Warning: contains spoilers for One Piece chapter 1042!
Battling against the Emperor of the Sea, One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy finds himself on the brink of defeat. Now that he's losing to Kaido, he may only have one recourse left in order to win: Gear Fifth. Fans of One Piece have long awaited the day where Luffy unlocks his next Gear, a technique that augments the rubber-like qualities of his body in order to achieve higher levels of combat power. Though his Gear Fourth may be his most powerful asset as of right now, one small hint might have revealed that Gear Fifth is coming soon.
Luffy first revealed the power of his gears in Enies Lobby when fighting against Blueno of CP9. The first of these Gears, named Gear Second, is utilized by Luffy increasing blood flow throughout his body by inflating his blood vessels, allowing more oxygen and ATP to reach his muscles. This allowed him to achieve a monumental boost in speed, capable of keeping up with CP9’s “Soru” technique. Luffy’s next gear, Gear Third, occurs through Luffy blowing air directly into his bones, effectively creating a “Bone Balloon.” This causes his body parts to inflate to gigantic sizes, greatly increasing his attack potency and area of effect. Finally, Gear Fourth achieves a similar effect, this time directly blowing air into Luffy’s muscles, giving him a semi-inflated form, and increasing his power and speed by a substantial margin.
Related: One Piece: Kaido's Dream Was Just Crushed by the World Government
The reason fans are speculating that a new Gear might be on the way is a subtle one. In the clash against Kaido, Luffy’s face bears a few scratches resembling the number 5 written in multiple forms, including kanji. While this may be reading into the art
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