The seas of A play world are the most turbulent they’ve ever been right now with three different factions battling for supremacy, the Yonko, the World Government, and the Revolutionary Army. The Yonko are four of the most powerful pirates of the current era and they are known to rule the New World like kings. Even the World Government fears them and their age influence and to fight them they use a collaboration of the SSG, which has now replaced the Shichibukai, and the Marines, who are their military face.
Of all the Marines, Admirals are known to be the most powerful. It is a well-known fact that Admirals are the strongest fighters in the World Government, with the Fleet Admiral being the strongest and the other Admirals also being relatively close. From the concept of the balance of power in the A play The world was introduced by Garp during the Water 7 arc, the debate over who is stronger between the Admirals and the Yonko has raged on, and fans might finally have an answer now.
To understand the difference in power between the Admirals and the Yonko, one must go back to the balance of power that was established by Oda during the Water 7 arc. It was revealed that to balance the power of the Yonko, the government world needs the Marines and the Shichibukai to work together. This was evident during the Supreme War where the Shichibukai were called upon to join forces with the 100,000 navy in an attempt to stop the Whitebeard Pirates. Sengoku, the navy’s fleet admiral at the time, clearly recognized that despite the numerical advantage, it could have been the navy that met its end that day despite struggling against an old Whitebeard’s dying man. It is also a misconception that a collaboration of Marines and Shichibukai balances all Yonko. It must be remembered that the Yonko themselves compete against each other and rarely collaborate.
As such, it takes collaboration from the SSG and the Marines to keep any of the Yonko crew and their allies under control. The World Government, based on how many it has, clearly holds the most power in the One Piece world. However, an alliance between two of the Yonko members would result in their downfall, as has been hinted on several occasions. Prior to the timeskip, when Shanks met Whitebeard, the World Government greatly feared their unison. In the Land of Wa arc, Big Mom and Kaido’s alliance was deemed so threatening that even Garp feared it. As such, two of the Four Emperors are certainly much stronger than anything the World Government has at their disposal, including the SSG. The depiction makes it clear that despite having three Admirals at their disposal, along with several other powerful Vice Admirals, the Yonko cannot be stopped.
The Marineford War gave fans a good look at how an Admiral compares to a Yonko. In battle, Admirals were held off by Whitebeard’s commanders with some ease. Now, that certainly doesn’t mean Yonko Commanders are as strong as Admirals. On the one hand, the Whitebeard Pirates were clearly an exception to the rule, belonging to the same era as Roger and being their equals. Second, the Admirals ultimately won the fights they were in, albeit with underhanded tactics. Despite this, the depiction makes it clear that Marco is as strong as an admiral in battle.
Akainu, who fought Whitebeard himself, became the Admiral of the Fleet and is portrayed as one who fights for supremacy along the Yonko and in the present day. Despite this, Akainu was unable to defeat a dying old Whitebeard who couldn’t even tap into his Conqueror’s Haki in battle. The Dressrosa arc also hammered home the same fact once again when Doflamingo didn’t hesitate to fight the likes of Fujitora or even Aokiji shortly before that, however, the mere prospect of having Kaido mad at him. made my back shiver.
If that wasn’t enough, shortly before Roger’s execution, Shiki attacked Marineford and stopping him required the combined effort of Garp and Sengoku. Despite the combination of the two, Shiki was able to destroy half of Marineford and slaughtered several Marines before being sent to Impel Down.
In One Piece 1055, Oda almost answered the question of who is stronger between the Yonko and the Admirals and the answer to the question is the first by far. When Green Bull attacked Wano Country, he openly stated that if Kaido had been in the country to defend it, he would never have dared to attack, meaning he feared the Yonko’s presence. Meanwhile, the moment Shanks used his Conqueror’s Haki, Green Bull was intimidated to the point where he practically begged the Yonko not to fight him.
Despite being an admiral, Green Bull is definitely not strong enough to fight red-haired Shanks. That’s not to say Admirals can’t fight Yonko. They absolutely possess the weapons to confront and fight them, however, defeating them is a whole different matter. Admirals and Yonko are certainly not equal in power and the former will always reign as the strongest in the One Piece world, which Oda once again showed in the previous chapter.