Chapters · Fish-Man Island › Fish-Man Island

Chapter 644: To Nothing

Arc: Fish-Man Island · Saga: Fish-Man Island · Released: 2011-09-12

Summary

As Noah descends on Conchcorde Plaza, Prince Fukaboshi broadcasts Hody Jones’s true nature to the fleeing citizens: Hody is “entirely empty,” a man with no substance whose hatred is “void of any kind of experience and will.” A long flashback shows how that hollow hatred was manufactured — a generation of Fish-Man District children raised on Arlong’s anti-human doctrine, the celebration of human-killing as heroism, the news of Fisher Tiger’s death (twisted into proof that even kindness to humans is fatal), and Queen Otohime’s assassination by a human. Out of that despair the District’s darkest faction obtained the Energy Steroids (“the legendary drug,” manufacturable by Dosun) and declared their “holy war.” Fukaboshi confesses the royal family pretended not to see the hatred building and that Otohime was, in truth, “murdered by the hatred of Fish-Man Island” itself; he begs the Straw Hat to stop the island from destroying itself. Luffy — who with Jinbe had already vowed to let no one be hurt — tells Hody “We’re friends, aren’t we?!” The citizens refuse to flee, Shirahoshi resolves to stay by Luffy, and Luffy ends it with a brand-new flaming technique: Gum-Gum Fire-Fist Pistol… Red Hawk!!, blasting Hody.

New reveals

• Hody is hollow. Fukaboshi: Hody is “entirely empty… there is no substance within him,” his hatred “entirely void of any kind of experience and will” (p. 2). The arc’s villain has no personal grievance — he is pure inherited, reasonless hatred.
• The manufactured-hatred flashback. The Fish-Man District raised children on Arlong’s “humans are an inferior species, their existence is evil” doctrine (p. 4), celebrated human-killing raids as heroism (p. 5), and reframed Fisher Tiger’s death as betrayal — “only because he was dying… we hear you gave blood to a human” (p. 7).
• Otohime’s assassination as the breaking point. News that “Queen Otohime was shot by a human!!” (p. 8) collapses the District’s faith — “we don’t need this worthless country!!” — and clears the way for the supremacist faction.
• Origin of the Energy Steroids supply. The District faction acquires the “legendary drug” — “Now we can unite the Fish-Man District against the throne!” — and Dosun can manufacture them (p. 9).
• Otohime’s creed restated: “Hatred is an illusion that the living create and amplify on their own” / “Don’t let hatred consume you” (pp. 12–13). Fukaboshi concludes she was “murdered by the hatred of Fish-Man Island” and that they “should have started by fighting inward.”
• Fukaboshi’s plea + Luffy’s vow. Fukaboshi entrusts Luffy with Hody (p. 14); Luffy reveals he and Jinbe decided on landing “that we wouldn’t let anyone on Fish-Man Island be hurt” (p. 16) and tells Hody “We’re friends, aren’t we?!” (p. 17).
• New technique — Red Hawk. Luffy: Gear Two, Armament! → “Gum-Gum Fire-Fist Pistol… RED HAWK!!” — a Haki-hardened, friction-ignited flaming punch shaped like a hawk that hits Hody (pp. 18–19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Present: Luffy, Fukaboshi, Hody Jones, Shirahoshi, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Brook, Jinbei (named, fighting in the plaza)
• Flashback: Arlong, Fisher Tiger, Hatchan (telling stories the District finds repellent; mentions knowing a human, Rayleigh), Otohime, Dosun
• Groups / ships: New Fish-Man Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates, Sun Pirates, Arlong Pirates, Seven Warlords of the Sea (Jinbe’s induction recalled), Noah
• Lore / fruit: Energy Steroids, Haki (Armament), Gomu Gomu no Mi (Red Hawk)
• Locations: Fish-Man Island, Fish-Man District, Conchcorde Plaza

Notable panels

• Page 1 (cover): Title page “TO NOTHING” — three/four hornbill “southbirds” perched in a Jaya tree. Cover-story serial: “DECKS OF THE WORLD, VOL. 27: ‘JAYA — SOUTHBIRD LOVES NORTHBIRD, PLUS WESTBIRD AND EASTBIRD.’” (single-image installment; defer to cover-tracker).
• Page 2: Fukaboshi’s island-wide reveal — Hody is “entirely empty.”
• Page 7: Fisher Tiger’s death weaponized — “we hear you gave blood to a human. Who are you?! Get out of here!!”
• Page 9: The Energy Steroids changing hands — “The legendary drug?!”; Dosun’s manufacturing capability.
• Page 10: The supremacist faction’s “no-humans” sun-emblem (a crossed-out human inside a sun) over “This is a holy war!!”
• Page 13: “Our mother was murdered by the hatred of Fish-Man Island!! We should have started… by fighting INWARD!!”
• Page 17: Luffy to Hody, smiling through the rubble — “WE’RE FRIENDS, AREN’T WE?!”
• Page 19: Splash-scale Red Hawk — the flaming hawk-shaped punch slamming Hody (BOOOOM!!).
• Page 20: Small closing panel (GONK!!) amid the blast — pearls and a tumbling figure (ambiguous; likely shockwave aftermath).

Open questions raised

• Will the Energy Steroids’ accelerating decay (Hody’s aging, p. 3) finish the New Fish-Man Pirates before Luffy does?
• Can Noah be stopped before it crushes Conchcorde Plaza, and what is the ark’s deeper significance (its descent here only weaponizes it)?
• Does Fukaboshi’s verdict — that the island must “fight inward” against its own hatred — reframe the whole arc’s resolution as internal rather than against an external villain?