Shanks is one of the most important pirates in One Piece and fans know him to be a very powerful individual.

Serving the role of one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, fans know Shanks to be a monster in terms of combat. While much about Shanks’s past remains unknown, what fans know is that he was once a member of the Roger Pirates and was Roger’s very own apprentice, just like Buggy. However, only one of these two individuals went on to reach a very high level of power, and that is Shanks.

In fact, many believed Shanks to be the next Pirate King as well, although Shanks himself had a different plan laid out for himself. In the recent set of questions that Oda answered, a lot of exciting information about Shanks was presented to the fans, and now, fans know more exciting information than ever before about this individual.

Oda Reveals Shanks To Be A Big Genius

Shanks Mastered Kamusari At 15

Shanks’s Genius Surpassed The Roger Pirates

Undoubtedly, Shanks is one of the most intuitive characters in One Piece. Although fans did not know much about how Shanks fights and how he grew in terms of power over the years, the final saga has started to shed more light on this individual. Not only do fans know more about Shanks’s strength, but at the same time, they know a lot more about the potential that he holds and, at the same time, how he grew up with the Roger Pirates. Shanks was known to be the next Pirate King by members of the Roger Pirates, which certainly implies that they were all impressed by how much of a genius he truly was.

In the latest question and answer session that Oda handled during the break week, he tackled the mystery of Shanks’s Incredible talent as a young pirate. Around the time of the disbandment of the Roger Pirates, Shanks was about 15. However, before the age of 15, Shanks was already a monstrously powerful individual, which is why he made people believe that he would go on to become the next Pirate King. This might be a light statement for many, but it actually carries immense weight. Here’s what Oda has to say about Shanks’s growth.

Question: The move “Kamusari” (Divine Departure) that was used to one-shot Kid was taught to Shanks by Roger, right? Or did he just learn it by observing it?

Oda: Shanks was such a genius that Roger pirates were all surprised that Shanks learned Kamusari (Divine Departure) by himself without direct instruction from Roger, and no one else in Roger’s pirates could copy it.

Clearly, the answer that Oda provided to the question implies that Shanks managed to learn Divine Departure by himself and that it was an incredibly difficult technique for him to perform. In fact, Oda also hints that this technique was impossible for any other member of the Roger Pirates to do, which means that even among these mighty fighters of the crew, Shanks was especially attuned to observation.

How Strong Was Young Shanks?

Shanks Was An Advanced Conqueror’s Haki User At 15

Before the age of 15, Shanks was already strong enough to perform Divine Departure. While fans might not think of it as a big deal, when looking at just what is needed to perform Divine Departure, it blows one’s mind away. Essentially, Divine Departure is a very powerful technique that sees the user utilize both Advanced forms of Armament Haki as well as Conqueror’s Haki. At the same time, the user also needs to have emission of the Armament Haki unlocked, which means that they must be able to channel Haki over long distances. More than that, the ability to infuse Conqueror’s Haki is very difficult to learn, yet, by virtue of the statement that Shanks was able to perform Kamusari, one knows that he was already a user of advanced Conqueror’s Haki before the age of 15, which is absolutely staggering.

It must be noted that by this time, Shanks was already strong enough to likely go head to head with the most powerful individuals in the One Piece world, such as the likes of Roger and Rayleigh himself. While he was likely not as strong, the fact that he held all the tools required to reach their level and surpass them goes on to show that he truly is a monster in combat after all.

With all this taken into consideration, one can easily see why Shanks was believed to be the next Pirate King. Anyone who held this much potential before the age of 15 must mean that their overall level of strength was incredibly high.

Of course, this is also just a glimpse of what Shanks could do before we even turned 15. In actuality, fans have yet to see what Shanks can truly do in combat, and this is simply because he has only revealed one of the most powerful techniques he has. Shanks can do much more than just use Kamusari, which is Roger’s technique, and his own powerful art is yet unseen. Undoubtedly, by the age of 15, Shanks must have been the strongest child in the One Piece world, and he only went on to surpass those levels and reach an even higher state in the future.

How Strong Is Shanks Right Now?

Shanks Is The Strongest In One Piece Right Now

Right now, Shanks can easily be labeled as the strongest individual in the world of One Piece. This is especially true after the fall of Kaido, who was known to be the strongest creature in the world, although, Kaido himself placed Shanks among the elites, such as Rocks, Whitebeard, and even Roger himself. Right now, Shanks is easily the strongest in the world and this is likely due to his Haki being the strongest in the world, as has been indicated by Oda on many occasions. Even though Luffy and Blackbeard are among the strongest as well, with some others being in the mix, too, Shanks is the one who truly shines the most.

His level of skill with Haki is absolutely impeccable, and he has only shown a glimpse of what he can do, making fans even more excited about seeing him go all out. Shanks was able to take out Kid without even tapping into his true powers in the Egghead arc, which excited the fans even more for what happens when he fights against Luffy. Hopefully, Oda will have more opportunities to reveal his true genius, and show to the world why exactly he is the one at the top of this era right now.

Thankfully, with the Elbaf Arc already on the way, Shanks will have plenty of opportunities to shine, as now, it is his time to take center stage after all these years and have everything about his life revealed to the fans, along with playing a very important role in the future to come.

Will Shanks Be Stronger Than Luffy?

Although Luffy is strong, Shanks will show that he’s on a much higher level right now when he fights against Luffy.

With that, fans can easily come to the conclusion that One Piece has 5+ years left, at the very least. Fans can rest assured that One Piece is set to continue for the foreseeable future, but, the series is likely going to end by 2030, which means that while the end isn’t closed, fans should start preparing for it.