After a two-week-long break, Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, is set to return with chapter 1180. This week’s One Piece chapter is quite easily one of the most anticipated ones, given the arrival of the King of the World, Saint Nerona Imu, on Elbaph. The stakes are through the roof as Elbaph is graced by the final antagonist of One Piece, who also carries an immense amount of strength. With Oda’s introduction of Nerona Imu, it is clear that this arc is now heading towards its conclusion, and the final battle is now looming. Needless to say, all fans of the story are eagerly waiting to see the final fight begin, and for Luffy, Loki, and Imu to go all out.
One Piece Unveils Nerona Imu’s Akuma no Mi — The Strongest Power Yet
One Piece finally unleashes the power of Saint Imu’s ability, the Akuma no Mi, as Elbaph enters its endgame.
Why Imu’s Strength Showcase In Elbaph Is Up Next
At the end of One Piece Chapter 1180, Saint Nerona Imu unleashed his full power in Elbaph and underwent a Devil Fruit transformation. This Devil Fruit was revealed to be the Akuma no Mi, or The Devil’s Fruit, and its powers turned him into the Devil itself. Imu’s Devil Fruit powers directly influence his surroundings, which clearly imply Devil Fruit Awakening, but much about his ability remains unknown still. That is precisely why One Piece Chapter 1180 will showcase Imu’s abilities to the absolute maximum extent, and it will be a one-of-a-kind performance.
Saint Imu…you should not head down to the lower world at any cost! — Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, Chapter 1179
At the moment, Luffy is out of strength, and Loki is recovering as well, which means Elbaph’s two strongest warriors are not at their best. Their strength will need to recover for a while before they can head into combat once again. This also means that Imu will test their abilities against some other fighters in Elbaph, such as Jarul, Dorry, Brogy, and perhaps the likes of Zoro among others. A chaotic battle in Elbaph is going to ensue, and it is guaranteed for Imu to be dominant, showcasing the full extent of their powers in the process.
Breaking Down Imu’s Upcoming Battle Against Nika And Nidhoggr
One Piece Chapter 1180 will likely set up Imu’s battle against Loki and Luffy. The vast majority of the chapter should focus on Imu showcasing their abilities before the face-off against the duo of Luffy and Loki, but the build-up must be slow in order for the tension to remain at its peak. As such, Imu must first defeat a bunch of powerful warriors from Elbaph before Luffy and Loki are thrown into the battle. Only at the end of the battle must Nika and Nidhogg return, and a chaotic final battle akin to an apocalypse must begin in Elbaph. With this battle, One Piece will finally enter its most important stretch, as the final antagonist of the entire series makes a move. Usually, One Piece fans head into battles knowing that the Straw Hat Pirates and all their allies will win. This is the first time in ages where the tension is through the roof and there is a very real chance of Straw Hats facing annihilation.
Nika is certainly strong, but it is clear that his real battle against Imu must only happen towards the end of One Piece and not prematurely in Elbaph before the Great War has even begun. In that sense, it is clear that in this fight, Imu is the one who is going to be dominant, despite Loki being alongside Luffy to fight this war. This also means Elbaph will face massive repercussions in the upcoming chapters and perhaps suffer great devastation. That is certainly going to be interesting for all the fans of the series to see.
One Piece: 7 Yonko Level Characters In Elbaf
Elbaf has showcased some overpowered characters on the same level as the Yonkos of One Piece.
The Possibility Of A Straw Hat Defeat In The New Chapter
One Piece chapter 1180 will most certainly focus on Imu and his Devil Fruit powers, but more than that, it is also going to shed some light on the Straw Hat Pirates and potentially set up their defeat. So far in the New World, the Straw Hat Pirates have rolled over every enemy that they have faced, be it the likes of Shichibukai or even the Yonko, such as Kaido, or the Five Elders. They have managed to defeat or outmaneuver all of them.
This is great to see, because the two years that they spent training were so that they would never lose again. However, it also lowers the tension. The Elbaph arc needed Oda to go in a different direction with chapter 1180. With a phenomenal display of Imu’s strength, Oda is going to flip the script completely and pave the way for a possibility of a Straw Hat defeat in the Land of the Giants. In fact, one might argue that it is necessary for the Straw Hat Pirates to be defeated here, because only through a setback can they grow even further in terms of strength. The Straw Hats grew as much as they did because of the setback they faced in the Sabaody Archipelago, and that has made them strong enough to become a Yonko crew. If they are to beat Imu, they need another setback from the Sovereign of the World, Imu himself, and this is the perfect place for Oda to illustrate just that.
New Questions Added!
GameRant Quiz
Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)
One Piece’s Release Schedule After The Break
One Piece marks its return from a two-week-long break with chapter 1180, and usually, that means a new batch of chapters is on the horizon for the fans. One Piece chapter 1180 will drop on the upcoming weekend, and it is now confirmed that the manga will not go on another break after that. One Piece chapter 1181 is expected the week after, but the manga will have to go on a short break immediately after that, because of Golden Week in Japan. This is a national holiday, which means that no Weekly Shonen Jump manga is published during this week. As such, One Piece chapter 1182 will most likely be delayed.
It must also be remembered that when Oda does return with chapter 1182 in May, he will likely have hit his three-chapter quota before heading on a break again. This means that the upcoming release schedule for the manga is going to be somewhat chaotic, and might be especially hard to endure when the story is in such an exciting phase, with the arrival of the final villain directly to Elbaph to face off against Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates.
One Piece Chapter 1180 will be available to read on Manga Plus on April 19, 2026, at 11 a.m. EST.
One Piece
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Writers
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
