Zoro vs. Somers – The Conclusion
Somers, arguably one of the most despicable characters in One Piece history, met his end by fleeing the battlefield. Back at Fishman Island, Zoro used to give weaker opponents a chance to run — but not this time. Somers received no such mercy.
The Mystery of Princess Shuri’s Past
The one who awakened is clearly Princess Shuri, with her brainwashing breaking. Yet she seems hesitant to openly reveal her identity — something is holding her back.
In particular, there is a panel that looks like Shuri desperately pleading to Imu to let her “live.” This raises a striking theory: perhaps after being relocated to the Holy Land, Shuri fell gravely ill and was kept alive through some kind of deep-sea contract with Imu — granting her an immortal body. If the contract is broken, she would die instantly.
Killingham and the Enel Parallels
Killingham, who can seemingly only be harmed by Conqueror’s Haki, gives off a very strong Enel-like aura. Just as Luffy’s rubber body was the only thing capable of hurting Enel — whose lightning attacks simply passed through — Killingham appears to have a similar immunity that only Conqueror’s Haki can bypass.
Even Imu’s silhouette during the descent on Elbaf was clearly designed to evoke Enel. The visual and narrative parallels are deliberate.
Hell Memories – The Locked Door Opens
Killingham’s taunting line — “What do you even eat to stay alive?” — acts as a trigger that blows open the door to Sanji’s sealed-away memories, and Ivankov steps forward from the depths of his mind.
This appears to be connected to Sanji’s quest to obtain the “99 Vital Recipes” during his two years of training at the Kamabakka Kingdom.
Ivankov’s challenge: each of the 99 masters holds one recipe. As a pirate, take them by force — but the Okamas will try to dress you up in women’s clothing day and night. Wear the dress and you lose your male identity. The match is called: Vanata vs. The Newkama Kenpo Headquarters. “If you lose, can you stay a man~? Fufufu~”
And the result of that training was… this:
Sanji locked these memories away as “Hell Memories” — too traumatic (or perhaps too identity-shattering) to confront. And that brings us to the big theory:
Zoro mastered Conqueror’s Haki by deeply understanding and accepting his true self. What if Sanji’s path to Conqueror’s Haki awakening requires him to do the same — and his true self involves embracing the Okama within him? It sounds wild, but Oda rarely draws these parallels by accident.
Cover Page Analysis – The Enel Code
The cover page of this chapter features Sanji as a barber. “Barber → cutting hair” immediately brings to mind two specific cover pages in One Piece history that Oda may be deliberately referencing.
First: Chapter 274, where an Enel-like cross-legged figure is depicted — and that cover featured two horses. Multiple horses appear in this chapter’s cover as well.
The parallel is striking: in Chapter 274, a pre-Haki Zoro could not touch Enel at all. In Chapter 1195, a Conqueror’s Haki-less Sanji has no way to win against Killingham. Oda encoded this similar narrative situation in the cover art through shared imagery.
Second: Chapter 571, the chapter right after Luffy’s first real Conqueror’s Haki burst at Marineford — and that cover also featured a barber/hair-cutting scene.
By combining both references in Sanji’s cover page, Oda seems to be saying: Sanji is in the same position Zoro was in against Enel, and the resolution will mirror Luffy’s Conqueror’s Haki breakthrough. The path forward for Sanji runs through his own awakening — and all signs point to the Kamabakka memories holding the key.
