August 23, 2026, marked the release of One Piece Chapter 1191 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #39, and it was a significant addition to the climax of the Elbaf arc. Currently, Monkey D. Luffy has joined forces with Hajrudin and Loki to help him drive Nerona Imu out of the Land of the Giants and save the country for good.
To do that, however, Luffy needs more power, and Eiichiro Oda, the creator of the story, has teased a new Sun God form for him on top of his already existing Gear 5. This new transformation was teased through Nerona Imu's own Akuma no Mi form, which goes to show that even fully mastered Devil Fruits can have multiple transformations, opening the door for Luffy to tap into a completely new form.
Monkey D. Luffy first tapped into the power of Gear 5 following the awakening of Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which came on March 28, 2022, in One Piece Chapter #1044, which was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #17. Since then, Luffy has been utterly dominant in all the fights that he has taken part in. In the battle against Kaido, Luffy had not even gotten used to his new powers but was still able to crush the Yonko. Against Kizaru, he was still dominant, and against the likes of the Elders, he put up quite an impressive performance despite not being able to deal any lasting damage to them.
In Elbaf, Luffy faced his first stumbling block when Nerona Imu arrived in Chapter 1179, which was released on April 5, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #19. Luffy vs Imu began officially in One Piece Chapter 1187, and it was clear to see that he was outclassed, as he lost one chapter later. To make matters worse, Nerona Imu painted the difference in strength between Luffy and Joy Boy quite clearly, stating that he was not anywhere close to the latter's level. As such, even though Luffy has access to all three types of Haki and has fully awakened his Devil Fruit power, he is nowhere close to Nerona Imu in terms of strength.
"Of course I know that thou art not Joy Boy! Joy Boy was not this weak!!" — Imu defeats Luffy, One Piece Chapter #1188
Even his predecessor, that is Joy Boy, was on a completely different level. This goes to show that Luffy is limited in combat despite being one of the Emperors of the Sea and has to grow further. Thankfully, One Piece Chapter 1191, which was officially released on August 23, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #39, paves the way for Luffy to gain a new Sun God form. This is all possible now following Imu's new transformation.
In One Piece Chapter 1191, Nerona Imu was seen reeling following Scopper Gaban's powerful Yachitakeru attack. This attack not only chopped off a massive portion of the Adam Tree and crushed a mountain range in the Underworld of Elbaf, but it also caused severe Injuries to Nerona Imu. Imu was seen bleeding from his head, mouth, and nose, and had massive cuts all across his chest, lying in a pool of his own blood. Given that Imu sustained so much damage, he realized that in order to triumph in Elbaf, he needed to power up further. To that end, he used a new Devil Fruit form, which made him bigger, gave him four horns, massive wings, and covered his arms and legs completely in the black flames of Omen, which stem through the power of the Akuma no Mi. This new transformation of Nerona Imu gave him significantly more physical strength and powered him up to a level where he stated that his next attack would kill both Luffy and Loki at once.
Imu: An impressive feat! To escape Honebami's wrath while losing only one arm. There will be nothing left of thee after the next one!
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/one-piece-luffy-sun-god-form-after-gear-5/
