Within the ranks of the Straw Hat Pirates, there has always been an established power hierarchy. The captain of the crew, Monkey D. Luffy, has always been established by Eiichiro Oda to be the absolute strongest, followed by the swordsman Roronoa Zoro. Following Zoro is Sanji, the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, and the gap between him and the swordsman has always been incredibly small.

However, with the Elbaf arc, Eiichiro Oda is erasing this gap forever, and for the very first time in the series, One Piece is replacing Zoro as Luffy's strongest commander. Instead, Zoro and Sanji are now set to stand on the same pedestal, starting the Elbaf arc, as the latter finally has his biggest nerf removed and awakens the Color of the Supreme King. One Piece Chapter 1197, which is set to be released on November 1, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 49, is set to grant the Color of the Supreme King to Sanji and remove his biggest mental nerf, which he put on himself ever since he was a kid, finally bridging the gap between him and Zoro once and for all.

One Piece chapter 1196 was officially released on October 18, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump issue 47. This chapter was significant for the character of Sanji, the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, as it forced him to finally accept his biggest weakness. Ever since Sanji was born, he was constantly abused by his family, and this was largely because of his inability to manifest the same powers as the other Vinsmoke siblings.

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