with Jozu and the others to celebrate the coming tournament.
• Zoro sensed the strength of Hawk-Eye as the swordsman passed them, and Jozu identified him as the world's greatest swordsman.
• Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr arrived at the tower, where Sengoku addressed the gathered adventurers and declared the First Holy Grail Battle open.
• The Holy Grail shone with white light and transported the contestants away as viewers watched the tournament begin.

Adventurers battled shinobi and summoned creatures as they climbed the Heavenly Ladder, suffering heavy losses along the way. On the fiftieth floor, Hawk-Eye fought Sakumo Hatake and broke his sword, but recognized the strength of his swordsmanship.

• The Adventurers fought Stone shinobi on the first floor, where Hawk-Eye cut a path to the next level and the shinobi were eventually defeated.
• The Adventurers cleared the second through fifth floors, losing thousands of fighters, including a famous Supernova, to the shinobi’s varied abilities and genjutsu.
• After the fifth floor, the Adventurers faced monsters and powerful guardians, and Hawk-Eye killed Gamabunta on the twenty-fifth floor.
• Hawk-Eye met Sakumo Hatake on the fiftieth floor, and the two swordsmen fought while Zoro watched in awe.
• Hawk-Eye broke Sakumo Hatake’s sword with a powerful Sword Aura attack and solemnly acknowledged his opponent’s skill.

The adventurers struggled through the increasingly dangerous floors of the Heavenly Ladder Tower, with Might Guy and Uchiha Itachi nearly overwhelming them. They defeated Itachi on the seventieth floor, but his black flames badly burned several adventurers before the tower expelled them.

• Might Guy's powerful Taijutsu devastated the adventurers on the sixty-fifth floor, though he exhausted himself and dissolved before they could be wiped out.
• The adventurers recovered on each floor and began working together, but Itachi's Genjutsu and schemes threw them into confusion on the seventieth floor.
• Itachi trapped Hawk-Eye in a Genjutsu where he endured seventy-two hours of sword-inflicted agony, then left him enraged and attacking nearby adventurers.
• Fujitora restrained Hawk-Eye and used gravity to pin Itachi down, allowing Hawk-Eye to strike him while Itachi set an adventurer ablaze with black flames.
• The black flames resisted every attempt to extinguish them, and the Heavenly Ladder eventually ejected the burning adventurers when their suffering reached its limit.

The Adventurers struggled against Nine-Tails on the 80th Floor as the broadcast revealed the Holy Church’s overwhelming strength and alarmed the World Government. Sengoku learned from Axel that the tournament allowed unlimited challenges until someone claimed the Holy Grail, with the Twin Gods still waiting above.

• Nine-Tails repeatedly attacked the Adventurers, who coordinated their efforts to pin him down with Fujitora’s gravity and Senior’s ability to liquefy the ground.
• The tournament broadcast frightened the World Government, and the Sword-Wielding Five Elder left to seek Lord Imu.
• The Adventurers’ attacks failed to stop Nine-Tails, who broke free and charged Senior while some Adventurers were eliminated.
• Resurrected Adventurers complained to Sengoku about the guardians’ strength, and Sengoku called Marshal Axel for an explanation.
• Axel told Sengoku that challenges were unlimited until someone obtained the Holy Grail and that the Twin Gods awaited farther up the ladder.

After Sengoku announced that challengers had unlimited attempts, the Adventurers resumed the tower climb and overcame its guardians through teamwork. As powerful fighters, including the Four Emperors, joined the competition, the Holy Church used the trials to demonstrate its strength and track those who registered as Adventurers.

• Sengoku announced unlimited attempts, prompting Senior, Ace, and the other challengers to return to the Celestial Ladder Pyramid.
• The Adventurers formed teams, reached the eightieth floor, and defeated the Nine-Tails at the cost of half their elite fighters.
• Minato confronted the Adventurers on the eighty-first floor, but they restricted his speed and forced him to concede.
• The Adventurers passed floors eighty-one through eighty-five, then struggled against the Holy Church's Golden Holy Knights and Holy Light Cleric Legion Commanders.
• Powerful fighters from across the seas, including the Four Emperors, joined the competition after learning that the final challenge was against the Twin Gods.
• The Holy Church allowed former-era offenders to register as Adventurers and reform, but declared that deliberate evil would not be forgiven.

Hashirama appeared on floor 97 and overwhelmed the assembled fighters with his wood techniques and giant Buddha. Whitebeard’s attack nearly cut the Buddha apart, but Hashirama vanished when his time ran out, leaving the remaining battle to Madara.

