One Piece: Oda confirms Luffy needs a new power-up stronger than Gear 5 and conqueror’s haki

The Final Saga kicks into gear, the Straw Hat captain will have to contend with his most formidable opponent yet—Imu, a god-like king even more powerful than Kaido.One Piece’s world is on the brink of its largest climax yet.

After more than 25 years of piracy, the saga is entering its Final Saga after all this time, and creator Eiichiro Oda is doing all he can to ensure fans know what’s really at stake.

In another significant spoiler, Oda admitted that even with the immense powers of Luffy’s Gear 5 and his advanced Haki, he will require an even more unrealized potential to beat the order’s ultimate villain Imu.One Piece is an internationally beloved, record-breaking manga and anime franchise about the adventures of Luffy, a boy whose body has turned into rubber and who dreams of becoming King of the Pirates.

To stay competitive with villains that have come before him, Luffy has been given new powerful transformations and fighting styles, becoming more powerful in every story arc. In this Final Saga, even his strongest forms might not be enough.

Luffy reached Yonko-level in wano, but that’s still not enough

During the Wano Country arc, Luffy was able to take full advantage of Gear 5 once his Devil Fruit had awoken. This transformation provided him with almost cartoon-like liberties in combat, enabling him to contort, extend, and otherwise manipulate the field of play to suit his preferences.

On top of this, he developed the ability to coat his strikes in Conqueror’s Haki, a special kind of spiritual energy only the most powerful characters can master.“This is my peak! This is Gear 5!” — Monkey D. LuffyDuring the Wano arc of One Piece, he uses these powers to defeat Kaido, the world’s strongest creature. With that victory, Luffy became a Yonko himself. He is one of the four empire-building pirates calling the shots in the New World.

Now, a much larger menace has come: Imu, the true lord of the world.

Imu’s power is beyond anything we've seen before

When it comes to the main villain of One Piece, I do believe that Imu is almost unlike any other villain fans have gotten in this series. Imu’s first major appearance came during the Wano arc earlier this year, in which he’s revealed to control the World Government from the shadows and has lived for centuries, perhaps even since the Void Century.In Chapter 1149, fans were treated to a first-hand account of Imu releasing unimaginable powers, all the while manipulating a creature called Gunko.

Not only is Imu physically powerful, they possess Conqueror’s Haki, can (as we’ve discussed here) grant others immortality, and might even share powers with the Five Elders—who have all become powerful yokai thanks to dark abilities.“Allow Mu to show thee the dominance of a God!” — ImuAdditionally, it’s implied that Imu’s powers go beyond the physical and influence the soul, rendering them virtually immune to defeat by outside force.

Even Joy Boy, a mythical hero credited with being even stronger than current Luffy, might not have been able to defeat Imu in the past.

Gear 5 and haki aren’t enough to win the final war

If Luffy’s ever going to achieve victory, he’ll require a lot more than just Gear 5 and Conqueror’s Haki. Based on these theories and recent developments as well as Oda’s foreshadowing, it seems like Luffy will need to learn or discover new techniques that can affect the soul in order to harm or defeat Imu.This might mean:

Where to read and watch One Piece

The new One Piece chapter is serving all that hype as well right now in the Final Saga. Chapter 1151 will come out officially on …

Fans are looking forward to learning more about Imu, taking a deeper dive into Luffy’s training, and even getting a glimpse at the start of his next transformation.Read the Manga Free and legal on Manga Plus and Viz.com

Luffy’s journey thus far has seen him overcome every limit, yet with One Piece’s recently-announced Final Saga promises to be his greatest test to date. With the fate of the entire world at stake fans are more thrilled than ever to find out what sort of new power Luffy will tap to finally beat the strongest villain in the story’s long history.