One Piece Finally Settles a Huge Zoro Debate But It’s Not Good For Sanji

The highly anticipated Elbaf Arc in One Piece takes a turn for the worse with the unexpected arrival of the Holy Knights. Luffy and his crew were welcomed warmly in the fabled Land of the Giants, but the celebration didn’t last long after the villains showed up and targeted the children. Unfortunately, some of the strongest fights in Elbaf, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Loki are still in the Underworld as the Cursed Prince is regaining his strength after years of imprisonment. His situation gets worse after Gunko tortures him to force him to join the Holy Knights. However, now that Luffy and the others know about the situation in the Sun World, it won’t be long before the real battle begins in Elbaf.

Loki is by far the most mysterious character in the series, who is believed to possess unparalleled strength. Even the left-hand of the Pirate King, Scopper Gaban, couldn’t defeat the Giant Prince and relied on Shanks. Gaban already fought the Holy Knights and had the upper hand against Sommers. He could’ve easily defeated Gunko as well, but he saw his son’s murder through Future Sight and immediately surrendered. However, Gaban knows the only way to injure the Holy Knights and render their regenerative powers useless, and he’s aware of Zoro’s capabilities, alongside how they can help.

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One Piece Finally Acknowledges Zoro’s Hidden Ability

Zoro has been able to use Conqueror’s Haki since the Wano Country Saga, but the series never abruptly mentioned the fact, which led to meaningless fan discourse for years. However, he sensed that apart from Luffy, there was one more Straw Hat who had the Color of the Supreme King. Initially, Sanji thinks Gaban is talking about him, but he actually means Zoro. Unsurprisingly, Zoro isn’t even aware of his true potential, even though Luffy sensed it from him long ago.

It’s a possibility that Zoro subconsciously used Advanced Conqueror’s Haki by coating it on his sword during his fight with King in the Wano Arc. It’s not clearly mentioned in the latest Chapter 1152, but there’s a strong possibility that the attack Gaban used to ensure Sommers doesn’t regenerate is fueled with Conqueror’s Haki. Loki has the ability and is clearly stronger than the Holy Knights, so he will be a useful ally in the fight.

Unfortunately, things don’t look good for Sanji, who has yet to awaken this skill. As one of the Wings of the future Pirate King, Sanji fights by Luffy’s side along with Zoro as his most prominent allies. He is skilled enough to take down powerful foes, but if there’s a special requirement that renders him helpless against them, then it’s only a matter of time before Zoro leaves him in the dust. If Sanji had awakened this skill, Gaban and Luffy would’ve sensed it. Despite that, Sanji definitely has the potential.

One Piece’s Elbaf Arc Has Made It Quite Clear That Sanji Needs to Awaken Conqueror’s Haki ASAP

Unlike the common misconception that you need some grand kingly ambition to awaken this ability, the most crucial requirement is having a strong willpower. Sanji already qualifies in that aspect, but as always, he is one step behind Zoro in the power system ranking. Ideally, the Wings of the Pirate King should be on almost equal footing, and that has been the case so far. The difference between their strength has never been significantly great, but Zoro having Conqueror’s Haki changes a lot of things.

Before the Wano Country Saga, we only knew how Conqueror’s Haki is used to intimidate weak-willed opponents and force them to either faint or surrender. The power may seem cool, but it’s basically useless against stronger foes – or so we thought. Now that we know about the Advanced Conqueror’s Haki and that Zoro can master it with a bit of training, he will be even more unstoppable than before. If the Holy Knights are truly beings that can’t be harmed without Conqueror’s Haki, then Sanji, who is always on the front lines of the battle, will in a clear disadvantage.

He has gained considerable strength after the Wano Country Saga after awakening his latent Germa 66 genes. Even so, the story is almost in his end game, and he will need the most powerful ability to keep up with Luffy and Zoro. Luckily, it’s not a lost cause since Oda may be planning to give our beloved chef another power upgrade. After Gaban’s introduction, the parallels between him and Sanji are as clear as the parallels between Luffy and Roger, as well as Zoro and Rayleigh. If that is the case, we are likely in for another surprise.