I would say that's pretty subjective. BM stalemated Kaido in a 3 day long fight. I don't think any joke or 'low-effort' fight would last that long. This translates to them being almost equal, at least imo.
She is close to him, she is a Yonko after all. But Kaido is the guy getting hyped as the strongest, bet on him in a 1 on 1, the big bad now. Differences between top tiers in general are small. Linlin fighting Kaido for that long shouldn't be surprising. Though it was off panel and they came out of it drinking and hugging and with a few bruises and forming an alliance. Sure seems good for Linlin, but Kaido has her beat in hype, portrayal and feats. It's not enough for us to now say they are equal. Close sure, but so are the other top tiers.
Also, even as a Shanks fanboy, I really don't think he has better portrayal than BM in terms of powerlevel. He has unbelievable hype but I don't think he has been that much exceptionaly praised as an individual fighter other than his duels with Mihawk when he was young.
>Shanks stopped Sakazuki dead in his tracks by just appearing there.
>Sakazuki who was deadset on eliminating all pirates and bloodthirsty
>went from that to this face when Shanks appeared
>and remained there in place whilst Shanks took a casual stroll over to pick up Luffy's hat, had a chitchat with Buggy
>and didn't pull up when Shanks challenged everyone
>but this was his face
>In a previous chapter Shanks was there in the shadows of people who Kaido either took an L to, or views as extremely powerful.
> We know that Shanks and Kaido met each other on Kaido's way to MF.
> The words clash and scuffle were used to describe their meeting, multiple times
> And it was Shanks that showed up to MF and Kaido hauled his ass back to Wano.
> Had grandline shaking duels that are regarded as legends according to the man himself Whitebeard, with no other top tier fight being respected like that.
Sure Linlin herself is also hyped and strong, but Shanks moreso.
Even if you argue that BM is a swordsman and should there-by be weaker than the WSS Mihawk, the difference in power should be very very small.
Yes, but Shanks would fit in there. Mihawk regards Shanks as the man you need to reach and surpass in order to challenge Mihawk fully, not Mama or Fuji for example, which would mean Mihawk>Shanks>Mama/Fuji.
EoS Teach > Prime WB > Old WB (Still WSM, not former WSM) > Kaido >= Mihawk >= Big Mom >= Shanks > Current BB
I'd switch Shanks and Mama there tbh, but the rest makes sense with what we have so far. Also I assume old and healthy WB.
Wonder where Akainu stands here.
I'd place Sakazuki as I said earlier at the same level as Shanks. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being stronger than both Mihawk and Shanks or weaker than both, hence adding him in the middle so to say.