*.:White ShadoW:.*

It seems Gear 5 isn't as taxing as I expected. Luffy has recovered with seemingly little consequence. Zoro came back from hell as well unscathed.

Momonosuke losing his tiddy grabbing privileges was hilarious and it's still crazy that an 8 year old is expected to lead a nation, but I guess his scabbards will be his guides.

Green Bull is just as we expected, likely a plant Logia, which confirms he hasn't eaten in years. due to photosynthesis. Such a DF ability is potentially ridiculousy OP, and he might be able to produce toxins, heal himself, and shoot solar beams. lol Even make real clones of himself or manipulate all plants and fungi on an island due to awakening.

 It's crazy that both Yonko are still likely alive stewing in magma while unconscious, and then violently thrown from the eruption to who knows where.

What's really surprising is that I expected Luffy to look like a husk of human being after expending so much haki and physical stamina. He merely passed out from the exchange. 

Meanwhile Zoro actually looks like he's on the verge of death.

Kaido followed a "Might makes right" philosophy. After the countless wars he was made to fight in as a child soldier, as well as his subsequent betrayal by his own nation after all his sacrifices he essentially became a nihilist who believed that what constitutes right or wrong means nothing without the strength to back up your ideology.  This mentality was shown to be reinforced by Kurozumi, whose manipulations made him remain in Wano to fuel the events that lead to Oden's demise and Orochi's rise to power. I believe his suicidal tendencies rose from his acceptance that maybe this "Joyboy" of legend was just a myth and that he did live in a meaningless, unforgiving world after all... he sought meaning and in its absence developed a belief that the only thing that matters is power. 

He also didn't just attempt suicide directly, but also intentionally set up events to bring about his own potential defeat. He tested the mettle of Momonosuke during the attack of Oden's castle by throwing him off the balcony instead of easily snapping his neck, with the hopes that he could one day avenge his father. He even showed visible disappointment when Momo didn't show the same resolve his father did as Momo was instead bawling in fear. Same goes for when Kurozumi Higurashi used the Mane Mane no Mi to pretend to be Momo, or when the CP-0 agent interloped in his fight against Luffy. In both cases he killed them for ruining his dream.

This is why he was amassing and selling weapons to create a "world war" to end all wars. He felt that since there's nothing to stop him, there's no point for anything to remain anyway. At least he can enjoy potentially dying in a blaze of glory along the way.

As to why Kaido wasn't challenged by the other Yonko even though he showed that there were definitely contemporaries in his league, it boils down to character motivations— i.e. Dreams.

Whitebeard  never cared about ruling the seas, or One Piece, he achieved his dream which was to have a family and to protect his family. Once that was achieved Newgate didn't really care about saving anyone, unless they entered his zone of protection. The fact that he was also a member of the Rocks pirates also meant Kaido already had a mutual respect for him an knew his motivations. He was never the Joyboy he imagined.

Big Mom wanted to created a world where all races lived in peace and harmony, basically literally inheriting  the dream and ability from Mother Carmel to do so. She also was too avaricious to any hero and is too familiar with Kaido.

Now Shanks is the biggest contender, but as we've known from chapter 1 aka Romance Dawn, that he bet all his cards on Luffy being the heir apparent to fulfill Roger's dream. He probably predicted the events and just waited for them to come to fruition, hence why he looked at Luffy's bounty and proclaimed that they're now approaching the moment when they'll finally meet. Kaido puts Shanks in the same pantheon as Roger, Whitebeard, and his former captain Xebec D. Rocks, so it's interesting what his past interactions were like with him.
 

Kaido may have lost in predictable fashion, but it still was nice and cathartic to see after so many years of hype. The Toon Force dragon-shaped hole Kaido created was also funny. That said I predictThe consequence of Luffy expending an ungodly amount of haki to both maintain Gear 5th and do his final attack might incredibly detrimental. Luffy might go into an Odin Sleep-like coma that lasts weeks or even months. This would at least give time for some long exposition regarding the blowback from the defeat of a Yonkou.

I also agree that  this is a perfect time for Svartbeard, especially since he's is the biggest opportunist out of any OP character. All the allies are weakened Kaido and Luffy will be vulnerable , plus there's a bunch of weapons and Smiles everywhere to plunder and even resell. 

JUMPROPE! 🤣 I gotta say it's a relief to see that Luffy is still using his "Gomu Gomu No" moveset. The Gorosei weren't lying anout this being the most ridiculous power. What's interesting is seeing the accumulated damage on Kaido from Luffy's god mode attacks that would be lethal if not for the "Toon Force" warp. Kaido would've been dead if he got punched through the face in "reality" but instead his smushed head just bends and conforms back with some blood. It's cool but makes it hard to gauge just what kind of damage is being dealt. 

Conversely, Kaido's attacks are still hurting Awakened Luffy and draining his stamina even with his Toon Force powers, which is  cool. I'm seriously wondering what the consequences for Luffy will be after this arc, since it's clear once his Awakened mode is gone Luffy will be donezo, maybe for even month.

