One Piece Is Entering Its Final Stretch: Luffy vs. Imu on Elbaf, and the Island Only the Pirate King Reached
One Piece is closer to its ending than it has ever been. In the manga's ongoing Elbaf arc, the Straw Hats' war on the island of the giants has escalated into a direct confrontation between Monkey D. Luffy and Imu, the shadowy figure seated on the Empty Throne of the World Government. For a series that has spent more than a thousand chapters building toward a final confrontation, seeing Luffy stand against Imu at all is a milestone fans have waited years for.
Elbaf's climax: Luffy against Imu
The Elbaf saga has pulled the World Government's most guarded secrets into the open. Luffy, joined by allies including the giant warriors Loki and Hajrudin, is caught in the fight against Imu in the story's Underworld, while the Holy Knights clash with other defenders of the island. Elbaf was long teased as the homeland of the giants and a place where the true history of the world would surface, and the current chapters are paying that off with some of the highest-stakes storytelling One Piece has ever attempted. The war is widely expected to keep unfolding across the rest of 2026.
What comes after Elbaf
Creator Eiichiro Oda has made clear he intends to wrap up Elbaf in 2026 and push the series into its final stretch. In his Jump Festa message, Oda pointed the crew toward their next destination with a teasing line — "To that island that only the Pirate King ever reached!?" — a nod to the endgame that has fueled fan debate. The two leading candidates are Lodestar Island, the last stop on the Grand Line before the finish, and Laugh Tale itself, the island where Gol D. Roger's crew found the One Piece treasure. Because Luffy still needs the final Road Poneglyph, many readers expect Lodestar to serve as the bridge, with the ultimate Laugh Tale arc following after. Either way, the road map from here points squarely at the finale.
Why Oda's breaks matter to readers
Alongside the story news, Oda has been taking short, scheduled breaks in the manga's serialization heading into autumn 2026, reflecting his workload and health as the series races toward its climax. For readers, these pauses are worth tracking so you know when new chapters land; for the long view, they are a reminder that the ending is being paced deliberately rather than rushed. One Piece has been running since 1997, and the current chapters carry the weight of nearly three decades of setup.
Why collectors are watching One Piece right now
Story momentum like this reliably drives collectible demand. As the Elbaf arc dominates conversation and the series approaches its final act, Straw Hat figures — Luffy in his Gear transformations, Nami, Zoro, Sanji and the wider crew — tend to move fast, and One Piece remains one of the most consistently produced franchises for scale figures, prize figures and Ichiban Kuji lots. Milestone arcs often coincide with fresh figure and lottery waves, so it is a good moment to shore up the crew members you have been meaning to display.
If you are building a Straw Hat shelf, browse One Piece figures and collectibles at Akibato, which ships from Japan worldwide. A useful tip for international collectors: shipping is charged by total parcel weight per order rather than per item, so a couple of smaller prize figures or capsule pieces can travel together for roughly the cost of sending one — handy if you are pairing a centerpiece Luffy with a crewmate or two.