Luffy's Gear 5 was one of those moments that One Piece fans have been waiting for ages, and with the Wano Country Arc anime adaptation slowly coming to a close, fans of the anime series finally got to see Luffy's Gear 5 in action in the anime as well. But now that it's finally here, we have even more questions, and one of them is: can Luffy now activate Gear 5 at will, or do certain conditions need to be met? Read on to find out!

As far as we know, Luffy can activate Gear 5 at will, and no special conditions need to be met now that he has finally awakened the true power of his Devil Fruit. The best evidence we have is Luffy's fight against Rob Lucci in the Final Saga, where both activated and used their awakened forms in battle. This proves that Luffy can now use Gear 5 like he uses all his other Gears, but since his Devil Fruit is actually Zoan now, there is a risk that Luffy will succumb to the primal instincts of his Devil Fruit, which is why he must be careful with it.

The rest of this article will focus on Luffy's Gear 5, his new set of skills and abilities recently introduced in the manga. But we're not going to focus solely on the general aspect, as what interests us most is whether Luffy can now use Gear 5 without any restrictions. Of course, this article will focus on the events observed in the most recent episode of the anime and the most recent chapters of the manga, which also means that this article will contain some spoilers, so please be careful how you approach it.

The manga has confirmed that Luffy can use Gear 5 whenever he wants, but not without danger.

So, before we actually answer the question, let us revisit the original Gear 5 activation and the dangers it poses, which is relevant to understanding why our question was even asked in the first place. Namely, you wouldn't typically ask this with Luffy's early Gears, but Gear 5 is specific in so many ways that we simply had to ask this question, and that's why a primer on this issue is absolutely necessary.

The setting is, of course, Wano Country, and we're talking about Luffy's fight against Kaido. The final one. And we have to be honest and confirm that it was a very tough fight for both of them, as they really gave it their all. Blows landed here and there, and while Big Mom was defeated, Kaidou apparently managed to emerge victorious, as he gained the upper hand at one point and seemingly defeated Luffy for good.

It was a truly shocking moment, but since it was the climax of the arc, fans knew it wouldn't end like that. It was too easy. So what happened?

After appearing defeated, Luffy suddenly felt a burst of new strength, making him so powerful that Kaidou was powerless to stop him. This was Luffy simultaneously activating both his Gear 5 and the true nature of his Gomu Gomu no Mi, which was actually the mythical Zoan-type fruit Hito Hito no Mi, model: Nika. After this happened, all of Kaidou's attacks were ineffective against Luffy as his body was essentially made of rubber.

To counter Kaidou's weapons and attacks, Luffy was able to change his form, rendering them completely ineffective. One of the most absurd displays of his abilities during this encounter involved using Kaidou's dragon form as a jump rope. He altered his stature, so Kaidou appeared as a dwarf. Ultimately, Luffy used his newfound strength to defeat Kaidou, leaving the terrifying emperor's fate uncertain as he and Big Mom were both abandoned in the depths of Wano Country.

As you can see, the power boost Luffy received from Gear 5 was absolutely ridiculous, and with his awakened form, he finally defeated one of his biggest rivals in the series. Of course, Gear 5 also drained a lot of energy from Luffy, and it will take a while before he can truly master it, but the little we saw so far actually indicated what we can actually expect from Gear 5 in the future. and how it will be one of Luffy's best weapons.

And luckily for us, we didn't have to wait too long for that, as the Egghead Arc finally provided us with some additional information that showed us just how Gear 5 could perform in the future.

So, what happened? Well, the Egghead Arc is a direct continuation of the story that took place in Wano Country and the first arc of the Oda Final Saga. And while we'll skip a lot of unnecessary details, we'll just tell you that Luffy encountered, once again, an old enemy – Rob Lucci. Interestingly, Rob Lucci was forbidden from attacking Luffy at that time without permission, as Luffy was now an emperor, but that didn't stop him, so he showed Luffy his new power – his awakened Devil Fruit. In response, Luffy immediately activated Gear 5 and the two continued to fight. Why is this important?

We're not really going to spoil the entire fight for you right now, but this moment was important because it actually answers our main question – yes, Luffy is now able to activate his Gear 5 whenever he wants, which makes sense, considering how his other Gears worked as well.

Fans were worried that there might be restrictions, as it drained a lot of energy and was declared as Luffy's maximum ability, but the fight against Rob Lucci finally confirmed that everything that happened in Wano was not a coincidence, but in fact Luffy's new power. He can now use it freely and without any restrictions, although certain specific conditions must be met for these power-ups to be activated. Luffy still hasn't mastered Gear 5, that's for sure, but he has enough skills to control it properly and actually use it in combat.

However, knowing how dangerous Zoan Fruits are and how overuse could lead to a lot of trouble for Luffy, it will be interesting to observe how his Gear 5 usage will play out. Namely, overuse of Zoan Fruits can cause the user to succumb to their base instincts, which also means that Luffy could permanently transform into a new persona, which wouldn't be the best of solutions if you ask us. So yes, he can use it freely, but he'll still have to be careful when using his Gear 5 abilities.