Summary
Monkey D. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and a member of the Worst Generation. He set out on his journey to become the Pirate King at the age of 14. So far, Luffy has achieved many amazing things. He has taken down some of the greatest pirates inOne Piece, which has helped him make a name for himself. However, none of his achievements come close to what he managed to do in Wano. The home of the samuraiwas ruined by Kaidoand his massive army. To conquer the nation, Kaido killed Kozuki Oden and executed anyone who dared to go against him.
This incident happened 20 years before the current timeline, and since then, the country of samurai has lived in constant fear. Little did they know that their lives would change once Luffy arrived on the shores of Wano. However, Luffy didn’t directly go to the country. First, Luffy and his crew land on Punk Hazard, where they meet Kin’emon and Momonosuke. Luffy also met Law, who was planning to bring down Doflamingo and ultimately Kaido. Since their motives aligned with each other, they formed an alliance to take down the King of Beasts.
This began a long journey that spanned severalOne Piecearcs, including Dressrosa, Zou, Whole Cake Island, and Wano. During this time,Luffy defeated the likes ofDonquixote Doflamingo, Charlotte Cracker, and Charlotte Katakuri. All of them were strong in their own ways, but none of them could compare to Kaido. The first meeting between the two ended in humiliation for Luffy, as he was utterly humiliated by the Yonko. It served as a reminder for the young pirate that he was not on Kaido’s level and that he needed to improve.
RELATED:One Piece: Devil Fruits That Would Be Perfect For Zoro
Luffy’s New Haki Power Ups In Wano
After being beaten, Luffy was imprisoned in Udon in an attempt to break his spirit. Inside the prison, he met Hyogoro, who taught him how to use Advanced Armament Haki, also known as Ryou in Wano. With this particular type of Haki, Luffy could destroy anything from the inside. Luffy managed to get rid of the explosive collars on himself and others. This was a massive upgrade on his previous level of Haki, and it came in handy against Kaido.
When Luffy faced the Yonko again, the former’s Ryou caused problems for his opponent. However, it proved to be insufficient to take down Kaido. Luffy noticed that not only did Kaidouse Advanced Busoshoku Haki, but he also imbued his attacks with Haoshoku Haki, enhancing their power even further. As the fight progressed, Luffy understood how Kaido managed to infuse the two into his attacks. When the Supernova fully learned its application, his strikes became more lethal and capable of damaging the Yonko. Seeing Luffy’s improvement brought a smile to Kaido’s face. He knew that this young pirate could give him the fight of a lifetime.
The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika
Just when things were looking good for Luffy, Guernica decided to intervene, which distracted the pirate at a very critical moment, resulting in his defeat. Kaido was not pleased with the interference, so he decided to attack the CP0 agent. He was confident that he had won the battle and that Wano would remain under his rule. However, the blow that knocked out Luffy turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It enabled the Nika to take over his body and awaken the true power of the Devil Fruit.
The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is aMythical Zoan-type Devil Fruitthat allows Luffy to tap into the power of the Sun God. When Luffy got up, his appearance was altered. His eyebrows and hair became white, and the color of his clothes changed as well. Luffy dubbed this form Gear 5. It gave him more freedom while fighting. Luffy turned into a giant and grabbed Kaido’s body without any problem. Luffy’s power also affected the environment and made it rubbery. He could freely manipulate his surroundings, as evidenced by the fact that he reflected Kaido’s Boro Breath straight at him. The Yonko was puzzled by Luffy’s new power, as he had never seen anything like it in his life.
Gear 5 nearly made Luffy indomitable, but there was one major weakness of the power-up– stamina consumption. While using Gear 5, Luffy looked exhausted at certain points. This implied that it took a lot of stamina to maintain the form, which is understandable considering Luffy awakened the power on the spot. Even with the other Gears, Luffy needed years' worth of hard work to master them and eliminate all the negatives. When both Luffy and Kaido were on their last legs, they knew that they had to wrap up the fight before either of them passed out.
Luffy used his Gear 5 power to create a massive fist that dwarfedthe island of Onigashima. He imbued it with Haki to bypass his opponent’s defense. In the meantime, Kaido created a gigantic flame dragon that was more than twice his size. The heat emanating from the Kaido’s attack was strong enough to melt anything in its path. When the two attacks made contact, Luffy’s Bajrung Gun sent Kaido to the depths of Wano, ending his reign. So, Luffy needed the two Haki power-ups along with a Devil Fruit Awakening to defeat Kaido.
