Sabo is one of the most important charactersin the current events ofOne Piece. Introduced for the first time during the Luffy flashback that followed the Paramount War, Sabo started to establish himself as an intriguing character among the fans. While he was presumed to have died in the flashback, the Dressrosa arc confirmed for the fans that Sabo was, indeed, alive.
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Ever since then, he has only been growing both in power and prominence and currently, he is hailed as the Flame Emperor all over the world. His fame has actually surpassed that of Dragon himself, and much of that is down to the Reverie of this year. At the Reverie,Sabo came face to face with the Five Elders and even Imu themselves.He attacked them with an incredibly powerful technique and he specifically used a technique named Rook Check to attack the latter.
Sabo’s Mera Mera no Mi Power
During the Dressrosa arc, fans found out that it was Doflamingo who got his hands on the Mera Mera no Mi,the powerful Logia-type Devil Fruitthat was once wielded by Luffy’s brother, Ace. This fruit allows its user to transform into fire as well as create and manipulate it at will. It is believed to be one of the strongest Devil Fruits in existence and Doflamingo used it to bait Luffy, Ace’s brother.
In the Dressrosa arc, Luffy entered the Corrida Colosseum, where this fruit was the reward for winning. However, as the story went on, Luffy had to be elsewhere and Sabo took over the role of acquiring the Mera Mera no Mi. Given that Sabo is the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army and an incredibly powerful fighter himself, it didn’t take him long to dispatch his enemies and get his hands on this powerful Devil Fruit. He quickly consumed it and inherited Ace’s will.
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Sabo then gained exceptional powers of fire, although, he wasn’t fully accustomed to them during the Dressrosa arc. With its powers, he was even able to fight against Admiral Fujitora, although he was far from his best at that point in time. Since then, Sabo has continued to train his Devil Fruit and he is continually getting better at its usage, signified by the fact that he is currently developing new moves. One such move that Sabo recently developed is named Rook Check, and he used it to attack Imu in chapter 1085 ofOne Piece.
Sabo’s Rook Check Technique
Rook Check is an extremely powerful technique that stems from the Mera Mera no Mi. Sabo performed it shortly after Cobra was attacked by one of the Five Elders and Imu themselves inOne Piece1085. As soon as Cobra was pierced, Sabo jumped into action and launched a powerful Hiken at the Five Elders, hoping to take them all out in a single move. He reformulated the flames behind the Gorosei and then used the technique named Rook Check to launch them at Imu. Simply put, Rook Check is a technique that sees Sabo use his flames from a distance in an upward direction at a tremendous speed.
When Sabo reformulated the flamesbehind the Gorosei, he was immediately able to create a stream of fire and launch it at Imu at a blinding speed. This attack was intended to kill Imu, meaning that it is actually a very powerful technique.
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Rook Check is also a technique in shogi where the king of the opponent is checked with the rook at the same time. That is exactly what happened in the previous chapter at Sabo attacked all of his enemies at once. He went on to say that he expected all of them to fall with a single technique, however, he did not know that they were this powerful. Expectedly, Sabo had no other way of dealing with them and decided to run instead. He was saved by Cobra, who guarded him while he lay injured. Cobra sacrificed his life so that Sabo could get a message across to both Vivi and Luffy.
Sabo’s Devil Fruit Awakening
On the surface, Sabo using Rook Check might not look all that impressive, after all, it is just a simple technique. However, closer inspection would tell the fans that this is actually proof that Sabo is mastering his Devil Fruit ability greatly. In the Dressrosa arc, Sabo struggled to use the basic abilities of his Logia power. After going back to Baltigo, Sabo was seen training his ability and, ever since the Revolutionary Army has been on the move, he has continued to train his power and instincts both. While Sabo might not be at the same proficiency level with the Mera Mera no Mi as Ace, he is still growing at a tremendous speed.
When he utilized Rook Check, Sabo showed the ability to launch consecutive attacks at his enemies. He was able to take the Gorosei, some of the strongest fighters in the entire world, by surprise and attack them. Even before they could react to what was happening, Sabo had already reformulated a stream of fire behind them and used itto attack Imu from a distance.
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This shows that Sabo is comfortable enough to create powerful techniques in the blink of an eye and, at the same time, it also shows that his control over his ability has grown to a level where he can attack his enemies from a distance. Surely, using Rook Check is an indication that Sabo will eventually master and potentially even awaken his Devil Fruit.
Interestingly enough, fans have not seen a Logia-type Devil Fruit Awakening in the story just yet. However, it is sure to follow as some of the most experienced fighters in the One Piece world who are present in the Final Saga are Logia Devil Fruit users. This includes the likes of the Navy Admirals like Kizaru or even the current Fleet Admiral, Sakazuki. Furthermore, characters such as Blackbeard and even Sabo possess powerful Logia abilities that can be Awakened.
In fact, these abilities will most likely be awakened with time and the fact that Sabo is constantly working hard to master the capabilities of his Devil Fruit and go beyond them is proof that he will achieve this in no time. What exactly his Awakening powers will grant him isn’t known as fans have not seen a Logia Awakening yet. However, if the fight between Akainu and Aokiji is anything to go by, then Sabo could permanently change his surroundings into fire and attack using them as well. It could also mean that Sabo just gains stronger fire, which would also be a cool addition to his already incredible arsenal of techniques.
No matter which way Oda goes with this, it is a fact that the Flame Emperor Sabo is going to be extremely relevant in the Final Saga. Along with Rook Check, Sabo will also develop other incredible techniques that fans will get to witness soon, as a big war will soon be upon them.
