You keep saying that Zoro gets stomped, I'll say it again I never said that, you keep putting that word in my mouth.
Also you seem to have it all figured out, why make this thread in the first place when you're not willing to discuss feats. I can't help it you create this thread at this point in time, we can only discuss what we know. That is not unfair. You go on making assumptions like Mihawk is stronger than Shanks. We've never seen anything from Shanks and we've barely seen anything from Mihawk. But sure, you have already figured it out.
So in your opinion it's unfair to use current feats, and instead use the end of series power as a benchmark. Well if anything is unfair it's doing it that way. Pure speculation.
Talking about power-ups, Luffy received multiple power-ups, where is Zoro's power-up ? Is Sanji's raid suit a power-up ? He didn't even put it on yet. Will a new sword be a power-up on Wano ? We don't know anything about that, yet you assume the gap will always stay the same. He will always be the number two, but he can also be a number two at a large margin.
If I would predict how a fight would end now, Luffy would win at a medium/hard difficulty. He has superior speed, power, haki. So I really don't know what argument can be made in Zoro's favor to last very long.
I never said Doffy has more cutting potential, that is again you putting words in my mouth. But Doflamingo is not some kind of 3rd rate gimp, and he got swatted like a fly when the King Kong gun came out, There was no stopping that. So if someone on Doffy's level is already crushed, how much stronger does Zoro need to be to block that ? And is it realistic to say that Zoro is that much stronger than Doflamingo ?
I've asked a question. You answered it. I don't agree with your answer. It's that simple, this is why we're having this discussion.
Mihawk being stronger than Shanks is not an assumption. Shanks is a swordsman who was once Mihawks rival, and Mihawk holds the title of the WSS. Whether you agree with it or not is up to you, but the general consensus is that Mihawk is the stronger man. At the very least they're on the same tier, which doesn't distract from the fact that Zoro is going to be > Mihawk who is Yonko level. My underlying point is that for Zoro to reach such an immense level of strength like this, he
cant afford to not be growing at a similar rate to Luffy, nor does it make sense for him to all of a sudden stop growing at a similar rate to Luffy when he's done so throughout the series.
Where is Zoro's power up? Refer to my original response to you. Why don't you wait until we see Zoro unleash his full strength before asking such a question. If you honestly think that for Zoro to do what he's done thus far without breaking into second gear, and not have something extraordinary up his sleeve, you're somewhat kidding yourself. He trained with best swordsman in the world for an entire 2 years; if Gordon Ramsay trained me how to cook for 2 years I'd be an elite chef. If Einstein tutored me in math I'd be a math whiz. It's the exact same concept. And yes, of course the raid suit is a power up lmfao. It's a battle suit, it's certainly not a downgrade is it.
Luffy has to become stronger than everyone else, including the Yonko, so how would his first mate not grow at rate similar to his captain in order to fulfil Luffy's requisites? Like I said, Luffy
cant afford for Zoro to be much weaker than him. It goes against everything this manga has ever shown us.
Sorry mate, just because you don't say it directly it doesn't mean you didn't infer to it, which you absolutely did. "if doffy couldn't cut him......what makes you think zoro....." is literally saying that Zoro can't cut through his haki because Doffy can't. I'm not twisting anything. As for your question, I'm in no position to answer that until we see the full extent of his growth.
It seems our beliefs clash in the extent of Zoro's growth. Me personally, an already gifted swordsman training with the worlds greatest swordsman bares only one result - a MASSIVE boost in strength, not a minor one. The crew are going to Wano soon to face Kaido and his crew, and Zoro is sure to be a central character in that arc. If Zoro's below Luffy that much at this stage in the manga, then he may as well hand in his swords and go home now. Luffy and Zoro are on the same journey, and arc by arc they're facing stronger opponents and stronger opponents. This means they're
both growing arc by arc. Eventually, Zoro will reach Yonko level and so will Luffy. Zoro will be stronger than a man who is widely considered to be > Shanks, so Zoro will be extremely strong. Luffy will be stronger, but the manga Oda has created wouldn't allow for one Yonko calibre fighter to "mid diff" another one. It will be an extremely hard fought battle.