The Wano Country arc is unquestionably the best arc inOne Piece. It is filled with a great deal of action and an epic story that ensures that the readers are on their toes the entire time. In the arc, the readers were able to witness the epic battle between the Worst Generation and Kaido and Big Mom. The fights throughout the arc were fabulous and once they are animated, the fans will be able to relive them. In addition to the fights that took place in the arc, there were multiple revelations that shook the entire fanbase.
The biggest revelation was pertaining to Luffy’s devil fruit. From the very beginning, Luffy was believed to have eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi, and it was believed to be a paramecia type devil fruit, but towards the end of Luffy’s battle with Kaido, it was revealed that the Gomu Gomu no Mi is actually a mythical zoan type devil fruit, and it isnamed Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. This came as a massive shock to not just the characters in the series, but to the fans as well, who were under the impression that Luffy’s devil fruit was nothing special. In the recently translated notes,One Piececreator, Eiichiro Oda talked about the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, and how it can be fully utilized.
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Powered By Creativity
Oda mentioned that the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika can be fully utilized by a creative person. Oda said that better imagination allows its user to utilize its power better. This makes Luffy the perfect wielder of the devil fruit as there is hardly any other person, who is as imaginative with their devil fruit as Luffy. After struggling to beat opponents in the Grand Line, Luffy used his imagination to create different gears. The first gear that Luffy used was Gear Second, and it debuted in the mangaduring the Enies Lobby arc.
Luffy used Gear Second in his fight against Blueno, a member of the CP9. In order to use Gear Second, Luffy increases the flow of blood in his entire body, which causes his body to increase the consumption of oxygen and other nutrients. Initially, Luffy was unable to maintain Gear Second for prolonged periods of time, but with every arc, his control improved, and it eventually reached the point where Luffy could use it without any problems.
Improving The Gears Further
Luffy did not stop at Gear Second, he continued to make other gears and his Gear Third was also revealed in the Enies Lobby arc. Luffy pumps air into a specific part of his body, which results in that part being enlarged. In Gear Third, the size of Luffy’s body is comparable to that of giants. This technique also had its drawbacks, as it resulted in Luffy shrinking in size, which made him vulnerable, but with training, Luffy managed to overcome this weakness.
The first two gears were developed before the time-skip, while the others were introduced in the story after Luffy and his crew had entered the New World. During the two-year time-skip, Luffy rigorously trained under Silvers Rayleigh to understand the concept of Haki and its applications. It was during this time that Luffy developed Gear Fourth. Gear Fourth is a combination of Luffy using his devil fruitpowers with Armament Haki. While the devil fruit increased his power and speed, the Armament Haki offered extra protection and strength to combat other devil fruit users. Unlike the first two gears, Gear Fourth has three different modes— Boundman, Tankman, and Snakeman.
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In Boundman, Luffy’s upper body increases in size, and it is covered in Haki. Luffy also imbues his legs with Haki, which makes it impossible for him to stand still and causes him to bounce continuously. Tankman is more defensive in comparison to Boundman. In this form, the size of Luffy’s torso increases exponentially, while the rest of his body almost remains the same. Luffy used Tankman in his fight against Charlotte Cracker, who was unable to damage Luffy in this form. The third and final type of Gear Fourth is Snakeman. This mode is extremely agile and the speed of Luffy’s attacks increases by several folds. He was able to blitz Charlotte Katakuri with the attacks, which led to the Sweet Commander’s first ever defeat.
The Pinnacle Of Power
Gear Fifth is the result of the awakening of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Luffy awakened his devil fruit after beingdefeated by Kaido on the rooftop. In this form, Luffy’s hair and clothes turn white and white clouds float around his neck. The color of his eyes also changes and his eyebrows become swirled. Gear Fifth increases Luffy’s power to a whole another level. Luffy is able to make his surroundings rubbery, which offers him added protection, which allowed him to divert Kaido’s attacks back at him.
In addition to becoming stronger, Luffy also gains more freedom to move, which allows him to use his devil fruit in ingenious ways. He was able to turn into a giant, which is something that he could never do as Gear Third only increased the size of different parts of Luffy’s body. Luffy’s devil fruit also affected naturally occurring things such as lightning.Gear Fifth also makes Luffymore cartoonish, which adds a bit of comedic flair to fights. Kaido experienced the effects first hand, and he was visibly surprised, and compared it to something a person would find in a picture book. Overall, it is safe to say the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is safe in the hands of Luffy as his creativity knows no bounds.
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