Oda Has Officially Declared The End of One Piece

On December 21, 2025, for his Jump Festa 2026 message, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has said the following about the manga’s next steps:

“Since this is Jump Festa, I should talk about the manga on Jump!

After what you could call a very long flashback, or at least a little glimpse into history that I’m sure has given you a different perspective on Elbaph, we ended things with a bang, and now things are about to get crazy.

Will we get to the island that only King of the Pirates had previously reached?

“The man with the burn scar” will appear! Characters who’d never met before will finally meet! Another pair of characters will come face to face! I think next year will be a year of encounters. The story will be moving at a breakneck speed, but since I’ve aged—much to my chagrin—I’ll take the liberty of maintaining my own health as we continue sailing next year at the fastest ONE PIECE speed.

Festivities ahead! Get ready for a spectacular year!

Oda has confirmed that the Man Marked by Flames will make his debut at the end of the Elbaph Arc.

Considering this message’s placement, we might see events take place either by the end of 2026 or by 2027.

With Lodestar Island being the last island, we might finally reach Laugh Tale, the island where the One Piece is located and this signals the end of the series is coming.

Here are some key events to discuss:

The Man Marked by Flames

First introduced in Chapter 1056: “Cross Guild”, being mentioned by Killer and Eustass Kid, he is the final piece to the war for the One Piece and that is because he holds the final Road Poneglyph.

He is further characterized by Lafitte in Chapter 1081: “Tenth Ship Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, Kuzan” as someone, likely with a Devil Fruit power, who is able to create ocean vortexes while sailing which swallow up any ships that come too close to him.

Right away from this announcement, many fans have suggested this could be Harald due to him being responsible for the legends of the Monster of Florian Triangle in Chapter 1167: “Ida’s Sons” and possibly having burns after the battle with Loki.

However, there are many major problems with this theory.

First is that as of Chapter 1170: “Contradiction”, Harald was killed by Loki, essentially shattered into glass due to how Conqueror’s Haki coating nullifies Holy Knight immortality.

Second, Harald was not burned in any way, although the scars from the stubs of his horns could resemble that.

Third, Harald never ate any Devil Fruit, unless we will reveal that when we do meet the Man.

Previously, other candidates have included Jaguar D. Saul due to surviving the Burning of Ohara with burn scars and Scopper Gaban due to his flame tattoos.

However, we have now met both figures in the present day and have no such powers.

Another likely candidate is Monkey D. Dragon, who has flame-like tattoos on his face and has mysterious Devil Fruit-like powers to control the wind and storms and those powers, even the origins of his tattoos, have been kept a mystery.

Furthermore, a good chunk of his ship, the “Wind Granma” is colored black, mostly the part with the Eastern Dragon.

The Year of Encounters

Oda has stated that 2026 will be the year of encounters, which confirms that the end of Elbaph will not only involve the Man Marked by Flames but also other important encounters.

“Characters who’d never met before will finally meet! Another pair of characters will come face to face!”

Oda seems to be talking about two distinct pairs meeting up.

This could be Shanks and Shamrock meeting up on Elbaph in the aftermath of the arc or Luffy and Dragon.

“Characters who have never met before” sounds exactly like Luffy and his estranged father, which further supports the idea that Dragon might be the Man Marked by Flames due to previous evidence.

There is one major limitation: Dragon could be the person invading and burning Mary Geoise at the present and his primary objective has nothing to do with the One Piece.

At the same time, however, holding the final piece of the One Piece puzzle could shift the balance of power and he is treated by Vegapunk as one of the twelve Hunters in Chapter 1121: “The Ebb and Flow of the Ages”, alongside his Chief of Staff Sabo, the Flame Emperor who is arguably rising above Dragon in notoriety.

But what is clear is that the “other pair” will likely be Luffy and Shanks since in Chapter 1 of the series, Shanks promised they would meet again when Luffy would become a “great pirate”.

Would defeating Imu, the god of this world who has defeated Rocks and Joy Boy, be that “great accomplishment” that makes Luffy “ready” to be the King of the Pirates?

Elbaph Arc Ending Confirmed

“Festivities ahead!”

This already sets up how Elbaph will conclude in 2026 as we will see a massive celebration, both within the story and among the fans.

With the conclusion of Loki’s flashback, the longest in the entire series with 18, possibly 19 chapters, we return to the present day, which will involve the battle against two Knights of God, Killingham and Sommers, the Demon Dorry and Brogy, and finally Gunko-Imu.

With 30 chapters a year to be expected, there is plenty of time to go through the preparation chapters, the Straw Hats, Loki and the New Giant Warriors going through the Demon mooks, then facing off against the main opponents stated above and ending on Imu’s defeat or retreat.

Are We Closing in on the End of One Piece?

We have some idea that One Piece is actually going to its end with this final line: “I’ll take the liberty of maintaining my own health as we continue sailing next year at the fastest ONE PIECE speed”

While the Final Saga announcement in 2022 confirmed that One Piece will be going at incredible speed with its story, we are still in two arcs exploring new environments and larger than life lore yet also closing in on the Final War.

The Five Elders revealed their devilish forms in Egghead Arc and on Elbaph, we meet the full force of the Holy Knights of God and their God, Imu himself.

If Imu is defeated or at least weakened by the end of 2026, the hunt for the One Piece will commence with Luffy meeting the Man Marked by Flames and thus obtaining the Final Road Poneglyph.

The question now is: how far are we to the end?

It looks like the meeting with Shanks and the Man Marked by Flames and potentially the stop to Lodestar Island will all happen by the end of 2026, either within the year or in early 2027.

Source: Twitter

EIICHIRO ODA FULLL MESSAGE FOR JUMP FESTA 2026 pic.twitter.com/45rKK2nJQR

— Pew (@pewpiece) December 21, 2025

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