Warning: Contains spoilers for chapter #1114 of One Piece.

SUMMARY

Luffy struggles to defeat the Five Elders even with Gear Five and Armament Haki.
Each Elder has unique abilities, making it difficult for Luffy to escape or defeat them.
Luffy may need to innovate and evolve Gear Five further to stand a chance against the Elders.

Amidst the shocking revelations in the latest chapter of One Piece lies a hint of trouble for Luffy, who may be forced to evolve Gear Five if he wants to defeat his newest unbeatable enemies. While the rest of the Straw Hat crew are steadily making their way to the Sunny, Luffy has made no progress fighting the Five Elders, who are surprisingly impervious to Gear Five’s attacks. Successfully escaping Egghead Island hinges on Luffy being able to subdue the Five Elders and the latest chapter suggests it may be time for Gear Five’s next evolution.

In chapter #1114 of One Piece, Luffy tries punching Warcury yet again, only to be left in seething pain from the impact despite using Gear Five and Armament Haki. Luffy attempted to punch Saint Warcury in chapter #1112 with Red Roc and was met with the same reaction, suggesting that Gear Five hasn’t made much of a difference in the matter.

Each of the Five Elders appears to have different strengths, such as Saint Saturn’s regeneration, Saint Nusjuro’s speed, and Saint Warcury’s toughness, and at this rate, Luffy may not be able to hold off the Five Elders long enough for the Straw Hats to make their escape, much less defeat them. Gear Five’s attacks have had no effect on the monstrous Five Elders and Luffy may soon be forced to innovate a new attack or evolve Gear Five’s powers beyond what it took to defeat Kaido.

Luffy Needs to Tap into Gear Five’s Latent Potential to Defeat the Five Elders

One Piece created by Eiichiro Oda, chapter #1114 “The Wings of Icarus“

Though Luffy’s Gear Five attacks are already quite peculiar, the events of the latest chapter suggest Luffy may need to think even further out of the box in order to defeat the Five Elders. A glimpse of Gear Five’s latent powers was seen in chapter #1111 when Luffy displayed the ability to conjure objects out of nowhere and even defy the flow of time itself. This proves that Gear Five is still capable of much more and its only limits are indeed Luffy’s imagination, as explained during Luffy’s awakening at Wano.

It is debatable whether all of Gear Five’s attacks are infused with Conqueror’s Haki as well, but in chapter #1045, Kaido does point out that Luffy is indeed using both Conqueror’s Haki and Armament Haki. There’s no reason why Luffy would not do the same against the Five Elders who are clearly much stronger than Kaido.

Most interestingly, in chapter #1114, the Giants seem to predict that Luffy’s attacks will not work against Warcury. It is possible that the Giants know more about Nika’s abilities, as the legend is hinted to have originated from Elbaf. Moreover, Dorry and Brogy’s attacks seemed to be somewhat effective against Warcury as seen in chapter #1111.

What Could Be Gear Five’s Next Evolution?

Knowing Luffy, it is most likely that he will come up with another ridiculous attack that could take the entire of Eggheaad Island down in one blow. In the past, Luffy’s response to encountering a new stronger foe has usually been to make an attack faster or bigger, or both. However, brute force may not be very useful against the Five Elders unless Luffy’s giant fist sends the island sinking and the Five Elders into the ocean. As seen with Gear Fourth, which birthed many different forms like Snakeman, Tankman, and Bounceman, it is possible that Luffy may accomplish something similar even with Gear Five.

As things stand, however, Gear Five is clearly not enough for Luffy to defeat the Five Elders. The upcoming chapter of One Piece will likely feature Luffy trying everything under the sun to try and overpower Saint Warcury and perhaps Luffy may end up evolving Gear Five beyond anything the world has ever witnessed. What’s clear is that Luffy will have to deal with the Five Elders sooner or later, even if he manages to leave Egghead without fully discovering the key to fighting them.