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One Piece 1079 featured the battle between Red Hair Pirates and Kid Pirates. The struggle was very quick, resulting in the immediate annihilation of Kid and his men at the end of Shanks, who showcased his might.
Shanks single-handedly slaughtered Kid and his right-hand man, Killer, with a powerful Conqueror's Haki-enhanced slash. Follow this thread for detailed explanations of the major powerscaling cues featured in the chapter.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1079 and reflects the writer's personal views.
Every cue about One Piece's powerscaling featured in chapter 1079
Shanks oneshotted two of the strongest Supernovas with ease
The Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation are the top pirate rookies from nine different crews. Among them are Eustass Kid, the captain of Kid Pirates, and Killer, his right-hand man.
The Kid Pirates tried to siege Elbaf, a New World island, which is the homeland of the giants. However, they were stopped by the Red Hair Pirates, who have already beaten them once in the past.
Despite Kid and Killer's strength being notably improved since the days of the battle that cost the former his left arm at the hands of Benn Beckman, they still stood no chance against the Red Hair Pirates.
Kid decided to use Damned Punk, his strongest attack, to destroy the Red Hair Pirates fleet, which consisted of individuals much weaker than the proper members of the crew. As such, he started charging his technique.
However, Shanks, relying on his Advanced Observation Haki, foresaw Kid's intentions. A pacifist man, "Red Hair" becomes a merciless demon when his friends or the person under his protection are threatened.
As such, he acted immediately. Before Kid could even finish charging the Railgun needed to perform his move, Shanks quickly jumped on his ship. Drawing his sword Gryphon, he struck Kid with "Divine Departure," a devastating Haki-enhanced slash that cut through the Railgun.
Kid immediately lost consciousness, ending up defeated with a single blow, together with Killer, who tried to help him withstand Shanks' attack. Over the course of a few seconds, Shanks single-handedly annihilated the Kid Pirates.
Shanks can use Future Sight, as well as Gol D. Roger's signature moves
Observation Haki grants allows users to sense the presence, strength, and emotions of others, gaining a certain degree of precognitive abilities. Exceptionally skilled users of Color of Observation can even see into the future for a short period of time.
Instead of just sensing what will happen, users of the "Future Sight" ability can see a precise mental image of what will happen in the next few seconds. One Piece 1079 revealed that Shanks is one of the very few users of this power.
Using his Advanced Observation Haki, Shanks could see that, after charging his attack, Kid would have used it to kill all the weak subordinates, which the Red Hair Pirates fleet was composed of.
Shanks saw the future for ten seconds because that's the amount of time that Kid needed to charge his Railgun. It's highly possible that, whereas needed, Shanks could be able to see the future for a longer period of time.
Impressively enough, Shanks not only defeated Kid but even oneshotted him. The attack he used to beat him and Killer was Divine Departure, the same technique that Gol D. Roger, the late Pirate King, used against Oden Kozuki.
Swinging his Conqueror's Haki-coated sword, Roger unleashed a devastating slash. The technique was strong enough to overpower Oden, breaking his two-sword defense and sending him flying backwards at great distances.
Long after, Shanks used this technique to beat Eustass Kid with a single strike. Being Roger's apprentice, Shanks inherited one of his signature moves. They indeed have a very similar style, relying on the usage of a cutlass sword enhanced with their fearsome Conqueror's Haki.
Given such a connection, it's possible that Shanks can also perform other techniques in Roger's repertoire. Fans waited 25 years to see how Shanks fights, and One Piece 1079 revealed him to be a Future Sight user as well as the heir to the Pirate King's signature attacks.
It is confirmed that Shanks is one of the most powerful top tiers
One Piece 1079 emphasized Shanks as one of the absolute strongest characters in the series. He showcased immense power, beating Kid and Killer together with a single blow of a technique that is likely far from being the best attack in his repertoire.
Kid was able to withstand and, at times, overpower several direct attacks from Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, even after she used her Devil Fruit abilities to empower herself further. Kid was always able to endure the damage and continue fighting.
While Kid was able to somewhat hold his own against Big Mom, he never stood the slightest chance against Shanks. He immediately got knocked out after Shanks hit him with a single blow of his Divine Departure.
Big Mom failed to put the same character down despite directly hitting him with several named attacks. Objectively, Shanks is a much deadlier and more effective fighter than her.
Overshadowing even his fellow Emperors, Shanks' reputation for strength is incredible. He is one of the few characters who can fight on equal grounds with Dracule Mihawk, the World's Strongest Swordsman.
The devastating battles between Shanks and Mihawk resonated throughout the entire Grand Line, paralleling the rivalry between Whitebeard and Roger. Even Whitebeard himself considered those fights to be legendary.
A testament to his power, Shanks was able to block a magma-enhanced punch from Admiral Akainu and clash on par with Whitebeard. Even Ryokugyu, a Marine Admiral strong enough to beat former Warlord Edward Weevil, was scared at the thought of fighting Shanks.
After Shanks released his Conqueror's Haki, Ryokugyu gave up without even attempting to fight back, feeling himself outmatched. Another piece of evidence on the power of Shanks' Haki, it allows him to prevent his foes from using Future Sight.
This capability earned him the moniker of "Observation Killer". This skill becomes even more threatening given that Shanks can exploit his Future Sight against an opponent who is hindered from using his own Observation Haki.
