3 years after Gear 5, One Piece finally confirms Luffy's Next Power Up

One Piece is currently in the Elbaf arc and fans get to see some of the biggest reveals one by one here. From lore to some of the biggest battles of the past, the Loki flashback has shown fans everything. Through this incredible stretch of chapters that fans have been getting lately, Oda has also made it clear that he has bigger power-ups planned for the series' protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy.

As most fans are well aware, it's been quite some time since Luffy got his last power-up in the story. At the moment, Luffy's biggest and latest power-up is Gear 5, and it is with the help of this incredible ability that he was finally able to overthrow Kaido, the King of Beasts. The last tale of One Piece however, has brought in newer enemies and Gear 5 is no longer enough. It was obvious to fans that Luffy needed new power-ups if he was going to face and win against characters like Imu, and Oda has finally addressed that by showing fans exactly what power up Luffy will win the next one. Years after Gear 5, Oda had now officially lined up Luffy's upcoming new power.

Luffy will gain advanced Haki in the final saga

Rocks showed new Haki abilities in God Valley

• Luffy needs to learn Haki Barrier and Haki Blasts

• Luffy's Haki needs improvement

When it comes to Devil Fruit abilities, Luffy has already done his best. Devil Fruit Awakening is the peak of a Devil Fruit's powers and Luffy expressed this himself in the Wano Country Arc. When he awakened his Devil Fruit, Luffy clearly stated that he was now at his peak, and this of course referred to his Devil Fruit powers.

Luffy can't get more out of his Devil Fruit and that's clear, but he can still grow in terms of Haki, and Scopper Gaban clearly told Luffy that he needs to be careful how he uses his Haki. Luffy's next power-up comes in the Haki department.

IN One Piece chapter 1165, Oda showed off Rocks D. Xebec with a very unique power, and it is the ability to use high level Conqueror's Haki as a barrier. Essentially, Rock's Haki was so strong that it automatically negated any attack against him. It almost acted as a barrier between him and the enemy, and the stronger the Haki, the stronger this barrier.

Luffy has yet to learn this ability, and he still needs to learn how to use Haki shockwaves like Rocks, Roger, Garp, and Shanks. In other words, Luffy hasn't fully mastered Haki yet, and Oda has finally revealed to fans exactly what he needs to do to get to the next level in the story.

Luffy will improve his Haki significantly in Elbaf

Luffy's Haki must reach Shank's level

For now, One Piece is in the Loki flashback of the Elbaf arc, but it won't be for long. Over the next few months, the flashback will officially end, and once it ends, Luffy Vs Imu and the Holy Knights begins. It is this struggle that will give Luffy the perfect foundation to master his Haki and take it to the next level. Fans should be ready to see Luffy reach a new level, and the fact that Oda revealed these Haki powers in the Elbaf arc flashback means they're headed Luffy's way soon. All fans have to do is wait for the flashback to end and for Luffy to start fighting in Elbaf.

The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1165 is November 9, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.

Release date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Author

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)