Gaban Didn’t Notice Usopp
In chapter 1192, Gaban said “Hm? Where was this guy all this time…?” — revealing that he hadn’t noticed Usopp’s presence at all.
Readers immediately began speculating: “A haki master like Gaban didn’t notice Usopp until he appeared?!” / “Can Usopp completely erase his presence?” / “Usopp saw extremely long distances with Observation Haki in Dressrosa” / “Is Usopp’s Observation Haki top-class? Could he use the ultimate ‘Miengoroshi’?”
Indeed, Gaban has demonstrated powerful Observation Haki — he detected the presence of the Holy Knights from far away. But can Usopp, who didn’t even get noticed by Gaban, truly use Miengoroshi?
What Is Miengoroshi?
“Miengoroshi” is a term written next to Shanks in the Vol. 4 Billion “RED” booklet included with ONE PIECE FILM RED theater tickets. It states: Conqueror’s Haki / “Miengoroshi” / Control of presence / Shows no future.
This can be interpreted two ways: either Shanks uses both “Conqueror’s Haki AND Miengoroshi,” or “Miengoroshi is an application of Conqueror’s Haki.” Since many readers are applying it to Usopp (who has no Conqueror’s Haki), we’ll focus on the direction of refined Observation Haki or superior presence control.
Observation Haki That Sees the Near Future
When Observation Haki is trained to the extreme, it allows you to see slightly into the future — this was Katakuri’s special ability in the Whole Cake Island arc.
If you can see slightly into the future, you can predict every enemy movement and win without them being able to do anything. To overcome this, Luffy awakened his Observation Haki in the heat of battle to fight Katakuri equally.
Shanks can also use future vision, as shown in the battle against Kid near Elbaf. But if future vision works against Shanks, would even his strongest enemies be forced into equal fights? Readers don’t want to see Shanks struggling against Katakuri-level opponents.
That’s why Shanks was given “Miengoroshi” — the skill that nullifies future vision. Future vision reads attack intent to predict movement. Miengoroshi controls presence to show no future.
It’s like Luffy’s “Gomu Gomu no Boo” — moving with no intent. Luffy couldn’t attack proactively in that state, but Shanks can attack instantly from a “zoned out” state.
What Gaban’s Question Really Meant
Now that we understand how advanced Miengoroshi is, it seems unnatural for Usopp — who just awakened Observation Haki — to use it. But perhaps he’s skilled at controlling his presence.
In his fight against Chu in Cocoyasi Village, Usopp played dead. In the Thriller Bark arc, he hid inside Kumashi. These moments could be described as presence control. However, since Usopp generally doesn’t engage in close combat, there’s little opportunity to use Miengoroshi even if he could.
Usopp being able to use Miengoroshi seems unlikely. So what did Gaban really mean?
Gaban’s doubt was triggered by Usopp’s previous words: “I don’t know!! First ‘Nika’, then ‘Joyboy’, and now you’re comparing him to ‘Roger’ too!!” This reference to Roger came from a statement Gaban made during his battle with Im. Right after that, Gaban launched his powerful technique “Shinmon” in a wide area.
At least in the range affected by the technique, there should have been no other human presence — yet Usopp had heard Gaban’s words. So Gaban’s full thought was probably: “Only Im should have known I compared Luffy to Roger. There was no other human presence in hearing range at that time. How does this guy know what was said? Can his Observation Haki hear distant conversations? Where was this guy? How far can his Observation Haki reach? This guy’s Observation Haki might be extraordinary.”
Usopp’s Observation Haki
Usopp reacted the moment Luffy was stabbed by Im in chapter 1189 — his Observation Haki seems to reach very long distances.
However, Jinbe, who was in the same location, also sensed Luffy’s haki weakening, so Usopp’s Observation Haki isn’t necessarily unique based on this alone.
But if Usopp’s Observation Haki can not only sense distant presences but actually hear conversations — that would be a power rivaling Enel, who combined Mantra with his Lightning Devil Fruit ability. If that’s true, it would be worthy of the title “God Usopp.”
