While Kaido has displayed various uses of his Devil Fruit, the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu Mythical Zoan, the manga never openly stated that he was using an awakening. This made fans question if Kaido actually awakened his Devil Fruit, and if he did, why he did not use that power in his battle against Luffy.

Luffy’s Battle With Lucci Proves Kaido Didn’t Awaken His Devil Fruit

Chapter #1069 of One Piece answered that question once and for all. On Egghead Island, Luffy and the Straw Hats have a chance encounter with CP0 and an old foe, Rob Lucci, who also has a Zoan-type Devil Fruit (Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard). Luffy and Lucci immediately fight and, while the Straw Hat captain shows the power of his Gear Fifth, Lucci answers by revealing that he has also awakened his Devil Fruit. The form that he takes confirms that Kaido never awakened his Devil Fruit. Lucci appears more slender than his previously seen Human-Beast form. More importantly, Lucci now has distinctive puffs of smoke around his shoulders that look a lot like those displayed by Luffy in his Gear Fifth form, proving that this is a common feature in awakened Zoan-types, which Kaido never showed.

To understand why Kaido never awakened his Devil Fruit, one has to look no further than Eiichiro Oda’s notes concerning Gear Fifth, published in the special Road To Laugh Tale vol. 4. There, Oda mentions ‘the power of imagination‘ as being a key aspect of Luffy’s awakening. This concept comes back in chapter #1069, when Dr. Vegapunk explains that Devil Fruits are the materialization of humanity’s desires, making imagination a reality. However, during his battle against Luffy, Kaido expressed his contempt toward Devil Fruits users. According to him, the best way to stand on top of the world is Haki, a power born not from desire but from willpower. This means that Kaido’s reliance on Haki made him less inclined to fully master his Devil Fruit abilities, including the awakening.

Could Gear 5 Luffy Beat Kaido With His Awakened Devil Fruit?

Since the Kaido that Luffy fought and defeated at the end of Wano hadn’t awakened his Devil Fruit, it is natural to wonder if the fight would have ended differently if the former Yonko had actually unlocked his Fruit’s full potential. Given how much of a struggle it was for Luffy to beat him with his unawakened Devil Fruit, it is very likely that Kaido using his awakened abilities would have been able to withstand the Straw Hat’s final attack and won the fight. However, depending on how his Awakened Devil Fruit powers manifested, it might not have made much of a difference.

This theory about Kaido’s Devil Fruit being unawakened is further supported by the fact that Kaido received his Devil Fruit from Big Mom during the battle of God Valley, where the two Yonko were on the losing side, and possibly only ate it to save his life and escape from that predicament. There are still a lot of questions to be answered regarding Devil Fruits and their awakening. For the moment, One Piece fans can at least put the Kaido Devil Fruit debate to rest, and focus on the incredible and exciting revelations that the series is delivering with each new chapter.