Chapter 543 · Strawhat and Blackbeard

00AI-written

Chapter title page: Chapter 543, "Strawhat and Blackbeard." The cover illustration begins Sanji's short focused serial: "Keep Your Cool in Hell, Sanji!" volume 1, "Adventure on an Island of No Escape." Sanji runs in panic through a corridor while a large okama figure and other pursuers chase him with nets and smiling faces. The image is a standalone side-story opener and not part of the Impel Down riot itself, but it serves as the chapter's title card before the action cuts back to Luffy's escape and Blackbeard's intrusion.

Sanjiokama pursuers

On Level 1, Crimson Hell, guards raise the drawbridge and order each other not to let Blackbeard's crew cross. They say there are only five enemies and shout, "Stop the Blackbeard Pirates!!!" Some guards are confused, asking what betrayal means, because the intruders were pirates from the start. Others confirm that Blackbeard has betrayed them and is not on their side, then open fire. The page shows Blackbeard and his crew advancing calmly through smoke and gunfire, with Teach's group treated less like reinforcements and more like a second disaster striking the prison from above.

Marshall D. TeachBlackbeard PiratesLafitteJesus BurgessVan AugurDoc QStrongerImpel Down guards

The guards panic when Head Guard Shiryu appears, asking when he got out. Someone says there are five enemies, but Shiryu notes that someone dangerous seems to have shown up and asks whether it is Magellan. He identifies the intruder as "Marshall D. Teach...!! Blackbeard, right?" Blackbeard laughs, "Zehahahaha!! Yeah, that's right!! Who're you!?" The meeting is tense rather than immediately hostile: the prison's death-row head guard faces the pirate whose betrayal has just turned Impel Down's entrance into another battlefield.

Shiryu of the RainMarshall D. TeachBlackbeard PiratesImpel Down guardsMagellan

On Level 4, Inferno Hell, Luffy's escape army keeps breaking through. Guards shout that the Demon Beast Guards have been beaten and there is no way to stop the fugitives. The door to Level 3 is close, but the guards warn that the prisoners' numbers are still increasing. Ivankov asks how they can stop these guys, while Luffy keeps running with a fierce grin. Crocodile, Jimbei and the others move with him through smoke and fallen opponents. The page makes the prison's lower defenses feel exhausted: even elite beasts were not enough, and the riot keeps swelling.

LuffyEmporio IvankovCrocodileJimbeiInazumaDemon Beast GuardsImpel Down prisonersImpel Down guards

Sadi-chan arrives and is offended that the Head Guard is being credited. She says, "Silence!! Call me Sadi-chan!!!" and lashes out with "Arousal Manifesto, Red Demon Whip!!!" while scolding the escapees for hurting her cute servants. Prisoners are blasted aside and scream as the whip tears through the crowd. Ivankov, however, tells everyone to push through because Sadi is just a distraction, and Luffy runs past, still focused on the stairs. Sadi realizes one of them is not stopping and calls him a bastard while the escape pressure keeps moving upward.

Sadi-chanLuffyEmporio IvankovCrocodileJimbeiImpel Down prisonersImpel Down guards

Ivankov transforms and counterattacks. Sadi-chan asks in shock whether Ivankov transformed into a woman, and Iva answers, "Make way, eccentric girl!!" before striking her with a long leg. Iva jokes, "Nfufu, right now... I feel like a woman!!!" and Sadi calls Iva an ambiguous anarchist. Luffy, still panting, asks who that is and says she talks like Iva, but keeps moving. He shouts for the stairs, and Inazuma promises to open the gate. Someone mutters that this is the fortress of hell and no matter who comes, it will not be easy to leave.

Emporio IvankovSadi-chanLuffyInazumaImpel Down prisonersImpel Down guards

Hannyabal blocks the path at the stairs with the prison's Bazooka Squad behind him. He spins into his Hannya Carnival rhythm and declares "Inferno Hell Cart!!!" with the fire and blades of his weapon whirling around him. Guards shout that they can count on him and that the vice warden has his naginata, Kessui, meaning he is serious. Hannyabal tells Luffy, "Strawhat, your acts of piracy are unprecedented!! To ensure a bright future for the feeble citizens, I will enforce the penalty in the warden's place!!!" Luffy tells him to move, but Hannyabal refuses, saying, "No way!!!"

HannyabalLuffyEmporio IvankovInazumaBazooka SquadImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

Hannyabal launches his Hannya Carnival with a musical chant of "Hannya!!" and "The Nyabal!" then charges with "Inferno Hell Cart!!!" Flames whip around the weapon as he rushes Luffy. Luffy dodges through the heat, sweat dripping, while Hannyabal warns him not to laugh because it would be pathetic for the vice warden to be beaten that easily. Luffy is impatient and says he is going to save Ace; if Hannyabal will not move, he will send him flying. The page sets Hannyabal's stubborn duty against Luffy's even stronger urgency.

