Another difference is that upon secretion, resin has the additional effect of attracting natural predators to the herbivores that damage the plant. This can be a parallel to how Luffy’s brief death likely alerts his allies of the Grand Fleet to show up in Wano because of them having his Vivre Card.
Historical applications of resin are very interesting, as it was commonly used to waterproof clothing, rope, tarps, and to seal the seams in ships. Does coating in resin sound familiar to anyone else?
So how does this relate to Awakening? How can Luffy apply this?
The last panel of chapter 1043 may show the natural form of rubber being secreted from Luffy’s body. Luffy sustained so much damage from Kaido’s last blow that his fruit’s natural defense mechanism activated in the form of Awakening.
Luffy being able to produce this resin/latex like substance would allow him to manipulate it in a similar manner to how Katakuri did with mochi. The Awakening reveals the Gomu Gomu no Mi to be a special paramecia like Katakuri’s is.
Conclusion
The Awakening of the Gomu Gomu no Mi is threefold, being gigantification, vulcanization, and the ability to revert rubber to its base form, which is most likely resin or latex.
Gigantification is used to permanently increase the size of other objects or living things. Luffy can also use this to make himself giant, which would match the theory of Joy Boy being a giant. Zunesha and the skull of Onigashima are potential former examples of this ability used by Joy Boy.
Vulcanization is used to increase the strength, hardness, and heat properties of Luffy’s rubber. This can include Luffy expanding on his affinity for fire as he is able to use fire/heat to start the vulcanization process and receive physical powers from it. The potential drawback is a decreased stretching ability.
Reverting rubber to its base form is how Luffy can mirror Katakuri’s classification as a special paramecia fruit user. Luffy can generate latex/resin and use it to trap. The sap bubbles and coating in Sabaody are potential lasting effects from the fruit’s awakening being used there from a previous user.
*Theory by 20secondpilot
