User blog comment:Ricizubi/Luffy's Evolution and why becoming pirate king is going to be quite a storytelling challenge/@comment-24850639-20180425150311

I think the fact that the ending of the story is so up in the air speaks volume. As far as who this "final boss" character would be, no one can say with any kind of definitive assurance. The case for Akainu is just as strong as the case for Blackbeard, and if there's a case for Blackbeard, then technically there should be a case for the other Yonko as well. I think the story has established very well that whether Luffy RIGHT NOW has the capabilities of defeating an Admiral or a Yonko, that level of power will undoubtedly become necessary. Personally, I think Pedro's death in this most recent arc solidified that more than anything, but also the Big Mom chase. Yes the Yonko are undoubtedly strong and their power is to be feared, but for your main protagonists, at some point enough has to be enough. There HAS to be a point where they make a declaration to Luffy's similar at the end of Dressrosa, where it's no longer ok to be too scared to take on the Yonko or the Admirals. They are firmly in the New World now, so Yonko confrontations are practically unavoidable. I personally enjoyed Chopper's willingness to throw himself and Big Mom into the ocean, and Brooks's sentiments after Pedro's death that the crew wasn't strong enough. So if even Luffy's crew is realizing this, then it's definitely a necessity for Luffy to have the willingness to take on Yonko & Admirals ALONE. I don't see the narrative sense in dangling power levels like Shanks, Whitebeard's, and Akainu's levels of strength in front of us if our main protagonist isn't eventually going to get there someday. Now I agree that HOW he gets there needs to make sense, and the three options you laid out for that make perfect sense. Since this isn't a story like DragonBall where we always see the characters training in some kind of way between major antagonists, Luffy has been improving his strength of fighting tougher opponents and unlocking new skills. Although we saw that his training alone wasn't enough to handle Katakuri-level observation haki, I still think there's a few more tricks up Luffy's sleeve from that training if we got Tankman and Snakeman in one arc. How awakening happens is certainly a major point of curiousity for me.

But yeah, while I don't think Luffy has to necessarily beat all the Yonko one-on-one on his path to becoming Pirate King (or the admirals) I believe that him reaching similar levels of strength to them should definitely happen. I don't expect Luffy to solo Kaido initially, I see there being a combined effort, but I do still ultimately expect it to boil down to a mano y mano endeavor when it's all said and done. The same way people don't think it makes sense for Luffy to eventually reach this level, I say it doesn't make sense for Luffy to NOT reach this level. As this series reaches it's end, Luffy's name should undoubtedly be spoken in the same circles as the strongest individual fighters in the world. If Zoro is eventually gonna be the strongest swordsman, Luffy should have a similar title that proves he isn't to be fucked with, even by the world's greatest powers.