Chapter title page: Chapter 561, "Luffy vs Mihawk." The cover shows Luffy on a tropical island with large monkeys, hanging upside down from a branch and stretching his arm while the monkeys watch him. One monkey sits smiling beside him, another peers from behind foliage, and palm trees fill the background. The page functions as a cover illustration separate from the Marineford battle, with no story dialogue beyond the chapter title.
Luffymonkeys
01
Luffy faces Mihawk and says, "This is no time for me to be fighting a guy as strong as that!! I'm here to save Ace!!!" Mihawk stands in his way without hesitation. Luffy tries to rush past him, but Mihawk's blade flashes through the battlefield, cutting down the space around him. The slash forces Luffy back and makes clear that Mihawk will not simply let him run to the execution platform.
LuffyMihawkPortgas D. AceMarinesWhitebeard Pirates
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Mihawk continues attacking Luffy at range. Luffy dodges through the huge slashes but is struck and grunts in pain. Mihawk calmly states, "You remain within my range." Another sweeping cut tears across the ice and battlefield, sending debris and fighters flying. Luffy realizes that even distance does not put him safely beyond the world's greatest swordsman's reach.
LuffyMihawkMarinesWhitebeard Pirates
03
Luffy is hit again and nearby fighters cry that Mihawk cut them. A group of Impel Down prisoners rushes in front of Luffy, shouting, "Out of the way, Strawhat!! We'll stop him for you!!!" They call to Mihawk, "Hawkeye! Do you remember us!? We once faced you in battle, but we are newkamas now, far stronger than we once were!!!" Luffy is startled by their sudden help, while the prisoners confidently try to hold Mihawk back for him.
LuffyMihawkImpel Down prisonersNewkama
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Mihawk cuts down the prisoners without even recognizing them, saying, "I do not recall the face of every insect I crush!!!" Luffy tries to counter with "Gomu Gomu... Jet..." but stops himself at the last instant when he realizes his stretched arm would have been sliced off. He admits, "Haa... that was close...!! Just now... if I'd stuck my arm out... it would've been sliced off!!" Mihawk observes, "You seem unusually calm..." recognizing that Luffy's instincts are sharpening under pressure.
LuffyMihawkImpel Down prisoners
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Mihawk swings again, and his slash cuts a massive section from the frozen wall. The huge glacier begins falling toward the ships and battlefield, while fighters below shout, "The glacier is falling this way!!!" Luffy and the surrounding pirates stare in shock at the scale of the cut. Mihawk's casual attack becomes a hazard for the entire battlefield, not just for Luffy.
MihawkLuffyMarinesWhitebeard PiratesImpel Down escapees
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Crocodile rejects Doflamingo's offer of alliance. When Doflamingo says, "Join forces with you...!?" Crocodile answers, "How arrogant of you to consider yourself on my level. Did you perhaps mean to say 'make me your subordinate'?" Doflamingo laughs that he thought Crocodile might have grown more reasonable, but Crocodile replies, "Would I be here now if I had?" He attacks with "Sables!!" and blows Doflamingo away, shouting, "You damned flamingo!!! Out of my sight."
CrocodileDonquixote Doflamingo
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Crocodile's sandstorm sweeps Buggy and others into other people's battles. Buggy's men yell, "Captain Buggy! You're getting caught up in other people's battles now!?" as he is carried through the chaos. Mihawk, meanwhile, resumes pressing Luffy and asks, "What now, hm!?" He points out, "You are moving farther and farther from your brother!!!" Luffy curses and tries to find an opening while the fight with Mihawk continues to push him away from Ace.
BuggyBuggy's followersCrocodileMihawkLuffyPortgas D. Ace
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Luffy uses Buggy as a shield against Mihawk, yelling, "Jet Substitute!!!" and then "Gomu Gomu Substitute!!!" Buggy screams, "The heck was that for, huh!? Strawhat!!!" while Luffy answers that it was Mihawk who cut him, not Luffy. Buggy recognizes his opponent and shouts, "You... you're Hawkeye, right!? Unforgivable~!!!" He throws, "Take this... Special Buggy Ball!!! That'll blast you away!!!" turning his anger and panic into an attack against Mihawk.
