SUMMARY

Luffy swiftly defeated Admiral Kizaru, surprising fans with the fight’s short duration.
Kizaru’s role on Egghead isn’t over; he still has other objectives to complete.
Luffy’s victory showcased his growth, but Kizaru’s endurance suggests he may return as a future antagonist.

One Piece’s Admiral Kizaru was set up to be a significant antagonist for the Egghead Arc. Besides being one of the Navy’s highest-ranking officers, he was someone the Straw Hat Pirates were badly beaten by on a previous leg of their journey. Many fans assumed his overwhelming presence in the story would lead him to be the final antagonist of the arc. Thus, when Monkey D. Luffy squared off against him in Chapter 1091, “Sentomaru,” everyone was in it for the long haul. Many expected that this would be the fight that would show whether Luffy was as strong as the papers made him out to be or if he still had a ways to go to truly earn his Emperor status.

The hype surrounding this fight made it surprising when it ended only three chapters later. In Chapter 1094, “The Five Elders, Godhead of Science and Defense, St. Jaygarcia Saturn,” Luffy defeated Kizaru and the eponymous St. Jaygarcia Saturn introduced himself as the arc’s true final antagonist. Even though Luffy briefly scuffled with Kizaru again in Chapter 1109, the fight was still shorter than fans expected. Regardless, Kizaru was the one with more setup between the two; nobody was even sure whether Saturn was a fighter until he transformed himself and began attacking the Straw Hats. For how long Kizaru was developed as an antagonist the Straw Hats needed to overcome, it’s curious how unceremoniously he was beaten. At the same time, it lines up with everything readers have been led to believe about One Piece’s power dynamics. Perhaps more will come out of Kizaru in the future to make up for what happened in this chapter.

Updated on June 4, 2024, by Natasha Elder: With the Egghead Arc an ongoing story, more information has been revealed about Kizaru’s role following his defeat at Luffy’s hands. With this new information, we are revisiting the impact of this fight, its implications for the overall story and whether or not the fight lived up to the hype.

How Was Luffy vs Kizaru Expected To Go?

Luffy Has Grown Since Their Previous Fight at Marineford

It would make the most narrative sense for Luffy to defeat Kizaru here. The Straw Hats’ history with the Admiral was one of humiliating defeat. Therefore, Luffy, now “100 times stronger” than he was back then, was obligated to win this fight to show how far he and his crew had come. What fans wanted to know was how challenging the battle would be. There were various interpretations of how this fight was supposed to go. Most of them centered around the assumption that Kizaru would be the final antagonist of the Egghead Arc. This assumption was firmly maintained even when it was confirmed Saturn would also be coming to the Future Island since nobody knew how strong he was. As with most final battles, Luffy vs. Kizaru was expected to take many chapters to reach its conclusion.

Kizaru’s real name is Borsalino.
Kizaru’s Devil Fruit is the Pika Pika no Mi.

Even if Luffy had the upper hand in strength, Kizaru’s light-speed movements and battle expertise would make him difficult to bring down. That said, Luffy had two important perks going into this battle. For one, he recently became an Emperor in name and power. Throughout One Piece, Emperors have always had the upper hand against Admirals, although the latter could at least put up a decent fight. However, since Luffy only recently gained this status, his ability to live up to the title remained uncertain, as did his chances against an Admiral. A similar statement could be made about Gear Five. This form was strong enough to help Luffy beat Kaido in a contest of strength, but it’s also difficult to say whether he’s mastered it – he still gets exhausted using it, after all. Additionally, whereas Kaido was willing to tank Luffy’s most damaging attacks, Kizaru would likely dodge them with his light-speed movement. Therefore, Luffy’s ability to win with Gear Five would depend on his ability to adapt to his opponent.

Did Luffy vs Kizaru Go as Expected?

The Altercation’s Short Length Surprised Readers

In light of all the expectations of Kizaru being the Egghead Arc’s final boss, the duration of this fight was surprising. The battle started at the end of Chapter 1091 and ended in the middle of Chapter 1094. That’s four chapters at most, which is small compared to the “final battles” that preceded it. The latter chapter also confirmed Saturn would be the final boss of the arc. That is, until Chapter 1109, when St. Marcus Mars, St. Topman Warcury, St. Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro and St. Shepherd Ju Peter were summoned by Saturn. It now seems as though the Five Elders together constitute the final obstacle to the Straw Hats’ exodus from the Future Island.

