Well, let me try to break down how I see this happening.
First off, I think Egghead has been as long as it has precisely because Oda is already setting up for the Final War. He's taking the time to reintroduce all the factions who will take part in that Final War, so most of the set up for the Final War is already going to be done once we actually get to that arc. Most of the Final War arc can then just be spent on the actual fights, without doing as many flashbacks or reintroductions as we have been doing. All this time we've spent in Egghead will probably save us time later on.
I don't think we're going to have too much left in Egghead. Maybe 3-7 chapters for the rest of Vegapunk's message with some fights in between. It's mostly going to be running away from the Gorosei, insted of finishing them here and now. I think we could be headed towards Elbaf or already on Elbaf by chapter 1120.
Elbaf itself, I don't think will be a very long arc. Maybe Zou-sized or smaller? I mean, I believe Oda said that he did come up with a plan to skip Elbaf entirely in order to get to Laugh Tale faster. He just seems to be doing Elbaf because the fans have been expecting it for literally decades. But, I do think Giant and Usopp fans will be disappointed by it's length. Usopp probably won't get any special attention on Elbaf, just like how Franky isn't really getting much special attention on Egghead. I know that's disappointing, but I think it's pretty likely.
Either, Elbaf will already be on fire, because the Final War has already started, and the Strawhats need to keep moving. Or, it'll be a short arc where we just get some Nika lore and run. I'm not even sure if Loki will actually be a villain or not? I could actually see a character like Loki being a "mentor" figure to Luffy. To kind of change how he thinks about how to use the Nika Fruit. I could see Loki teaching Luffy to think more "cartoony" with it, since he's classicly a trickster character, and I could see him being very "creative" in this manga. Or, if he does turn out to be a villain, he might be manipulated by someone else like Laffitte? And if he is a villain, he might just be another body to add to the Final War.
Shanks being here would be interesting, but I'm not sure if Shanks is a "Elbaf" or "Final War" meeting for the Strawhats. If Shanks did have a version of the Davy Back Fight with Luffy, it'd have to be done really fast. Maybe a "sudden death" version where Shanks just challenges Luffy to withstand his Conqueror's Haki for 5 minutes or else he won't let them leave Elbaf? Oda does love his countdowns. I think Elbaf could be portrayed as the Strawhat’s last chance to “turn around” and prevent the chaos that will be the Final War.
So, let's say Elbaf ends at around chapter 1140, so around 20 chapters. We get some Nika lore, we have some interactions with the giants, and we get some clues about how to get to Laugh Tale. Then we have to run, because the Gorosei or the God's Knights are still after them. Or maybe Blackbeard attacks. Or Shanks tries to force the Strawhats to join his crew. Or...since the Gorosei already showed up, maybe Imu will show up by the end of Elbaf?
And the Strawhats are off running, again.
After that, I see almost the rest of the manga up to around chapter 1195 or 1200 being the Final War, so around 50 to 60 chapters. I know that kind of sounds too fast. The Raid on Onigashima took around 72 chapters or more, depending on what you want to count. But, I do think Oda will have the the Final War be quicker than the Raid, if only because Oda is trying his best to wrap this up fast.
And I know a lot of people are expecting the Final War to come AFTER Laugh Tale and the Void Century flashback because they think we need to know the origin of the World Government so that they can be punished for the crimes they committed. But, I can see Oda saving a lot of reveals about WHY this is all happening for the very end of the story. I could see us not learning about the Gorosei or Imu's pasts until after we actually beat them.
And I could see the Final War playing out a little differently than what people might expect. I could see it being more like...Wacky Races? Or Wakko's Wish? Or Rat Race? I think the Final War could basically be one giant race to Laugh Tale. A bunch of people trying to reach a certain destination or keep others from reaching a certain destination first. Oda hasn't really ever had a chance to draw a big ship race before, and it'd be interesting to have a bunch of ship to ship battles between different crews at the end of this story. The closest we've gotten to something like that is the Dead End Adventure movie.
And I think part of that "race", may just be tracking down the Man Marked By Flames to get that final Poneglyph. Everyone might be fighting everyone else, while trying to chase this guy down.
But, the rest of the arc is going to be a mess of battles. Like how Oda's mass battles usually go, I imagine. Everyone's going to be on their tails trying to get to Laugh Tale first. So, the Strawhats are probably going to be fighting every major antagonist that they have left all at once, while still trying to race towards the finish line.
