One Piece Proved Luffy Needs More Strength in the Most Devastating Way

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Warning: contains spoilers for Chapter 1042 of One Piece

Throughout his journey to become the Pirate King and find One Piece, Luffy has faced a plethora of obstacles and overcome ridiculous odds but the battle against Kaido is beginning to look like a wall he simply cannot scale. Luffy has become known for turning the tides of battle at the penultimate moment but this recent fight against Kaido may be the last chance he had to show he was on the Yonko level to begin with. With all of his techniques and forms exhausted, Luffy is truly being pushed to the brink in his battle on the rooftop of Onigashima.

For the last few chapters of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy has been battling the Emperor of the Sea, Kaido, on the rooftop of Onigashima, a floating island base. Luffy has already lost to Kaido twice, the first time ending up with him in prison and the second with him being thrown off the floating island in defeat. Now, with his back against the wall, Luffy has challenged Kaido one last time, but his strength may not be up to par just yet.

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In order to take Kaido head-on, Luffy had to quickly adapt to the Emperor’s fighting power, leading him to unlocking Advanced Conqueror’s Haki. Similar to Armament Haki, it can be infused into the user’s attacks in the form of black lightning. This achievement allowed Luffy to begin his third attack on Kaido, now creating blows powerful enough to split the sky above them. Though it looked like this power was going to be more than enough to potentially defeat Kaido, in chapter 1042 it was revealed that Kaido has been holding back the entire time. Kaido literally makes a kissy face at Luffy in his “Flirty Drunk”