Quick answer

Because Ivankov sees through his weakness. That's Sanji's own answer in chapter 1196.

How it comes up. Killingham pulls the thing Sanji fears most out of his head, and a caption names it: 「サンジの恐いもの」 — what Sanji fears — Emporio Ivankov.

Sanji is as surprised as anyone. He asks why it's Iva and not the Germa scum. His answer, in a thought:

「おれがお前を恐れてるのは…!! お前がおれの…!! 〝弱さ〟を見抜くから!!」 I'm afraid of you because you see through my weakness.

What the weakness is. The chapter's Kamabakka flashback says it plainly: Sanji doesn't value himself. He takes hits he could avoid and fights as if he'd rather die. Ivankov's line: 「愛とは防御力」 — love is defence.

PRIMARY — MANGA VERIFIED. Chapters 1195 and 1196 read directly on Shonen Jump+. English wording is our paraphrase of the Japanese.

Not the joke you'd expect

The running joke. Since the timeskip, Sanji's horror of Kamabakka has been played for laughs. He spent two years on the okama island, and remembering it makes him scream.

Chapter 1196 starts in the same register:

  • The memory. Sanji tries to shut a memory back in: don't come out — I never want to remember those days again.
  • The panic. For a panel or two, it's the old gag.

Then the chapter turns it around. What Sanji fears isn't the dresses or the island. It is the one person there who told him the truth about himself.

What Ivankov actually told him

Illustration: Emporio Ivankov, purple afro and crown, wags a finger at a bandaged, sulking Sanji on a bed in a pink Kamabakka palace room while okama cheer behind them.
Kamabakka, during the timeskip: Ivankov's lesson, as we picture it. Our illustration, not a panel from the manga. Artwork: ABYSS CURRENT

The flashback is Kamabakka, during the timeskip. (PRIMARY, 1196.)

1. You win, but you come out wrecked.

  • The fight. Sanji wins a match for a 「バイタルレシピ」, a vital recipe, but ends up more hurt than the opponent he beat.
  • The record. Ivankov says it's been the same in thirty fights.

2. You take hits you could avoid.

  • The charge. Ivankov calls Sanji 「無鉄砲」 and 「投げ槍」 — reckless, careless with himself.
  • The way he fights. He charges like a boar, lives in a hurry and treats himself roughly.

3. Small wounds add up.

  • The proverb. 「雨垂れ石を穿つ」 — dripping water wears through stone.
  • What it means for Sanji. Even a strong body breaks under enough small damage.

4. Your defence shows what you think you're worth.

  • Ivankov's line. 〝防御〟の甘さに ヴァナータの〝自分〟への価値が現れチャブル — the weakness of your defence shows the value you put on yourself.

5. Self-love comes first.

  • The crowd. Ivankov's people chant 〝自・己・愛〟 — self-love.
  • Ivankov's rule. Someone who can't love himself can't love anyone else.

6. Sanji pushes back. Ivankov answers with the title line.

  • Sanji. He gives all his love to women, and would die for Nami or Robin.
  • Ivankov's reply. That isn't wrong — but:

    「死にたがりの愛に価値なんてない!!」 A love that wants to die has no value.

  • Then: 〝愛とは防御力〟 — love is defence.

7. The Germa wound.

  • The memories. Sanji's Germa past flashes by: failure, Judge saying that being his father is a stain, a young Sanji apologising for being born weak.
  • Ivankov's verdict. Your love is covered in wounds.
  • The warning. Keep winning carelessly, and a limit will come when you can't save the people you want to save.

Why it's Ivankov, not Germa

The chapter gives the reason through Sanji himself, on Elbaf. Germa is behind him:

  • The business with Germa is settled. It's different from back then.
  • My worth was given to me by my crew. The panel shows Luffy: Sanji's food is the best!

Read together (our reading of what's on the page):

  • Germa is a wound Sanji believes he has closed.
  • Ivankov is the person who saw it was still shaping how he fights.

That is why the nightmare is Iva. He isn't fearsome. He was right.

What Sanji does with it

Illustration: Sanji, bruised and soaked in a black suit, lights a cigarette in the rain among night-time ruins.
"Not one more hit": Sanji lights up in the rain. Our illustration, not a panel from the manga. Artwork: ABYSS CURRENT

Back in the present (PRIMARY):

  • The limit day. Sanji, down in the rain, thinks this may be the "limit day" Iva warned about.
  • The question. Will guarding himself make him stronger? He needs power now.
  • The nightmare goes. The Ivankov nightmare vanishes, and Killingham is thrown.
  • The vow. Sanji lights a cigarette: I won't take one more hit from you.
  • The last line. 「頭が高ェ!!!! っつってんだよ 馬男!!!」 — I said your head is too high, horse man!
  • The caption. 「〝己〟の進む道は見えた!!」 — he has seen the path "oneself" will take.

What it doesn't settle

  • Conqueror's Haki.
    • Chapter 1195 had Gaban say the aptitude should be there, with a self-destructive streak in the way.
    • Chapter 1196 names that streak.
    • No chapter has yet shown Sanji using Conqueror's Haki. See does Sanji have Conqueror's Haki?
  • Who Ivankov's man is. Ivankov says he has a man he would stake his life to protect, and he doesn't name him.
    • THEORY. Ivankov is a commander of the Revolutionary Army, so many readers will read it as Dragon.
    • The chapter doesn't say so.
  • The fight. Chapter 1196 ends before Sanji's next move. ONE PIECE is on break this week; 1197 is due 2 November.

THEORY — "oneself" and Conqueror's Haki

  • Mihawk (1194). He called Conqueror's Haki 「己」, oneself.
  • Chapter 1196. Its last caption uses the same word, after a lesson about valuing yourself.
  • The reading. Sanji's Conqueror's Haki, if it comes, is reached through self-worth rather than sacrifice.
  • What the page gives. It fits the page.
  • What it doesn't. No character draws that line, so it stays THEORY. More: Mihawk: Conqueror's Haki is "oneself".

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