The climax of a piece The Elbaf arc continues with the release of Chapter 1188 on July 12, 2026 in Shuisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #33. This week's chapter was highly anticipated, mainly because of the battle between Luffy and Nerona Imu. The struggle between Sun God Nik and the Devil of a Broken World ended 800 years ago, but officially resumed on July 5, 2026 in Chapter 1187.
now, a piece Chapter 1888 continued this feud, and it did so in more style by giving Luffy a unique Devil Fruit transformation that we've never seen before. To combat Nerona Emu's influence, Luffy officially transforms into a giant genie in battle, again showing off his ingenuity and the fact that Hito Hito no Me, Model: Nika, is the most independent Devil Fruit.
One Piece Chapter 1188 introduces Luffy's new genie transformation
Over the years, Monkey D. Luffy, the hero of a pieceVarious transformations have been used. The first form Luffy received came from witnessing CP9 in the Water 7 Arc. One Piece Chapter 387 debuted Luffy's Gear 2 on October 31, 2005, and One Piece Chapter 403 unveiled Gear 3 on March 13, 2006. During the timeskip, Luffy invented Gear 4, which was officially unveiled in April 2005, 274. In Shuisha's Weekly Shonen Jump issues #22-23. Gear 4 then went on to feature Tankman in Chapter 842 and Snake Man in Chapter 895. Eventually, Luffy ended up tapping into Gear 5's power. a piece Chapter 1044 on March 28, 2022, in Shuisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #17.
“What's going on? How can I still stand? I just lost, but I feel like I'm having an explosion! Ahahahahahaha! I feel like anything is possible now. I can fight for a while longer.” — Monkey D. Luffy taps into Gear 5, One Piece Chapter #1044
Since then, Gear 5 has been Luffy's go-to form, and now, within the framework of Gear 5, Luffy has invented an entirely new transformation through Genie Mode, which was first shown. a piece Chapter 1188 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump issue #33 on July 12, 2026.
“Don't think about what I did in your fight against Loki. That boy's death will not be in vain. Gomu gomu no majin!” — Luffy uses his new transformation against Imu, One Piece Chapter #1188
In order to properly combat Nerona Emu's power, Luffy used a new transformation called Gomu Gomu no Mazin. a piece Chapter 1188, and to the fans' surprise, this genie form was actually a simple idea. This allowed Luffy to take Nerona Emu by surprise and effectively combat his powers at the same time. Luffy was able to survive many of Emu's blows, including the omnipotent Stigma that knocked out Loki. Luffy even managed to fight Emu using this transformation, much to the surprise of us all. Although Luffy's fight against Nerona Emu in Genie form was short-lived, it was clear that he was faring better in this form than regular Gear 5, which is actually a testament to Luffy's own strength. This sets up this Genie mode as one of Luffy's final forms to use for the future as well.
Top-level rival in Luffy's Genie Powers Elbaf Arc Climax
a piece Nerona Emu was introduced in full in Chapter 1179, which was officially released on April 5, 2026 in Shuisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump Issue #19. Emu also unveils the power of his Devil Fruit, known as Akuma no Mi, for the first time in the same chapter. In subsequent chapters, Emu's full powers were displayed as he used Omens and various abilities in battle against Loki, such as Stigma and Nemesis.
As such, when Luffy vs Imu officially started on July 5, 2026 in One Piece 1187, we knew that this battle would not be easy for the Straw Hat captain. However, Luffy proved he was up to the challenge by showing his creative nature in his fight against Nerona Emu.
As he used his genie form, Luffy was able to counter a significant portion of Emu's attacks and attempt to land a few blows of his own. We can absolutely tell that Loki has an effect on Luffy, despite standing in the fight longer than Luffy, before Nerona finally falls to Emu's bouffu, a final attack that pierces straight through his torso.
“It's obvious you're not a Joy boy. A Joy boy would never be weak.” — Imu defeated Luffy in One Piece chapter #1188
Why Luffy needs a very strong transformation to rival Imu
While Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Majin form that debuted in One Piece 1188 was certainly exciting for us to watch, at the end of the day, it wasn't going to be enough to take down Nerona Emu. This was made clear at the end of the chapter, where Emu used his Black Flame of Omen to transform it into a sword, known as Blade of the Wide: Boufu, and pierced Luffy through his torso. Emu also states that Luffy is too weak to be Joy Boy and, as such, Nerona is a disappointment to Emu herself.
The first round of Luffy vs Imu is over, and the winner is none other than Nerona Imu, which is no surprise to any of us. Being the ultimate villain of One Piece, Nerona Emu carries immense powers at his disposal that Luffy cannot now rival.
“The omen is my military power. It is a power that resides in all living beings. People desire power. However, if the power they desire is easily obtained, it leads to corruption.” — Nerona Emu explains her Omen Power, One Piece Chapter #1181
For Luffy to really stand in Imu's way and pose a serious challenge, he needs to use other transformations. Although Gear 5 was announced at Luffy's peak a piece Chapter 1044, he should step it up and develop something stronger to fight the power of people like Emu. To that end, we're keeping a close eye on Luffy's Conqueror's Haki growth in this arc and, at the same time, his Devil Fruit getting a potential upgrade through the awakening of the Sun Ring, similar to Emu's Black Ring. One way or another, Luffy will have to make himself stronger if he wants to bounce back from this defeat and try to push Nerona Emu out of Elbaf again. for now, a piece is going on break, which means that we have to wait until one piece chapter 1189 to see Luffy's fate at the end of this war.
All chapters of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece are available to read through Manga Plus and Viz Media.
