Highlights
- Luffy's fight against Kizaru in the Egghead Island Arc has been highly anticipated by fans and has been extremely fun to watch so far.
- Conqueror's Haki is a rare and powerful ability that Luffy possesses, but he is currently not using it in his fight against Kizaru.
- Luffy's decision to not use Conqueror's Haki is strategic and serves the narrative purpose of maintaining tension in the story, but it is likely that he will utilize it as the fight progresses and Kizaru reveals more of his powers.
One Piece is currently in the Egghead Island Arc and fans are witnessing the fight between Luffy and Kizaru unfold with each passing chapter. This fight is one that fans have been waiting for since ages and it offers Luffy a chance to pay the Admiral back for the events that happened 2 years ago on the island of Sabaody Archipelago. This fight has been extremely fun for the fans so far. Luffy has already tapped into the power of Gear 5 and showcased his incredible creativity by one-upping the Marine Admiral.
Kizaru himself has also done exceedingly well in keeping up the luffy so far and he has tricked the Straw Hat Pirate on more occasions than one. While this fight appears to be extremely even at the moment, that doesn't have to be the case if Luffy relies on one of his biggest weapons and that is Conqueror's Haki. Fans know this Haki to be exceptionally dangerous, however, for some reason, Luffy is not using it right now.
The Power of Conqueror's Haki
Conqueror's Haki is a very rare form of Haki that exists in the One Piece world. This power is something that cannot be taught to someone. In fact, the other two forms of Haki, the Color of Arms and the Color of Observation are present inside every person and just need to be tapped into and learned. However, the case with Conqueror's Haki is very different. This power is something that one is blessed with at birth.
Only one in a million people are born with this ability and only they can go on to unlock it once their backs are against the wall. Luffy started tapping into the powers of Conqueror's Haki around the time when he was on the way to Sabaody. On Amazon Lily, he displayed this power once again as it was starting to awaken. In the Paramount War, he once again displayed this incredible ability in front of everyone, marking himself as a big target for the World Government.
It was thanks to Rayleigh that Luffy managed to gain a grasp over this power and eventually started controlling it. He had learned all the basics of Haki in his 18-month training with Rayleigh and progressed further in six more months. After the timeskip, Luffy continued using his abilities and it was finally in Wano where he fought against Kaido that he realized that Conqueror's Haki had an advanced application as well.
Essentially, one can use this power to coat themselves and increase their offensive output as well as defensive capabilities. When Luffy utilized this power, he was able to stand on an equal footing with Kaido. When combined with his Gear 5, he was able to best the Yonko. Right now, in the fight against Kizaru, however, Luffy is not utilizing this power, for one reason or another.
Luffy Vs Kizaru So Far
So far, the fight between these two characters has been incredibly exciting for the fans to witness. While Luffy started with his ferocious Snakeman, it proved to be not enough for him to take on Kizaru. While he did land quite a lot of blows on Kizaru in this form and even earned the respect of the Marine Admiral, he was not able to stop the ferocious powers of the Pika Pika no Mi user. Once Kizaru started getting serious, it was quite clear that Gear 4: Snakeman was not going to be enough to deal with him.
The Marine Admiral blew him away with a kick that he charged by flying away from the island and then coming at him at the speed of light. The result was that Luffy was completely blinded and was sent flying through the Frontier Dome. Luffy immediately realized that Gear 4 was not going to be enough to take down a Marine Admiral and, as such, he returned in his Gear 5 form and the fight progressed even further. In the previous chapter, fans saw clearly that Luffy was having a lot of fun fighting Kizaru. He threw him across the island and even fought against his light clones. He launched some powerful attacks on him and even ended up eating his light and yet, he did not tap into the powers of his Haki, which is very strange for the fans.
Why Luffy Isn't Using Conqueror's Haki Vs. Kizaru
It is quite strange for Luffy to not rely on the Color of the Supreme King in his fight against Kizaru. When Luffy fought against Kaido, it was quite clear that he was utilizing both his Color of Arms Haki and his Conqueror's Haki. This was quite evident from the fact that his hands were often coated in Haki and, and when they were not, he was able to produce massive lightning sparks as well, which is an indicator of the Color of the Supreme King being used. Kaido himself mentioned that Luffy has a free-wheeling combat where utilizes his imagination to the fullest as well as relies on both Armament and Conqueror's Haki. Yet, here, there is no indication of him using the Color of the Supreme King against Kizaru.
The only reason as to why he is not utilizing this power is because he does not deem it necessary to be used at the moment. Judging by how things are right now, Luffy is fairly confident that he can handle Kizaru without utilizing this power. His Gear 5 is his go-to technique and that will always be the case from here onwards. Luffy utilized this power because it grants him a significant boost but, at the same time, it also serves a narrative purpose. Gear 5 was specifically tapped into because the Iron Giant needed to be awakened with Drums of Liberation.
If Luffy had used the Color of the Supreme King with Snakeman, he would most likely have been able to hold Kizaru off without going into Gear 5. However, the plot would not have moved forward as the Iron Giant would not have awakened. However, if Luffy had gone into Gear 5 and utilized the Color of Supreme King as well, then Kizaru would just have been defeated in one chapter and that would've taken away all tension from the story. If Kizaru had been able to put up a fight against Luffy despite him using both of these skills, then it would have undermined the power of the Color of the Supreme King and Gear 5. All things considered, the best way for Oda out of the situation was to make sure that Luffy only uses one of his powers at the moment.
That certainly does not mean that he will not use Conqueror's Haki in his fight as it moves forward. There is a lot that Kizaru still has not shown to the fans and one interesting power is Devil Fruit Awakening. If Kizaru takes things a notch higher by utilizing his Devil Fruit Awakening, then Luffy will have to take his power a level higher as well and most likely bring out the Color of the Supreme King. This would turn this already exciting fight into a more intense one and make Egghead Island an even better arc.
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 the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1094, is set to be October 8, 2023.