For the last time not everything is about powerlevels.
Funny because in case of Kaido it actually might be exactly that, about power levels.
He desired death and nobody was strong enough to kill him.
Now that he apparently died, he could Awaken.
And return from dead, like Rupee did.
It becomes more and more realistic but I have to ask why the fuck is Zoro named Roronoa then and not hunted down by the WG since his resemblance to Ryuma is that obvious? Did Zoro just get adopted by some Vegapunk scientist lady we have not heard of thus far that took him away to Paradise? Did Imu have so much PTSD from Ryuma that they intentionally forgot his face? If Zoro IS a clone, there are a lot of questions along these lines that would need to be answered.
Probably for same reason why Stussy is named Stussy and not Bakkin - to hide their true identity.
Probably Vegapunk did a lot of it under the radar, cloning the strongest people and DFs to oppose the World Government.
His deal with Kuma is also a mystery.
It‘s gonna be a huge problem in the future with the clones of legendary pirates like Rocks .
If OP follows the as you said ” Edo tensei" trend.
Imagine WG cloned Rocks successfully and Rocks overthrows the WG from within their own ranks
can‘t get anymore boring .
Yes, it has its own problems but seems that's the route we are going.
We can only hope that a non-clone delivers more but with people like Imu, I dont know if we can expect that.
Rocks meanwhile was a captain of all the great pirates that shaped the era and Roger's greatest competition when it comes to fame and ambitions. He can absolutely deliver as end boss and the groundwork for his cloning has been laid down since Impel Down scene.
Could Ace clone be the person Vegapunk called?
I am betting on either Rocks or Garp clones. However, bringing back the lost brother is a solid option too.
But I hope not and Ace is gone forever. Personal bias against Ace tho.