The very same person who still thought to be stronger than Shanks, and he had even fought him.
So, or Kaido in credible and then he is > Shanks or he is not credible and so his takes are just as inconsistent.
When did Kaido himself say he is stronger than Shanks? Kaido being the "strongest creature" is just reputation. We know however that Kaido put Shanks "up there" with Whitebeard, Roger, Mihawk and Oden. So we know he respects Shanks, but even that does not answer who is stronger.
The only indication we have so far is the fact that Shanks will be the endgame opponent for Luffy, while Big Mom and Kaido were basically stepping stones. Though I'll admit even this is not conclusive. It might well be that Shanks is weaker than Kaido but his crew is stronger.
The Final clash was Kaido who was greatly weakened fighting through a gauntlet and Luffy whose heart stopped before he Awakened his fruit. I believe both fighters were seriously injured and in very similar condition. All that doesn't mean much when in canon Oda has other characters acknowledge Luffy as the one who beat Kaido through Kizaru.
Haki is the power with the highest ceiling that doesn't mean a Haki only fighter is always superior. A fighter that has both Top Tier fruit power and Top Tier Haki will always be at the top see Whitebeard.
Both were seriously injured, yes. And Luffy did beat Kaido - but both of them were spent, and Luffy was spent mostly because of Kaido himself. So I'm not sure Luffy who beat Kaido would have won if both were fresh. I might be wrong, though.
Haki-only fighter is
more likely to be superior, because given the same amount of training and experience, his haki will be superior to fighter who uses devil fruit as well. Look at Roger and Whitebeard: sure, you might say that they never
seriously fought, but even so, every time they clashed they used only haki. I think Whitebeard only started to rely heavily on his devil fruit as his health started failing.
Fighter that has top tier haki will always be at the top, regardless of devil fruit.
Feats. Portrayal. Narrative importance. Being his superior etc.
Based on what is Kizaru equal to Akainu ?
1) Kizaru is the only one of three admirals who got through Marineford more-or-less uninjured. The only major fighter who was uninjured aside from Mihawk, IIRC.
2) All three admirals are relative to each other. Even if there is difference in strength between them, it cannot be significant.
3) Fact that Kizaru has not fought seriously until now. Akainu and Aokiji had both used their "nickname attacks" (Red Dog and Blue Pheasant) at Marineford. Kizaru only used random-ass attacks.
The only thing that actually makes me think Kizaru
may be the weakest of the OG admirals is the fact that he is the first OG admiral post-TS that Luffy is facing one-on-one.
Akainu being Fleet Admiral is irrelevant. Kizaru simply doesn't care about that position - he is perfectly fine following orders. Akainu and Aokiji fought for the Fleet Admiral position because both of them have a version of justice they want to impose on the Marines. Kizaru doesn't - he follows orders, and that's it (though he is getting some more depth recently).
Never said that. All C3 are very close.
Agreed.
