Ever since the Wano Arc ended, One Piece’s power scaling has gone through the roof. The Straw Hats have moved far beyond fighting ordinary pirate crews and are now going up against seemingly immortal beings that barely take damage unless overwhelmed by Conqueror’s Haki. After taking down an Emperor, the crew stepped into an entirely different league by directly clashing with the World Government’s highest authority.
The situation unfolding in Elbaph also makes it clear that Luffy is facing enemies far beyond his current level. A direct confrontation with Imu, the King of the World, still feels way too early. Luffy has only started scratching the surface of his awakened Devil Fruit powers, and Gear 5 still drains him heavily after short fights.
What once felt like a grand pirate adventure is now slowly turning into a battle between godlike beings. Imu effortlessly enduring Loki’s strongest attacks and the arrival of the Rain Goddess Zaza push the story even deeper into mythical territory. The sudden jump toward divine-level threats carries the same kind of late-game escalation that many fans criticized in Naruto. If the stakes continue rising this quickly, One Piece could risk running into the same storytelling problems that hurt its longtime rival near the end.
One Piece’s God-Tier Enemies Risk Repeating Naruto’s Controversial Kaguya Twist
Back in 2014, Naruto shocked fans with what many still consider one of the worst plot twists in manga history. After spending years building up Madara Uchiha as the ultimate final villain, the story suddenly replaced him with Kaguya Otsutsuki near the very end. Instead of feeling surprised in a good way, the twist frustrated a huge part of the fanbase that had waited years to see Madara have a definitive clash with Naruto and Sasuke.
From that point onward, Naruto slowly drifted away from its original shinobi identity. Tactical ninjutsu, clever hand signs, and grounded combat started taking a backseat as the series started shifting towards godlike powers and alien mythology with the introduction of the Otsutsuki clan. This huge leap in power scaling pushed most of the supporting cast into the background.
One Piece now feels dangerously close to running into a similar problem. By introducing immortal beings and literal gods like Imu and Zaza, the powerscaling has flown off the charts. If series creator Eiichiro Oda continues to introduce such characters down the road, trying to shock viewers by pulling out unexpected twists, it will repeat the same mistake that robbed Naruto of its greatest ending.
Due to the sudden shift in scale, the spotlight remains exclusively on the top-tier fighters of One Piece. The grounded pirate adventure atmosphere that originally made the series feel so unique is slowly being overshadowed by larger-than-life battles between near-unstoppable opponents.
The imbalance inside the Straw Hat crew makes that issue even more noticeable. Outside of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Jinbe, the rest of the crew barely even grasp basic Armament Haki. Usopp famously unlocked Observation Haki during the Dressrosa arc over a decade ago, yet has barely tapped into it since. While the main cast continues fighting mythical deities, the rest of the crew has been completely sidelined.
Elbaph Needs To Serve As Another Sabaody Wake-Up Call For The Straw Hats
The Elbaph arc could end up becoming another Sabaody Archipelago moment for the Straw Hats, given what’s laid out by characters like Loki and Imu. After all, Sabaody was where the crew began to grasp just how far the gap was still between them and the absolute strongest forces in the world.
Even with Luffy now standing as an Emperor, the crew isn’t strong enough to take on figures like the Five Elders, the God’s Knights, or even Imu. At their current level, a clash against the Blackbeard Pirates could easily turn into another devastating loss similar to what happened to Trafalgar Law.
10 One Piece Characters With Strongest Haki
From the ancient legends of the Void Century to the modern Emperors, these characters possess the ultimate willpower to rule the seas.
Right now, the story feels like it’s moving toward massive power jumps a little too quickly. Before throwing the Straw Hats into nonstop battles against godlike enemies, the rest of the crew needs proper development. A training arc or even a short time-skip arc could honestly help the story a lot at this stage. Giving the crew time to naturally grow stronger would make the final battles feel far more believable. This will allow Straw Hats to go toe-to-toe with the World Government’s highest authority, proving once and for all that they are truly worthy of being called the Pirate King’s crew and seize the One Piece.
- First Film
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One Piece: The Movie
- Cast
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Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi
- Created by
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Eiichiro Oda
- Character(s)
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Monkey D. Luffy, Roronora Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbei (One Piece)