On March 28, 2022, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump issue 17, One Piece officially released chapter 1044. With it, we got to see Monkey D. Luffy's strongest transformation to date, that is Gear 5, also known as the Sun God Nika form.
This transformation was a direct result of Luffy awakening the powers of Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, a powerful Mythical Zoans Devil Fruit. Over the past four years, this transformation has remained at a premium, as well One Piece's as well as Luffy's strongest transformation of all. But the Nika transformation finally fails the protagonist of the series. IN One Piece chapter 1188, officially released on July 12, 2026, Luffy's limitations were officially shown to us for the very first time. If there's one thing that comes out of this chapter, it's that Monkey D. Luffy needs another, stronger transformation on top of Gear 5 if he's going to win a fight against Nerona Imu, and with that, Gear 5 as we know it must come to an end.
One Piece confirms that Luffy's Gear 5 is too weak to defeat Nerona Imu
One Piece Chapter 1188, which was officially released in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #33 for 2026, confirmed Monkey D. Luffy's limitations regarding his Gear 5. Gear 5 Luffy has always been incredibly powerful, and with the incredible grit and amazing creativity he displays in battle, it often leaves his enemies confused and on the back foot. However, the fight against Nerona Imu, King of the World and Devil God in one piece, was completely different. Although Luffy usually showed dominance in battles, he was unable to put up an impressive performance against Imu.
“Of course I know you're not Joy Boy! Joy Boy wasn't that weak!!” — Nerona Imu calls Luffy weaker than Joy Boy, One Piece Chapter #1188
In fact, Luffy couldn't even land a single clean hit on Imu after he transformed into his Gear 5 and ended up getting stabbed right through the stomach at the end of the chapter. One Piece Chapter 1188 saw Imu use the Blade of Nothingness: Vohu and defeat Luffy with it, leaving him in a pool of blood. Meanwhile, Imu officially confirmed to us that Monkey D. Luffy was way too weak to be Joy Boy, which only added insult to injury. With Gear 5 now officially too weak to defeat Nerona Imu, despite having absolute full power, which was confirmed to us in One Piece Chapter 1186 on June 28, 2026, we can say with absolute certainty that Luffy needs a stronger transformation to defeat the King of the World one way or another.
“That bad news is Elbaf's enemy, right? Then that means he's my enemy too. I'm overflowing with strength. Right now I can't see anyone beating me.” — Monkey D. Luffy confirms his full power before entering the Imu battle, One Piece Chapter #1186
Why Gear 5's defeat means a replacement transformation is lined up for Luffy
With Gear 5 being insufficient to take down Nerona Imu, we're now almost guaranteed that Monkey D. Luffy will get a stronger transformation sooner rather than later. Luffy's Gear 5 is strong, but against Imu it couldn't even land a single blow. Most fans might want Luffy to power up his Conqueror's Haki as the next power up, but the fact is that Conqueror's Haki simply cannot grow stronger without Luffy upgrading power-wise with a new transformation.
“Although you can control the color of that Supreme King, you cannot train it to become stronger directly. It is the embodiment of the user's spirit. The only way to make it stronger is for the user to become stronger.” — Silver's Rayleigh confirms that Supreme King Haki cannot be trained, One Piece Chapter #597
As confirmed by Rayleigh in One Piece Chapter 597, Conqueror's Haki cannot be trained directly and only grows stronger as the user grows stronger. In other words, Luffy's Conqueror's Haki is at its peak when he is in Gear 5. It will grow stronger when he unlocks a new transformation or takes Gear 5 to an elevated state. In other words, a boost to Luffy's Gear 5 with the new form is an absolute must if he is going to boost his Haki. To that end, we can say with absolute certainty that the Gear 5 that Luffy unlocked in One Piece Chapter 1044 on March 28, 2022, is now obsolete. Luffy will soon unlock his new strongest transformation, with the era of the base Gear 5 ending forever.
Luffy's Final Transformation Vs Imu will push him to Joy Boy's level
Luffy unlocking a new transformation in Elbaf or any arc beyond doesn't necessarily mean Gear 5 itself will die. However, the base state of Gear 5 that we first saw Luffy use is officially over. Luffy's Gear 6 will likely just be an upgrade to the base Gear 5, taking Awakening of the Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika to the absolute max limit. By doing this, Luffy will bring out the full potential of the Devil Fruit, which will also lead to a significant upgrade of his overall Haki. Essentially, Gear 5 will still be Luffy's strongest form; however, it will be significantly upgraded, and the upgraded form is what Luffy could very well call Gear 6.
With this new transformation and push to the next level of strength, Luffy could very well become as strong as Shanks is right now, eventually trying to get closer to the levels of Joy Boy. When Imu directly makes a comparison between Luffy and Joy Boy, it's almost as if Oda is telling us that the Straw Hat Pirates' next goal is to reach the same level as the first pirate in the world of One Piece.
We certainly can't wait to see Luffy rise to this level in the future, but for now he needs the help of his Wings, who can seriously weaken Imu by killing Killingham and Sommers in battle at the climax of the Elbaf arc. Once this is accomplished and Imu is weakened, Luffy will have a chance to further strengthen himself by unleashing his fruit's full potential. Luffy will then say goodbye to the base Gear 5 that we've seen all these years, and with it scare Elbaf for good.
All the new One Piece manga chapters by Eiichiro Oda are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