The battles will be fast, because the goal is to get to Laugh Tale fast, not to finish these fights. There's probably going to be a LOT of fights. But, they'll all be pretty short as everyone is jockeying for first place to reach Laugh Tale before everyone else. Which means, we probably will get fights like Zoro vs Mihawk and Blackbeard vs Luffy. But, they'll all be pretty quick paced, because this is basically a race. I think a lot of these fights will only last 3 to 5 chapters a piece.
When you really break it down, the Strawhats really only need to face off against Cross Guild, Blackbeard, and Imu. The Revolutionaries can probably fight the God's Knights and maybe even the Gorosei in the background, like Law and Kidd's fights during Egghead. And the Strawhat Grand Fleet may pick up some of the slack in fighting Cross Guild. Neo MADS is going to be a x-factor. And Shanks...will be another x-factor. I really don't know for sure who's side, if any, Shanks will end up on during the Final War. And who knows what Big News Morgans will end up doing.
Luffy needs to fight Imu, almost certainly. Luffy needs to fight Blackbeard, almost certainly. Zoro needs to fight Mihawk, or else the internet will explode. But...I feel like those are the only fights that "need" to happen. Everything else is negotiable.
The backstories might end up be what takes up more room than anything else. We still need backstories for Blackbeard, and Crocodile, and Mihawk, and Dragon, and the Man Marked by Flames. Imu and the Gorosei's backstory will probably be saved until after we get to Laugh Tale. I feel like all of these could be done in 2 or 3 chapters each, interspersed between fights in the present day. So, for example, Zoro and Mihawk's fight could go on for 5 or 6 chapters, but part of that 5 chapters would be Mihawks' backstory at the same time as the fight is going on. But, they do add up, I'll admit.
Lodestar, I don't think will be a very long arc at all. I could see it as a "place all the macguffins in the artifact to reveal the path" kind of island. Maybe 3 to 5 chapters, but I could see it just showing up in 1 chapter, just as a prologue to Laugh Tale. Maybe Lodestar is where we'll have our final showdown with Blackbeard or Buggy or Shanks or Imu, but maybe not?
And once we get to Laugh Tale, I don't think we'll have a lot of story left. We'll get the Void Century Flashback. But, I only expect that to be...maybe 5 to 10 chapters long? And we might have one last fight with some Final Boss of the manga, whoever or whatever that turns out to be. But, even that might be pretty fast, like 7 to 15 chapters. More of a last-minute "save the world" sort of thing. And then I'd hope we get a little epilogue seeing how everyone around the World is doing after things change. But, that's maybe a 5 chapter epilogue. Maybe a timeskip for that final chapter.
The thing about the Void Century Flashback is...I think we've already kind of "seen" it? I think the reveal is probably going to be that everything the Strawhats have been doing up to now was basically stuff that Joyboy and his crew did back in the Void Century? Repeating history, and all that. They probably went around saving a bunch of islands, too. So, I don't think there will be a lot of need to go into great detail about it right at the end, because we've kind of already seen it play out, already. After a fashion, at least. So, we'll probably just hit the highlights. They might save a "full" Joyboy story for a spinoff manga or novel or something.
So, I could see the manga ending around Chapter 1210 to 1222. It'd be really fast-paced. And I think some plot points won't be as satisfying as some people are hoping for. But, I do think it's possible. And I think it's more or less realistic given how doing the manga is wearing on Oda. I think it could be satisfying enough to be acceptable.
Oda's been averaging about 32 chapters a year, lately. (In 2023, 1071-1102, which is 31 chapters. In 2022, 1036-1070, which is 34 chapters. In 2021, 1000-1035, which is 35 chapters.). So, if he can get to up to chapter 1134 this year, I think he could be on schedule to do 1230-ish chapters by 2027. And it could bleed a little into 2028, I'll admit, but I could also see Oda "streamlining" a few things so he gets done earlier.
It might not even last that long. Oda might have a surprise ending waiting for us next year. I wouldn't even be that surprised. He has been pretty consistent about ending it around 2025 over the years. I don't know how you end this story THAT fast and make it satisfying, but Oda has surprised me before. Oda's ready to finish, and I do want Oda to finish before his body is completely wrecked by the rigors of making manga.
I know I skipped over a LOT of important plot points, but that's the rough outline of how I imagine the story going forward.
...I'll admit, I'm probably wrong. But, we'll just have to see.
