@S.C.:
True, but Kizaru needs a bit of a foil. People talk about Blackbeard being overpowered, how do they miss him?
Ya know im finding it funny how people are even calling BB hax.
In terms of Kizaru, as mentioned above…Rayleigh showed us he can be handled and I think it is quite obvious that Oda wants us to see that there is a MAJOR power gap between Luffy and well known early characters (i.e. Buggy and Croc) and the current threats being revealed.
As for Blackbeard, although he has become MORE powerful, I am not going to say TOO powerful because Oda makes it a point to show Blackbeards weaknesses. He didn't completely own Ace when he fought him and Whitebeard cracked him good while pointing out his mistakes and ignorance...this could be from a lack of experience or the fact that Blackbeard isn't THAT smart of a character.
Oda has yet to make Blackbeard invincible, just powerful and a bit fearsome.