Rivalries between two members of the same group or organization are common occurrences in the anime world and One Piece takes it to a whole new level. Characters like Shanks and Mihawk are known to have lifelong rivalry with each other which helps in making the storyline even more interesting.
One such interesting rivalry that fans love is seen between Roronoa Zoro and Vinsmoke Sanji, the wings of the future Pirate King. Although both are part of the same crew, they have been at each other’s throats since the beginning of the story. This has also led to the One Piece fans being divided into two groups, one that supports Sanji while the other who supports Zoro.
If Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece wants, he can end this rivalry in an instant by declaring the stronger character between the two. He even got a chance during the Whole Cake Island arc to make the two characters fight each other, but he deliberately avoided it, to keep the rivalry going.
Sanji’s Fight Against Luffy During The Whole Cake Island Arc
During the Zou arc, when Capone Bege asks Sanji to go with him to the Whole Cake Island and marry the daughter of Big Mom if he wants to save The Straw Hat Pirates and his mentor Zeff, Sanji has no choice but to leave the crew. However, this was not accepted by his Captain, Monkey D. Luffy.
Luffy decided to go to Whole Cake Island and bring back his crewmate from Big Mom. However, Sanji wanting to save his friends from the wrath of Big Mom pirates, decided to stay on the island. However, Luffy being Luffy, he tries to persuade Sanji to go with him which leads to the fight between the two characters in chapter 844.
Luffy knew that Sanji was fighting against him only because he wanted to save his friends, which is why Luffy didn’t fight back. Ultimately Sanji beat Luffy to a pulp and knocked him out completely. However, they later resolved their issues and escaped from the island together.
Eiichiro Oda Had The Chance to End The Rivalry Between Zoro and Sanji
When Luffy decided to go to the Whole Cake Island, Zoro could have gone with him and helped him to bring back Sanji. However, Eiichiro Oda deliberately chose to leave Zoro out of the Whole Cake Island arc. This is because Oda knew that the arc would lead to Zoro and Sanji fighting a serious battle which could result in one of them being defeated.
If Zoro had seen Sanji beating Luffy so badly just to make it look like he hated Luffy, Zoro would have not stayed silent and watched it. He would have definitely interfered in the fight and saved his captain from getting beaten by Sanji. He could have also fought Sanji out of anger and the fight would have resulted in one of them getting hurt pretty badly.
Although this fight would have not exclusively ended the rivalry between the two characters, it surely would have proved which of them is the stronger one. Additionally, it would have ended the long debate between Zoro and Sanji fans who believe that their favorite character is the stronger individual in One Piece.
You can watch One Piece on Crunchyroll.