As for Luffy vs Kizaru, it was as expected, albeit truncated. Luffy and Kizaru’s fight took place across much of the Future Island given that both are highly mobile fighters. Finally landing Gomu Gomu no Star Gun on the Admiral, Kizaru recognizes that Luffy has badly hurt him. It is thus clear that Gear Five was enough to beat the Admiral and prove the Emperor’s title was deserved. However, the battle also came down to the wire as Luffy used up the last remaining seconds of his transformation.

Kizaru’s Devil Fruit abilities are the same as the technology that Dr. Vegapunk used to create the laser defense for the Labophase on Egghead Island.
Kizaru’s main techniques are based on the three sacred treasures of Japan (the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the mirror Yata no Kagami and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama) which are representative of valor, wisdom, and benevolence.

Luffy’s reservation of strength can be further proven by the moves he didn’t use. At this point in the series, Luffy’s best attack is his Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun, a punch big enough to destroy a small island. However, he only needed his Gum-Gum Star gun to finish off Kizaru. As impressive and fresh as this attack is, it’s unlikely to pack enough firepower to be called Luffy’s new ultimate move. Kizaru’s light speed wasn’t the deciding factor fans thought it would be. While he was fast enough to block Gear Four Snakeman, his speed turned into a non-issue once Luffy entered Gear Five. Whether Kizaru’s response time was slow or Gear Five was fast, everything balanced out.

Besides light speed being a non-issue, there were other places fans assumed Kizaru would do better. He was expected to display the advanced techniques that other antagonists have shown – future-sight, Conqueror’s Haki, Devil Fruit Awakening, etc. He had some new moves, but none showed what made him worthy of becoming one of the Marines’ highest-ranked officers. Especially when compared with Akainu and Kuzan, Kizaru’s moves seemed a bit lackluster. Though, in Kizaru’s defense, his primary objective was never to fight Luffy. He spent most of their confrontation going after his primary target, Dr. Vegapunk. If he had instead focused on beating Luffy, their fight might have played out much differently.

Is Kizaru’s Role on Egghead Over?

Though Luffy Defeated Kizaru, the Admiral Has Other Objectives To Complete

Due to the extensive injuries he received from Luffy, Admiral Kizaru was unable to move during the first part of Saturn’s fight against Bonney, Luffy, Sanji and Franky. Eventually, however, he finds the strength to defend Saturn against Sanji and Franky’s attacks, blasting Franky from behind. He then continues to go after Dr. Vegapunk in order to fulfill his mission of killing him. He is eventually redirected by Saturn, who orders him to kill Bonney and Bartholomew Kuma instead.

As Kizaru attempts to kill the father and daughter, Luffy knocks him away with a punch. Before they can continue their fight, however, they are interrupted. Luffy begins to fight Saturn while Kizaru returns his attention to his primary objective of killing Vegapunk. Although Sanji is able to defend against Kizaru’s beams at first, Kizaru is eventually able to succeed in stabbing the scientist. Luffy then grabs Kizaru in Gear 5 and flattens him with his Gomu Gomu no Dawn Cymbal move. Luffy sends Kizaru flying out to a ship at sea, having defeated him a second time in the same arc.

Kizaru’s lasers were studied for the Pacifista project.
Kizaru trained Sentamaru to be a bodyguard for Vegapunk.

There’s still plenty of time before the Straw Hats make it off of Egghead. The Straw Hats still need to reunite and get the Thousand Sunny back into the ocean, sail past the many marines surrounding the island, including the Vice Admirals, as well as the World Government’s Five Elders. Although the Straw Hats received unexpected help from Dorry and Brogy, there are still many difficult opponents. That is to say little of others who were presumably finished and got back up, like Lucci and Sentomaru.

Regardless, Kizaru did what he needed to. He showed how far Luffy and the Straw Hats have come on their voyage while still maintaining his credibility as an antagonist by accomplishing his own goals. As he recovered from his fight against Luffy relatively quickly, and was able to succeed against Sanji, Kizaru has clearly not reached his limit yet. Thus, there is a lot of potential for him to return as the primary antagonist again in a future arc.