When askingOne Piecefans what the greatest chapter/episode is in the entire franchise, many will say that Luffy’s transformation into Sun God Nika is at the top of the list. Not only was this state a culmination of everything that Luffy had been through over the course of the story, but it also represented the reincarnation of a deity that the masses of the world yearned for to save them from centuries of oppression.
At the current moment, the Straw Hats have finally arrived on the most-hyped island ofOne Piece; Elbaf. This island is incredibly important for a whole host of reasons, but among the biggest of these is that it also marks the officialintroduction of Imu in a combat situation. Judging by how powerful they have proven to be, many fans think that Gear 5 won’t be enough to beat them, but despite this, here’s why anything beyond it would be a bad idea.
Story Arc
Wano
Within the community, there are a few detractors who believe that the eventual reveal of Luffy being the inheritor of the Sun God Devil Fruit came a bit too abruptly, since ‘Nika’ was only named for the first time afew chapters before Luffy’s awakening. However, the story has alluded to this power multiple times since the very first chapter, most notably within the Skypiea arc. The only thing is that all these hints were ultimately contextualized in Wano.
Essentially, Nika is the moniker of the greatest figure of an age who is always synonymous with a massive change in the order of things. In the Elbaf arc, it was revealed that Nika is remembered both as a warrior of liberation and a destroyer deity, though the truth is largely lost to time. What is known is the fact that Luffy is the current wielder of this mysterious power, which essentially allows him to do whatever he wants, and that Joyboy was the previous user of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika before him. Between the two of these characters, there hasn’t been a single user in 800 years.
The rulers of the day always tend to fear Nika’s return!
This indicates the biggest issue that would arise with Luffy gaining a new form towards the end of the series. Of course, the way things stand at the current moment, it’s pretty clear that he stands no chance against the incredible might of Imu, since only a fraction oftheir power has been used on Elbaf, despite which the island has almost completely been taken over. However, another thing to keep in mind is that, within the timeline of the series, Luffy has only been using Gear 5 for a short while.
This shows that there is so much more to the form that Luffy has to learn, since his stamina issues don’t even allow him to stay in this state for a prolonged period of time. Once he masters this transformation towards the end of the series, he will be much more of a match for Imu, just as Joyboy was all those centuries ago. The entire broader conflict in theOne Pieceworld has Nika as a central figure fighting on the side of the heroes.
So, to have Luffy unlock a new form that even the mythical Joyboy couldn’t achieve would greatly take away from the narrative importance of Gear 5. If Joyboy was able to stand up to the forces of Imu and the 20 Kingdoms through mastery of his Devil Fruit and Haki alone, then it serves as the perfect evidence for Luffy to be able do the same. Even though he has a very basic grasp on Gear 5,it’s guaranteed that the Final Waris still some time away, so he could spend a lot of his time on Elbaf mastering the fundamentals of the form.
Moreover, a potential ‘Gear 6’ would also be bad from a power scaling perspective, since the series would just go down a route similar toDragon Ball. Instead of the main character learning to master a wide variety of powers and abilities, they would just transform into a brand-new form that somehow manages to be stronger than the ones shown before for no apparent reason. Many fans have criticized this aspect ofDragon Ball’sstorytelling.
How Joyboy Disproved The Need For Something Beyond Gear 5
The Pirate With The Greatest Haki
The Egghead Island arc showed the greatest display of Haki that has ever been seen in the series. Through the Conqueror’s Haki-infused knot that Joyboy had leftinside Emet since the Void Century, a wave of the most potent Conqueror’s Haki was unleashed that was powerful enough to be felt a world away by Imu and banish the summoned Elders from the island.
This shows that mastery of Haki may be the greatest power that one could have in the series, since Joyboy’s legendary strength was just as powerful in the modern day despite him having died 800 years ago. It’s known that he had awakened the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, and legends of a warrior of liberation dressed in white have stood throughout the ages, proving that this was the greatest extent to which Joyboy used his Devil Fruit’s power. This just means that Luffy is definitely capable of doing the same.