• Hashirama arrived on floor 97, entered Sage Mode, and attacked the fighters with Wood Release.
• Hashirama grew a vast forest whose poisonous flowers incapacitated many Adventurers, while Ace and Kaido tried to destroy it.
• Hashirama summoned True Several Thousand Hands, captured Kaido, and threw him down, injuring him.
• Whitebeard, Shanks, Hawk-Eye, and the others attacked the giant Buddha, but its many arms kept them at bay.
• Whitebeard struck the Buddha with a space-cutting blade that forced Hashirama to dodge and take the fight seriously.
• Hashirama began fading as his time expired and said he would leave the rest to Madara.

After the Adventurers defeated Hashirama, they entered the ninety-eighth floor and fought Madara, whose overwhelming attack left nearly everyone down. Ace, Diamond Jozu, Kaido, and Senior survived and advanced to the finals.

• After Hashirama vanished, the Adventurers discussed the Holy Church's hidden strength, and Ace traded insults and blows with Kaido before Shanks stopped them.
• The Adventurers entered the ninety-eighth floor, where Madara greeted them and attacked as they charged him together.
• Madara dodged their attacks and used the Great Fire Blaze Technique, while Whitebeard's strike shattered space and forced Madara to retreat.
• Madara transformed his eyes into the Rinnegan and used Super Shinra Tensei to knock down the Adventurers, but Whitebeard's shock waves damaged him severely.
• Madara admitted he had been careless and disappeared, while Ace, Diamond Jozu, Kaido, and Senior remained as the only survivors on the floor.

On the 99th floor, Kaguya trapped Ace, Kaido, Jozu, and Senior in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, where each experienced an ideal life. Senior recognized that his peaceful life with Lu Jiunai was false, broke free, and was told to proceed to the next floor.

• Kaguya welcomed the four adventurers to the final trial and declared that whoever reached the 100th floor first would claim the Holy Grail.
• Kaguya activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, trapping the four in dream worlds beneath a blood-red moon.
• Ace dreamed of a happy childhood with Roger and his mother, while Kaido and Jozu experienced their own ideal lives.
• Senior questioned the inconsistencies in his dream life with Lu Jiunai and realized that the woman was not the wife he remembered.
• Senior cried out that he would cure Lucian and save their child, breaking the illusion and returning to the 99th floor.
• Kaguya welcomed Senior back and urged him to continue to the next floor.

Senior claimed the Holy Grail and wished for his family to live happily together, bringing Lucian and their son back to life. The first Ladder Tournament ended with the crowd celebrating the Holy Church and Senior reunited with his family.

• Kaguya told Senior how to invoke the Holy Grail and warned him to make a personal wish.
• Senior entered the passage, reached the Holy Grail, and wished for himself, Lucian, and their son to live happily as a family.
• The Holy Grail granted Senior's wish, restoring Lucian and their infant son beside him.
• Senior promised Lucian he would give up piracy and support their family, and Lucian embraced him.
• The Adventurers celebrated the Ladder Tournament and the Holy Church, and Sengoku declared the tournament concluded.

After the Ladder Tournament ended, Jozu and Kaido emerged from the final-floor Genjutsu, while Ace accepted that his reunion with his parents had only been a dream and vowed to return for the Holy Grail. Kaido attacked Kaguya and was swiftly defeated; Sengoku took him into custody, and the tournament was declared over for five years.

• Jozu emerged from the Genjutsu shaken by how real its world had felt, while Ace mourned the dream of his parents and promised to return for the Holy Grail.
• Kaido rejected the truth about the Genjutsu, punched Disaster Jack into nearby Adventurers, and confronted Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr.
• Kaguya appeared and Kaido transformed into a dragon to attack her, but her Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack crushed him before he could land a blow.
• Kaguya ordered the Adventurers' Guild to punish Kaido according to its rules, and Sengoku led Garp and Zephyr in taking him away.
• Sengoku announced that the Ladder Tournament had ended and that the next one would be held in five years, and the Adventurers dispersed.

Imu revealed that an Outsider beyond the world's rules empowered the Holy Church and warned the World Government to fight only if challenged, while abandoning the Five Elders. At Holy Church Headquarters, Axel announced a full-scale counteroffensive against the World Government and ordered the coalition to protect civilians.

• Imu told the Sword-Wielding Five Elder that a being beyond the world's rules had altered Ohara's timeline and chosen the Holy Church as its following.
• Imu blamed the World Government for alienating the people, struck the Sword-Wielding Five Elder, and declared she would no longer protect him or the other Five Elders.
• The Sword-Wielding Five Elder returned to the Council Hall and told the two surviving Five Elders that Imu had abandoned them.
• Axel convened Holy Church leaders, the Adventurers' Guild, and Dragon's Revolutionary Army at Holy Church Headquarters to announce a full-scale counteroffensive.
• Sengoku and the Holy Light Clerics Legion accepted Axel's orders, while Dragon questioned the timing before hearing that the World Government would have no allies.
• Axel told the assembled forces to protect ordinary people's lives and property, and they all pledged to obey.

