During the Wano arc, both Zoro and Sanji receives a power up that puts them way beyond their old selves. But their power up actually have a lot of similarities that mirrors each other. Let me explain.
The Power Up
First let’s take a look at what their power ups are. Zoro awakened his Conqueror’s Haki and manages to use Haki infusion with it into his swords. This awakening upgrades his previous Three Sword Style into King of Hell Three Sword Style and allowed his to defeat King arguably with ease.
Sanji on the other hand, awakened his Germa Gene, thus upgrading his whole physical capabilities. Enhanced Strength, Speed, Regenerative abilities, and a powerful Exoskeleton. This awakening upgrades his previous Diable Jambe into Ifrit Jambe and allowed him to also defeat queen arguably with ease.
The Catalysts
And now let’s take a look at how they got their power ups from. What are the catalysts of these power ups? For Zoro, the catalyst for his awakening was Enma. While for Sanji his catalyst was the Raid Suit.
The way both of these catalysts works and the way Zoro and Sanji handles them mirrors each other.
Enma, prior to the awakening, tries to take Zoro’s Haki from him. This behaviour is the way Enma as a catalyst tries to awaken Zoro’s Haki that’s been laying dormant inside of him. So the way Enma as a catalyst works is by taking away the power to awaken the power.
And how does Zoro respond to this? He accepted it. He accepted Enma’s challenge, even if it could kill him. Why? It’s for Luffy. His captain and his oldest friend.
The Raid Suit on the other hand, prior to the awakening has already gave Sanji power. Different to Enma that tries to take the power, The Raid Suit way to being a catalyst is by giving power and awakening the dormant power in the process.
But how does Sanji respond to this? He rejected it. He rejects the Raid Suit, the catalyst that awakens his power. Even if it could give him more power. Why? It was to free himself from his past, from Germa.
The way they handle their own catalyst completely mirror each other. Enma a catalyst that takes away power and the Raid Suit a catalyst that gives power. Zoro accepting Enma and Sanji rejecting the Raid Suit. Zoro doing it for someone else’s sake and Sanji doing it for his own sake.
Correlation with Luffy
Now let’s take a look at their power up’s correlation with Luffy’s power up. In the One Piece world, after time skip, the 2 most important factors in battle are Weapon and Haki.
Luffy’s power up in Wano consists of him awakening his Devil Fruit and being able to infuse Conqueror’s Haki. Now, we understood that Luffy’s ability to infuse Conqueror’s Haki is a power up for his Haki factor, but what about the weapon? His weapon has got to be his Devil Fruit. So we can conclude that Luffy’s power up is for both of his Weapon and Haki.
So, what about Zoro and Sanji? Of course they mirror each other, with Zoro awakening his Haki and Sanji awakening his weapon, that is his body, more specifically his legs. This further emphasize their role as the Wings of the Pirate King, the Right hand and the Left hand, an equal. Their awakening were meant to mirror each other to keep their balance. When one awaken one thing, the other awaken the other. Without the balance, they won’t be able to keep supporting the Pirate King, Luffy.
So, what’s next?
Well it’s simple really. Zoro has awaken his Haki and Sanji has awaken his Weapon. Now it’s the other way around. Sanji have to awaken his Haki and Zoro have to awaken his Weapon. Sanji unlocking Conqueror’s and Zoro awakening his Swords to become Black Blade.
*by SG143
