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One Piecehas been in the post-timeskip phase for a lot longer than the entirety of the pre-timeskip. The timeskip was definitelyno small decision on Oda’s part, as it would impact the story greatly.
Oda has already explained why he had to make the characters wait 2 years before entering the New World.
He Believed Luffy Wasn’t Strong Enough For the Yonko
One Pieceis a very long series, having been serialized for almost 3 decades now. Being such a long series, the characters, specifically Luffy, had a lot of time to grow, especially when it comes to strength. However, even with the many enemies he defeated before the timeskip, he wasn’t powerful enough for what was to come in the New World. This is why Oda had to create a timeskip, and during this time, Luffy would train to become stronger. In One Piece, Luffy trained with Rayleigh, Roger’s right-hand man, and was able to use Haki, which increased his power, and he also attained new transformations, such as Gear 4th.
Oda explained in 2018 why exactly the timeskip happened, and even why he made it exactly 2 years. Here’s what he had to say back then:
“Luffy, at 17, had no chance of defeating powerful enemies like the Yonko. The two-year timeskip was necessary to leave his growth to the reader’s imagination. I kept it relatively short because One Piece is a shonen manga, and I didn’t want Luffy to become too mature.” — Eiichiro Oda
As fans know, Luffy was only recently in the story able to take down a Yonko. This happened after an adventure that lasted over a decade for the fans. During the Wano arc, Luffy managed to take down Kaido by unlocking new forms of Haki and finally getting access to Gear 5.
“I don’t care if you’re a king or not. There are things that matter more than power.” — Luffy
Without the time skip, Oda would have had to nerf the Yonko for Luffy to stand a chance, or have Luffy get an abnormal power-up out of nowhere, which definitely wouldn’t have had the same impact as the protagonist training and fighting for years, doing his utmost best to stand equally on the same pedestal as the Yonko.
Oda definitely knew what he didwhen he created the circumstances for a timeskip to happen. This also applies to all the other Straw Hats, who needed the timeskip to develop and become stronger. The Straw Hats and Luffy still have a long way to go now.
One Pieceis currently in the final saga, and fans can only hope that the story starts getting even more intense from here onwards. As things stand, Luffy is adventuring in the land of Elbaf, where the Giants rule.
