This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Elbaf Arc.
Summary
Luffy has shown dramatic growthin terms of both strength and character in the post-timeskip ofOne Piece. Given that the New World is where the real challenge was, Oda always intended for Luffy to reach an entirely new tier of strength in this particular part of the story. The two-year timeskip saw him strengthen tremendously, and thanks to help from Rayleigh, Luffy developed an incredible new power called Gear 4. Gear 4 was first introduced in the battle against Doflamingo. Luffy’s regular Gears proved to be ineffective in the fight against the Heavenly Demon, which is why he had to pull out his trump card, and that was Gear 4.
Ever since then, Luffy has gone on 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 However, the existence of Gear 5 doesn’t mean that Gear 4 is obsolete now. It is still a very useful ability, and Luffy has recently showcased new ways of using this power, which further solidifies his mastery over it.
Luffy’s Previous Struggles With Gear 4 In One Piece
It goes without saying that Gear 4 is one of Luffy’s greatest powers. The strength that this incredible transformation grants to Luffy is absolutely incredible. In fact, a single punch from Gear 4 was strong enough to topple the many beasts on Ruskaina, which is 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 happened. Even stronger enemies, such as Katakuri, could not defend against the might of Gear 4,despite having superior Haki. In fact, Gear 4 was so strong that even Kaido was sent flying back with attacks from it, although they did little damage to him because of his tough exterior.
I can’t use Haki for 10 minutes! – Luffy
The point is that in terms of raw strength, Gear 4 is absolutely magnificent and still is one of Luffy’s greatest assets. That said, this incredible strength came at a huge price. Gear 4 saw Luffyutilize his Devil Fruit power and Haki at the maximum output, which is why it had a timer. Essentially, Luffy could not maintain Gear 4 for long, and eventually, he always ran out of steam, which is when he was at his weakest. For about 10 minutes, Luffy could not use Haki at all, and that is precisely why he needed to run circles around his enemies or someone else to defend him. Gear 4 had a massive drawback. However, with time, this drawback lessened. Luffy could use Gear 4 for much longer, as seen during his fight against Kaido.
Once Luffy learned how to infuse Conqueror’s Haki into his Gear 4 attacks, his battle against Kaido was more even. Luffy could freely switch between Gear 4 forms, such as Bounceman and Snakeman, and create completely new techniques that surprised even the Yonko. However, despite all that, at the end of the day, Gear 4 did have to run out at some point, which was still a problem for Luffy, given that he could not use Haki for about 10 minutes after that.
What Luffy managed in Wano was to extend the life of Gear 4 tremendously, and gain the ability to swap between its multiple forms freely without losing the transformation. This was a major step already, but, now, Luffy has taken things to another level and achieved the utmost mastered form of Gear 4, which he displayed inOne Piecechapter 1129.
How Luffy Has Mastered Gear 4 In Elbaf
Luffy Can Use Gear 4 Without Fully Transforming
As was clear to the fans inOne Piecechapter 1129, Luffy has now mastered Gear 4 completely. In this chapter, Luffy attempted to use Gear 4 on a wall in order to break it. Usually, the way Luffy goes about it is to pump air into his muscles and inflate his body, coating it with the maximum output of Haki, and then unleashing powerful strikes on his enemies.
This gives Luffy a giant bouncy body, which is even taller than that of Doflamingo. However, now, Luffy is doing something entirely different. Instead of transforming his entire body into Gear 4, Luffy is essentially only using Gear 4 in one arm.
Step aside! It’s time for a ‘little’ Gear 4. – Luffy
Fans saw this inOne Piecechapter 1129 when Luffy attempted to break a wall, and it was a surprise to many. Luffy only transformed one of his arms into Gear 4, and coated it in Haki. His remaining body remained as it was, and this suggests that Luffy has incredible mastery over the Gomu Gomu no Mi now.
Although this might seem like it came out of nowhere to the fans, this is something similar to what happened with Luffy’s other Gears. For instance, 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 with time. This was supposed to signify that Luffy waslearning to control his Devil Fruit powers better.
But, when it comes to exhaustion and shortening of lifespan as a side effect, the Gear that was more similar to Gear 4 was Gear 2. When Luffy first utilized 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 utilizing Gear Second was deemed way too dangerous for him. However, once Luffy returned from the timeskip, fans saw a completely new version of Gear Second, at least in the manga. Luffy utilized Gear Second only through select body parts. For instance, when Luffy had to utilize a Jet Pistol, he simply used Gear Second in one of his arms and feet to spring and then deliver a powerful blow to the enemies. This allowed Luffy to switch Gear Second on and off more frequently 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 is utilizing the power of Gear 4 in select body parts and only when he needs them. This ensures that he maintains his stamina,and his Haki at the same time, while maintaining incredible firepower that Gear 4 has.
The Usage Of New Gear 4 Will Be More Frequent
Luffy Will Now Use Powerful Gear 4 Attacks More Frequently
Luffy has mastered Gear 4 completely, and one can see this form being used more frequently. Against strong enemies, Luffy will likely dive headfirst with Gear 4 techniques being utilized in only a few parts of his body. He’ll 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 clearly, Luffy has devised ways to utilize it against weaker opponents where he doesn’t need to overexert himself.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapp. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1129, is set to be June 13, 2025.
