Luffy Unleashes Gear 5 Power in One Piece: A Display of Unmatched Fighting Skills
However, beyond its overwhelming strength, Gear 5 is a creative ability that allows Luffy to transform his surroundings in One Piece into rubber at will.
While all of Luffy’s abilities can be explained, the ability “manifesting objects from thin air” remains a mystery. Although Oda has yet to clarify this in the manga, the creator finally provided some insights during a Q&A session at the Weekly Shonen Jump event.
The first question of the session was: “When Luffy uses Gear 5, will that ability create objects like a protective shield and a rubber ball that rolls from the air like hagoromo (a robe with sleeves)? Please let us know how it actually works?”
One Piece Creator Responds Briefly and Simply: “It is a manifestation of the imaginary world of Nika.”
Although the answer is quite brief, it provides an interesting explanation when considering how Luffy’s creative powers bring his imaginary world to life, corresponding to the physical essence of the devil fruit he possesses. Luffy has yet to fully exploit the true potential of his abilities, and what we have seen so far is merely a glimpse or a part of what he is truly capable of.
Fans have noted the implications in Oda’s brief answer when one of the attendees remarked: “A glimpse into the imaginary world of Nika means that this is just the beginning. We will definitely see Luffy showcase his true powers when that moment arises.”
“Even though this is just a short answer, I feel that it provides us with more than what we can pull away from this discussion: a glimpse into the imaginary world of Nika, a protective shield, and a rubber ball… are all part of the imaginary world of Nika,” another attendee shared.
“For those who are still confused, I have discussed this issue before. He possesses TOON FORCE, which is the ability to defy physics to create bizarre effects, and one of the abilities of toon force is the space bubble, which is an infinite storage space outside of normal dimensions that contains random materials.”, a third person interjected.