One Piece 1079 hypes Shanks, but certifies that he ranks below Mihawk
The latest chapter of One Piece highlighted Shanks' strength to no end. However, after 25 years of debating how Shanks truly fights and whether he is a swordsman or not, his first named attack was none other than a sword slash.
Shanks unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, coated his swords with it, and struck the opponent with a Haki-enhanced slash. His attacking power annihilated the opponent, and as a collateral effect of deploying his Haki, he caused the weaker bystanders to faint.
Objectively, this is the same exact thing that Zoro did during the fight with King after unlocking his powers as a Conqueror. One Piece fans frequently debated on the subject, but it is clear that Haki is just a tool that allows swordsmen to enhance all their defensive and offensive abilities.
All the mightiest swordsmen are fearsome Haki masters. Between Conqueror's Haki coating, permanently toughened Black Blades, and the ability to cut only what one wishes to cut, Haki is not separated from swordsmanship, but a crucial aspect of it.
Every single time that Shanks fought, or was about to do that, he used or held his sword. That is more than enough to consider him a full-fledged swordsman. He has indeed been stated to be a swordmaster.
Admittedly, Shanks is a swordsman and an immensely powerful one. Still, belonging to this category of fighters, he is inherently bound to be weaker than Dracule Mihawk, who is the current owner of the title of the World's Strongest Swordsman.
Granted, given the Yin and Yang-like connection between them, it is clear that they are very close in strength, with Mihawk being slightly stronger than Shanks. However, the fact that Mihawk is more interested in waiting for Zoro to achieve his full potential rather than fighting Shanks again is telling.
Eustass Kid gets scaled down, and Trafalgar Law may be as well
Chapter 1079 of One Piece marked the destruction of Eustass Kid's ambitions. Rather than Kid being weak, it is Shanks who is exceedingly strong. Still, the former clearly gets downsized by such a onesided defeat.
Kid was able to push Big Mom towards her limits, to the point where she ended up losing the battle. However, the merits of this feat have to be split with Law, another prominent member of the Worst Generation.
As One Piece 1079 showed, fighting a deadly opponent such as Shanks in 1v1 is very different compared to fighting a powerful but clumsy individual such as Big Mom in a 2v1 battle.
Kid and Law's advantage in numbers over Big Mom was crucial, allowing one of them to hit her from behind while she was focused on the other. The damage that Big Mom suffered was not an individual merit, but the result of Kid and Law's attacks accumulating over and over due to their numerical superiority.
The 2v1 set-up of the battle allowed Kid and Law to perform feats that they would never have been able to replicate if they were in 1v1 against the same opponent. They mutually helped to distract Big Mom, attacking her from her blindsides and ganging up on her.
As such, Kid and Law appear to be stronger than what they really are. The onesided annihilation of Kid at the hands of Shanks highlighted this, and it is likely that Trafalgar Law will suffer the same fate against Blackbeard.
Despite the numerical superiority, Kid and Law weren't able to make Big Mom lose consciousness. She suffered severe damage but endured all of their attacks. She ended up losing, but it was mostly because their techniques caused her to fall into the void.
Considering that they wouldn't have even been able to land those attacks if they weren't advantaged by the 2v1 situation, Kid and Law really need to be scaled down. They remain powerful characters, but it is clear that they are not strong enough to face any top tier in a 1v1 battle without external involvement.
Kid's strongest attack is very difficult to use in a 1v1 battle
Among Kid's greatest flaws as a fighter is his lack of Haki mastery, which is a serious shortcoming considering how important this power is in One Piece. Despite being born as a Supreme King, Kid can't use the Advanced Conqueror's Haki, unlike his fellow Supernovas Luffy and Zoro.
Kid also failed to show any relevant feats with Color of Armament or Color of Observation. One Piece 1079 also pointed out another prominent defect on his part, highlighting how Kid has great difficulty in using his best technique.
To perform Damned Punk, his strongest attack, Kid needs to create a Railgun and charge it for at least ten seconds. During the battle with Big Mom, Kid took advantage of the latter being focused on Trafalgar Law.
In a normal 1v1 fight, no one will allow Kid to charge his attack, and no ally will be there to distract his opponent, allowing him to perform such an operation. In One Piece 1079, Shanks used his speed to blitz Kid and his overwhelming Haki to strike him before he could use Damned Punk.
The chapter emphasized how hard it would be for Kid to perform this technique against a competent fighter. Such circumstances notably hinder Eustass Kid's effectiveness in battle, further scaling down his position in the rankings of the strongest One Piece characters.
Final thoughts
The new chapter of One Piece provided fans with several hints about the manga's current powerscaling, allowing a better insight into how the characters compare to each other.
What Big Mom couldn't achieve, even using many moves, Shanks accomplished with a single strike, proving his superiority. The level of strength that "Red Hair" showcased is something that very few characters can compare to. Even Shanks, however, ranks below Mihawk, the World's Strongest Swordsman.
Shanks proved himself to be an outstanding Haki master, who can use the advanced versions of Color of Observation Haki and Color of Conqueror. Moreover, he displayed the skillful usage of the late Pirate King's signature techniques.
Ending up miserably beaten and oneshotted by Shanks, Kid clearly demonstrated that he still has a way to go before approaching the top tier level. His attacks take too much time to perform, making them rather difficult to use in a 1v1 battle against a competent fighter.
