Oda reveals Luffy's Mastered New Gear 4

This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf Arc.

Important takeaways

• Luffy's mastery of Gear 4 allows him to use it in specific body parts, improving stamina and Haki.
• Luffy's ability to freely switch between Gear 4 forms and techniques makes him more versatile in battles.
• The introduction of the Gear 5 does not make the Gear 4 obsolete; Luffy still uses it in strategic ways against opponents.

Luffy has shown dramatic growth in both strength and character after the jump One Piece. Considering that the New World is where the real challenge was, Oda always thought that Luffy would reach a whole new level of strength in this particular part of the story. The two-year time jump saw him greatly strengthened, and thanks to the help of Rayleigh, Luffy developed an incredible new power called Gear 4. Gear 4 was first introduced in the fight against Doflamingo. Luffy's regular Gears proved ineffective against the Heavenly Demon, so he had to pull out his trump card, which was Gear 4.

Ever since then, Luffy has progressed to Master Gear 4 in many exciting ways, but more than that, he developed an entirely new power, called Gear 5, which debuted in the Wano Country Arc. However, the existence of the Gear 5 does not mean that the Gear 4 is obsolete now. It's still a very useful ability, and Luffy has recently shown off new ways to use this power, further cementing his mastery over it.

Luffy's previous fights with Gear 4 in one piece

• Luffy couldn't maintain Gear 4 for long
• Luffy Lost Haki After Gear 4

It goes without saying that Gear 4 is one of Luffy's greatest powers. The strength that this incredible transformation gives Luffy is absolutely incredible. In fact, a single blow from Gear 4 was strong enough to topple the many beasts on Ruskaina, where Luffy trained for 2 years. In the battle against Doflamingo, a single Kong Gun was powerful enough to send him flying from one edge of the country to the other without him even realizing what exactly was happening. Even stronger enemies, such as Katakuri, could not defend themselves against the strength of Gear 4, despite having superior Haki. In fact, the Gear 4 was so strong that even Kaido was sent flying back with attacks from it, although they did little damage to him due to his tough exterior.

I can't use Haki for 10 minutes! – Luffy

The point is, in terms of raw power, Gear 4 is absolutely magnificent and still one of Luffy's greatest assets. That said, this incredible strength came at a huge price. Gear 4 saw Luffy use his Devil Fruit power and Haki at maximum power, which is why it had a timer. Basically, Luffy couldn't maintain Gear 4 for long, and eventually always ran out, which is when he was at his weakest. For about 10 minutes, Luffy couldn't use Haki at all, which is exactly why he needed to run circles around his enemies or anyone else to defend him. The Gear 4 had a huge drawback. But over time, this disadvantage decreased. Luffy was able to use Gear 4 much longer, as seen during his fight against Kaido.

Once Luffy learned to infuse Conqueror's Haki into his Gear 4 attacks, his fight against Kaido was more even. Luffy was able to freely switch between Gear 4 forms, such as Bounceman and Snakeman, creating brand new techniques that surprised even the Yonko. But despite all that, at the end of the day, Gear 4 had to run out at some point, which was still a problem for Luffy, considering he couldn't use Haki for about 10 minutes after that.

What Luffy accomplished in Wano was to greatly extend the life of the Gear 4 and gain the ability to change between its many forms freely without losing the transformation. This was already a big step, but now Luffy has taken things to another level and achieved the most mastered form of Gear 4, which he showed in One Piece chapter 1129.

How Luffy has mastered Gear 4 in Elbaf

Luffy can use Gear 4 without fully transforming

Which was clear to the fans in One Piece chapter 1129, Luffy has now mastered Gear 4 completely. In this chapter, Luffy tried to use Gear 4 on a wall to break it. Usually, the way Luffy does it is to pump air into his muscles and inflate his body, cover it with Haki's maximum power, and then unleash powerful attacks on his enemies.

This gives Luffy a giant bouncy body, which is even longer than Doflamingo's. But now Luffy is doing something completely different. Instead of transforming his entire body into Gear 4, Luffy basically only uses Gear 4 in one arm.

Step aside! It's time for a “little” Gear 4. – Luffy

The fans saw this One Piece chapter 1129 when Luffy tried to break a wall, and it was a surprise to many. Luffy just turned one of his arms into Gear 4 and coated it with Haki. His remaining body remained as it was, indicating that Luffy has incredible mastery over Gomu Gomu no Mi now.

While this may seem like it came out of nowhere to fans, this is somewhat similar to what happened with Luffy's other Gears. For example, when it comes to the weakness of Gear 3, which was Luffy essentially turning into a chibi version of himself, Oda eventually phased this out over time. This was supposed to mean that Luffy learned to control his Devil Fruit powers better.

But when it comes to exhaustion and life shortening as a side effect, the Gear that was more similar to Gear 4 was Gear 2. When Luffy first used Gear Second, he did so at the cost of his own life. This was also confirmed by the Strawhat Pirates in the Thriller Bark Arc, and Luffy essentially using Gear Second was considered far too dangerous for him. However, when Luffy returned from the timeskip, fans saw a completely new version of Gear Second, at least in the manga. Luffy only used Gear Second through select body parts. For example, when Luffy had to use a Jet Pistol, he simply used Gear Second in one of his arms and feet to run and then deal a powerful blow to the enemies. This allowed Luffy to turn Gear Second on and off more often and only use it and select body parts, avoiding the case of total exhaustion.

What Luffy is doing right now with Gear 4 is exactly what he did with Gear Second. Now Luffy uses the power of Gear 4 in selected body parts and only when he needs them. This ensures that he maintains his stamina, and his Haki at the same time, while maintaining the incredible firepower that the Gear 4 has.

The use of New Gear 4 will become more frequent

Luffy will now use powerful Gear 4 attacks more often

Luffy has mastered Gear 4 completely, and you can see this form being used more often. Against strong enemies, Luffy will likely dive head first with Gear 4 techniques only used on a few parts of his body. He will likely coat it with Armament and Conqueror's Haki. Fans were worried that Gear 4 would be irrelevant now that Luffy has Gear 5, but apparently Luffy has found ways to use it against weaker opponents where he doesn't have to overexert himself.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1129, is set for October 13, 2024.