Here’s the real reason why the former marine admiral Kuzan Aokiji left the Marines and became the tenth Titanic captain of the Blackbeard Pirates.

One Piece is in its prime years with its manga and anime enjoying immense popularity and viewership across the globe. This has been possible because of the consistency and perfection in the storytelling skills of the creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda who has been consistent with releasing the new chapters of the manga regularly with very few breaks ever since One Piece made its debut in the year 1997. As for the past few years, Oda has produced some of the most spectacular and praiseworthy arcs in the history of the shōnen genre of manga such as the Marineford Arc, the Wano Country Arc, etc.

Now, Oda has started writing possibly the last saga of One Piece which would most probably focus on Luffy fulfilling his dream of becoming the King of Pirates after defeating some of his potential foes like Lord Imu and his fellow Yonko Marshall D. Teach also known as Blackbeard. Although, defeating Lord Imu will be quite a Herculean task for Luffy and his crew, defeating the Blackbeard Pirates would not be an easy task either as they have got some formidable pirates in their crew not to forget their newest Titanic captain was revealed to be former Marine Admiral Aokiji. But how did he end up as one of the Titanic captains of the Blackbeard Pirates?

What Happened To Aokiji After Marineford?

The battle of Marineford was one of the biggest and most crucial incidents in the world of One Piece as it was the battle that included some of the saddest anime deaths of all time. It also marked the fans witnessing a Yonko succumb to defeat for the first time since the beginning of One Piece. But what happened afterward the Marineford battle was even more important for the plot of the series as a very important fight took place just after it. Sengoku, the then fleet Admiral of the Marine Corps stepped down from his position into retirement after the battle of Marineford got over and a fatal fight to death happened between two the three Marine Admirals, Aokiji and Akainu to succeed Sengoku as the new fleet Admiral.

This fight between two of the strongest characters in the series was a ferocious fight that destroyed an entire island. While neither of the two died, both suffered a great deal of bodily damage and Admiral Akainu came out victorious in this fight for succession. After this fight, Admiral Aokiji left the Marines as he did not want Akainu to become the new fleet Admiral since Akainu is not the best person to uphold the philosophy of the Marines and the idea of justice endorsed and enforced by them. On the other hand, Akainu is quite extreme in his method of upholding justice and making judgments. Hence, Aokiji was against the very possibility of Aokiji becoming the next fleet Admiral which led to a big fight between the two. This is why Aokiji left the Marines after Akainu beat him and became the new fleet Admiral because the former could not place himself on the same side as an organization led by a fanatic like Akainu who is driven by the element of tyranny.

Meeting Blackbeard

After leaving the Marines for good, Aokiji was roaming exploring places, and drinking sake which is when he stumbled across Blackbeard and his crew in a bar somewhere. Aokiji told them the story of his fight with Akainu and how it cost him his left leg. Aokiji shared sake and jokes with Blackbeard and his crew after which they started talking about the Red Poneglyphs which are the key to reaching Raftel or Laugh Tale island to get the One Piece treasure that Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard announced to be a real thing. While his crew mates suggested that they steal Aokiji’s Devil Fruit, Blackbeard extended his hand toward Aokiji for friendship and asked Aokiji to become one of the Titanic captains of his crew.

Aokiji ultimately joined the Blackbeard Pirates as their 10th Titanic captain. Even though it is absurd for a former Marine Admiral to join a pirate crew, Aokiji had his own reasons for doing so. The main reasons behind his decision to join the Blackbeard Pirates are the ideology of the pirates that they are just a bunch of friends sailing together as explained by Blackbeard, and the fact that Blackbeard made him recall that he is free to do what he wants.

These reasons must have led to a change in Aokiji’s perception of the pirate and their crews which is what led him to join the Blackbeard Pirates. Either these are the logical explanation for him joining Blackbeard’s crew, or he just joined them to keep an eye on and check on them. It would make for a good plot twist if Aokiji turns out to be a man on a mission or an agent who is fooling the Blackbeard Pirates and spying on them quite smoothly and successfully. The fans would only know the ultimate truth as the story of One Piece unfolds further in the future.

Src: gamerant.com