One of the best stories in One Piece is that of Luffy, Sabo, and Portgas D. Ace. It's also one of the saddest stories in the series. The friendship and bond that formed between the three "brothers" became true over the years, and with its tragic ending, a beautiful story actually had a very dark ending. But, putting that aside for now, in this article, we're actually going to tell you about a scene where Luffy said something to Ace and Sabo when they were kids, which completely confused them. In this article, we'll try to explain what happened there.

It's unclear what Luffy said to Sabo and Ace when they were children and consumed them so much. The exact line was censored, while we only got to see Sabo and Ace's confused looks. Interestingly, however, this scene is reminiscent of an even earlier scene where Gol D. Roger said something to Oden and Whitebeard, which made them react in the same way as Sabo and Ace. Therefore, it's possible that these two pirates said the same thing.

The rest of this article will explore Luffy's relationship with Ace and Sabo while focusing on a particular scene that took place when all three were children. Now, we have no information about this particular scene, except for a few theories, which we will present here, hoping that you will get something out of it with us.

What did Luffy say to Sabo and Ace in One Piece?

Before you begin, take a look at this:

Now, you probably recognize a young Sabo on the left and a young Ace on the right, and seeing that they reacted with a very stunned "Huh?", you probably know that the person they're looking at and listening to can only be Luffy. Because only Luffy would say something that stupid or confusing; Sabo looks scared/confused, while Ace is just "what did he really say?". So, what did Luffy say?

Well, actually, we don't know what Luffy said that confused these two so much. It could have been completely absurd, but knowing the entire context of the story and the significance of this scene, he probably said something that didn't make sense at the time but will make perfect sense once Luffy's story comes to an end. Why do we think that? Well, check this out:

Does this panel look familiar? Well, Oda tried to reference it very accurately—he even put the bandages in the same places, plus he had the characters react in exactly the same way. On the left, we have Kozuki Oden, who, like Sabo, is somewhere between scared and confused, while Whitebeard on the right is simply in complete disbelief. Now, this scene is from before Luffy's time, so these two younger versions of the famous characters we met later weren't reacting to something Luffy said, but rather to something Gol D. Roger said.

Now, just like Luffy's line, we have absolutely no idea what Roger said, but knowing how similar Roger and Luffy are, we're assuming—strongly—that Roger and Luffy said the exact same thing. Now, we don't know what it was, but it was probably something important to them and something in line with their personalities. It probably doesn't have any deeper meaning, but it's a funny but strange thing to say, but not if you're Monkey D. Luffy or Gol D. Roger.

We must reiterate that this is just a theory and is tied to our interpretation of the similarities between Roger and Luffy, which means we'll just have to wait for Oda to reveal the phrase later for official confirmation. Now let's see why Luffy's relationship with Sabo and Ace was so important.

How and why are Luffy, Sabo and Ace connected?

Although Oda could have put any member of the Straw Hat Pirates in Sabo and Ace's place, he didn't, and that's because Luffy's relationship with the two is extremely important, and we'll explain why. When Luffy was entrusted to Dadan by his grandfather Garp, Sabo and Ace were already best friends and had amassed a greater treasure through minor and major thefts when Luffy spotted them outside the Gray Terminal.

As he seemed to be interfering with their plan to become a pirate with the treasure, the two men captured the boy and tied him to a tree to kill him. But this proved more difficult than expected since neither of them had done anything like this before. They also discovered Ace's latest victim, Polchemy, a pirate from the Bluejam pirate gang. The two took cover, but Luffy was caught by the pirates and kidnapped because he claimed not to know Ace or Sabo, but was bad at lying.

After the two panicked and took their treasure to a new hiding place, Sabo discovered that Luffy had been tortured by Polchemy, but hadn't said a word. Impressed by Luffy's endurance and loyalty, Ace and Sabo broke into Polchemy's lair, freed Luffy, and together defeated Polchemy, who was then shot dead by his captain, Bluejam, for losing the money Ace stole from him and losing to two children.

It was then clear to the three of them that Sabo was no longer safe at the Gray Terminal—so he also checked in with Dadan without further ado. As a trio, they trained for the next time and together provided decent meals during the hunt. Luffy continued to challenge the two but lost every fight. The three of them also ventured to the capital of the Goa Kingdom, tangled with several small-time crooks, and ate at a few restaurants in the city, only to cheat on the bill.

But on the street, they suddenly encounter Sabo's father, who recognized his son years after running away from home. Back in the forest of Colubo Mountain, the two friends confront him, whereupon he confesses to having deceived them since he was not an orphan like the two of them, but an aristocrat who had run away from home.

While Ace and Luffy couldn't care less, Sabo told them his dream: he wants to travel the world and write a book about it. When the other two also described their dreams, the three of them drank to their brotherhood. The three of them made the area dangerous for the next few weeks and helped each other wherever they could. In Foosha Village, they were welcomed by the young and pretty Makino, who was very popular with the mountain bandits.

Garp also arrived in the snow in the meantime to give them three proper spankings. After a while, Dadan finally found a note signed by Ace, Sabo, and Luffy: The three had moved out and were now living in a shelter in the forest. Their life together came to an abrupt end when Sabo's father found his son with the Bluejam Pirates and threatened to kill Ace and Luffy so that his son would no longer have a reason to survive in the forest. To protect his friends, Sabo then gave up his dreams and agreed to return voluntarily if his father spared his friends.

One Piece Figure

Come see

Back in town, Sabo wanted to prevent Ace and Luffy from being blamed for his disappearance, but he was powerless against the corrupt system in which Sabo's father could easily pursue any business he wanted with a stack of berry bills. Back home, Sabo learns that he has a younger brother, Sterry, whom Sabo's parents adopted as their heir after their eldest son disappeared.

He eventually learned that the aristocrats were planning to burn down the Grey Terminal, along with all its trash and people, to present a clean cityscape for the next guest: a tenryūbito. Sabo tried with all his might to save the inhabitants of Grey Terminal but was stopped by the city's troops. On the city streets, Sabo encountered a man in a cloak—Dragon—who heard with horror Sabo's words that he was fed up with the abominable and inhumane conditions.

Sabo eventually joined the Revolutionary Army led by Luffy's father. Ace became a member of Whitebeard's Pirates and died protecting Luffy from Akainu. Luffy, as we all know, embarked on his own journey to become the Pirate King. Luffy would later reunite with Sabo, while Ace's tragic death remains one of the most heartbreaking moments in One Piece history. That's why the scene was created with Sabo and Ace in mind, as they knew Luffy inside and out. They were important people in his life, and Oda wanted to emphasize that with this scene.