Chapters · Summit War › Marineford

Chapter 561: Luffy vs. Mihawk

Arc: Marineford · Saga: Summit War · Released: —

Summary

At the height of the Summit War, Luffy races across the Marineford battlefield toward the execution platform and runs straight into the Warlord Mihawk, who declares “I don’t have time to fight someone that strong” and answers Luffy’s “I’m here to save Ace!!” with a single sweeping black-blade slash that scythes across the whole battlefield. Luffy dodges (Mihawk privately notes he is “calmer than I expected” and would have lost his hands had he attacked). A line of “New Kama” okama who once challenged and lost to Mihawk throw themselves in to buy Luffy time; the slash also cuts through Crocodile and Doflamingo (who are busy fighting each other), Buggy and his crew, and others — and Luffy improvises, even using a screaming Buggy as a “Gum-Gum Human Shield.” When Mihawk resumes pursuit, Vista the Flower Blade — Fifth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates — steps in to engage him sword-to-sword, and Luffy breaks through, the narration crystallizing that “it’s not his powers or techniques — he possesses some quality that makes people want to help him.” Back at the platform, Sengoku declares preparations complete and orders the execution moved up and the broadcast cut on every video transponder snail, so the world will only learn “in a few hours that we were victorious.” As the slated execution looms, a vast Pacifista army — the “Kuma” units the Straw Hats met at Sabaody — advances on the bay from behind Aokiji’s ice, the Navy making its move about ninety minutes into the battle and the final stage drawing near.

New reveals

• Vista the Flower Blade — Fifth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates — is named and shown for the first time, intercepting Mihawk; Mihawk acknowledges his renown (“only an ignoramus wouldn’t know you”) (pp. 11-12).
• Mihawk’s first sustained combat showcase of the war: a single drawn slash travels the length of the battlefield and forces Luffy to dodge at range; Mihawk frames it as casual (“I never bother to remember the faces of trash”), and reads Luffy as unexpectedly composed (pp. 2-10).
• Sengoku moves the execution up and orders an information blackout: “Cut the broadcast on all video transponder snails… The inhabitants of the world need only know in a few hours that we were victorious. That is all.” (pp. 14-15).
• Pacifista deployment: the Navy’s “human weapons” — the Kuma units from Sabaody — march into the battle from behind the ice in large numbers, the Navy’s move ~90 minutes in (pp. 16-17).
• Warlord-on-Warlord combat: Crocodile and Doflamingo fight each other openly — Doflamingo proposes Crocodile be “my henchman,” Crocodile answers with Sables (pp. 7-8).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

(None resolved on-page this chapter.)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy, Mihawk (Hawkeye), Vista (Flower Blade — debut), Crocodile, Doflamingo, Buggy, Sengoku (Fleet Admiral), Ace (the rescue target, named throughout), Whitebeard (Pops — referenced; commander sends Vista)
• Locations: Marine Headquarters (Marineford — bay, plaza, execution platform)
• Groups: Marines, Whitebeard Pirates, Buggy Pirates (“Cap’n Buggy!”), Seven Warlords of the Sea (Mihawk, Crocodile, Doflamingo), the “New Kama” okama (Impel Down escapees, unnamed individually)
• Powers / fruits / weapons: Mihawk’s black blade Yoru (battlefield-spanning slash); Luffy’s Gum-Gum rubber (Jet, “Gum-Gum Human Shield”); Crocodile’s sand (Sables); Doflamingo’s strings (fruit unnamed on-page); Buggy’s Special Muggy Ball (Bara Bara fruit user); Vista’s twin swords
• World-Building: Pacifista (Kuma units), Den Den Mushi (video transponder snails / broadcast)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page / cover art: a whimsical jungle scene of apes and monkeys (one in a white sash) and a long-nosed figure feasting on a mountain of bananas. No visible Straw-Hat cover-serial element — appears to be a standalone request-style cover. (Defer cover-serial classification to the cover-tracker.)
• Page 2 — Luffy: “I’m here to save Ace!!” / Mihawk: “I don’t have time to fight someone that strong.” — Mihawk’s opening slash (“DOOM!!”).
• Page 4 — “New Kama” okama swordsmen block Mihawk: “We challenged you in the past and lost! But now we’re New Kamas… Hawkeye!! Do you remember us?!”
• Page 5 — Mihawk: “I never bother to remember the faces of trash.” He privately notes Luffy is “calmer than I expected” — would’ve cut off his hands had he attacked.
• Page 7 — Wide battlefield: Aokiji’s iceberg cracking and falling amid the melee.
• Page 8 — Crocodile vs Doflamingo: “You and I team up?!” / “Don’t pretend we’re equals… Maybe you want to be my henchman?” / Crocodile: “Sables!!”
• Page 10 — Luffy improvises “Gum-Gum Human Shield” using Buggy against Mihawk.
• Page 11 — Buggy’s “Special Muggy Ball” detonates; Vista is dispatched (“Vista!! Go help him!!”) to intercept Mihawk.
• Page 12 — Vista named as Flower Blade, Fifth Division Commander; narration: “He possesses some quality that makes people want to help him.”
• Pages 14-15 — Sengoku orders the execution advanced and the broadcast cut to all video transponder snails.
• Pages 16-17 — The Pacifista (“Kuma”) army advances from behind the ice; “Those are the Kuma guys from back at Sabaody!”
• Page 18 — SBS Question Corner (Vol. 58): voice-actor feature #5, Hiroaki Hirata (the voice of Sanji); next installments to feature Ikue Otani (Chopper) and Yuriko Yamaguchi (Robin).

Open questions raised

• Can Vista hold Mihawk long enough for Luffy to reach the platform?
• Will Sengoku’s advanced execution beat the Whitebeard forces to Ace?
• What is the “quality” the narration attributes to Luffy — and is it the same thing the world’s strongest later call a King’s presence?
• How many Pacifista has the Government mass-produced, and can the pirate alliance withstand a whole army of Kuma-copies?