Will Luffy defeat Kaido? Will Kaido Awaken His Devil Fruit? 

Fans and in-series characters alike are hyped by Luffy’s “next level” powers.

With the full extent of Gear 5 revealed in chapter 1045, it does seem like Luffy has closed the power gap between him and the “strongest creature” aka Emperor Kaido.

If anyone had said two years ago that Luffy could take down a Yonko, I wouldn’t have believed them. Oda himself said that he had no idea how a beast like Kaido could be defeated.

But a lot of things have changed. We have twists that none of us were expecting, and the fact that Luffy is Joy Boy just blows away any question of his strength.

With his newly awakened Mythical Zoan Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, Luffy is sure to defeat Emperor Kaido, but not before Kaido himself awakens his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.

Luffy vs. Kaido: The Fight So Far

Kaido is Luffy’s toughest, strongest enemy thus far. Since the beginning, Kaido has had it out for Luffy, wanting to break his spirit and recruit him as part of the Beasts Pirates.

During their fight in chapter 923, Luffy impresses Kaido by pummelling him with his Gear 3 and Gear 4. But of course, our boy Luffy wasn’t that strong yet, and Kaido defeats him with one single punch.

When the Onigashima raid began, Luffy and Kaido fought once again. This time Luffy manages to injure Kaido and penetrate his defenses, which is a huge one-up from their last fight.

He uses advanced Armament Haki along with Gear 4 to punch Kaido, and with the combined attacks delivered by Kid and Law, Kaido is momentarily knocked down but isn’t defeated by any means.

The thing to be noted here is that although Luffy doesn’t win against Kaido on both occasions, Kaido begins to see him as a worthy opponent.

What impresses Kaido is not Luffy’s strength but his spirit, which he likens to the greatest pirates of history, namely Roger, Whitebeard, and Oden.

Luffy, on the other hand, views Kaido as one of his biggest hurdles in the way of becoming Pirate King.

He eventually fights a 1v1 with Kaido during the raid, and realizes that Kaido uses advanced Conqueror’s Haki to maintain his power. Luffy actually manages to replicate this, but is defeated again.

In the most recent bout, a CP0 agent intervenes the fight which leads to Luffy either losing consciousness or actually dying. But Luffy reawakens as Joy Boy and unleashes his full power on Kaido with his Gear 5: Nika.

Luffy’s Gear 5 Powers

The Gorosei imply that Luffy has the most ridiculous power in history because he has the Human-Human Model: Nika Devil Fruit, which is a Mythical Zoan fruit, whose name and type had been changed in order to hide its true power.

The last person to awaken the Devil Devil Fruit was Joy Boy, and he did so 800 years ago.

After Luffy is slammed by Kaido (and due to CP0’s sabotage), his voice vanishes. But Luffy manages to restart his heart, and Zunesha says he can hear the Drums of Liberation for the first time in 800 years.

Luffy’s literal and symbolic awakening confirms the fact that he has taken on the will and title of Joy Boy, and can now access godly powers that people believe come from the Sun God Nika.

Luffy turns white hot – literally, his clothes, hair, and eyes become all white, he can unleash vast quantities of Armament and Conqueror’s Haki in the form on free-wheeling combat unwitnessed before.

Most amazingly, he can also transfer his power to other things – and people!

Luffy has acquired the full properties of rubber and can utilize its freedom in whatever way he imagines.

He picks up the ground and uses it to block Kaido’s Boro Breath. He gets ingested by Kaido and grows bigger inside him turning Kaido into a dragon balloon.

He turns Kaido himself elastic and punches through his eyeballs. He expands into a giant and twist Kaido to use him as a jump rope.

I mean there is nothing that stands in his way. Kaido himself is in shock because he can’t understand how Luffy’s Paramecia-type Gomu Gomu no Mi is allowing him to display such awesome power.

It’s like whatever Kaido does, Luffy always emerges as strong as before. When Kaido swings his spiked kanabo into Luffy, Luffy’s head just folds around it unimpacted because he is made of rubber.

Does Gear 5 Make Luffy Invincible?

Gear 5 does not mean Luffy cannot be defeated. It is incredibly, hilariously, terrifyingly powerful, but it is still a form of his Devil Fruit, and he does have to transform out of it.

Luffy runs out of steam when he takes the full impact of Kaido’s Boro Breath head on. His white hair turns black, and his determined, youthful, energetic face begins to sag.

“Ah’m all tuckered out. Oh yeah, I was dyin’ before this. Wow, it takes a lot of energy.”

Yamato and Momonosuke also notice that his voice is nearly dying out again.

This means that Luffy’s Gear 5 isn’t some all-powerful invincible broken overpowered ability. If that was the case, it would have taken Luffy a single attack to take down Kaido.

The fact is that Luffy is almost done. Gear 5 obviously takes a lot out of Luffy, similar to Gear 4.

But as Luffy is changing back from Gear 5, what reinvigorates him are 4 names: Momo, Tama, Kinemon, and Pedro.

Luffy’s spirit once again trumps all his other powers. This is what One Piece is all about. Why Luffy is the one who is Joy Boy, why he was always powerful, with or without his Devil Fruit, why he is our protagonist.

He draws energy from his allies, his nakama, and he fights for them. And this is why he will win.

Kaido’s Awakening

Kaido is believed to have the strongest Zoan-type Devil Fruit. If he doesn’t awaken it now, when he is being badly defeated, he never will.

His Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon will go up against Luffy’s Mythical Zoan Nika and we will have the most legendary fight yet.

I do however think that it’s possible someone will intervene here to help or boost Luffy – seeing that he was at the end of his tether mid-chapter.

Although at the end of chapter 1045, Luffy seems all geared up again with his white hair and Nika form. Giant-Luffy punches Kaido straight through his head, and the chapter ends there.

Kaido will awaken after this punch to face Luffy one last time.

Fans saying Luffy has outclassed Kaido may want to reel in their excitement because I think something big is coming. There is no way Kaido is going down so easily after such humiliation.

I do also want to mention that there is a 30% chance that Oda flips this whole thing on us and gives us a final twist. Kaido’s awakening may be unreal and too powerful, even for our newly awakened Sun Boy.

So, yes, there is a possibility that Kaido wins and Luffy loses.

It’s clear that Luffy’s new powers are not some end-all-be-all; he can still take damage – though this seems to be more because of his inability to keep up with his own form.

Luffy has already had 3 power boosts during the Wano arc, and it took him awakening Joy Boy’s Devil Fruit to actually deal some proper damage to Kaido.

Whatever happens in the next couple of chapters, all I know is that when Kaido is ultimately defeated, it is going to be hella satisfying and epic.

About One Piece

One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997.

The man who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate King, is Gol D. Roger. The final words he said at the execution tower were “My treasures? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it; I left all of it at that place.” These words sent many to the seas, chasing their dreams, headed toward the Grand Line, in search of One Piece. Thus began a new age!

Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy also heads toward the Grand Line in search of One Piece. His diverse crew is joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.