Chapter 1044

Chapter 1044 is titled "Warrior of Liberation".

Cover Page
Germa 66's Ahh... An Emotionless Excursion, Vol. 8: "Mama's away on her trip. Begin the experiments!!"

Oven leaves Niji and Yonji in the hands of Prim, Kato, Brownie, and Anana.

Short Summary
Luffy regains consciousness as the Five Elders reveal the real nature of his Devil Fruit. Meanwhile, Hiyori reminisces her past and reveals herself to Orochi, as a weakened Kazenbo attacks the latter. Luffy then continues his fight with Kaidou under his new Gear 5 form.

Long Summary
As Luffy's heartbeat beats like a drum, he wonders how is able to stand despite having lost his fight with Kaidou, and also why he feels like he’s having so much fun. Momonosuke, meanwhile, has told Yamato what Zunesha told him: Luffy is Joy Boy.

In the Pleasure Hall’s right brain tower, the sound of Luffy’s heartbeat wakes Sanji, who immediately calls Luffy’s name. All throughout the castle, people hear Luffy’s heartbeat, with some of them, like Nami and Tama, crying tears of joy that he’s still alive. In the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, meanwhile, the Five Elders wonder if sacrificing one of their best agents was the right call considering it only enraged Kaidou, but they decide it’s for the best to snuff out something so “problematic.” The elders reveal that for 800 years since the World Government's founding, they’ve been trying to get ahold of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but somehow, it keeps avoiding them, like it has a mind of its own. That’s when they reveal the truth: The Gomu Gomu no Mi is actually a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit called the “Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika”! According to them, this Devil Fruit gives one the properties of rubber in combat only limited by the user’s imagination, and the user brings smiles to people far and wide; the embodiment of “the Warrior of Liberation.” Awakening it, however, is said to strengthen their rubbery body exponentially and grant them more freedom to god-like levels, causing them to declare the Devil Fruit to be the most ridiculously powerful thing in the world.

In the Treasure Repository, Orochi tries to plead for Hiyori to save him, claiming he always respected Oden and that he was just Kaidou’s pawn the whole time. Hiyori, however, reminds him of how he and Kaidou both fooled Oden into making a fool of himself for five years on the empty promise of leaving and how he expected him and Kaidou to keep their word of sparing him during his execution. Even though she saw him smile, she felt he was suffering the whole time shouldering the burden of saving Wano from him, even thinking back to when he told her he was alright about what others said about him because he had his family. Orochi once again tries to appeal to Hiyori by saying he will acknowledge Oden’s legacy, but Hiyori discards her mask and demands he shut up, proudly calling out her name with tears in her eyes. She stands before the horrified Orochi and declares she was always proud to carry her father’s name while denouncing him as nothing but an honorless wretch who killed people every day, he was shogun. Orochi desperately begs her to spare him just as Kanjuro's Kazenbo appears, still shrunken. Orochi demands Kazenbo kill Hiyori, but the weak painting accidently touches him and sets him ablaze as Hiyori watches.

On the rooftop, Luffy says he can keep fighting longer now, and declares his new form “Gear 5”.

With his new form, Luffy emits a huge blast of Haoshoku Haki, knocking out several Beasts Pirates, before enlarging his hand and grabbing Kaidou’s entire dragon form and dragging him back up to the rooftop. He then tightly wraps his arm around his body and swings him around before slamming him back and forth on the surface. Kaidou eventually recovers and admits he’s glad Luffy is still alive before firing Bolo Breath at him. Luffy, however, grabs the ground and makes it rubber, deflecting the fire back at him. Though hit by his own attack, Kaidou recovers and apologizes for CP0 sabotaging their fight, but Luffy accepts his apology and prepares to finish his fight with him.

Chapter Notes

 * Luffy's Devil Fruit has awakened; he gets up and resumes attacking Kaidou in a new form, named Gear 5.
 * In this form, Luffy demonstrates the ability to instantly change his bulk and make the ground malleable to stretch it like rubber.
 * Momonosuke reveals to Yamato what Zunesha had told him, that Luffy is Joy Boy.
 * Luffy's allies are able to sense he is still alive from the loud sound of his heartbeat.
 * Sanji regains consciousness.
 * Hyogoro can use Kenbunshoku Haki.
 * The Five Elders reveal amongst themselves that the "real name" of the Gomu Gomu no Mi is the Mythical Zoan, Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika.
 * The Five Elders note that losing one of their top CP0 agents and angering Kaidou is preferable to risking the awakening of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika.
 * The Five Elders are shown to possess knowledge on the true nature of Devil Fruits, namely the secret property of Zoan fruits.
 * Zoan Devil Fruits have a will of their own and wonder whether because of this the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika has always managed to elude the World Government.
 * The confrontation between Kozuki Hiyori and Orochi continues.
 * Hiyori removes her mask and shows her angered and saddened face.
 * A weakened Kazenbo arrives whom Orochi mistakes as Kanjuro, and orders "him" to attack Hiyori, but Kazenbo attacks Orochi instead, setting him on fire.
 * The battle between Luffy and Kaidou continues.