A prevalent theory in the One Piece fandom suggests the Five Elders are immortal. If they are, they likely became so through the Immortality Operation of the Op-Op Fruit; there aren't many other known ways to become immortal in One Piece. Whatever happened must have halted their aging process and allowed them to rule through the World Government for as long as they wanted. Since the World Government has been around for 800 years, many assume these Celestial Dragons have been running it since then. Unfortunately, there has been little concrete evidence to back this theory, so it remained speculative.
However, Chapter 1095, "Better Off Dead in This World," may have brought new evidence. It suggests that St. Saturn and the others stopped themselves from aging and being killed by conventional means. Besides confirming the theory, this would also make the Straw Hats' escape from Egghead much more challenging. Beating an invincible opponent like Kaido is one thing; all anyone needs to do is be the more powerful fighter (or gang up on him). However, an immortal opponent requires a different set of strategies the crew may not have. Even if they beat St. Saturn on Egghead, he'll likely come back to fight them again in another arc.
How Does Chapter 1095 Prove St. Saturn Is Immortal?
One of the hints of St. Saturn's immortality is his appearance in a flashback. He was seen 38 years ago at God Valley. He doesn't look any different from how he does now. If he has immortality, this means it halted his aging process. In fairness, this kind of evidence is nothing new. Saturn and, by extension, the rest of the Five Elders have been shown in similar flashbacks to events decades before the start of One Piece. They were also in the flashback to Nico Robin's origin story set 20 years before the start of Lufffy's voyage.
They were also featured in a recent cover story that showed a young Dr. Vegapunk visiting them. Unfortunately, this evidence is shoddy since their faces are obscured, and no dates were given. Chapter 1095's flashback is the furthest back St. Saturn was confirmed to look as he does in the present thus far. The newer evidence of St. Saturn's immortality comes from his ongoing fight with Luffy's friends. Bonney tried to kill him by stabbing him through the chest, but he wasn't afraid. After incapacitating Bonney, he removed the sword from his chest, and the blood disappeared. He also claimed that if the sword worried him, he would have dodged it.
There's no way of knowing what happened under St. Saturn's big, billowing beard. However, it's likely that whatever flesh wound Bonney left also vanished without a trace. This type of regeneration goes beyond any healing factors a Zoan Devil Fruit user may have. It's more likely another aspect of Saturn's immortality. These clues to Saturn's immortality can tell audiences how it works. It goes beyond the need to keep the Celestial Dragon alive forever. It also halts his aging process and prevents him from taking permanent damage from attacks; the latter could imply he got a scar on the side of his face before he became immortal.
How Will Saturn's Immortality Affect the Battle Of Egghead?
Saturn's healing factor, whether because of his immortality or something else, could be troublesome. It allows him to ignore serious injuries and heal from them almost instantly. That, combined with his Devil Fruit powers, could make him nigh invincible. Defeating St. Saturn will revolve around overcoming his healing factor. Conventional mortal injuries won't last on him, so gradually wearing him down isn't an option. His opponent will have to take him down with an overwhelmingly powerful attack.
Luffy and his allies ran into a Celestial Dragon like this on Dressrosa. Donquixote Doflamingo could ignore the damage from lacerations and ruptured organs because his String-String powers stitched everything up on the fly. The only way to beat him was to hit him with an attack so powerful that it caused him to lose consciousness. Thus, Luffy needed to enter Gear Four and use the Gum-Gum King Kong Gun to ensure the Warlord stayed down. The strategy for defeating Doflamingo will likely have to be applied to St. Saturn. Luffy or someone similarly hard-hitting will have to strike St. Saturn hard enough to render him unconscious. But it will probably be Luffy.
There may not be a need to hold back against St. Saturn either. Ordinarily, Luffy and his crew avoid dealing lethal blows to their opponents. One could argue they use full force, and their enemies are durable enough to survive. However, the point is they don't have to worry about accidentally killing St. Saturn if they go too hard. Depending on how potent the Celestial Dragon's immortality is, they might be able to leave him as a blood-stained crater and still expect to see him in a future arc. The alternative is Bonney using her de-aging powers to turn St. Saturn into a child. If she did that, it wouldn't matter how potent his immortality was. He would be rendered harmless – then the Straw Hates could make light work of him.
Can the Five Elders' Immortality Be Stopped?
In all likelihood, the battle will end with Luffy going for the knockout blow. By the time the fight gets to this point, the rest of his allies should be finished dealing with the primary opposing forces on Egghead. They'll at least need to deal with the Vice Admirals and Lucci.
Of course, they'll have to stick to their original plan of fleeing the Future Island. St. Saturn's immortality could mean he's quick to get up even after being knocked unconscious. Admiral Kizaru claimed he wouldn't be mobile "any time soon," but that could mean anything; he only took one clean hit from Luffy and remained conscious afterward, so he might only need a moment to recover. Even if these two and all the other powerful opponents on the island are incapacitated, the Straw Hats might not have anything left to battle the tens of thousands of Marine soldiers and the warships they sailed in on.
Once the Straw Hats knock out St. Saturn, control of the Pacifistas should return to Vegapunk and Sentomaru. The latter (who was confirmed to be alive) could command these units to continue their attack on the Marines and cover the Straw Hats' retreat. As long as Kizaru doesn't get up and finish off the Science Unit captain before the Thousand Sunny can use its Coup de Burst, it should be relatively smooth sailing for the crew.
However, that still means St. Saturn must be dealt with another day. The only way to beat him for good would be to undo his immortality (however that would work) or lock him up somewhere, so his immortality doesn't matter. Until then, the Straw Hats will have to continue these hit-and-run tactics with St. Saturn and, presumably, the rest of the immortal Five Elders.
