WARNING: The following contains spoilers for One Piece, Chapter #1,000 by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul, and Vanessa Satone, available in English now from Viz Media.
One Piece's 1,000th chapter marks a major milestone for the Shonen Jump series, and creator Eiichiro Oda caps off this achievement with an outstanding installment that reaffirms everything readers love about the series' rubbery pirate boy protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy.
In Chapter #1,000, after Luffy reaches the fifth floor of Onigahsima, he's surprised to see that all the remaining Beast Pirates have been defeated by the Mink Musketeers. Luffy thanks them for their help and reassures them that he hasn't forgotten what they went through to keep Raizo safe, back on Zou, from the Beast Pirates. Luffy then climbs the last flight of stairs to reach the roof, ready to give Kaido everything he has coming to him. This little interaction is enough to bring the lion mink, Shishillian, to tears and also shows that even if Luffy may get an ally's name wrong, he does not forget what makes them an ally in the first place.
In the palace, Marco, in his phoenix form, keeps both Queen and King at bay using his phoenix flames. He then catapults Zoro up to the rooftop as he goes flying through the hole that Kaido made through the ceilings, dozens of chapters ago. As Luffy finally reaches the rooftop, we see he is the last one to make it. Standing beside him are some familiar faces, Captain Kid and his first mate, Killer, The Heart Pirates' captain and Straw Hat ally, Trafalgar Law, and Luffy's most reliable Nakama, Roronoa Zoro. The four Supernovas all stand ready to fight the two Yonko at the other side of the roof, Kaido and Big Mom.
Kaido begins by taunting Luffy, bringing up the "goal" he said to him right before the Yonko one-shotted him with his club. Big Mom joins in on the mockery, reminded of the chaos Luffy caused her in Whole Cake. But Luffy isn't paying any attention to the Yonko. Instead, he walks right past them, and the reason why becomes very clear. Kaido demands Luffy repeat what he told him again, but Luffy still ignores him, as he lifts up the very injured Kin'emon and apologizes for taking so long getting here.
The other eight Scabbards lay across the battlefield, unconscious and bloody. Kin'emon cries ashamed he could not avenge his master, Oden, and then asks if Luffy will still continue this fight for Wano. Luffy says yes, and it because Wano is his friends' country. With his back turned to him, Kaido is readying his club to strike down Luffy, but the pirate calls out to Law to use his shambles to teleport The Scabbards to safety. With Kin'emon safe, Luffy rockets himself up into the air and use Gear Third to inflate his fist.
Oda then shows flashes through Luffy's memory of all the people he's met in or because of Wano Country. The mink tribe of Zou, Momonosuke and Kin'emon's will to defeat Kaido, Yasue's sacrifice in Ebisu Town, and even Hyogoro the Flower from Udon Prison. All the tears they shed and blood they spilled to get Luffy to this moment all comes fueling this next attack on Kaido as his haki ignites his fist.
Luffy's new power, Gum-Gum Rec Roc, knocks Kaido down to the floor with a reverberating shake. Shock runs through both Kaido and Big Mom as they just witnessed Luffy not only evade Kaido's attack but manage to knock him down with his own strike. Finally, the rubber man acknowledges Kaido's request to repeat what he said in their last encounter. "I am Monkey D. Luffy and I am the man who will surpass you to become King of the Pirates."
Even though it took a while to finally reach Chapter #1,000 of One Piece, and this moment, Luffy never lost sight of his goal of facing Kaido in Wano. He met many people who had suffered at the hand of this tyrant, and with their help, he finally managed to reach the man they call the Strongest Creature. It couldn't be more a fitting way to end this milestone than hearing Luffy's dream reaffirmed once again. It's what drove him to leave Windmill Village, to start his own pirate crew, to make it to the New World, to help the people of Wano and to finally defeat Kaido.
