Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter #1152.One Piece’s most recent story arcs have seen the Straw Hat Pirates all go through a tremendous amount of growth in terms of power. Luffy’s constant power-ups are one thing, but the rest of the crew has had plenty of growth, as well, whether it’s been through developing their Haki or by acquiring more skills to fight with, in general.
It’s been great to watchthe Straw Hat Piratesevolve as fighters, and it looks like another big power-up is on the horizon for someone. The Elbaph arc has been pushing the characters further than ever before as they deal with the threat of the Holy Knights and Imu, themself, and to that end,One Pieceis teasing that one Straw Hat is getting a power-up that fans have been waiting years to see happen. It’s the kind of development that needs to happen for the story to progress, and hopefully,One Piecewill more than deliver on it.
One Piece Might Finally Be Giving Sanji His Conqueror’s Haki Upgrade
How One Piece Sets Up Sanji’s Next Power Up
InOne Piecechapter #1152, as everyone prepared to leave the Underworld to fight Imu and the Holy Knights, Gaban said that Conqueror’s Haki would be the key to defeating the Holy Knights and that another person in his crew already had it. Sanji, naturally, assumed that Gaban was talking about him, but to his annoyance,Gaban only confirmed that Zoro had Conqueror’s Haki, something Zoro, oddly enough, was unaware of.
There was far more to Gaban’s exchange than that, of course. Gaban specifically said that there was “more than one of them” with Conqueror’s Haki, which could refer to Zoro, but it also implies multiple people. Not only that, but Sanji clearly has a conversation with Gaban that’s obscured by Loki’s dialogue with Hajrudin, and there’d be no point to that if something wasn’t being hidden, soOne Piecechapter #1152 seems to all but confirm that Sanji has Conqueror’s Haki.
Naturally, Sanji hasn’t used Conqueror’s Haki before now, but with how driven and powerful he is, it’s only natural that he would be someone capable of using Conqueror’s Haki. If Sanji really does have the potential to use Conqueror’s Haki, thenSanji’s Conqueror’s Haki will likely develop across the events of the Elbaph arc, all of which would be great to watch play out in the weeks and months to come.
Why Sanji Needs To Get Conqueror’s Haki Before One Piece Ends
What Makes Sanji Having Conqueror’s Haki So Important
On a meta-level, Sanji developing Conqueror’s Haki is necessary for where his character is currently at. Between how often Zoro overshadows Sanji andtheOne Pieceanime’s weird treatment of Sanji, Sanji is often seen as a joke by fans, so hopefully,Sanji developing Conqueror’s Haki will help improve his reputation with fans.
Back in the Wano arc, it was made clear that Conqueror’s Haki was the key to fighting the strongest fighters in the world, and that’s reached its peak with the appearance of the Holy Knights and the Five Elders, all of whom can only be seriously hurt by Conqueror’s Haki.Sanji needed to develop Conqueror’s Haki to fightOne Piece’s strongest enemies, so this development is only natural.
More importantly, however, is how it relates to Sanji and Zoro’s dynamic. In addition to their long-standing rivalry, the two of them have always been portrayed as equals per their role as the Wings of the Pirate King, and that’s been a fundamental part of the story up until now.Sanji has to develop Conqueror’s Haki to properly maintain his rivalry with Zoro, so it makes sense for the story to finally move in that direction.
AsOne Piece’s final saga moves along, the threats and the overall scale of everything are only going to get bigger, and none of that will land if Luffy’s the only one who can keep up with it all.Sanji developing Conqueror’s Haki is essential for allowing the characters to matchOne Piece’s constant escalation, and hopefully,One Piecewon’t take long to deliver on that, and more.