Luffy being able to runon air and alter his size casually is crazy enough, but it seems his Toon Force abilities can alter people who are just in the vicinity. Last chapter the only one affected was Kaido who he was physically touching, but Tama, Nami, Law, and Kidd were still affected by the "Loonification" of his power. This abilityto alter the world around him might be how Luffy will "destroy" Fishman Island like Madame Sharley prophesized.

Based on his reaction to Luffy eating the fruit and wanting to sell the fruit in Romance Dawn, he didn't know of the fruit's potential. It seemed like just a random raid on the Marines.

My Nika Luffy...

HOLY SHIEEET!!! Luffy has quite possibly the haxxiest broken ability in shonen manga history. Toon Force!!! There was a lot that Oda showed us in a short amount of time.

First off his, ability has a "Looney Tunes"-like reality manipulation not only on himself but others. Notice the eye-poppin' effects on the fully Zoan Kaido when he was being manhandled by Gear 5 Luffy? Also I believe there was some time manipulation as well. Luffy was able to intercept and rebound Kaido's Blast Breath while laughing, then recognizing, and reacting— all while the the beam looked stationary. It didn't look like a speed feat, which is why we didn't see Luffy in a blur or speed lines to display action. It was like he slowed everything to allow him to react. Insane!

Also him digging up the earth like carpet to repulse Blast Breath might be taken as turning the ground into rubber, but I think it might be more complex than that. He's literally altering the reality around him to suit whatever he imagines. 

And just as I said before, devil fruits, particularly Zoans, seem to have wills of their own. It's why awakened Zoans in Impel Down basically took over their human hosts. Luffy, on the other hand, still retains his personality but his laugh and mannerisms have changed to resemble Sun God Nika. It's also interesting that we haven't seem Luffy use any visible forms of armament, only conquerors, like he's surpassed that stage.

Also, this lends to my belief that the Yami Yami no Mi was also seeking Marshall D. Teach the same way the Gomu Gomu no Mi has a will of its own.

Oda drew his final panel of One Piece many years ago. Added with the fact that Roger and his crew laughed when they found out what One Piece truly was, I have a sinking feeling we might be witnessing a "Big O" scenario.

For those who remember the series and watched it until the very end, it was found out that the entire events in Big O were all a story written by a woman who wrote herself into the story... a story that she made play out and repeat over and over again. While I don't think the One Piece story repeats, I do believe that it might be a meta-fantasy, where Gol D. Roger realizes that this grand adventure had been an actual story all along... or at the very least a dream created by another entity.  This has no direct evidence, but it's still something I'm willing to consider in light of what I read this chapter.

That they are inhabited by "devils". Devils could mean the souls or wills of the users. This is why Zoan  Devil Fruits can inhabit objects and come alive and have personalities unique to themselves like Spandam's elephant sword Funkfreed.

What we know as Gomu Gomu no Mi might have been inherited by Joy Boy, hence why World Government/ Im kept it under lock and key, because they couldn't afford for its "inherited will" to continue and also for the fruit to be available to regrow if the user died. This concept of will and fate also follows Blackbeard, since he just happened to find the Yomi Yomi no Mi by being on the right pirate crew, on the right ship.  I also feel that the Teach and Xebec are carrying the will of another "devil" in the form of the Yomi Yomi no Mi like Luffy is...

Also can we give it up to that CP0 agent that knew he was dead the moment he took on the mission and took his fate like a real G? 

Like "The Wellest of Men" I feel for Drake, he gave one more push to ensure Kaido's defeat but it was seemingly for naught. I really liked how Luffy wasn't goofing around and you can see him struggling just to remain conscious after taking massive hits. Which makes CP0's interloping all the more frustrating, but I still welcome a change a pace.

Kaido is by no means an honorable man-beast, but craves satisfaction. He knew that in this battle carried a sliver of a chance that he might lose and he took enjoyment in that, like with facing Oden 20 years back. The difference is now that this moment has been taken away from him a second time, he might do a temporary heel turn direct his ire not on that pitiful CP0 agent (I hope we see something similar to when Luffy nuked that Celestial Dragon with his fist) but the World Government as a whole. Keep in mind the reason why he spared Momonosuke 20 years ago from certain death was with the hopes he could actually be a challenge in light of Momo's father's defeat, so he does have some twisted sense of honor.

Hopefully that rampaging by Kaido might allow Luffy to recover or discover something greater— Awakening.

Izo showing the WB crew haters that they can still get it done. And look at the turn of events, The Gorosei are so shook they want the CP0 to eliminate Luffy ASAP. What's telling is how the CP0 (presumed) leader is scared at the prospect of interfering. X-Drake is probably going to intervene anyway.

I absolutely love how Luffy when full anti-trope and didn't waste time watching Kaido weep, but instead went full offense mode. That panel of Luffy on the assault was clean! I wonder if the fact that he can't "see" Luffy's Hydra has to do with Luffy improving or that it's just the natura' result of dealing Snakeman when you don't have precog Observation haki? I think Luffy is going to need a bit more than a Snakeman attack to do Kaido in though...

Roronoa Zoro has ascended! King's backstory is quite interesting and his relationship with Kaido was a lot less adversarial than I expected. I always had this notion that Kaido brought all his minions to heel before adding them to his crew, but with King I guess they could identify with being hated, misunderstood "creatures".

