Before we start, I wanna warn everyone to not take this thread too seriously. This is just a thread for discussion, I'm not claiming anything here, just an observation that I wanna put out there for discussion. So, without further ado, let's get into it.
Crocodile was Luffy's first opponent who was vastly more powerful than Luffy, Crocodile was the first opponent against whom Luffy needed three rounds to be able to defeat him. Not before or after Alabasta, Luffy never required three rounds to defeat his opponent, it happened only against Crocodile and only in Alabasta. Well, until now... So I've been talking about this for quite some time already, actually I've been saying this since Kaido oneshoted Luffy.
My idea, is that Luffy vs Kaido has the same structure or battle sequence as Luffy vs Crocodile; the reason being, is that Kaido is the second opponent after Crocodile who is vastly more powerful than Luffy.
Here's the actual battle sequence/structure in Alabasta:
- Luffy meets Crocodile and Crocodile absolutely destroys him.
- Luffy finds a way to damage Crocodile but ultimately still loses to him.
- Luffy recovers and defeats Crocodile in the third round.
Now, let's see what happened in Wano compared to Alabasta.
Luffy meets Kaido and Kaido absolutely destroys him–just like in Alabasta–Kaido even says something similar to what Croc said to Luffy after defeating him.
Luffy found a way to damage Kaido but he might still lose to Kaido because of his DF awakening–just like in Alabasta.
Crocodile used something very similar to a DF awakening, he's able to turn his surroundings into sand–just like Doffy and Katakuri. Crocodile also knows a lot about DF abilities and he was the one who said about DF awakening in Impel Down.
So, based on this sequence, Luffy and Kaido will have an equally matched 1v1 but Kaido will still defeat Luffy because he has a DF awakening. Then, Luffy and Kaido both will recover from their injuries and will have a proper 1vs1 in the Wano capital, where the Wano people can witness Kaido's fall.
Just like in Alabasta...
- Update after chapter 1013
So, as I've predicted, Luffy once again lost to Kaido...
Just like in the fight against Crocodile.
As I've already mentioned this in the beginning of this thread, I believe and at this point I'm certain, that Luffy vs Kaido has the same battle sequence as Luffy vs Crocodile in Alabasta.
After Luffy lost to Crocodile once again, Luffy couldn't move because of his old injuries, so Luffy took a NAP and recovered from his injuries, while Croc recovered from his injuries. Then...
Luffy and Croc had a clean pure 1v1 in which Luffy defeated Crocodile. Crocodile was shocked that no matter how much he tried to kill Luffy, Luffy eventually bounced back just like a rubber ball–that's the point of Luffy's character. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you hit Luffy, no matter how much you try to kill him, Luffy will eventually bounce back.
Luffy will come back to fight Kaido again, and that round will be the last and decisive battle between Luffy and Kaido. Luffy will defeat Kiado in 1v1 and potentially become the next WSC. I wanna point out that Kaido must be defeated before Onigashima reaches Wano, or at the very least before it reaches to the flower capital. Onigashima will not land on Wano, Kaido must be defeated before that, just like in other arcs with running bomb or birdcage cage in Dressrosa.