One Piece Must Solve Its Biggest Issue Holding Luffy Back

With the One Piece manga entering its Final Arc, we have witnessed some of the greatest fights in the story. Luffy upgraded his skills even more in the Wano Country Arc. Not only did he learn to use Advanced Conqueror’s Haki, but also awakened his devil fruit. The series reveals that his devil fruit is actually called Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika. It’s a Mythical Zoan type that grants rubber abilities to its user. Luffy can transform into Nika, the Sun God while also stretching his body like rubber. Just like other Paramecia, he can also affect his surroundings.

Luffy’s powers are tied to historical figures such as Sung God Nika and Joyboy, the first pirate in history. Nika is a mythical being known as the Warrior of Liberation. Meanwhile, Joyboy was once a resident of the Ancient Kingdom who fought against the 20 allied nations in the Void Century. Luffy’s devil fruit not only provides him with unparalleled powers but also serves a major purpose in the story. He has become powerful enough to toy with Kaido in Wano. With such powers granting the famous Gear 5 form, Luffy shouldn’t have struggled so much in Egghead Island, but he was basically held back by One Piece’s author.

Luffy’s Greatest Weakness in One Piece Is His Stamina

While in Gear 5 form, Luffy easily depletes his stamina in One Piece. In Wano, he quickly loses the Gear 5 form and his face becomes wrinkly and dull. However, he manages his heartbeat and transforms again to defeat Kaido. In Egghead, he faces several enemies while using Gear 5 a lot. The power is still new to him and he wants to get a hang of it. The issue is that he keeps draining his stamina multiple times amid the chaos. The only way to get him back to the battlefield was to feed him excessively and regain his strength.

At one point, Luffy ends up eating the entire food supply for the island, making him even stronger than Admiral Kizaru. This is a huge contrast to the Sabaody Archipelago Arc where the entire Straw Hat crew was helpless against him. However, on top of dealing with Kizaru, Luffy is also fighting against Saturn while trying to protect Vegapunk at the same time. It doesn’t take long for the rest of the Gorosei to arrive in Egghead.

With several powerful enemies surrounding him from all directions and Vegapunk’s life on the line, Luffy’s only choice was to use Gear 5 as much as possible. The debilitating side-effect, however, holds him back significantly and drags on the fight.

[RELATED: One Piece Is Now In the Most Boring Phase In Its History]

Luffy Will Face Much Stronger Opponents in the Final Saga

It makes sense that this nerf is crucial to keep the fights entertaining. However, this might turn into a fatal flaw if he doesn’t master his Gear 5 as soon as possible. The Final Saga will introduce much stronger villains than we have seen before. If Luffy can struggle against an Admiral due to the side-effect of using Gear 5, then he won’t stand a chance against Holy Knights and the final villain. Dragon mentions in Chapter 1083 that the real battle will begin when the Holy Knights are immobilized.

Considering even the most dangerous criminals in the world vary in their powers, the Holy Knights should not be taken lightly. With the Holy Knights making their way toward Elbaf, the crew will face much a greater threat than an Admiral. Luffy won’t always be lucky enough to find food lying around in the middle of the battle. There’s also Loki, who might break out from his chains with someone else’s help. Even the combined efforts of the greatest warriors of Elbaf were barely enough to capture the Prince.

Six years ago, before Loki consumed the devil fruit, the World Government placed a bounty of 2.6 billion on his head. By now, the Cursed Prince is definitely much stronger. Hence, Luffy must overcome this drawback as soon as possible. Lucky for him, his powers evolve the more he fights. The story relies on making the protagonist win despite the odds. By the time the Final War begins, Luffy should be able to get a proper grasp on this ability.

Joyboy, who once stood against the allied kingdoms all by himself could be considered the strongest character in history. In One Piece Chapter 1122, even Imu went on their knees after sensing Joyboy’s haki that was stored inside Emet. As someone who possesses the same powers, Luffy is bound to become equally or even stronger than Joyboy.