Kuma will sacrifice himself at Egghead Island, and One Piece chapter 1096 is set to confirm it

With One Piece chapter 1096 set to take a short break a week before its official release, fans of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s manga series are excitedly discussing what could be next. While it’s widely accepted that the God Valley flashback will continue, fans are unsure of exactly what aspect of the island’s infamous incident will be the next immediate focus.

More likely than not, One Piece chapter 1096 will continue to showcase the fateful meeting of future Revolutionary Army founding members, Emporio Ivankov and Bartholomew Kuma. With the previous issue ending with their apparent first meeting with one another, it’s the most logical conclusion for the subsequent release.

However, there’s actually a specific aspect of One Piece chapter 1096’s continuation of their first meeting that is of great concern to contemporary events on Egghead Island. In fact, Kuma and Ivankov’s first real conversation with each other will solidify that the former will sacrifice himself at Egghead to save his daughter Jewelry Bonney and the others present.

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Kuma’s dream set to be confirmed in One Piece chapter 1096, set up heroic rescue of true Warrior of Liberation

How the coming release will confirm Kuma’s sacrifice, explained

In the issues prior to One Piece chapter 1096, fans have seen the situation at Egghead Island become a dire one, especially for Jewelry Bonney. This transitioned into a flashback detailing the origins of her father, Bartholomew Kuma. Within this flashback, fans saw how influential the myth of Sun God Nika, the Warrior of Liberation, was to Kuma during his formative childhood years.

As Kuma and Ivankov meet each other for the first time, the former will likely bring up his dream of freeing people all over the world, just as the Warrior of Liberation would. This will undoubtedly serve as the foundation for both he and Ivankov wanting to start the Revolutionary Army alongside Monkey D. Dragon. Additionally, having him state this desire will establish it as the guiding principle for how he wants to live his life in general.

This has been seen long before One Piece chapter 1096, particularly in the Sabaody Archipelago and Return to Sabaody arcs. In the former, Kuma’s last act as a full-fledged human with free will is to save the Straw Hat Pirates of his own volition. Then, his last request as a human saw him desire to protect the Thousand Sunny, the crew’s ship, until one of their own returned to reclaim it two years later.

With the knowledge of Kuma’s origins now in mind, it becomes clear that this scene was Kuma acting out his lifelong dream of being a Warrior of Liberation and saving and freeing people. Ironically, he even saves the true reincarnation of the Warrior of Liberation in the form of Monkey D. Luffy by doing so, even if this was unbeknownst to Luffy and readers alike at the time.

With all of this in mind, fans can point to how much danger Jewelry Bonney is in at Egghead Island heading into One Piece chapter 1096. While the God Valley Flashback is likely to continue, fans can count on the eventual return to Egghead Island seeing Kuma appear to save Bonney and the others by sacrificing himself. Should the coming issue see Kuma bring up his dream of saving people once more, this eventuality will be all but officially confirmed.

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