The Holy Church formally declared war on the World Government, prompting celebration among reporters and a tentative show of defiance against nobles in the Drum Kingdom. The Sword-Wielding Five Elder prepared the World Government’s defenses while warning a young Celestial Dragon that Imu had abandoned them.

• Nako told Vivian that the Holy Light Cleric Army and Adventurer Guild forces had mobilized for the New World as revolutions spread across noble-ruled countries.
• Vivian and Nako went to the Holy Church’s diplomatic embassy, where Ambassador-General Kaijia formally declared war on the World Government in the year 1520 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
• A young man in the Drum Kingdom announced the declaration to the people, and a noble ordered guards to seize him before backing down and releasing him.
• The Sword-Wielding Five Elder ordered the God's Army deployed and the Sabaody Archipelago's defenses prepared, while telling officials to ignore requests for aid from member nations.
• The Sword-Wielding Five Elder told a newly promoted CP0 officer that Imu had abandoned them and warned him not to reveal his Celestial Dragon identity if the World Government lost.

Axel’s forces defeated the Celestial Dragons’ defenses at Sabaody and confronted Imu, who revealed that they were the world’s magnetic poles and negotiated the Celestial Dragons’ fate. Imu accepted Axel’s condition that all adult Celestial Dragons die, leaving the Five Elders captive and the World Government defeated.

• Axel ordered the Holy Church’s mechas to trap the nine members of God's Army, then sent Holy Knights and adventurers to seize the island as the World Government’s soldiers surrendered.
• Axel led the five Legion Commanders toward the World Government Building after Kumata reported that the battle was over.
• Imu revealed that they were Uranus and the world’s two magnetic poles, warning that their loss of control could cause massive civilian deaths.
• Axel demanded the deaths of all adult Celestial Dragons, and Imu agreed to obey while asking that their descendants be spared.
• Imu vanished, and Axel ordered the five Legion Commanders to restrain the three remaining Five Elders.

The Holy Church consolidated its rule by suppressing the remaining pirate and criminal forces. Big Mom surrendered to Whitebeard and the others, while Doflamingo was killed as the Church prepared to hold its first World Congress.

• The Holy Church spread into the New World, punished aristocratic nations, and joined forces with the Revolutionary Army and Adventurers' Guild to root out pirates.
• Big Mom clashed with Akainu, then surrendered to Whitebeard, Red-Hair Shanks, and the Three Admirals to spare her children and crew.
• Doflamingo fled from the Holy Church's arrests, but a golden Holy Light Cleric killed him before he could reach the coast.
• Will and Fengsha confirmed that the enemies had been dealt with, and Will said the Church's first World Congress was the next priority.

At the first World Conference of the Radiant Federation, kings gathered at Marineford and discussed the limits the Holy Church would place on their power. Dragon prepared to welcome new members to the Federation while Garp caused a scene by confronting his son.

• The Kings of Kenya and Rodri discussed the end of the Heavenly Tribute and the Holy Church’s planned restrictions on kings, and King of Rodri warned his friend not to resist.
• Dragon arrived at Parliament Hall with Tatsumi and other officials, and the kings greeted him as prime minister.
• Garp confronted Dragon, struck him with a switch, and complained that Dragon had neglected his family and left him to raise Luffy alone.
• Dragon left Garp behind and told Tatsumi that taking his father seriously was a mistake.
• Dragon led Tatsumi and the other officials to welcome representatives of other races joining the Radiant Federation.

The first World Conference of the Radiant Year began as Dragon and Axel presented the new government's policies and answered questions from kings and minority races. The assembly left the Tontatta with a promise of medical roles and Holy Light protection, while kings faced a clear warning against resisting the new order.

• Reporters and delegates from the world's races and factions gathered for the conference, where Elbaf greeted Leo and Princess Mansherry.
• Dragon opened the assembly and distributed documents outlining the new government and its policies.
• A New World king objected to losing royal powers, and Belo Betty warned that kings who demanded privileges could be treated as enemies of the new era.
• Axel told the assembled kings that the Holy Church would protect fairness for the majority and eliminate those who undermined it.
• The Mermaid Princess asked whether minority races could travel freely, and Axel promised equal legal rights and protections.
• Princess Mansherry asked how the Tontatta could fulfill their responsibilities, and Axel offered them medical officer positions and Holy Light Cleric protection.