## One Piece Chapter 1044, pages 8-10: Warrior of Liberation - Chapter: 1044 - Pages: 8-10 - Characters: Kozuki Hiyori, Kurozumi Orochi, Kurozumi Kanjuro, Kazenbo, Monkey D. Luffy, Kaido, Beast Pirates, Alliance Fighters, Eustass Kid, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Marco, Hyogoro ### Summary Page 8: Orochi's command backfires. The Kazenbo flame calls for Orochi but moves the wrong way, and Orochi screams as it ignites him instead. Hiyori, standing firm before the burning traitor, says, "The dawn will come... The Kozuki clan... always keeps its promises!!" The rhythm of Luffy's heartbeat returns on the page as the scene shifts back to the roof. Luffy says his heartbeat sounds funny and that he feels like anything is possible now, as if he can keep fighting a bit longer. He identifies the feeling: "This is my peak!! This is... Gear Fifth!!" The page links Hiyori's faith in the dawn with Luffy's awakening, making the political revenge below and the liberation above part of the same turning point. Page 9: Onigashima shakes as Luffy's new power erupts from the roof. Kaido and the fighters below notice something impossible above them, and Kaido asks, "What the hell is that?!" as a strange presence looms overhead. Luffy's laughter and movement distort the battlefield, and the roof seems to pulse with cartoonish force. The page builds suspense before showing the full shape of Gear Fifth in action. The people below do not understand what has appeared; they only feel a tremendous force, hear the strange rhythm, and see that the defeated Straw Hat has somehow become the center of a phenomenon strong enough to shake the whole dome and draw Kaido's attention back upward. Page 10: Luffy's awakened power surges outward as Conqueror's Haki, knocking out fighters below who ask where it is coming from. Kid, Law, Hyo, Marco, and others recognize that it is Luffy and shout his name in disbelief. Luffy grabs Kaido's dragon body from the roof as if the enormous Emperor were a rope, pulling him upward with a comical "yoink" while Kaido's subordinates cry out, "Kaido-san?!" Then Luffy smashes Kaido through the ceiling and into the floor with ridiculous force. The page shows the first active use of Gear Fifth's freedom: Luffy can stretch, grab, and manhandle a dragon Emperor in a way that breaks the normal scale and tone of the battle.