Loguetown Arc

This sixth arc closes out the East Blue Saga as the Straw Hats put in at Loguetown, the port famous as both the birthplace and the site of execution for Gold Roger. They stop to stock up before crossing into the Grand Line, but the visit is complicated by a formidable Marine officer named Smoker and by two old adversaries, Buggy and Alvida, who have reunited and set their sights on Luffy.

A flyer revealing Luffy's first bounty of thirty million berries slipped from the newspaper, thrilling him even as Nami warned it would draw danger. Reaching Loguetown, the crew split to gather supplies. Zoro, replacing the swords Mihawk had broken, met the Marine Tashigi, who unnervingly resembled his late friend Kuina, and acquired the cursed Sandai Kitetsu along with the heirloom blade Yubashiri after passing a test of luck. While Sanji, Usopp, and Nami shopped, Luffy climbed the execution stand to admire the view. There a transformed Alvida, now beautiful thanks to a Devil Fruit, revealed herself alongside Buggy, whose crew took the square hostage as Cabaji shackled Luffy and Buggy declared an execution. At the Marine base, Captain Smoker, known for never letting a pirate slip away, waited for the moment to strike.

As Buggy brought his blade down, a sudden bolt of lightning shattered the platform and left Luffy unharmed, unsettling Smoker with its echo of Roger's own final smile. Buggy and Alvida were captured by Smoker, while Nami and Usopp fended off Mohji and his lion aboard the Going Merry. Zoro stayed behind to fight the furious Tashigi, and when Smoker cornered Luffy and Sanji with his smoke powers, a mysterious man intervened to let them reach the ship. That figure was Dragon, the revolutionary later revealed to be Luffy's own father and the most wanted man alive. Smoker, the first Marine to abandon his post in pursuit of Luffy, gave chase, while Buggy escaped to follow the Straw Hats. Guided by a storm, the crew reached the Grand Line's gateway and performed a ceremony, each swearing aloud to fulfill their dream.

Zoro gained two new blades here, one of which would later be destroyed and laid to rest, while Smoker entered as the series' first Logia user and became a persistent pursuer of the crew. Dragon's rescue foreshadowed his revolution against the World Government, a thread elaborated in later arcs when his relationship to Luffy was confirmed. Buggy and Alvida both survived to become recurring nuisances, and the first giant appeared in the background, though unnamed. At five chapters this ranks among the shortest arcs in the manga and was the first to run more anime episodes than source chapters, with the anime adding full filler segments and reshuffling events.