User blog comment:Fliu/My thoughts on the Mink Tribe, Beasts Pirates, and possible upcoming events/@comment-24850639-20160201202501

Dont know about everyone else, but my main reasoning for why Luffy isn't "ready" for a Yonko is moreso about where we are in the series as opposed to Luffy's level of strength. We don't even really know Luffy's level of strength yet. We've gotten a SAMPLE of Gear Fourth, and I'm sure everyone knows that Luffy is capable of much more with Gear 4th than what we saw. So what I'm saying in other words, is that the story doesn't seem set up well enough yet for a Luffy-Yonko fight to make sense.

Think about it: regardless of how the fight turns out, Luffy fighting either one of them is going to be a big fucking deal. In fact, it WILL be the biggest deal of the entire series up to that point. Does something THAT significant feel right, right now? Granted, I'm speaking in "should be's" based on how the series has progressed so far as my only proof, but I believe they are rather compelling should-bes. Here's what I mean:

Based on what we know of Luffy and how the serious has gone so far, there SHOULD BE an extremely personal reason that Luffy is fighting Kaido when the epic standoff finally happens. Luffy wants to be Pirate King, and understands the Yonko and Admirals are in the way of that. BUT, he doesn't pick fights for simple reasons.You have to seriously wrong him, or someone that he cares about. What Jack did is plenty good enough reason for Luffy to fight Jack, but not Kaido. Kaido's actual transgressions against Luffy personally SHOULD BE strong enough for this fight to feel right. So I don't think a fight with either Big Mom or Kaido makes sense  until we learn more about who they are, where they come from, what they're trying to do, and what they've done up til that point (against Luffy and/or his friends) that makes their defeat a necessity. I just don't think that aspect is fleshed out well enough yet, and the only way to do so is to have said character become MUCH more involved in the story. Those kinds of things get answered over an arc centered on said villain, not a few chapters detailing something that their associates did. That being said, Zou is not going to answer those kinds of questions for Big Mom and Kaido. Zou is too important with its own history in and of itself for Oda to waste it giving us a profile on either of these 2, so the answer truly lies in where we're going next after Zou. As of right now, the signs point a lot more strongly to Big Mom. Not only was one of her crew left behind, but one of Luffy's crew is headed to her ALONE, under a threat that could compromise the Straw Hats altogether. Zoro's monologue was meant to remind everyone that they are on a one-way express train to the SH's biggest battle since the series began, and they DON'T have Sanji's strength. I don't see them trying to make a serious move against Kaido without all the crew present again, so I see a Sanji rescue effort as much more likely.