Chapters · Summit War › Marineford

Chapter 563: One Man, One Heart

Arc: Marineford · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2009-09-28

Summary

The battlefield reels as word spreads that Whitebeard has been stabbed — not by a Marine but by Squard (“Whirl Spider”), one of the 43 New World captains in his own allied fleet. Squard rages that Whitebeard sold them all out, cutting a deal with Sengoku to spare the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace in exchange for the lives of the 43 captains under him. The accusation traces to Squard’s buried grief: his original crew was wiped out by Gold Roger himself, and learning that Ace is Roger’s son — planted alongside the betrayal lie by a “rebel from the navy” (Akainu) — pushed him to draw his sword. Marco decks him (“They tricked you, Squard!!”), and when the Navy raises Aokiji’s Encirclement Wall of ice around the pirates — seeming to confirm that only the allies are being slaughtered — doubt ripples through the entire alliance. Whitebeard, refusing to play the victim, has his IV tubes ripped out, headbutts the trembling Squard (“You may be a fool… but I still love you”), and tells his children that all of them are precious — “be good to each other.” Crocodile, who once lost to Whitebeard, taunts him to drop the pretense; Crocodile alone recognizes Sengoku’s psychological masterstroke (“You’re as cunning as ever, Sengoku. You’ve managed to drive a wedge between us.”). Whitebeard answers the slander with raw power: a quake shatters the walls of ice, reopening the pirates’ escape route, and he demands they “decide now who you believe.” Declaring himself “just one man with one heart” whose life is complete if he can help one young pirate reach his destiny, the strongest man in the world tears free of his life support and charges the Marine line. The chapter’s title splash is a decorative B&W illustration of Chopper on a branch with swallows above a rainbow; the volume’s SBS page confirms Whitebeard’s fruit is the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, a Paramecia.

New reveals

• Squard (“Whirl Spider”) stabbed Whitebeard — a captain of Whitebeard’s own allied fleet, “one of the New World pirates,” not a Marine (pp. 2-4).
• The lie behind the knife: Squard believes Whitebeard made a deal with Sengoku — sacrifice the 43 allied captains in exchange for the Navy sparing the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace. The Navy will “only kill the allied pirates” and “won’t touch Whitebeard or his men” (pp. 5-8).
• Squard’s backstory: his original crew “had been annihilated by Gold Roger himself” — leaving him “all alone in the world.” His hatred of Roger is what the lie weaponized once he learned Ace is Roger’s son (p. 6).
• The architect is Sengoku; the courier is Akainu. Whitebeard asks “Is that what Akainu told you?” and Crocodile names Sengoku as the one who “drove a wedge between us” — the betrayal story was deliberate Marine disinformation (pp. 11-13).
• Whitebeard took the stab on purpose — a commander notes “Pops could’ve dodged that attack easily, even if he was caught off guard,” so the only way Squard landed it is that Whitebeard let him (p. 11).
• Crocodile was once defeated by Whitebeard — “The man who defeated me could never be the weakling I see before me now!!” (p. 11).
• The Encirclement Wall — Aokiji’s walls of ice ringing the pirates, intended to trap and isolate the allied fleet so the disinformation reads as true (pp. 7, 10).
• Whitebeard shatters the ice with a quake, reopening the harbor so “our ships can sail clear,” and forces the alliance to choose whom to believe (pp. 14-15).
• “One man, one heart” — Whitebeard’s creed and the chapter title: he is “just one man with one heart,” and if he can “help one young pirate achieve his destiny,” his life “will be complete” (p. 16).
• Whitebeard’s health “continues to deteriorate” — he orders his IV/oxygen tubes snapped off (“Take them off!!”) and charges the Marines as “the most dangerous man in the world” (pp. 11, 16-17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

(None resolved on-page this chapter.)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters (shown): Whitebeard (“Pops”), Squard (“Whirl Spider”), Marco, Crocodile (“Croc Boy”), Ace (chained on the platform, “Pops…”), Luffy (reacting, “Old man…”)
• Characters (mentioned, not shown): Sengoku (architect of the wedge), Akainu (the “rebel from the navy” who fed Squard the lie), Aokiji (the Encirclement Wall of ice — named by Squard p. 9), Gold Roger (Ace’s father; annihilated Squard’s crew)
• Locations: Marine Headquarters (Marineford — the bay, plaza, and execution platform)
• Powers / fruits: Gura Gura no Mi (Whitebeard’s quake shatters the ice walls, pp. 14-15; fruit named “Tremor-Tremor Fruit” in the Vol-57 SBS, p. 18)
• Groups: Whitebeard Pirates (and the 43-captain allied fleet), Marines

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Chapter title splash (B&W): “One Man, One Heart.” Chopper perched on a branch among swallows above a cloud bank and a rainbow. Decorative title-page art; no cover-serial installment this chapter.
• Page 2 — Reaction montage: allied captains and commanders recoil at “POPS!!” as word of the stabbing spreads.
• Page 3 — Splash: the roaring Marineford bay, the Navy HQ building (“海軍”) at center, the crowd’s “WAAAAA”; transponder reactions (“WHITEBEARD!”).
• Page 4 — “He’s been stabbed!!” Luffy: “Old man…” Caption: “Whitebeard’s been stabbed by one of his own allies!! It was one of the pirate captains!!” — Squard, “Whirl Spider, one of the New World pirates!!” named.
• Pages 5-8 — Squard’s accusation: the Sengoku deal, the 43 sold-out captains, his crew’s annihilation by Roger, and the ice-wall “proof”; Whitebeard silent.
• Page 9 — A commander: “Ace is indeed Gold Roger’s son.” Marco’s WHAP!! on Squard (“They tricked you, Squard!!”); Squard screams “AOKIJI!!” as the ice rises.
• Page 11 — Crocodile’s “the man who defeated me” taunt; “CROC BOY!!” / “Crocodile…”; the IV-tube SNAP SNAP; “His health continues to deteriorate”; the “Pops could’ve dodged” deduction.
• Page 12 — Whitebeard’s headbutt WHAP…!! — “You may be a fool… but I still love you” — over the flashback of Akainu’s whispered lie.
• Page 13 — “All my children, I love… Be good to each other.” Crocodile: “You’re as cunning as ever, Sengoku.”
• Pages 14-15 — Quake splash: Whitebeard shatters the walls of ice (“ROOM!!!” / “He shattered the walls of ice!!”), reopening the harbor; “Decide now who you believe!!”
• Pages 16-17 — “I’m just one man with one heart!”; tubes torn free; “They call me a fiend and a monster, but I remain the strongest forever!”; “Kiss your lives goodbye!!” Whitebeard charges — “The most dangerous man in the world is charging us!!” Ace: “Pops…”
• Page 18 — SBS Question Corner (Vol. 57): Oda confirms Whitebeard ate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Gura Gura no Mi) — a Paramecia (“Paramythia”) type, one of the most powerful fruits, making him an “Earthquake Human” (not a Logia); plus the running gags about his crescent “boomerang” mustache and bananas in his beard. (sbs-leak — cross-link to be applied by the SBS specialist.)

Open questions raised

• How — and when — did Whitebeard defeat Crocodile, and what did that loss do to Crocodile’s ambitions?
• Will the 43 allied captains hold the line now that the deception is exposed, or has the wedge done lasting damage?
• How long can a visibly failing Whitebeard sustain a frontal assault on the entire Navy?
• What exactly did Akainu promise and to how many captains — is Squard the only one who was approached?