## One Piece Chapter 1045: Next Level - Chapter: 1045 - Pages: 0-17 - Characters: Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, Sanji, Brook, Franky, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin, Jinbe, Kaido, Yamato, Kozuki Momonosuke, Beast Pirates, Pedro ### Summary Page 0: Weekly Shonen Jump front matter shows a color cover of Luffy with the issue promotion text, including "The adventure continues!!" and a note about the Wano climax and the 25th anniversary caravan truck project. This is magazine promotional material rather than the chapter narrative, but it is attached to the release and is useful extra context for the chapter's publication package. Page 1: The color spread celebrates One Piece's 25th anniversary caravan truck project. The Straw Hats appear in a bright "Sea of Liberty" truck design with Luffy reaching toward the viewer, Nami, Sanji, Brook, Franky, Usopp, Chopper, Zoro, Robin, and Jinbe arranged around the vehicle. This is official color-spread and anniversary material rather than the Wano story, so it is kept as useful extra material. Page 2: The story begins with "Chapter 1045: Next Level" as Kaido watches Luffy in Gear Fifth and says he was sure Luffy was a goner after the previous attack. Luffy laughs while panting, and Kaido realizes, "So was I!!" because Luffy can make his surroundings rubbery, which would fit an awakened Paramecia. Yet Kaido also says something about this feels off, because a transformation like Luffy's is more typical of a Zoan fruit. This page follows directly from the Nika reveal and shows Kaido trying to analyze what he is fighting in real time: Luffy's power now behaves like both an environmental rubber awakening and a bodily transformation that should not belong to the same category. Page 3: Kaido lunges and bites Luffy, calling him a bastard, and Luffy screams as he is caught between the dragon's teeth. Luffy begins another "Gomu Gomu no..." while Kaido's body coils around him, and the collision becomes more absurd than brutal. Kaido chomps down and swallows or traps Luffy inside his dragon form, but Luffy's rubbery body keeps moving inside him. The page emphasizes the strange tone of the renewed rooftop battle: it is still a life-or-death clash against an Emperor, but Gear Fifth turns the violence into a cartoonish physical gag where even being bitten and swallowed becomes material for Luffy's next move. Page 4: Luffy inflates himself inside Kaido with "Balloon!!" and Kaido's dragon body swells into a huge round shape. Yamato and Momonosuke react in shock from below, while Kaido groans that Luffy is a little pest. The inflated dragon writhes and bulges as Luffy stretches from the inside, turning Kaido's body into rubber-like material against Kaido's will. The page makes the new freedom of Gear Fifth unmistakable: Luffy is not simply bouncing attacks away from his own body, but forcing the same elastic logic onto Kaido's form. What should be an impossible internal trap becomes a joke at Kaido's expense. Page 5: Momonosuke and Yamato look up at the swollen dragon and ask what is happening. Yamato wonders whether this is some form of Luffy's, while Momonosuke says it looks like Kaido put on weight. Kaido complains that Luffy's body is meant to be rubbery, not his, but Luffy's face and limbs stretch through Kaido's body in bizarre ways. Luffy says "Gomu Gomu no..." while his eyes shine as if he can see a way out. The page shows that the awakened power is affecting Kaido directly: his eyes, mouth, and body all distort under Luffy's internal movement, making Kaido experience the same rubber reality that Luffy normally imposes on himself. Page 6: Luffy bursts out with "Escape Rocket!!" and Kaido screams as Luffy shoots free. Luffy laughs, then suddenly appears high above the island before dropping back down. Yamato, Momonosuke, and Kaido all stare in disbelief as Luffy's body expands into a giant form. The page ends with a huge reveal of Luffy as a giant, looming over Kaido's dragon body while everyone asks who or what he is. Even Luffy's re-entry into the fight has the timing of a slapstick stunt: he rockets out, pops through the sky, then returns in a new exaggerated scale that makes the dragon Emperor seem like something he can physically grab. Page 7: Luffy's giant Gear Fifth form stands over Kaido, and Kaido, Yamato, and Momonosuke all react to the impossible size. Kaido's subordinates below ask whether Luffy's voice is coming from that thing and whether it is really him. Luffy grabs Kaido's dragon body and starts using him like a jump rope, shouting "Jump Rope!!" while Kaido groans in pain and anger. The panel turns one of the series' most intimidating enemies into an object in Luffy's hands. Gear Fifth's ridiculousness is not harmless comedy; it is a new mode of combat where Luffy can treat Kaido's immense body as a toy and still deal real damage. Page 8: Luffy continues swinging Kaido like a jump rope until Kaido fires "Blast Breath!!" straight at him. Yamato yells th...