User blog comment:Zhonke/DRAGON HELPED SABO DIDN'T HE???/@comment-3181121-20110626124649/@comment-2031609-20110627011940

I just want to throw in that it may be bad for the story, but the flashback would not have been meaningless. What Luffy went through with Sabo's loss won't just disappear if he is alive. He's already gone through it, it's already shaped him into who he is, so who cares if he regains the person he lost in his youth. He's not just gonna revert back to a weak 7 year old Luffy. Plus, now he lost Ace, which can be a replacement for a dead loved one if he needs one so badly.