One Piece announces the longest break in its history to prepare for "the final arc"

A hiatus is coming in One Piece. The longest in its history, only tied with the famous time skip. This has been confirmed by Eiichiro Oda himself, who has assured that it has been a complicated year and he needs time to rest. The mangaka wants to take a break in advance of what is coming: the 25th anniversary of One Piece and the premiere of his new movie, One Piece Red. So, after the chapter on June 19, there will be no manga for four weeks.

But the news is not only the length of the break, remarkable by itself, but also one of the reasons given by Oda. "Besides, I want to take the necessary time to be able to close the final arc in the best way". That sentence has raised all the alarms among fans. The mangaka doesn't seem to be referring to the end of Wano. Is he starting another arc in just three episodes, with all the plot we have pending? And this new arc... Is it the last one?

Many questions that surely Oda himself wanted to awaken on purpose. Because although the battles of Wano are over and we have entered the final stretch (we even know the tenth member of the Straw Hats), there are still many plots to close. And even if we do, only one arc for all that's left? Laught Tale, Shanks, the confrontations with Blackbeard and the World Government, the resolution of the Levely, etcetera, etcetera. All in one arc?

Oda may have used the term "arc" to mean "saga". For example, the Four Emperors saga, the most recent, has lasted almost eight years and encompassed the Zou, Whole Cake Island and Wano plots. Something like that would make more sense, of course, but we'll have to wait for the author himself to enlighten us.

The only thing clear at the moment is that One Piece will go through its longest hiatus since the one between chapters 597 and 598, published in 2010. And what a hiatus that was! Known as the time skip, it meant the passage of two years in the world of Luffy and company. Is something similar coming?