Oda reveals Luffy's mastered new Gear 4

This article contains spoilers from the Elbaf arc of One Piece.

Key takeaways

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

Luffy has shown dramatic growth post-timeskip in terms of both strength and character a piece. Noting that the New World was where the real challenge was, Oda always intended for Luffy to reach an entirely new level of power in this particular part of the story. The two-year timeskip saw him become much stronger, and thanks to Rayleigh's help, 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 in the fight against the Heavenly Demon, causing him to pull out his trump card, and that was Gear 4.

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 does not mean that Gear 4 is now obsolete. It's still a very useful ability, and Luffy has recently demonstrated new ways to use this power, further strengthening his mastery over it.

Luffy's previous Gear 4 struggle with a 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 power this incredible transformation gives Luffy is absolutely incredible. In fact, a single punch from Gear 4 was strong enough to knock out many beasts in Ruskina, where Luffy trained for 2 years. In the fight against Doflamingo, a single Kong gun was powerful enough to send him flying from one side of the country to the other without him realizing what had actually happened. Even powerful enemies like Katakuri could not defend against Gear 4's power despite their superior Haki. In fact, Gear 4 was so strong that even Kaido was knocked back by attacks from it, though they only caused him little damage due to his tough exterior.

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

The point is that in terms of raw power, Gear 4 is absolutely fantastic and is still one of Luffy's greatest assets. That said, this incredible power came at a great price. Gear 4 saw Luffy use his Devil Fruit Power and Haki at maximum output, so it had a timer. Inevitably, Luffy couldn't maintain Gear 4 for long, and eventually, he always ran out of steam, which was in his weakened state. For about 10 minutes, Luffy couldn't use Haki, and that's why he needed to run circles around his enemy or someone else. Gear 4 had a big drawback. However, with time, this weakness decreased. Luffy could use Gear 4 for a very long time, as seen in his fight against Kaido.

Once Luffy learned how to infuse Conqueror's Haki into his Gear 4 attacks, his fight against Kaido was even greater. Luffy can freely create Gear 4 forms, such as Bounceman and Snakeman, and completely new techniques that surprise even Yonko. However, 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, as he couldn't use Haki for about 10 minutes after that.

What Luffy managed in Wano was to greatly extend Gear 4's life, and gain the ability to freely swap between its multiple forms without losing transformation. This was already a major step forward, but, now, Luffy has taken things to the next level and gained a highly specialized form of Gear 4, which he demonstrated. a piece Chapter 1129.

How Luffy Mastered Gear 4 in Elbaf

Luffy can use Gear 4 without fully transforming

As was obvious to the fans a piece Chapter 1129, Luffy has now fully mastered Gear 4. In this chapter, Luffy tries to use Gear 4 on the wall to break it. Basically, Luffy's way of going about it is to pump air into his muscles and inflate his body, coating it with maximum output of Haki, and then unleash powerful blows on his enemies.

This gives Luffy a huge bouncy body, even taller than Doflamingo. However, now, Luffy is doing something completely different. Instead of transforming his entire body into Gear 4, Luffy is essentially only using Gear 4 in one hand.

Back off! It's time for the 'small' Gear 4. – Luffy

Fans saw it a piece Chapter 1129 When Luffy tried to break the wall, and it was a surprise to many. Luffy transformed only one of his weapons into Gear 4, and coated it in Haki. The rest of his body remained as it was, and this suggests that Luffy now has incredible mastery over Gomu Gomu no Mi.

Although it may seem like it came out of nowhere for fans, it's similar to what happened with Luffy's other gears. For example, when it comes to the weakness of Gear 3, which was essentially turning into a chibi version of Luffy, Oda finally phased it out over time. This indicated that Luffy was learning to better control his Devil Fruit powers.

But, when it comes to fatigue and reduced life expectancy as a side effect, Gear 4 had Gear 2 as its closest match. 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 was essentially deemed too dangerous for him to use Gear Second. However, once 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 certain body parts. For example, when Luffy had to use the jet pistol, he used Gear Seconds to spring up his arms and legs and then deliver powerful blows to enemies. This allowed Luffy to turn Gear Second on and off multiple times and only use it and select body parts, avoiding the state of complete exhaustion.

What Luffy is doing now with Gear 4 is exactly what he did with Gear Second. Now, Luffy is using Gear 4's power on select body parts as and when he needs it. This ensures that he maintains his stamina and hockey while at the same time maintaining the incredible firepower that Gear 4 has.

The use of the new Gear 4 will be more frequent

Luffy will now use powerful Gear 4 attacks more frequently

Luffy has fully mastered Gear 4, and one can see this form being used quite often. Against stronger enemies, Luffy will likely dive headfirst using Gear 4 techniques on certain parts of his body. He will probably coat it with armament and conqueror's hockey. Fans were worried that Gear 4 would be irrelevant now that Luffy has Gear 5, but apparently, Luffy has developed ways to use it against weaker opponents where he doesn't need to exert himself as much.

A piece is available to read through Viz Media. Series fans can officially read it 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.