sanjis first active use of coc will be defensive
We all know it’s coming, but the question is how? Most of us believe it’ll be from protecting women… but I’ve surmised that it will actually happen from protecting HIMSELF from women.
Sanji’s vs women moments in the story has always been handled by either
Letting himself get beat trusting his durability
Calling on Nami/Robin to help him.
But this arc, none of those options will work.
The first reason why this won’t work, is the amount of enemy women. We know there is a flock of mom’s that are attempting to free their children, who are naturally going to be Domi Reversi’d. Add the mother MMA’s into that army & he has his work cut out for him.
With that amount of enemy women he can’t just let them hit him and suffer damage. Or dodge & let the damage pile up on Elbaph. So what are his options? To reduce the damage he takes to an absolute minimum. So he must actively work on his defensive armament Haki.
Fortunately this is nothing new to him. In Wano, it was revealed that Sanji is constantly using defensive armament to protect himself from his flames. So Oda has been setting up this defensive style into his haki progression.
But this lvl of Haki won’t be enough Fortunately, Sanji has already started tapping into a higher lvl. On egghead it seemed like Sanji “tanked” a fishman karate attack. But I don’t believe this is what actually happened.
Fishman Karate is a power created to bypass any level of durability since every living thing is made of water.
So what Sanji really did is Block it with defensive armament.
Except I don’t believe he knows what he did or can he replicate it consciously.
You can tell he doesn’t know because he refers to this protective Wil power as “The power of love” Just as he refers to his high range COO as “A Lady Radar” This is because Sanji has never verbally been taught advanced applications of Haki - so he creates his own names.
This trend continues with him deflecting Kizaru’s light beam with this high lvl defensive Haki. He says “love is stronger than light” But in reality he’s basically saying “Haki transcends all”
How can I say for sure this is Haki? Whe you look at how Kizaru’s light disperses with Sento’s Haki It’s the exact same way Kizaru’s light disperses when Sanji kicks it. Sentomaru is a master in advanced defensive Haki.
Mind you, Sento claims he is “the best in the world” at this But he couldn’t block the laser. So we can even say that Sanji’s talent for this already surpasses someone who’s trained in it. ( sanji destroyed the laser
So this passive usage of defensive Haki is the route Oda is going with for him. But there’s a clear set up for it to stop being passive on Elbaph, once Gaban sees for himself what Sanji is doing. Gaban will point it out, & Sanji will begin to actively train it.
In this “fight” against women, Sanji will hone his advanced defensive haki to the point of creating an Invisible barrier for 2 motivating reasons 1. To not hurt women with his exo 2. To not suffer major damage so he can save energy to fight the real threats.
Training this is the catalyst behind unlocking his advanced conquerors
But neither Sommers, nor the demonic mmas is strong enough to push him this far.
But there’s an opponent that’s both strong enough & narratively relevant to Sanji’s conqueror Ideals.
Gunko/IMU will be catalyst for Sanji to surpass his limits. For 2 major reasons 1. Typical Haki isn’t enough to block her attacks. 2. Sanji will be motivated to free her without hitting her. Both things will push his mental & physical abilities to their limits.
Before I continue, let me dispel this idea that Sanji will just wait for Luffy to deal with Gunko. People seriously think Sanji will see a possessed woman, hear Brook’s story & say “nah ill just wait for Luffy” If you believe this, you are clinically insane.
He will engage with Gunko just as he’s engaged with EVERY SINGLE ENEMY WOMAN in an arc. Why would he change how he’s written this now?!
( kalifa, viola, black maria, and big mom)
Ultimately Sanji will begin to tap into (not fully control), the same defensive ACOC that we saw with Rocks.
Which will be the full manifestation of the Power of love which he loves calling it.
Love is a protecting force, so naturally his conquerors will be protective.
Extra: This also plays into the narrative of the Shield of Nika. So it’s time he’s taken on that mantle on Elbaph.
Sounds like a good theory. Brook right now is filled with anger over Gunko murdering his patron. But Sanji would see past the "facts" like he did with Robin, Pudding and Viola and realize the truth. Perhaps have a scene harkening back to Roger's sympathy for Rocks.
