Gear 5 Luffy vs. Saitama: Who Would Win in a Fight?

Comparing the overpowered Saitama, the protagonist of One-Punch Man, with other characters is always fun. Whether it’s a comparison from his own universe, like the ones we’ve done (Blast, Boros, Garou, God), or some other fictional universe (like the ones with Superman, Gojo, or Goku), it’s always fun to see how Saitama would do against some other characters. This time, it will be a comparison from the latter group, as we will compare Saitama to Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece, but in his recently activated Gear 5 form, which is additionally enhanced with his new Devil Fruit powers. Who would win? Keep reading to find out!

Gear 5 Luffy would win in a fight against Saitama. Although Saitama is nominally the stronger one, he would not be able to defeat Gear 5 Luffy in a direct fight. Namely, Luffy becomes so ridiculously powerful and invincible in this form that Saitama, despite being an overpowered gimmick superhero, couldn’t do much against him. If we add his new Devil Fruit powers to that, Saitama definitely loses the fight.

Now that you have the short version of the answer, the rest of the article will be divided into three sections, with the first two introducing the characters, their powers, and their abilities. In the end, we’re going to give our final verdict and explanation on why Luffy, in his Gear 5 form, would be able to defeat Saitama, a.k.a. One-Punch Man

How powerful is Gear 5 Luffy?

Gear Fifth is the name of a Monkey D. Luffy fighting technique that first appeared during the Onigashima War. This is the awakened form of his Fruit. Luffy covers himself with Armament Haki and Royal Haki when he activates Gear Fifth. The awakening of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, real name Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika, gives the user’s rubbery body greater strength and freedom, limited only by the user’s imagination.

For this reason, it is said that the consumer becomes the “incarnation of freedom,” being able to bring joy to the people around him, and that makes him “the most ridiculous power in the world.” The most notable physical characteristic of the awakened form is Luffy’s complete discoloration (turning entirely white), the conversion of his hair and eyebrows to a lighter shade and a flaming form, as well as granting effects similar to those of cartoons, not only for the consumer but also for their opponent, an example being the googly eye effects.

It allows him to use both Gear 3’s limb inflate, and Gear 4’s muscle inflates, but without physically pumping air into his body, as well as allowing him to elasticize and stretch the terrain around him. When Luffy first used it against Kaidou, he was able to grow his arm to an enormous size so that he could grab Kaidou’s transformed body and drag him out of the skull dome.

Despite Kaidou’s massive girth, Luffy could swing him from side to side thanks to his expanded limbs. As demonstrated when Luffy lifted a portion of the ceiling and used it to deflect Kaidou’s Boro Breath back at him, Luffy’s rubbery nature may expand to the surroundings. Even though the boron breath attack was intense enough to level a castle, it is interesting to note that the altered ground, despite being elastic, did not burn or melt.

Given that Luffy could extend the interior of Kaidou’s body and even his eyes, it is possible to alter the elastic qualities of living things as well. At this stage, Zunesha refers to Luffy’s heartbeat as having the melodious cadence of the “drums of release.” Gear 5 uses the fruit’s awakening as the foundation for the technique, which devours tremendous energy and stamina. Kaidou claimed that he might kill himself if he used it too frequently.

The techniques that Luffy has demonstrated in his Gear Fifth form are:

• Gum-Gum Balloon: A larger version of the original Gum-Gum Balloon. First used while in Kaido’s womb, which also caused the Emperor’s body to grow and expand.
  • Gum-Gum Escape Rocket: From inside Kaido’s body, Luffy is able to swing his arms through Kaido’s eyes and grab onto his nose before doing a Gum-Gum Rocket to break out of Kaido’s body.
• Gum-Gum Giant: Luffy projects himself into the clouds with his breath and then becomes much larger. His body thus rivals Kaido’s dragon form in every aspect.
  • Gum-Gum Jump Rope: In “Gigant” mode, Luffy uses Kaido’s dragon-form body to do jump rope like a child.

Saitama and his powers

Saitama is an inactive young person who’s lost interest in life and who frequently fights mysterious beings to become a powerful hero. His main attack is the famous “One Punch,” a simple punch that can defeat very powerful enemies like the King of the Seas, Ashura Rhino, the King of the Underworld, a gigantic meteorite, and many more.

Saitama is blessed with spectacular speed. A ninja-like Thundering Sonic looks slow next to him. He can complete a 1,500-meter course instantly; even Genos’ computerized targeting systems have a hard time tracking him. He can use his speed to run vertically along a building to save a piece of salmon he intended to eat for lunch.

Even Boros in Meteoric Boost is slower than him. His basic speed is already sufficient to avoid the saber attacks of the famous ninja Flashy Flash. Saitama can take all kinds of impacts or flames without taking a single bruise. When Genos created a huge explosion by his Incineration to kill Mousmétique’s mosquitoes, Saitama stood beside him completely unscathed and unperturbed despite the heat of the flames.

To make him move, as soon as he decides to stay still, even a man as powerful as Suiryû has a hard time managing to make him move back a few meters with his Nebulous Fist of the Rabid Tiger. Saitama was as tough as an ordinary human when he was still a weak human. As an adult, he could get up with a nip from Crabotaur, a Tiger-level monster, and then attack him.

Saitama doesn’t aim better than an ordinary person. In particular, he has been wrong in his estimations, such as when he unintentionally punched Sonic in the genitals instead of only intimidating him. Saitama puts a little more effort into his techniques when using the Worship Streak Series. According to Boros, he only shows a small part of his power. Still, the power at this stage is enough to outsmart a Dragon-level or even God-level scourge very easily.

Gear 5 Luffy vs. Saitama: Who Would Win in a Fight?

And while generally, we would have Saitama as the winner of this duel; we have to say that Gear 5 Luffy is a completely new level of power. He is ridiculously strong and powerful, and the Straw Hat Captain is now very similar to Saitama – he is ridiculously invincible, to the point of being a gimmick character, in practically every aspect.

Monkey D. Luffy is a powerful character in his own right, which cannot be denied, but under regular circumstances, he would not be able to defeat Saitama. Namely, Saitama is a gimmick character, and there is no move that Luffy could use that could harm the protagonist of the One-Punch Man manga. Saitama can endure numerous blasts and punches, which is what Luffy had to offer in the first place. Sure, Luffy would hit him and do some damage, but he would not be able to defeat him. That much is obvious. On the other hand, Saitama could use his overpowered skills to defeat Luffy and make him submit in this battle, which is important to know when comparing these two characters and understanding why Gear 5 Luffy is so strong.

But, when Luffy managed to activate Gear 5 and combined these skills with his Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which is the true nature of Luffy’s Devil Fruit, formerly known as the Gomu Gomu no Mi, he became, in a way, similar to Saitama. Namely, if you look at Luffy’s battle against Kaido with both Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, and Gear 5 active, you’ll see that the fight was like something out of a Looney Tunes cartoon. The fight was absolutely ridiculous, and it showed how powerful Luffy was and how amazing his new powers were.

If Luffy could play around with Kaido in that form, his powers have grown enough for him to be even more ridiculous than Saitama. From that perspective, we simply have to declare Luffy the winner here, but only with Gear 5 active and with his Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika Devil Fruit powers. Otherwise, Saitama would win.