Summary
Kaido lost his final battle against Luffy in one piece, but that didn’t mean he was weaker than his opponent. Kaido had his final battle with Luffy after taking on powerful opponents in the form of the Red Scabbards, the evil Generation Five pirates, and his daughter Yamato, who weakened his energy. Kaido used his powers to support Onigashima in the sky during the battle. In a fair fight, Gear 5 could have even beaten Luffy.
The battle between Kaido and Luffy was the highlight of the One Piece Wano arc. The two clashed several times before their final battle on Onigashima, and each time Luffy suffered a heavy loss. Threatened with new techniques, new tactics, and more, Luffy and the samurai head to Kaido’s mansion and after a long and grueling battle, Luffy comes out on top. However, before Kaido took on Luffy in his defeated Gear 5 form, his victory was overshadowed by the fact that he fought many tough battles and even then was barely defeated.
The ultimate villain in One Piece, Kaido was a force of nature and was known as the King of Beasts and the World’s Strongest Being. His strength and insane strength made him reach the level of a sea emperor, so it was a shock when young pirates like Luffy beat him. Looking back on the war, it was not a fair fight.
Kaido faced many challenges at once.
Before the main battle between Luffy and Kaido, the villain first took all of Odin’s powerful controllers. These samurai are very strong and some even traveled with powerful pirates. Although Kaido defeated them, they did some damage, or at least drained him of some energy. After that fight, Kaido takes on the five villains of the Evil Generation, including three captains: Luffy, Kid, Law, Zoro, and Slayer. Although he had an older mother to help, it was clear that his main target was Kaido. Kaido takes some damage, mostly from Zoro, and Oden kills him in the same spot he did 20 years ago.
After facing all of these members of the Evil Generation and Akazaya’s Nine Samurai, Kaido’s daughter Yamato entered the ring. Yamato hated the Wanon people for chaining their father to Onigashima and enslaving them. Like their father, Yamato is extremely powerful, and once took on Ace, the leader of the White Beard Gang. Not only can Yamato eat the legendary Zoan Devil Fruit, but they can also use the extremely rare Conqueror’s Haki, the only power that can actually hurt Kaido. Yamato rose up against Kaido, weakening him more and more until Luffy arrived.
As if all these battles and ambushes weren’t enough, Kaido supported the entire Onigashima with his cloud power throughout the battle. At any point in the war, he could have dropped the cloud and let everyone die, but he didn’t, perhaps wanting to protect his armor and his army. Still holding Onigashima up further reduced Kaido’s strength. Finally, after Luffy activates the Devil Fruit and unlocks Gear 5, Kaido fights evenly and is defeated in the final giant confrontation.
Kaido could have won a fair fight against Gear 5 Luffy.
Throughout the battle, Kaido was distracted, attacked, exhausted, and constantly straining his energy, so it was no surprise that he lost. If it was a one-on-one fight and he was in top form, Luffy would lose to Kaido even in Gear 5. Considering how that battle went, Kaido should still be considered the pinnacle of strength in One Piece.
The One Piece anime is available from Crunchyroll and Funimation. The manga is available from Viz Media and Manga Plus.
Watch on Crunchyroll
one piece
Created by: Aichiro Oda
First movie: One Piece: The Movie
First TV Show: one piece
take on Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappe Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Tantani, Yuriko Yamaguchi.
feature(s) Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbe (One Piece)
video games): One Piece: World Red Unlimited, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, One Piece: World Quest, One Piece Odyssey