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Over the run of 1188 chapters of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy has faced defeat on countless occasions, but the biggest defeat that he faced came against the King of the World, Nerona Imu. In the latest manga release, One Piece Chapter 1188, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #33 on July 12, 2026, Nerona Imu utilized the power of Omen to create the Blade of Nothingness: Vohu, and stabbed Monkey D. Luffy directly through his torso, declaring him too weak.
While Luffy has officially lost the first round of battle, Elbaf is far from over. Monkey D. Luffy will have to rise to the occasion once again through this major defeat. Eiichiro Oda has practically confirmed a power-up for the protagonist of the series, and he is set to boost his Haki significantly, the pathway for which has already been lined up.
One Piece Chapter 1188 Confirms Luffy Will Grow Stronger To Fight Imu
When most fans read One Piece Chapter 1188, the collective feeling was that Eiichiro Oda did Imu justice. Imu is the final villain of the series, first introduced in One Piece Chapter 906, on June 4, 2018, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #27. Given his importance in the overarching storyline of One Piece, it would not make sense for Luffy to defeat Imu in Elbaf. Even if Luffy gains a significant power-up in Elbaf, he cannot and should not be able to defeat Nerona Imu because the latter has a significant role to play in the Final War to come. To that end, most fans were relieved that Imu was able to overwhelm Luffy the way he was, but at the same time, we were also concerned about Monkey D. Luffy's performance against the King of the World, since he lost the battle way too easily despite having Gear 5.
"Of course I know that thou art not Joy Boy! Joy Boy was not this weak!!" — Nerona Imu officially defeats Luffy, One Piece Chapter #1188
While most fans were worried about Luffy, seeing as he was not even able to land a single meaningful blow on Nerona Imu, his inability to do anything stood as a good thing because it only means that he will gain a further power up in the story later down the line. Whenever Luffy loses, a major power-up follows, because at the end of the day, he is the main character, and he cannot be killed in the story. When Luffy lost to Kaido in One Piece Chapter 1042 on March 7, 2022, the power-up of Gear 5 followed immediately after in Chapter 1044 on March 28, 2022, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #17. Something similar is bound to happen here, which is why we are also incredibly excited for a major power-up coming for the protagonist of the series.
“Where is Momonosuke? Make that brat declare his surrender. Straw Hat Luffy is dead. If any of you still wish to fight, step forward right now!” — Kaido confirms he killed Luffy, One Piece Chapter #1043
This is also in line with how Eiichiro Oda is setting up major power-ups for both of Luffy's Wings. Roronoa Zoro is set to finally gain Conqueror's Haki control, while Sanji is also set to achieve the same power-up in this arc. With both Zoro and Sanji awakening a power-up of their own, there is absolutely no way that Eiichiro Oda will not let Luffy grow. In that sense, we are incredibly excited to see Luffy gain even further power in this arc later down the line.
One Piece's Established Haki Rules Line Up A Big Power Up For Luffy
When most fans speak of Luffy's future power-ups, the consensus at this point might be that he needs a significant Haki upgrade. When taking a look at what Scopper Gaban said to Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece Chapter 1152, which was released officially on June 23, 2025, it makes sense as to why Luffy needs to utilize his Haki properly. However, there is only so much he can do when it comes to the usage of Conqueror's Haki.
"Listen, Straw Hat! Etch into your mind how you use your Color of the Supreme King. These guys aren't immortal!" — Scopper Gaban advises Luffy to use his Haki properly, One Piece Chapter #1152
When Luffy fought Kaido, the latter said that his Conqueror's Haki usage was quite rough. In other words, Conqueror's Haki can be polished and made better and more refined in combat. That said, the strength of the Conqueror's Haki cannot be increased directly. The official rules pertaining to Haki, which were officially explained in One Piece chapter 597, released on August 30, 2010, tell us that Conqueror's Haki cannot be directly trained. Armament Haki and Observation Haki can both be trained directly and increased and improved; however, Conqueror's Haki is different. This is an ability that an individual is born with. In other words, it cannot be trained directly. Conqueror's Haki only grows stronger when the user grows stronger.
"Though you can control the Color of the Supreme King, you can't train it to be stronger directly. It is the embodiment of the spirit of the user. The only way to make it stronger is for the user to grow stronger." — Silvers Rayleigh confirms Conqueror's Haki can't be strengthened by training, One Piece Chapter #597
In other words, when Luffy received a significant buff in terms of Gear 5, his Conqueror's Haki also grew significantly stronger. The more powerful Luffy's transformations get, the stronger his Conqueror's Haki gets. There is no other way for Luffy to improve his Conqueror's Haki usage than by gaining new forms. In other words, if Luffy's Conqueror's Haki usage is to reach the same level as that of Joy Boy and Nerona Imu in Elbaf, then he needs a significant upgrade to his overall strength, likely by receiving a new transformation, which could even be Gear 6.
Why Luffy Will Unlock A New Form In Elbaf
As things stand, Luffy utilizes Conqueror's Haki very effectively, and it is highly unlikely that he simply needs to polish his Haki more to reach the same level as Imu. Polishing his Haki might help him take down a Holy Knight or an Elder, but against Nerona Imu, his Haki needs to ascend to the next level. This means that Luffy himself needs to grow stronger to get this new level of Conqueror's Haki.
When looking at Joy Boy's Haki, it was able to split the sky on its own and even cause pain to Nerona Imu. Similarly, looking at Imu's Haki, which Scopper Gaban was completely shocked by in One Piece chapter 1180, it is clear that Luffy's Haki is nowhere close. He must physically grow stronger to achieve a similar level. To that end, he is set to gain a new transformation that takes him beyond Gear 5, and this is what might just be Gear 6.
"What's going on? Even at God Valley, I never felt Haki like this!" — Scopper Gaban declares Imu's Haki the strongest, One Piece Chapter #1180
The only way Luffy can grow is by fully unlocking the power of Sun God Nika. Even though Luffy has embodied the powers of Nika, there is nothing that truly connects him to the sun. Furthermore, Luffy does not have a Sun Ring behind his back like Nerona Imu and the Rain God Zaza. If two Gods of the One Piece world have two rings behind their backs, it makes sense for Luffy to manifest a ring of his own. Perhaps this is the power-up that Luffy needs to close the gap between him and Imu, and by doing so, his Haki will receive a significant power boost as well.
We are eagerly waiting to see what direction Eiichiro Oda takes in regards to Luffy's Haki power-up, but if there's anything that we are absolutely certain of, it is that Luffy is going to receive a new transformation soon enough, which will then consequently boost his Haki even further.
All the new chapters of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga series are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
