One Piece SBS Volume 110: Oda Confirms Yamato’s Devil Fruit Awakening Status

This article includes spoilers from the Wano Arc of One Piece.

Essential Insights

Yamato possesses the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami Devil Fruit.
Oda has confirmed that Yamato does not utilize Awakening abilities.
The presence of cloud rings does not signify a user’s Devil Fruit Awakening status.

One Piece SBS Volume 110 has been released, and fans eagerly await Oda’s latest insights shared in this interactive segment. While Oda often indulges in humorous exchanges, he occasionally unveils crucial information that can significantly influence the overarching narrative.

This month’s SBS features some exciting revelations concerning the Marine Admirals and an intriguing update about Yamato. As is well-known, Yamato is a formidable figure from Wano and the child of Kaido. Her extraordinary abilities as a Devil Fruit user were clearly established during the Wano Country arc. Fans have spent years conjecturing about Yamato’s Devil Fruit Awakening, and Oda has finally provided clarity on the matter.

Yamato’s Devil Fruit Abilities and Awakening

Yamato commands the powers of the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami.
Yamato is confirmed not to be an Awakening user.

Yamato made her first appearance in the Third Act of the Wano Country arc, showcasing her extraordinary fighting skills during the raid on Onigashima. She actively participated in the battle against Kaido, where she unveiled her Devil Fruit’s capabilities linked to an ancient deity. Identified as a Mythical Zoan, her Devil Fruit is the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami, allowing her to transform into a guardian fox deity or a hybrid form at will.

Kaido remarked on this Devil Fruit’s significance, declaring it to be that of Wano’s guardian deity.

A notable aspect during Yamato’s transformation that caught fan attention was the cloud ring present around her neck. This feature has been typically linked with the Awakening state among fans. However, Oda has not made any direct association between cloud rings and Awakening status. Believers in this theory often pointed to characters like Luffy, Rob Lucci, and Kaku, who also sported cloud rings in their awakened forms, leading many to conclude that Yamato’s Devil Fruit must also be awakened due to her possessing a similar ring.

Nevertheless, dissenting viewpoints emerged, as Yamato has not exhibited characteristics suggesting any Awakening status thus far. For a Zoan user, Awakening entails gaining unique transformation capabilities, a fact that Oda has confirmed directly. Beyond that, Yamato’s transformations did not display any traits indicative of Awakening, although this was a common belief until recent confirmations.

Reasons Yamato Is Not Considered an Awakening User

Oda Highlights Yamato’s Childhood Use of Her Devil Fruit

In the SBS section of One Piece Volume 110, Oda officially confirmed that Yamato is a Devil Fruit user who does not possess Awakening abilities. He illustrated Yamato’s transformation as a child, showing her capability to morph into the fox deity form and hybrid state even at around eight years old. Notably, she maintained the cloud ring around her neck during these transformations. This detail emphasizes that Yamato did not achieve an Awakening in the Wano arc and highlights that the cloud ring does not symbolize Awakening in her case or any other within One Piece.

It is improbable for an eight-year-old to have an awakened Devil Fruit immediately after ingestion. Awakening typically requires extensive training over many years. Additionally, fans are aware that Paramecia Awakening users do not show such cloud rings. While it’s common for Zoans to have these features, Yamato’s example shows that not every Zoan needs a cloud ring to denote Awakening. This development encourages intriguing discussions about what truly constitutes evidence of Zoan Awakening.

The assumption that having a cloud ring indicates a Devil Fruit Awakening in Zoan users has weakened significantly. For instance, Luffy had a cloud ring while in Gear 4, yet one might argue that this form signified his progression towards Awakening. In Yamato’s case, however, her possession of the ring since childhood suggests it does not imply an impending Awakening status.

Implications of Yamato’s Devil Fruit Awakening Status for One Piece

Possibility of Other Devil Fruit Users Being Awakened

With the confirmation that Yamato does not utilize Devil Fruit Awakening, fans can broaden their perspectives regarding other characters. Notably, figures like Kaido, who have not demonstrated cloud rings, can now reignite discussions surrounding Devil Fruit Awakening. Despite being titled the strongest creature in the world and undoubtedly a powerful Zoan, Kaido has not been attributed with an Awakening transformation. At least, Oda hasn’t explicitly confirmed it. Nevertheless, Kaido was well aware of the nature of Devil Fruit Awakenings and responded to Luffy’s Awakening as if he possessed similar abilities.

Although Oda’s confirmation of Kaido’s Awakening remains ambiguous, his distinctive transformations rise questions. Kaido’s notable transformations include a robust color shift that significantly enhances his Haki and a majestic lava-dragon form that depicts him at the pinnacle of his abilities. These forms rekindle inquiries regarding the possibility of an Awakening, alongside other One Piece characters.

This newfound understanding allows for a myriad of discussions about potential Devil Fruit Awakenings among various characters, and fans can conclusively dismiss the previous notion linking cloud rings to Awakening states. Fans are hopeful that Oda will clarify the actual markers that signify Zoan Awakening. Until then, one can only consider a Devil Fruit user Awakened when Oda explicitly denotes them as such, as seen with characters like Lucci, Kaku, and Luffy. The Elders’ powers remain enigmatic, given their supernatural nature, leaving fans eager for Oda to unravel these complexities in the aforementioned narrative.

One Piece is accessible for reading through Viz Media. Fans can engage with the series officially and free of charge via the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps. The upcoming chapter, One Piece 1131, is scheduled for release on November 11, 2024.

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