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What is the One Piece? Creator Eiichiro Oda hid the answer in a treasure trest sent to the bottom of the ocean, to avoid spoilers before series finale

Eiichiro Oda knows exactly what the One Piece is. And so could you - if you can find where he hid the answer.

One Piece Luffy With Treasure Chest — Image credit: Toei Animation

News by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Wed Mar 04 2026

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What is the One Piece? That is the question that has driven anime and manga fans insane for years. Over two decades and counting, every character in the manga has been chasing the legendary One Piece, but we’ve never even had a hint at what it really is. Now Eiichiro Oda has, for the first time, written down the answer to what the One Piece is, only to put it where no one will ever find it - the bottom of the sea.

To celebrate One Piece manga selling more than 600 million copies worldwide, the official One Piece YouTube channel released a video explaining that Oda has always known what the One Piece really is, but he’s never told anyone. It then showed Oda writing down the answer, which is intentionally obscured from view, only to fold up the paper and place it into a locked treasure chest. That chest is then put into a pressurized sphere, shipped to an undisclosed point in the ocean, and dropped 650 meters below the sea.

“Until the whole story is revealed,” the video’s narrator says. “The truth will rest far beyond anyone’s reach.” Oda, it seems, is so set on his vision for the end of One Piece that he has placed the answer at the bottom of the sea.

Just like Gol D. Roger at the start of the One Piece manga, he is daring his fans to discover his secret. This isn't so much a marketing stunt as it is a challenge, but jokes on Oda; One Piece fans have toppled governments. You think they aren't already trying to figure out how to find this? It is buried treasure and we're all the Straw Hat pirates at heart.

Eiichiro Oda might know how One Piece is going to end, but we’re all still desperate to find out for ourselves. New chapters are released most weeks for those who have managed to keep up over the years.

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive: