Oda’s Subtle Clue Reveals the Exact Moment Roger Became the Strongest Pirate

Elbaf is popping off right now, and Oda is using Loki's flashback to finally peel back the mess that was the God Valley Incident. We have not actually seen the Roger Pirates throw down with the Rocks Pirates yet, but based on how terrifying Xebec is, there is basically no version of that fight where Roger wins without a serious Haki level-up in the middle of the chaos. And yeah, that lines up with a lesson Oda planted a long time ago.

Rayleigh's old lesson suddenly matters a lot

Back in the time-skip, Luffy trained under Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King and Roger's right hand. Before that, Luffy had accidentally popped Conqueror's Haki a couple of times and nuked random bystanders. After Rayleigh? He can snap it on and off with control, aiming it exactly where he wants. Rayleigh also hammered Luffy's senses into shape and made the point that Haki outmuscles even the wildest Devil Fruits if you push it far enough.

That idea gets really specific in Chapter 886, when Luffy is stuck against Charlotte Katakuri. Katakuri's Observation Haki lets him see a little into the future, and Luffy cannot get around it... until he remembers Rayleigh's whole philosophy about growth under pressure.

'Haki blooms when you face a stronger opponent.'

So Luffy eats the hits, adapts mid-fight, and comes out stronger. Later, against Kaido, once Gear 5 is unlocked, his advanced Conqueror's starts flowing way more freely. The pattern is clear: the bigger the wall, the bigger the bloom.

Why that matters for God Valley

If Elbaf is teeing up the full God Valley reveal, the big question is how Roger actually put down Rocks D. Xebec. Since Chapter 1154, Rocks has been framed as a monster among monsters. He is not just 'strong for his era'; he is the guy who makes legends look mortal. The receipts Oda has shown so far are not subtle:

• He killed an Admiral.
• He crushed Garling without breaking a sweat.
• He went head-to-head with Harald multiple times.
• He straight-up destroyed the Gate of Justice.

Put that next to Roger. Yes, the man is the Pirate King, and 'Divine Departure' speaks for itself, but in the timeline, Roger hit his prime after God Valley. Officially, the story has always been that Roger beat Rocks with Garp's help. Recent chapters, though, have been reframing details around God Valley, so the reality might be messier than the old version implied.

The working theory: Roger's Haki had to bloom in the fire

Given how far above everyone else Rocks seems, the cleanest read is that Roger's Haki evolved in that battle. Rayleigh, being right there, could have watched that happen and later distilled it into the 'flower' metaphor he gives Luffy. It's the same arc we watched with Luffy and Katakuri, just scaled up to the most violent event in pirate history.

So, did Oda seed Roger's 'bloom' years ago through Rayleigh's dialogue? It fits. And if Elbaf is the stage where we finally see Roger vs. Rocks in motion, expect a moment that locks Roger in as definitively stronger than Xebec, not just by legend but by what we see on the page.

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