Summit War Saga

The Whitebeard's War Saga is the fifth saga in the anime and manga series One Piece. It follows the Straw Hat Pirates after their adventures at Water 7, and their trials to reach the Red Line and the New World. It has four arcs thus far. The major focus of the saga is the impending war between the World Government and Whitebeard set in motion after Ace was captured and sentenced to death.

With Robin and Usopp back in the crew and Franky newly joined, the Straw Hats sail forth for the New World on their new ship, Thousand Sunny. Along the way, the crew are detoured in the forbidding Florian Triangle, where a megalomaniacal Shichibukai, Gecko Moria, is amassing an army of zombies to claim the Pirate King title for his own.

After defeating Moria and evading the clutches of his associate, Bartholomew Kuma, the Straw Hats pick up a wandering skeleton named Brook as the crew musician, and then set their sights under the sea, to Gyojin Island. But first, they must help a mermaid named Keimi rescue their old enemy Hatchan from a criminal named Duval, who has a grudge against Sanji due to being wanted. They then must head to the Sabaody Archipelago and find someone to coat their ship with a special resin to enable it to travel underwater to Fishman Island. However, Luffy's attacking one of the World Nobles leads to an incident in which the Marines deploy Admiral Kizaru to the island to defeat the pirates.

After an unexpected move by Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma, the entire Straw Hat crew is sent in every direction away from Sabaody Archipelago. The Straw Hats were sent all along the Grand Line and the Calm Belt with the exception of Robin and Chopper who were sent to West and South Blue respectively. Luffy's story is the first to be shown and it is revealed he has landed on the island of female warriors, Amazon Lily. There, he is poisoned by a mushroom that causes mushrooms to grow out of his body. Since he is covered in mushrooms, the inhabitants of Amazon Lily thinks he is a woman. When he is discovered to be a man, he is sent on a chase with the female warriors angrily going after him as it has been a rule that a man must never lay a step on Amazon Lily. The chase comes to an end after the empress of the island, Boa Hancock, arrives. It is soon revealed that Hancock is one of the Shichibukai and that she has the power of the Mero Mero no Mi. Upon learning that a man is on the island, Hancock punishes three of the islanders for helping the him. Hancock then sets a battle off between Luffy and her sisters. Though the sisters are both devil fruit users, they are defeated by Luffy, who uses a strange burst of Haki followed by Gear Second. After the battle, Hancock realizes that Luffy is not a bad person and she soon falls in love with him. He then requests that Hancock take him to Impel Down to rescue Ace before his execution takes place, to which Hancock agrees.

Meanwhile, the locations of the others are revealed. Nami has landed on Weatheria, a sky island that studies weather. Franky has landed in a futuristic snow island known as Barjimoa. Sanji has landed in the island of "pure- hearted maidens", Momoiro. Usopp was sent to a forest island called Greenstone. Brook has fallen to the land of poverty, Namakura Island. Robin has been sent to an island of labor in East Blue known as Tequila Wolf and Chopper has landed on an island ruled by birds in South Blue, the Torino Kingdom. Lastly, Zoro was sent to the Ruins of the Shikkearu Kingdom, where he was found by Perona.

Once in Impel Down, Luffy manages to infiltrate the prison, an unprecedented action according to Sengoku. As he doesn't know the location of his brother, Luffy joins forces with the escaped prisoners Buggy the Clown and Mr. 3.

Luffy is reunited with his old friend Mr. 2 Bon Kurei on Level 3, the Starvation Hell, and the two join forces, with Bon Kurei revealing that he has a reason for wanting to reach Level 5 - finding the 'Miracle Worker' Emporio Ivankov, 'queen' of the Kamabakka Kingdom. However, by the time the group reaches Level 4, the Burning Hell, the entire staff of Impel Down are waiting for them, and Luffy and Bon Kurei are accosted by Magellan, the chief warden, who fights Luffy using the powers of the Doko Doko (poison) Fruit. Knowing that he will be poisoned if he touches Magellan, Luffy eventually decides that saving Ace is more important and lands several hits on the warden before succumbing to the huge amount of poison now in his body and collapsing in defeat. Magellan orders Luffy to be thrown into the central tower of Level 5, the Freezing Hell. Meanwhile Bon Kurei, who fled from Magellan, swears that he will rescue Luffy due to their friendship, and uses his Devil Fruit power to gain access to Level 5 by impersonating Hannyabal. Having learnt that Luffy cannot be cured, and that Ivankov has disappeared from his cell, Bon Kurei rescues his friend anyway and begins searching for the 'Miracle Worker'. The pair are attacked by wolves, with Luffy saving Bon Kurei at the last minute with a burst of haki. The two collapse, and are discovered by Inazuma and Ivankov, who spirit them away to 'Level 5.5', the secret refuge of the 'New Kama Kingdom', and set to work on healing them.

Luffy and Bon Kurei quickly recover, and along with the New Kama Kingdom, lead a full blown rebellion of Impel Down. Along the way, they team up with Sir Crocodile, Jimbei, and Mr 1. Magellan and his staff try to stop them, even allowing former Chief Guad Shinryuu of the Rain a suspension of his sentence to assist. However, Shinryuu instead takes out the surveillence system of Impel Down as well as communications, just as the Blackbeard Pirates arrive to further complicate matters. After a brief exchange, Blackbeard and his crew eave Luffy and his gang to escape while they continue their plans to "shake the world," but Magellan poisons them. Buggy and Mr. 3 again join forces with Luffy, with mr. 3 helping Luffy stall Magellan while Jimbei and the others secure one of the marine battleships for their escape.

In the end, Bon Kurei nobley remains behind to ensure the escape's success by opening the Gates of Justice. After a teary exchange via a den den mushi, Bon Kurei faces off against an angry magellan while Luffy and his allies continue on after Ace, whose execution at Marinefold is only four hours away.

Chapters: 442-

Episodes: 337-

Year Ran: 2007-


 * Thriller Bark arc 2007-2008
 * Sabaody Archipelago arc 2008
 * Amazon Lily arc 2008
 * Impel Down arc 2008 -