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One PieceSBS volume 110 is officially out, and fans are waiting in anticipation to see what Oda has revealed in this segment of the question-and-answer corner. Usually, Oda goofs around in theOne PieceSBS corner quite a bit, but every once in a while, he reveals interesting bits of information that can potentially even turn the entire story on its head.
This month’s SBS has been somewhat good, as Oda has revealed quite a lot of exciting details about the Admirals of the Marines and, at the same time, a very intriguing detail about Yamato as well. As fans know, Yamato is a very powerful individual from Wano, known to be Kaido’s child.Yamato is also a tremendously overpowered Devil Fruit user, as confirmed in the Wano Country arc. Many fans speculated about Yamato’s Devil Fruit Awakening status for years, and now, an answer has been provided by Oda.
Yamato’s Devil Fruit Power And Its Awakening
Yamato was introduced to the fans in the Third Act of the Wano Country Arc. When the raid on Onigashima officially began, Yamato showed up as a very powerful fighter. There, Yamato joined the raid against Kaido, and even ended up fighting against the Yonko. Yamato also revealed the Devil Fruit ability of an ancient deity, and it turned out to be a Mythical Zoan as well. Yamato’s ability was revealed to be the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami, and it was clearly stated that this was an incredibly powerful devil fruit that allows the user to turn into a guardian deity fox at will, as well as a human-guardian deity hybrid.
This Devil Fruit is for the guardian deity of Wano! – Kaido
One key detail that stuck out during this transformation to the fans was the cloud ring around Yamato’s neck. Usually, cloud rings are commonly associated with Awakening among the fans. However, Oda has never explicitly stated that cloud rings mean Awakening. Fans automatically assumed that these rings must mean Awakening since Luffy has a cloud ring around his neck. In his awakened form, as do characters such as Rob Lucci, Kaku, and, of course, the Five Elders as well. Naturally, Yamato having a cloud ring meant to many fans that the devil fruit Yamato possessed was awakened as well.
Naturally, some fans argued against the idea because Yamato never showed signs of Awakening. Awakeningmeans that a Zoan Devil Fruituser has a unique transformation granted to them. This was confirmed directly by Oda himself. Furthermore, nothing about Yamato’s transformation indicated to the fans that the devil fruit was awakened. But, it was certainly a valid idea to hold, that is, up until now.
Why Yamato Is Not An Awakening User
Oda Shows Yamato’s Devil Fruit Usage As A Kid
InOne Piecevolume 110 SBS, Yamato was officially confirmed to be a Devil Fruit user without an Awakening. Essentially, Oda drew Yamato’s Devil Fruit transformation as a kid. Clearly, Yamato could transform into the fox-like deity as a kid as well, and even access the hybrid form. Around this time, Yamato was around 8 years old. Yet, during these transformations, Yamato still held the cloud ring around the neck. This is a key detail that fans should pay more attention to. This essentially means that Yamato was not awakened in the Wano Country arc and that the cloud ringdoes not indicate Awakening for Yamato, or for any other individual inOne Piece.
There’s absolutely no way that an 8-year-old child awakened Devil Fruit immediately after eating it. Awakening is a gruesome process that some individuals get only after years upon years of training. Furthermore, fans know Paramecia Awakening users do not have these cloud rings. Of course, Zoans usually manifest such features, but, once again, Yamato’s case proves that not every Zoan has to have this cloud ring around their neck to be Awakened. This is quite exciting, because it raises very intriguing arguments about what Zoan Awakening signifiers truly are.
The idea that Devil Fruit Awakening in Zoan cases automatically grants the user a cloud ring does not hold as much weight anymore. For one, Luffy held a cloud ring around his neck in Gear 4. Now, one can argue that Gear 4 was already Luffy on his way to Awakening, but, Yamato’s Devil Fruit having a ring around the neck simply confirms that it doesn’t necessarily mean that a user is awakened. In fact, it doesn’t even have to mean that a user is close to Awakening, given that Yamato held this cloud ring ever since childhood.
What Does Yamato’s Devil Fruit Awakening Confirmation Mean For One Piece?
More Devil Fruit Users Can Be Speculated To Be Awakened
Now that it has beenconfirmed that Yamato was indeed not a user of Devil Fruit Awakening, fans can look at things with a much broader perspective. Essentially, characters who have not shown a cloud ring, such as Kaido, are now back in conversation for Devil Fruit Awakening. Kaido was quite a strange case to the fans. Despite being the strongest creature in the world and quite easily the most formidable Zoan, Kaido was not given an Awakening transformation. At the very least, Kaido was not explicitly stated by Oda to have a Devil Fruit Awakening. Yet, Kaido knew all about Devil Fruit Awakenings, and reacted to Luffy’s Awakening as if he had one himself.
Of course, Oda did not explicitly state that Kaido was awakened, but his unique transformation certainly raises quite a few eyebrows. Kaido had two transformations that fans raised an eyebrow at; one transformation saw him bulk up tremendously and change in color. This allowed Kaido to channel his full strength and, at the same time, bring out the best out of his Haki as well. This purple transformation does not have a name, but it certainly adds to Kaido’s strength tremendously. Using this power, Kaido was even able to overwhelm Gear 5 Luffy in certain instances, which is certainly a great indicator of Devil Fruit Awakening.
On top of that, Kaido had yet another transformation where he ignited himself in flames and turned into a majestic lava-like dragon. This was Kaido at the peak of his powers, and was a majestic transformation. This can now enterthe conversation for Devil Fruit Awakening once again. Similarly, there are other individuals in One Piece for whom fans can now make a case for Devil Fruit Awakening, and this opens up the door for many exciting discussions among the fans. At the very least, fans can now put the argument of cloud rings being an indicator of Awakening to bed, as it has now been confirmed to not necessarily mean that a user is awakened.
Hopefully, Oda clarifies whatan actual indicator of Zoan Awakening is. So far, fans can only consider a Devil Fruit user to be Awakened when Oda explicitly gives them an introduction box that states they are Awakened. This happened with both Lucci and Kaku, and of course, Luffy as well. As for the Elders, fans can assume that they are Awakened, but at the same time, the fact is that their powers work in mysterious ways given that they are demonic in nature. Hopefully, Oda answers these mysteries soon enough in the manga.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1131, is set to be May 23, 2025.
