@Joy:
I think it’s pretty clear it’s the end. Kaido pulled his last attacks and they weren’t enough. Now it’s Luffys time for the finisher.
Also how is Oda supposed to include those things at the moment when the fight is on its climax ?
That joy boy has returned chapter really hurt the climax of the arc
We haven't yet gotten the "this is going kill all the civilians" desperation of the birdcage, alabasta bombs, smoke monster, the ship falling on fishman island, sunrise before the shadowless die, etc. (In this case, likely "the island is falling and we can't stop it anymore")
Even if Kaidou has been switching on his awakening in brief bursts, we haven't had him make that clear yet. After Dofla, Katakuri, Law, Kidd, and obviously now Luffy, Oda should be very clear when Kaidou does his awakening, and when pulls out his strongest move.
When Kaidou pulls out his biggest strongest move, he'll state that in dialoge. "I never use this because it ends fights too quickly" or ""Even I can't control this!" or "Just who do you think you are?!? I'll show you true power!" because that's how these things work. And he's almost at that point. He's starting to say things like that and is running out of breath. When he gets to THAT move, whatever it is, that's when we're at the actual climax.
Enel's giant death ball, Moria's shadow Asguard, Croc's poison, Hodi's steroids, Wapol comically NOT getting his ultimate move, etc.
We also haven't gotten the big Momotaro moment or Kaidou seeing Momo grown and looking like Oden.
We have not yet seen Kaidou pulling out his stated strongest move or the moment where it was possible everything is lost. Sure maybe Oda slips and misses the target that he's consistently nailed for 25 years, he misses sometimes, , and everyone is tired by how long this fight has gone now, but just given track record and how escalation always works in these kinds of stories, we're not quite on the final blows yet.
Flashback should be when that happens.
My guess is Luffy DOES hit Kaidou with that giant mega fist and that's enough to put what looks like actual real damage on him for the first time, maybe break a horn or sever his tail or something, and then drives the push to use his strongest attack. But Luffy's bound to run out of energy any second and NOT be able to finish this, and need a little more support to get that last reprieve.
If the giant fist was going to be the actual finisher, that would have landed this chapter instead of being the cliffhanger that escalates the battle.
We also still need the payoff for whatever setup those floating lanterns is going to be that Oda's been putting in motion for like 30 chapters that should be reaching them any moment now.
We're near the finale but we're not quite there yet. If there's 2 chapters to go or 12, I don't know, but we're not quite there. It's possible it ends next chapter but it doesn't seem like its quiiiite there yet.