'One Piece' 1036: First Chapter For 2022 Heralds A New King [Spoilers]

"One Piece" 1036 is the first chapter to debut in 2022 but ahead of the manga's official rollout, raw scans have leaked that readers will meet a new king when the highly anticipated installment drops.

The upcoming "One Piece" chapter is titled "The Way of Bushido is Found in Death" and its Color Spread shows the Straw Hat Pirates playing on houses capped with snow. Details about Chapter 1036 have been shared by insiders in the community, particularly Redon from Manga Helpers.

The chapter will show the continuation and eventually the ending of the explosive battle between two of the strongest vice-captains of the new pirate era, Roronoa Zoro and King the Conflagration. And while Kaido's Calamity King is undoubtedly strong, Luffy's right-hand man will prove that he is much stronger.

Zoro will release a powerful attack toward King that will break the All-Star's sword and cause him to lose a part of his right-wing, according to the raw scans. Readers will also see the remnant of the Lunarian race getting a deep cut on his torso because of the attack.

Zoro, on the other hand, will be in the air just behind his opponent with black flashes of lightning coming out of his swords. King will then lose consciousness and will remember the conversation he had with Kaido several years after the yonko got her out of the prison.

Zoro will also have a flashback in "One Piece" 1036 and it will take readers to the time when he was defeated by Dracule Mihawk in Baratie. As he loses consciousness, King will remember his promise to Kaido that he will not lose until he makes the yonko the King of Pirates.

Similarly, Zoro's flashback is about his promise to his captain never to be defeated until he becomes the greatest swordsman and helps Luffy become the King of Pirates. As Zoro gears up to return to Onigashima, black lightings and smoke still come out of his swords.

Seemingly acknowledging his victory, Zoro will say that he is prepared to become the King of Hell if the circumstance requires. As King continues to fall far from Onigashima, Pirate Hunter Zoro will use a powerful attack to propel himself toward the floating island.

Zoro's statement about his readiness to be the King of Hell seems like an allusion to Oden's Enma. In one of the previous chapters of the manga, Tenguyama Hitetsu described Enma as the sword with the ability to "cut through to the bottom of hell."

The Pirate Hunter's statement also aligns with the origin of the term Enma, which according to the Japanese-Buddhist myth, is the king of Hell or the judge of dead souls. Shimotsuki Kozaburo, the famous swordsmith who created the legendary sword, mentioned that he specifically named his masterpiece after the Buddhist God of Hell because it has a life of its own and ordinary swordsman cannot easily control it.

While the manga has not yet officially labeled Roronoa Zoro as the King of Hell, some fans treat him like one. With the wings of the Straw Hats' captain victorious in their respective fights, readers now look forward to the next chapter to see which battle would be featured there.

"One Piece" 1036 is set to release on MangaPlus on Jan. 3, 2022.