The protagonist of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy is one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, and he attained this title in chapter 1053, which was released officially on June 20, 2022, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #29. Since then, Luffy has been considered a Great Pirate sailing the seas of the New World.
As is expected of someone like him, Luffy has incredibly powerful Haki of all three types, which he has taken to an advanced level. He is one of the very few characters to have mastered the advanced forms of all three types of Haki. Now, the creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, is lining up a new Haki form for Luffy in the form of Observation Killing, which has only been mastered by Red-haired Shanks to date.
One Piece Creator Oda Sets Up Observation Killing For Luffy In The Elbaf Arc
Monkey D. Luffy was trained by none other than the right arm of the Pirate King, Silvers Rayleigh, in the ways of Haki. Luffy’s training with Rayleigh began officially in One Piece chapter 597, which marked the end of the first half of the story. After the two-year timeskip, Luffy returned to the Sabaody Archipelago having mastered the basics of all three types of Haki: the Color of Observation, the Color of Armament, and finally the Color of the Supreme King.
“Haki is a power that is dormant in everyone everywhere. The ability to sense spiritual energy and overwhelm enemies is something everyone has to some degree. But most people never discover it. To never doubt- that is true power. Now watch! Most Haki can be divided into two types or colors.” — Silvers Rayleigh introduces Haki, One Piece Chapter #597
Over time, Luffy engaged in high-level battles and took his Haki to the very next level. By the end of the Wano arc, Luffy had advanced all three of his Haki to the next level, being able to see the future with the Color of Observation, deal internal damage without making any contact with the Color of Armament, and learn how to infuse the Color of the Supreme King as well. However, Luffy’s Haki can still improve even further, and Eiichiro Oda has now set up a new Haki form for him with Observation Killing. The basis for this new power-up was set by the author Eiichiro Oda on August 6, 2022, when he released Volume 4 Billion for the very first time. This volume was initially released for the celebration of One Piece Film Red, a very popular movie centered on red-haired Shanks.
“Shanks — Killer of Observation Haki
Doesn’t let the enemy read him by controlling his presence with the Color of the Supreme King”
— One Piece Volume 4 Billion explains Observation Killing
In this volume, Eiichiro Oda revealed a ton of exciting abilities of the red-haired Emperor, including Observation Killing, which is a power that only he possesses to date. Observation Killing is a special ability that sees the usage of advanced Color of the Supreme King, and it allows the user to control their presence in such a way that the enemy cannot read the future at all. In many ways, Observation Killing also prevents the enemy from using normal Observation Haki on them and reading their movements, making it incredibly unpredictable and a significant advantage in battle. Shanks has mastered this Haki, but Monkey D. Luffy has yet to awaken it. In the Elbaf arc, specifically in the climax, as Luffy fights against Nerona Imu, this type of Haki would be incredibly important if he goes on to master it.
Luffy’s Haki Advancement Is Necessary To Defeat Imu
In One Piece chapter 1152, released officially on June 23, 2025, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump issue 30, Eiichiro Oda officially confirmed that the Color of the Supreme King is incredibly important when it comes to defeating the Holy Knights. This information came directly from Scopper Gaban, the Left Arm of the Pirate King, who happens to be a master of this skill himself. The Elbaf arc in particular has placed significant importance on the Color of the Supreme King. Zoro and Sanji are both trying to master the Infusion of the Color of the Supreme King, and Luffy has now also figured out the true weakness of the immortals of the One Piece world, such as the Holy Knights, the Five Elders, and also Nerona Imu.
“Give him enough hits, and we can manage to knock him out of commission. If these guys have any weakness, it’s against those of us who can infuse our attacks with the Color of the Supreme King!” — Gaban explains the Holy Knights’ weakness, One Piece Chapter #1170
Just as Zoro and Sanji are advancing their Supreme King Haki, it is expected of Luffy to take the next step as well. The best way to do that is to master Observation Killing, which would grant him a tremendously significant advantage in battle, especially against Imu. As things stand, Luffy cannot match up to Imu in battle and has been largely outclassed. In order to defeat Imu, Luffy needs to upgrade his Haki significantly and potentially even attain a new Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika form. Whether Oda will give Luffy a new Nika form or not remains to be seen, but what we can say for sure is that Luffy’s Haki is constantly evolving. Sooner or later, he will gain access to Observation Killing as well. This is because Shanks is Luffy’s blueprint, and every ability that Shanks has, Luffy will gain as well. Just as Shanks is a master of Observation Killing, Luffy is expected to learn this ability sooner or later.
Why Luffy Will Surpass Shanks As The Strongest Haki User
In One Piece Chapter 1, released officially on July 18, 1997, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #24, Luffy made a promise to Shanks that he would one day become the Pirate King and surpass him. Right now, Luffy stands as one of the Four Emperors of the Sea and is on the same footing as Red-Haired Shanks, but he has yet to surpass his idol.
In the final saga, Luffy has to take that next step and go beyond Shanks to reach heights that the Red-Haired Emperor never reached. Luffy is also supposed to surpass Roger and Joyboy at the same time. As such, significant power upgrades are expected for him, and we are certain that Eiichiro Oda will give him a lot of exciting abilities in the next few months as the Elbaf arc heats up and reaches its climax. For now, Luffy is being largely dominated in battle by Nerona Imu, but quite clearly, a new power-up by Eiichiro Oda is on the way.
All the latest chapters of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