HannyabalLuffyEmporio IvankovImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

Luffy powers up and attacks. He says "Gomu Gomu..." and unleashes "Jet Gatling!!!" against Hannyabal, battering the vice warden with a barrage of blows while Hannyabal screams. The impact smashes through the spinning weapon and sends the surrounding guards into shock. Luffy is not trying to win a formal duel; he is forcing his way through because every moment matters for Ace. Hannyabal is struck down hard, but the paneling lingers on his resistance, making clear that his will to defend the prison has not disappeared.

LuffyHannyabalEmporio IvankovImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

At the Level 4 large elevator, guards announce that Warden Magellan has arrived. Luffy and the others notice the danger, but Hannyabal, badly beaten, still insists, "It's not over yet!!!" Magellan asks where the leaders of the riot are. Guards report that even with Vice Warden Hannyabal's help, they can barely hold the prisoners off, and that the leaders are in front of the stairs to Level 3 on the opposite side of the floor, quite far away. Magellan begins moving toward them while the guards plead for him to hurry. The page turns the chase into a tightening vise: Hannyabal in front, Magellan behind.

MagellanHannyabalLuffyEmporio IvankovCrocodileJimbeiInazumaImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

Magellan charges after the fugitives while guards shout, "Follow the vice warden!!! Don't falter!!!" Luffy tries to leave, but Hannyabal staggers up again, groaning, "Not yet!!!" and grabbing at him. Luffy knocks him down and keeps running, but Hannyabal reaches out once more and yells, "Wait!!!" Even after taking Luffy's attack, he crawls back into the path. The page is almost wordless motion and persistence: Hannyabal is clearly outmatched, but he refuses to let the prisoners walk out through the stairs uncontested.

LuffyHannyabalMagellanEmporio IvankovImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

Hannyabal makes his stand. Beaten and bleeding, he says this is the fortress of hell built to shut away the worst criminals and protect peace for the masses. If it were broken, the world would fall into the depths of fear, and he will not let them take even one step out. Guards beg him to stay down or he will die, but he condemns the escapees as bastards who cause trouble outside as pirates and rebels, asking if they want to save a brother at the cost of letting scum with no right to say such pretty things terrify people who cannot sleep at night for fear of losing their loved ones. Luffy answers that his brother's life is precious too and tells Hannyabal to move.

HannyabalLuffyEmporio IvankovInazumaCrocodileJimbeiImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

Before the argument can resolve, Blackbeard's darkness crashes into the battlefield. Teach says there is no answer and calls Luffy an idiot as his black vortex swallows people and rubble. Crocodile remarks that they have got a hell of a crowd, and Blackbeard laughs that Luffy looks like he was in the middle of something. Jimbei recognizes Teach and asks why he is here. Blackbeard says Ace was a dangerous companion choice and that Luffy was barking up the wrong tree. Luffy and the others are stunned, and someone identifies the darkness as "the guy from Jaya." The sudden appearance changes the battlefield from prison escape to a confrontation with the man who defeated Ace.

LuffyMarshall D. TeachBlackbeard PiratesJimbeiCrocodileHannyabalEmporio IvankovImpel Down guardsImpel Down prisoners

Luffy finally understands who is standing in front of him. He repeats, "Blackbeard?" as memories and reports connect: Ace chasing a serious criminal, people saying a man's dream will never end, and the news that a pirate named Blackbeard beat Fire Fist Ace and became a new Shichibukai. Teach laughs, "Zehahaha...!! It's been a while, Strawhat Luffy!!! I never expected you to be my squad captain Ace's little brother!" He adds that Luffy can hardly afford to stay because his brother's execution is going to start any minute. Luffy asks, "You're Blackbeard!?" as the enemy behind Ace's capture stands directly before him.

LuffyMarshall D. TeachPortgas D. AceBlackbeard PiratesJimbeiCrocodileShichibukai

SBS question corner page. A reader says they want to go to Disneyland, and Oda jokes that he will take them to ride Blue Mountain because it is coffee. Another reader points out that Saldeath, not Inudeth or Umadeth, seemed to have a spear that looked like a black phole, explaining that it can be used as a whistle and that the sound controls the Blue Gorillas. Oda confirms the observation, saying it was hard to convey in the art without stopping the action. A final reader asks why the residents of Newkama Land all wear fishnet stockings and whether Oda likes them. Oda says he would not say he likes them, but when working on a manuscript he is of the school where only fishnets and fur jackets are worn; Kama Land people wear fishnets because they are there, like people climb mountains because they are there.

Eiichiro OdaSaldeathBlue GorillasNew Kama residents

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End of chapter16 pages

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