The Final Saga of One Piece continues, and readers know that moving forward, only the most important characters in the series will be relevant. Of course, there is the Straw Hat Pirates crew, but also, other similar groups that Oda has been saving for the Final Saga. For instance, the remaining Yonko crew in One Piece, which include the Red Hair Pirates, the Cross Guild, and of course, the Blackbeard Pirates, are going to be incredibly relevant in this particular segment of the story.

There are also the Marines, the Revolutionary Army, and of course, the fighting forces of the World Government. Quite easily, the group that fans are most interested in, aside from the Straw Hat Pirates, are the Red Hair Pirates, because they are led by one of the fan favorites, Red-haired Shanks. Fans have been itching to see what Shanks does in the Final Saga, and finally, One Piece chapter 1126 might have given them a major hint in regards to what he is planning next.

Shanks Destroyed The Kid Pirates Previously Near Elbaf

Shanks Fought Kid Recently And Beat Him

Shanks Set Out To Locate Someone

Shanks was always going to be ever present in the Final Saga of One Piece. In fact, long ago, would, Oda mentioned that when Shanks starts appearing more often in the story, fans can assume that One Piece is in the Final Saga. This was a quote from decades ago, and this simply implied that Shanks is only going to start fighting big battles and shaking up the world in the Final Saga of the series. Thankfully, One Piece is in the Final Saga right now, which means that Shanks is going to be more important than ever before. In the Final Saga, fans saw a glimpse of Shanks in the Egghead Island arc, and now, with One Piece moving closer to Elbaf, he is going to be more important than ever, especially because Elbaf is likely going to be his own arc to shine.

When Shanks starts appearing more frequently, you can assume One Piece is in the final saga. – Oda

On Egghead, Shanks gave fans a prelude to what they can expect from him. He met the Kid Pirates near the shore of Elbaf, and utterly destroyed them. While Kid was preparing to destroy his fleet, Shanks foresaw the danger, jumped into action, and essentially destroyed Kid with a single swing of his sword. Using his powerful Kamusari, Shanks utterly decimated a 3 billion berry pirate, and that wasn’t all. Along with Kid, Killer, his right-hand man was taken down as well, and the fact that he took two of the most powerful pirates on the seas with a single swing just goes to show how strong he truly is. The entirety of the Kid Pirates were destroyed by Shanks in the Egghead Island arc, and it just went to show that he was truly serious about going ahead and claiming the One Piece.

Given that Shanks wasn’t all that relevant in Egghead, the fact that he was still given somewhat of a spotlight meant that fans can only expect greater things from him in the future. Now, One Piece has started the Elbaf Arc, fans know that this Island is under his protection. That alone implies that Shanks is going to have a major role to play in the Elbaf Arc, and readers clearly cannot wait to see what comes next in regards to this red-haired Yonko.

Shanks Was Shown To Destroy Bartolomeo’s Crew In One Piece 1126

Shanks Met And Destroyed The Barto Club

In One Piece 1126, fans got to see more of the red-haired Emperor, Shanks. This time around, Shanks was seen tussling with one of Luffy’s underlings. For those who do not remember, it was Bartolomeo who burned down Shanks’s flag in one of the towns that he visited and put up the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates instead. Burning down the flag of an Emperor means an open challenge, and essentially declaration that the territory is under attack. Shanks was obviously not going to let this slide. In fact, Shanks clearly alluded to the fact that he needed to deal with it personally after the War of Wano.

When his crew suggested going to see Luffy, Shanks reminded them that their priorities right now are Blackbeard, and of course, Bartolomeo, who recently burnt down his flag.

This is a deadly poison. See to it that Straw Hat Luffy takes it within a month! – Hongo

After the events of Egghead, Shanks once again set out to the sea to attend to important business. Of course, his priorities right now are Blackbeard, and of course, paying back for whoever harms his friends. As such, the two targets for Shanks were Blackbeard and Bartolomeo. Now, it has been confirmed that Shanks has met the latter, and dealt with him effectively. As seen in One Piece Chapter 1126, Shanks and his pirate crew managed to defeat the Barto Club. The captain, Bartolomeo, was then given poison. The crew asked him to ensure that Luffy is poisoned and dies within a month, which would be the only way he would let him live. Being the loyal follower that he is, he consumed the poison himself, and later, it was real that this was actually Shanks’s test for him all along. Bartolomeo was allowed to sail away.

However, while sailing, Yasopp attacked his pirate ship, essentially destroying the Luffy Go Senpai from a distance. The threat of Bartolomeo has now been dealt with. Shanks has paid him back for burning down his flag, and this marks a truly important turn in the series. This essentially means that the targets for Shanks are now Blackbeard, and with him, Luffy.

Shanks Vs Luffy Is Coming

The Elbaf Arc Will See Luffy Vs Shanks Happen

Given that Shanks has destroyed Bartolomeo now, it is highly likely that he will set his sights on other targets. Either Shanks is going to go for Blackbeard, which is highly unlikely right now, given that he has made it back to Hachinosu already, or, Shanks is going to go back to Elbaf, which sets up very exciting things. Right now, Luffy is on his way to Elbaf already. This is something that fans know pretty well, given that the crew has been sailing for 2 days. Soon, Shanks should arrive on Elbaf as well. When these two pirates are present on the same island, a confrontation of tremendous scale will be presented. Fans know that both Shanks and Luffy being on the same island means that they are going to meet, and at the same time, battle each other in an enthralling duel.

Shanks versus Luffy is the fight that fans have been waiting decades for. Oda will most likely deliver upon this incredible combat in the Elbaf arc, it is safe to say that this battle is now only months away. It is highly likely that Shanks versus Luffy will happen at some point in 2025, and although that may seem far away, in terms of the number of chapters, it isn’t too far off.

Shanks fulfilling his objective against Bartolomeo simply means that Luffy versus Shanks just got one step closer, and fans should start preparing themselves for this magnificent clash of great proportions.