Episode 561

"Battle Royal! The Crew vs. the New Fishman Pirates!" is the 561st episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Luffy along with the three princes try to protect Shirahoshi against Hody Jones, the captain of the New Fishman Pirates, focused on killing the Mermaid Princess but seems to have an ulterior motive as Vander Decken IX is slowly losing consciousness and his grip on his Devil Fruit powers that keeps the massive ship Noah from falling on top of Fishman Island and its occupants therefore killing them is weakening.

Meanwhile the other Straw Hat Pirates face off against the New Fishman Pirates officers who are equally eager to finish their opponents off as everyone prepares for the fight once again as the fate of the people of Fishman Island rests on Luffy's hands and his crew. As Luffy and the siblings deal with Hody, Decken falls after trying to throw his axe and passes out and the Noah starts falling to Fishman Island.

Long Summary
Wadatsumi is still under the effects of the Energy Steroid he took. Sanji is still mad at him for "touching Nami with his 'wind pressure'." Nami is seen emitting several dark colored balls in a string from her Clima-Tact. The pirates wonder if she is a witch, to which she replies they can call her Ms. Magician, but in reality her attack is carefully calculated chemistry. She then attacks everyone around her by swinging the staff, performing an attack called Black Ball: Raiun Rod. Zeo and Ikaros Much watch as Nami fights. Zeo remembers what Sanji said about her and realizes that Nami must be the crew's weakness. He turns invisible and grabs her ankles and Ikaros comes up to stab her with a spear. As Nami asks for help, Brook appears in front of her, asking to see her panties and takes two blows at once. One from Ikaros' spear, the other from Nami slapping him. The tip of the spear goes into Brook but nothing happens. Brook explains it is because he is already dried up, much to Ikaros's surprise. Iron Pirate Franky Shogun, trying to find a worthy opponent appears from behind Ikaros and delivers a heavy punch to his face, knocking him back. Ikaros is mad and says even though he's a squid he has a backbone.

Back with Nami and Brook, Zeo has become visible, and someone tells Brook he is standing on his face. Zeo's appearance explains to Nami why she couldn't move. Zeo tries to play it off like he tried to headbutt Brook's foot, with a move he calls Super Sole Head Butt. Elsewhere, Daruma is running rampant underground, causing everyone around him to fall into the hollow earth. Daruma is searching for Chopper. Meanwhile, Dosun sees Usopp standing all by himself, telling Chopper to come to where he is. As Dosun is about to attack Usopp, Chopper smells him and tells Usopp to duck, hitting Dosun in the chin with Horn Cannon Elf. Usopp shoots a Pop Green into the hole, using Hissatsu, Midori Boshi: Skull Exploding Grass. The resulting explosion injures a large group of the New Fishman Pirates and blasts Daruma out of the hole. Usopp recalls fighting with Miss Merry Christmas back in Alabasta, and how they used the same idea against her. At this point, the officers all decide to take more energy steroids. The spectators are surprised by how well the Straw Hats are fighting. Zoro is briefly seen fighting Hyouzou. Sanji is seen fighting Wadatsumi. Madame Shyarly is then seen looking nervously into the sky.

The scene changes to outside the island. Shirahoshi is still leading Noah away. Hody Jones tells Luffy he is too late to protect everything. Ryuboshi and Manboshi realize what would happen if Vander Decken IX were to die right now. Ryuboshi tells Shirahoshi to swim to one side, and Hody cuts him with Kirisame right after that. Hody says that he wanted Decken's ability to run out here. Luffy realizes what will happen if Noah falls, and tells Fukaboshi to take him to Shirahoshi. Hody stops them, but Manboshi shouts that Shirahoshi broke off to the right. As Hody swims toward her, Luffy grabs him, but due to the seawater, his strength is severely limited. Hody easily breaks away, shouting for Decken to drop dead. Noah has now moved slightly to the side of Fishman Island. Inside Noah, Decken is cursing Hody, saying his left hand will never forget him and prepares to throw an axe and try to kill Hody. He is about to say more, but he falls over, hitting his head on the axe and going unconscious. With Decken knocked out, Noah begins to fall back toward Fishman Island.

Anime Notes

 * The anime adds a scene with Sanji kicking Wadatsumi in the face.
 * In the manga, Ikaros Much only bends his back when he was close to the electrocuted underlings. In the anime, one of them came in contact with him, shocking him as well.
 * Unlike in the manga, Ikaros pierced Brook multiple times before realizing that his spears have no effect.
 * The anime explicitly shows Ikaros, Daruma, Zeo, and Dosun taking Energy Steroids right before facing off against their main opponents.
 * In the manga, Decken slipped and hit his head before getting on his feet. In the anime, Decken was preparing to throw an axe at Hody, but the weight of the axe caused Decken to fall down.