What's crazy is that even with Zoro combining Conquerors Haki into his blades, namely Enma, he still couldn't cut King in his fired up form. That's  an insane level of durability and goes to show how crazily powerful the Lunarians as a race were. King was also able to casually conjure up fire with the same intensity as magma and manipulate it as well. I makes me wonder more about the nature of Logias and Devil Fruits as whole, and how they relate to the Lineage Factor.

First off— Let's Fuckin' Go  Zoro!!! Although it was already confirmed that he can use Conquerors now he's cladding his sword with it and emitting it constantly similar to Shanks when he boarded Whitebeard's ship eons ago. This scene will look amazing animated, I'm sure there's an entire wing just to make this scene baller.

And now the Lunarians have been expounded on even more. Things are becoming more clear. I think Sanji and his siblings have Lunarian genes hence their durability but Sanji's modifications is probably the closest to a Lunarian which is why he can produce flames based on his emotional state. King might be forever bitter and enraged hence his permanent "Wildfire" always kept ablaze. I'm impressed Kaido managed to tame him, then again they probably are kindred spirits in a way, being "one of a kind". 

Based on these new revelations Lunarians might've mastered the Lineage Factor and altered their own DNA to be adaptable to any environment The Devil Fruits are essentially the living technology housed within the fruits to further modify themselves or other species and items for their purposes. This explains why items can "eat" Devil Fruits and act like living things, because technically they are alive. The Yomi Yomi no mi is likely the master controller for these fruits and probably was intended to be wielded by a high ranking Lunarian to keep other DF users/servants/slaves in check. 

We'll see but this is awesome!

-Yamato's Ice manipulation abilities are cool (seriously, no pun intended)  and the fact that Kaido doesn't consider he and his "son" as humans leads me tobelieve that his definition isn't merely symbolic but they belong to another race. The Ancient Giants like Oars and The Numbers, but Kaido is probably half-Ancient Giant, which explains his size and appearance.

-Momonosuke mimicking his scared antics like in Punk Hazard was a nice callback, and I liked how he showed resolve when confronting Kaido again.

-Luffy deciding to take Kaido on via Snake Man is interesting as this form is designed for speed and not power. We haven't seen Luffy fly in that form, so I wonder if that's possible?

And it needs to be said, the amount of punishment Kaido has received from so many foes and just keeps brushing it all of is just ridiculous. Luffy's Gear 4th + Ryuou/ Conquerors haki barely makes it an equal playing field... and unlike Luffy Kaido has no time limit. 

Lunarians! These might be the ones who are behind the lost civilization. Sanji's Lineage Factor was likely manipulated by Judge to contain some Lunarian properties hence the subconscious fire manipulation. The Raid suit might be further augmenting Sanji's abilities which is why he feels off. However, I think it goes deeper. This might explain all the elemental properties we've seen used in the different races. Fishmen and Mermen with water manipulation, Minks with electricity manipulation and why certain characters including Luffy could use certain techniques to conjure fire a la Red Hawk. Lunarians might've created all these different races by being master manipulators of the Lineage Factor which is why they were seen as gods.

The Shandians, Birkans, and Skypeians are either descendants or separate ethnicities of the Lunarians, and the Red Line might hint of a great calamity that befell that Kingdom. This clearly ties into the abandoned civilization on the moon and the automatons than Enel now controls. I still don't know what this has to do with Space Pirates however.

Zoro finally has some of his origins expounded on after 1000 chapters and unsurprisingly he shares lineage with Ryuma, how a descendant of Wano found himself in the East Blue is interesting...

— It seems Queen did work with Judge, Vegapunk and Caesar after all... but clearly went a different path with his experimentation seeing as he couldn't recreate the effects of SMILE. I guess he has a preference for cybernetics...

— I know Zoro is a durable MOFO but he's broken multiple bones, even if his stamina is restored this medicine must also have some regenerative effects for it be useful. Either way it's good that he'll be back in the game soon.

— Who's Who version of Rokushiki is quite cool. The Fang and Blade Shigan techniques will look cool animated. I wonder if he has his own variant of Rokuougan as well? But the bigger revelation is that he was sent to Impel Down for not being able to guard the Gomu Gomu no Mi (which is ridiculous considering he lost to Shanks' crew) but I believe this harsh punishment was because this was probably a direct order from Im. 

— As for the importance of the Gomu Gomu no Mi to higher ups, I believe the fruit has more symbolic value than being a genuine utility— unlike the Ope Ope no MI. Methinks Joy Boy might've been the original user of the Gomu Gomu no Mi and Im seeks to eradicate even the slightest hint of his memory along with knowledge of the Void Century. Evidence of this fanaticism to keep history at bay was how Ohara was destroyed for even the faintest knowledge of the past, and how the World Government tried many times to destroy the nigh-indestructible poneglyphs even though only a handful of people could read them (now only Robin).

This isn't to say that the Gomu Gomu no Mi won't be of any significance later on (awakening is long overdue IMO), but that this isn't why the WG was interested in guarding it.