One Piece's Youngest Conqueror's Haki User Has Officially Been Confirmed (He's Leagues Above Luffy)

This article contains spoilers for One Piece’s Elbaf arc.

One Piece is currently in the Elbaf arc, where Oda has shown the fans some of the most exciting developments in all of One Piece. This arc focuses heavily on the likes of the Holy Knights, and even puts Imu under the spotlight. Of course, the Straw Hat Pirates are deeply involved in this arc, as always, but another character that cannot be ignored is Red-haired Shanks.

While Shanks isn’t physically present in Elbaf, he is certainly driving the plot in exciting ways. In fact, Oda has already given the fans more of an idea of Shanks’s incredible power in this arc, and more information will be revealed about him as the story progresses. Most fans know Shanks to be a mighty Yonko with immense power, but what they don’t know is that he is also the youngest user of Advanced Conqueror’s Haki in One Piece, and that he is still stronger than Luffy.

Shanks Is That Youngest User Of Advanced Conqueror’s Haki

Shanks Learned Conqueror’s Haki Before 15
Shanks Is The Next Roger

One Piece fans know very well that Shanks was taken in by the Roger Pirates after the God Valley Incident. Raised by Roger, it is no surprise to know that Shanks grew up to be a very powerful figure. In fact, Shanks was said to be a prodigy right from the very beginning. According to Oda, Shanks is a massive genius, the likes of which surpasses even the Roger Pirates, aside from Roger himself.

I won’t say that’s not fair, Navy man. But raiding the worn-out new green leaves that changed the era of piracy forever? Don’t you think you’re doing too much? Are you that afraid of the new era? – Shanks

Oda has officially confirmed Shanks to be the youngest user of Advanced Conqueror’s Haki. For those who don’t know, Conqueror’s Haki, which is the ability to overwhelm your enemy, can also be infused to buff oneself up. It can be used both offensively and defensively. Conqueror’s Haki is, undoubtedly, one of the strongest forms of power in One Piece, and Shanks mastered this advanced form before he was 15.

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.

Shanks Is Still Stronger Than Luffy

Shanks’s Overall Level Isn’t Below Roger and Rocks

shanks-main-character — Shanks from One Piece

Not only did Shanks master Conqueror’s Haki before 15, but he also went on to use a special technique that only Roger and Rocks could use. Rocks’s blade attacks had the power to hit like a hammer instead of cutting, and they blew away everything in the surroundings. At some point, Roger went on to learn this power as well. Kamusari, also known as Divine Departure, is a technique that follows similar rules.

Luffy vs Shanks Is Inevitable

Luffy awakens his Devil Fruit and unlocks Gear 5 - One Piece

The fact that Shanks was able to master this power goes to show that he actually holds the same technique as Roger and Rocks. More than that, he actually gained this power before 15 years of age. Since then, Shanks has been honing this power of his, and it is quite clear that right now, he is the strongest pirate in the world, even stronger than Luffy. Of course, Luffy will go on to surpass Shanks at some point later down the line, but at the moment, Shanks is definitely stronger.

One Piece Chapter 1162 will be out this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on October 5. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1162 is October 5, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.

Release Date: October 20, 1999
Network: Fuji TV
Directors: Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Writers: Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda