I swear I’m not trolling
I really think Luffy’s words as a kid to Shanks were misinterpreted by all of us…
Luffy said “ I will gather a crew stronger than yours than can beat your crew”
Most of us interpreted it as “Luffy + his crew” will beat “Shanks + his crew”
on other hand, I feel Luffy was so ambitious in that he disregarded himself from that fight… and that he will be a captain of a crew that can deal with them all on their own…
Hence why when he heard of Zoro being a “strong swordsman” he went to that island specifically to recruit him… just for being strong swordsman…
and it’s also why when Zoro says “If I cannot become strongest swordsman, you will be in dilimma”
Because I feel for Luffy, he wants Zoro to be strongest swordsman that can topple Shanks…
I just feel that’s a big plot twist Luffy has regarding the promise