One Piece manga is currently in one of its most important phases - the Elbaph arc, which was teased ever since Luffy and crew bid farewell to Little Garden and the giants Dorry and Brogy back in chapter 129. Now, after nearly a thousand chapters, the crew finally landed on Elbaph and saw for themselves what the home of the giants looks like. But as for any other arc, Elbaph too came with its own set of problems. However, the problems escalated to epic proportions the minute Imu - one of the main villains in the story - set foot on the fabled land of the giants.

The latest manga chapter suggests that Luffy has met his end at the hands of Imu. But is this really true?

The latest One Piece manga chapter 1188 saw the main protagonist of the show, Monkey D. Luffy, continue his fight with the biggest threat in the story so far - Saint Nerona Imu. However, the fight did not go the way anyone would have suspected and ended with Luffy getting fatally stabbed with Imu’s sword, quoted with his special powers of omen.

However, this does not necessarily mean that Luffy is dead, as the chapter does not confirm any such outcome. Instead, the chapter ends with a panel showing Imu’s sword halfway past Luffy’s chest. Although this makes speculations about his death somewhat valid, fans know that this is not enough to kill Luffy. The future King of the Pirates has already come back from the dead once before.

In the Wano arc, when everyone thought Kaido had killed Luffy, the rubber boy came back to life and with new powers no less. He awakened Gear 5 which helped him ultimately defeat Kaido and free Wano from his tyrannical reign. Many believe that a similar power upgrade is what Eiichiro Oda is setting up here with Luffy getting a near-death experience before awakening a new power.

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But what new powers will Luffy obtain this time that can help him to save himself and his crew from Imu?

It is not yet confirmed officially, but the One Piece community is abuzz with rumors of a possible Gear 6. Ever since Luffy achieved Gear 5, there have been theories that it was just not enough to defeat Imu and that he might need a new power upgrade to go toe to toe with him. This new power upgrade might be Gear 6 or simply a boost in his Haki capabilities.

Either way, it is believed that something big is coming that will essentially help Luffy to stand up to the top brass of One Piece power scaling. He is currently just not powerful enough to defeat Imu, as mentioned by the villain himself. Therefore, fatally wounding Luffy is just a trigger for the writer to give Luffy a power-up to come a bit closer to the level of the biggest and baddest character in the story - Imu.

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What do you think about Luffy’s current situation in the manga? Share your thoughts.