One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda made his comeback with Chapter 1192 on September 6, 2026, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #41. Following a long stretch of breaks, One Piece finally delivered some intense action in the Elbaf arc as Luffy and Loki combined to take on Nerona Imu. At the same time, Monkey D. Luffy showcased new abilities against the King of the World, which once again highlighted how his usage of Gear 5 is constantly evolving.
In One Piece Chapter 1192, Eiichiro Oda cleverly teased Luffy’s new Gear 5 upgrade as it broke the fourth wall and affected the reality within the world of One Piece, increasing his mastery over the powers of imagination stemming from the Sun God Nika.
One Piece Chapter 1192 Quietly Shows Luffy’s Gear 5 Growth
Luffy’s Gear 5 is the awakened form of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which was shown to us for the very first time in One Piece chapter 1044 on March 28, 2022. Since then, the Gear 5 transformation has grown each time Luffy has tapped into it. The first time Luffy used Gear 5 was against Kaido, and in this fight, Luffy showcased his free-wheeling combat to us as he dominated Kaido. In One Piece chapter 1049, Luffy dealt the decisive blow to the King of Beasts Kaido and liberated the land of Wano.
“Possessing a body with the powers of rubber, and fighting in whatever way he fancies, bringing smiles to the faces of people, the Warrior of Liberation…also known as the Sun God, Nika!” — Elders explain the Nika Fruit, One Piece Chapter #1044
Later down the line, in One Piece chapter 1069, which was released on December 12, 2022, Luffy tapped into Gear 5 against Rob Lucci and showed a new ability of creating things from the white scarf around his neck. Luffy also tapped into Gear 5 against Kizaru and then the Five Elders in the climax of Egghead. In Elbaf, Luffy tapped into Gear 5 momentarily in Road’s diorama, and then against Scopper Gaban as well. However, his true usage of Gear 5 only came later down the line against Nerona Imu in the climax of the arc.
Image via Toei Animation.
“All things are brought into this world with hope! Even Devil Fruits!! Every Devil Fruit is a possibility for a human evolution that someone desired. All these powers represent the many branches of the future of humanity!” — Vegapunk explains Devil Fruits, One Piece Chapter #1069
Since Luffy first tapped into this power, Gear 5 has been at work continuously, even though he suffered two stab wounds from the King of the World, Nerona Imu. Now, Eiichiro has taken the power of Gear 5 to a new level in One Piece chapter 1192 on September 6, 2026. In this chapter, Luffy’s Gear 5 power had grown so strong that even the exclamation marks the author wrote started being affected by his awakened powers. Usually, all the dialogue in the manga is inked black, but in chapter 1192, the exclamation marks around Luffy were all white. This is a direct reference to Monkey D. Luffy’s Nika powers growing even stronger and affecting more things around him than ever before. Luffy’s Nika powers have not fully matured yet, and that is quite clear for us to see. With his ongoing fight against Nerona Imu, these powers are being tested to the absolute limit, forcing him to grow even stronger in the face of battle.
How Luffy’s Gear 5 Powers Now Alter Reality
The fact that Luffy’s Nika powers started affecting things like exclamation marks and changing the color of dialogue in the manga
highlights the fact that the power of Luffy’s awakening is increasing. With the power of the awakened Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika, Luffy can turn anything around him into rubber. In fact, Luffy is the first individual who can affect living things by his Awakening as well, as was clearly seen when he punched Kaido and stretched his body like it was rubber. In One Piece chapter 1192, Luffy did something similar to Nerona Imu when he broke through the Shield of Emptiness: Tohu Va Vohu. The fact that Luffy was able to break through Imu’s defense goes to show how strong Gear 5 has gotten now.
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One Piece Officially Sets Up The End Of Monkey D. Luffy
Luffy has a tragic fate ahead of him in Elbaf, and One Piece chapter 1192 seals the deal.
Q: When using Gear 5th, Luffy takes things like goggles or a baseball helmet out of his Hagoromo cloud scarf. Please tell us how that works!
A: It’s a gateway to Nika’s fantasy.
— Oda explains how Nika’s power defies logic.
Just as Nerona Imu’s Omen or Haki affects things around him and even gives a buff to the surroundings, Luffy’s Nika powers can do the same. Eiichiro Oda has already shown Luffy giving rubbery properties to his surroundings, but now, it is highly likely that he will spread the powers of Nika to his surroundings as well. Luffy’s powers could potentially grow to a whole new level in the climax of the Elbaf arc as he fights against Nerona Imu. It is interesting to remember that Eiichiro Oda himself stated that Luffy’s true powers are Nika’s imagination. This means that anything that Luffy can imagine can be turned into reality, breaking the fourth wall and affecting things like written dialogue in the manga pages, and this is only the beginning of that. As Gear 5’s true nature starts to awaken, Luffy can and should be able to affect anything in his surroundings, or even conjure something out of thin air to aid him in combat.
Luffy’s Gear 5 Evolution Could Result In A New Form
Image by Toei Animation
Right now, Luffy only has one Nika form. In comparison, Nerona Imu has already demonstrated three different demonic forms. The first one was shown to us in One Piece chapter 1085, which was officially released on June 5, 2023, in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #27. Then, in One Piece chapter 1179, Imu unleashed another Akuma no Mi transformation. Finally, in One Piece chapter 1191, Imu took a completely different form.
If Imu has multiple demonic forms, then it is fair to assume that Monkey D. Luffy has multiple Nika forms as well. As Luffy continues to play with the idea of reality itself, Gear 5 is getting stronger, and that means he could potentially go on to tap into newer and stronger transformations. Gear 5’s base form isn’t the end of the road for Luffy. He hasn’t fully gained a perfect grasp of what his ability can do, and as he does, he’s going to unlock even stronger transformations, which we are all eagerly waiting to see.
The latest chapters of One Piece by Eiichiro Oda are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.