LuffyBuggyMihawk
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Buggy's Special Buggy Ball explodes, and his followers cry, "Captain Buggy!!?" Luffy uses the distraction to escape, shouting, "Thanks, Buggy!! I'll never forget you!!!" Mihawk steps through the smoke and says, "This is far from over." As he prepares to continue, someone calls, "Vista!!! Lend him a hand!!" and Vista answers, "Roger that!" The swordsman from the Whitebeard Pirates cuts in, saying, "Leave it to me!!" and blocks Mihawk's pursuit.
Vista confronts Mihawk. Marines shout, "Whitebeard Pirates!" and identify him as "Fifth Division Commander, Floral Blade Vista..." Vista says, "A pleasure, Hawkeye Mihawk." Mihawk replies, "So you've heard of me?" and Vista answers, "I would be a fool if I had not..." Luffy thanks the unknown helper and runs on, while Mihawk watches him go and thinks that Luffy's most dangerous ability is not a skill or technique, but the simple ability to turn those around him into his allies. Mihawk calls that the most dangerous ability in the entire ocean.
VistaMihawkLuffyMarinesWhitebeard Pirates
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A narration page widens the battle's meaning. It says that as the execution draws closer, a number of shocking truths have come to light, and that a massive breakout of over two hundred convicts from the impenetrable gaol of Impel Down has suddenly appeared on the battlefield. The spectacle unfolding before the world appears to be a true ultimate battle that will change the course of history. The people of the world can only hold their breath and watch as the course of their future is decided at Marineford.
LuffyCrocodileEmporio IvankovJinbeBuggyImpel Down prisonersMarinesWhitebeard Pirates
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A Marine reports, "Fleet Admiral! The preparations are complete." Sengoku asks, "Including the operation on the bay shore?" and is told, "Indeed. Everything." People notice movement at the execution platform and ask if the Marines are really going to begin right now, since there should still be time left until the announced execution. A Marine commander orders, "Cut the Den Den Mushi visuals!!" explaining that it would be troublesome to have the world lose faith in them and that the tragedy about to occur would be too much for the citizens of the world to take in. Akainu states that there is no need for the rest of the world to learn what is about to happen at Marineford.
SengokuAkainuMarinesDen Den Mushi viewersPortgas D. Ace
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Luffy hears Ace being called and realizes, "They really are going to execute Ace early!!" The narration says that in a few hours, when the world learns of the outcome, the single word "victory" will be more than enough. At the bay shore, people notice something behind the ice. They realize the figures are not allied pirates but Marines who have snuck around behind the ice. Ships and formations appear behind the battlefield, showing that the Marines' hidden operation is now in motion.
LuffyPortgas D. AceAkainuMarinesWhitebeard Pirates
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Approximately one and a half hours after the battle began, the Marines unveil their master stroke. Rows of Kuma-like human weapons appear on the bay shore, and Whitebeard recognizes the rumors: "So those are the government's human weapons... I'd heard rumors..." Luffy, shocked, says they are the bear guys he saw back at the Sabaody Archipelago and that there are so many of them. Ivankov stammers, "K... K... Kuma---!?" The narration says this will rapidly change the flow of battle and send it hurtling into its final phase, while a Marine declares, "We've waited long enough... It's finally our turn!!!"
WhitebeardLuffyEmporio IvankovPacifistaBartholomew KumaMarinesWorld Government
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Voice Actor SBS page featuring Hirata Hiroaki, the voice of Sanji. The page introduces him as Sanji's voice actor, calls him the fifth voice actor SBS guest, jokes about Sanji's cooking and perversion, and includes a photo. Oda and Hirata banter: Hirata greets everyone and jokes about the ladies, Oda reacts to his strange opening, and they discuss what "SBS" stands for before Hirata gives a joking answer. A note says Hirata's SBS continues on page 206. The next Voice Actor SBS announcement says Chopper, voiced by Ohtani Ikue, and Robin, voiced by Yamaguchi Yuriko, are drafted for the next two times and asks readers to send Chopper cute/weird questions and Robin intellectual/lax questions.