What made the OG M3 so obvious was the ton of evidences we’ve got since the beginning of the story. The fights, the interactions and characters’ words. The panels or color spreads that are in line with this fact are just the icing on the cake strengthening the veracity of something already obvious and well established in the story, not the main evidence. Ever since Jinbe joined, we’ve never had any conclusive element establishing the current hierarchy, just panels which alone are far from enough to draw any conclusion.