User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 324: The One Who Closes The Door, Review./@comment-4047931-20130324131002/@comment-4047931-20130324174126

@Eddie: Actually survive has a lot to do with strength. One with just intelligence and no strength would have been killed long ago without anybody protecting them. Consider a smart man stuck in a cave with large bolder in front of the exit. The smart man is weak and unable to sift the bolder and dies stuck in the cave. Now think of a strong man able to push the bolder out of the way. However what if he's an idiot and doesn't think of pushing the bolder and tries let's smashing with his fist. Survival does not rely on wits alone nor just strength. If anyway was able to survive in the future dragon ruled world, it should take a lot of strength and wits to keep out of harm’s way and fight when the time comes and if you are not one of the strong or smart ones your probably being protected by one. Also you state that I assume when you think that Rogue would have lived on his ability to form into shadows alone. If that was the case Rogue shouldn't have lost to Natsu and Gajeel in the first place and so far those two are the only characters we know exist and they are by no means weak. They may not be the strongest but they can hold their own. Also consider a dragons power. From what we've seen it incredible and most of the times it's only in the hands of a human so surviving the initial attack means you're durable at least. Any way we have proof still that Rogue has grown stronger in those seven years when his magic eliminated the army and knights with ease. You can argue by how much his strength has grown however you can't deny the fact that it's grown.

Now if Natsu loses you'll think he will die, however that's a mere speculation. We have no idea about Natsu's involvement in future events so if Rogue was to kill him after defeating him it may alter the course of history and Rogue may not have even returned to the past. I all honest opinion the only one how would die would be Lucy for sure if Rogue got his hands on her but, I think we can safely assume Natsu will hold him back next chapter giving Lucy time to flee the scene before they both get really serious. Also he has the will to save his friends you say. Natsu could be considered his friend. Rogue has been shown to respect the Fairy Tail mages, especially Gajeel and Natsu commenting on the values and strength. I see that if Natsu loses, Rogue would spare him as he would only go as far to kill those who are necessary to protect the future. We can assume Natsu will because that's how Hiro goes about things by making his main characters rise above their enemies even when the odds are against them but you can't say Natsu will die for certain if he loses and what we have seen from Rogue now is just a sample of his power. Also the shadow to me just looked like it was testing Rogue's power and with Gajeel eating the shadows would also be seen as if it was unintentionally helping Gajeel out so should it would basically lead back to the norm just on a higher scale. Hiro still needs to explain how they are actually able to eat and gain Double Dragon Slayer abilities though.

Now you're just spouting nonsense. Honestly Rogue beating Natsu makes logical sense. It just shows that the powers gained by Rogue in the seven years are greater than Natsu's simple as that as we don't know the full extent of his powers and even then we don't even know if Jellal would be enough to stop Rogue on the lack of evidence we have on his powers. You also can't say that Rogue and Sting aren't able to enter Dragon Force because it has been stated that is was in fact that ability and what your saying is just a wild assumption of their powers not being true. Also we are not saying age = strength, we are just considering the facts given and making speculation on what we think is the most logical route for the outcomes on these battles. I honest believe Natsu's defeat would give a better plot with the desperation to save a friend mixed with hopelessness of not being able to do so creating a chance for development and an intense story. I need to right down that idea I have of the future to get the whole idea but I disagree with your assumptions here.