Imu's True Form
The battlefield was chaos, a storm of clashing wills and elemental forces that shook the very core of Raftel. Luffy's haki radiated out in waves, crashing into the twisted reality that Imu had created. His mind was still reeling from the overwhelming grief of losing Sabo, a loss that struck deeper than any wound. It was a pain familiar to him, an echo of the loss of Ace, and now Sabo—the last connection to his brothers—had been ripped from him by the merciless hands of fate.
As the dust of battle swirled around him, Luffy's chest heaved with the effort of holding back the storm within. But his resolve only grew stronger. Imu, standing tall above the battlefield, could feel the shift in Luffy's aura. For the first time, the ancient ruler's gaze seemed to narrow in something close to concern. Luffy wasn't weakening in his grief—he was sharpening, becoming more dangerous, more determined.
But Imu would not be undone so easily.
"You think grief can give you strength, boy?" Imu's voice echoed unnaturally, as though carried on the wind from every direction at once. "Grief is nothing but a weakness. It binds you to the past, keeps you from seeing the truth—that control is the only way forward. You cannot fight time. It devours all."
Imu raised his hand, and time itself seemed to buckle. The sky darkened further, and the swirling, broken world around them grew colder, sharper, as if the edges of reality were fraying. Luffy felt the weight of time pressing down on him, pulling him backward, trying to smother his resolve under the centuries of oppression that Imu had maintained.
But Luffy wasn't fighting for himself alone. His brothers, his crew, everyone he had ever loved or lost—all of them were part of the force driving him forward.
"I'm not alone!" Luffy roared, his voice cutting through the growing darkness. His Conqueror's Haki exploded from him like a tidal wave, crashing against the force of Imu's manipulation of time. Around him, reality seemed to shudder. Luffy's haki wasn't just resisting the distortion—it was tearing it apart.
In that moment, Luffy's body began to transform again, his Gear 5 form warping and shifting with the raw power of his will. His white, rubbery figure glowed even brighter, the light of the Sun God Nika shining through the cracks in Imu's dark reality. Luffy's limbs stretched and contorted in impossible ways, his body bending time itself, defying Imu's control over the battlefield.
Imu's expression, once unreadable, now flickered with a trace of alarm. He stepped forward, his form shifting. The ruler's once regal and distant appearance began to twist, his figure elongating, turning more monstrous. Imu was revealing his true form—a being that transcended time and space, a being that had existed for centuries, controlling the very fabric of history.
The transformation was horrific. Imu's body rippled with power, his once human-like form now grotesque, his limbs extending and twisting into ethereal shapes that seemed to phase in and out of existence. His eyes glowed with an unnatural light, and his voice became a chilling echo.
"You dare to challenge me? I am the beginning and the end. I control the story of this world. You will not rewrite it, Monkey D. Luffy!"
With a sweeping motion of his hand, Imu sent a wave of time-warping energy crashing toward Luffy. The force of it was immense, distorting the space around them. Everything it touched aged and decayed in an instant—the rocks crumbled into dust, the air itself seemed to grow thin and cold as though it had aged a thousand years in seconds.
Luffy braced himself, his haki flaring as he pushed against the wave of destruction. His fists, glowing with the power of the Sun God Nika, cut through the time-distorting energy, bending it back toward Imu. The clash of their powers sent shockwaves across the battlefield, shaking the very foundations of Raftel.
At the same time, across the battlefield, the Straw Hat Pirates were fighting their own desperate battles. Zoro and Sanji continued their fierce clash with Akainu, their bodies battered but their spirits unbroken. Zoro's swords gleamed as he parried another magma-infused blow from the Marine admiral, his movements sharp and deliberate despite the exhaustion creeping into his limbs.
"Straw Hat's dream won't die with him!" Zoro shouted, his swords spinning in a deadly arc as he forced Akainu back with a surge of haki.
Sanji, his legs blazing with the flames of Diable Jambe, kicked Akainu's side with enough force to send a shockwave rippling through the air. "We're not letting you take him, Akainu!" Sanji growled, his voice rough with exhaustion but still full of fire.
Akainu, his face twisted with rage, snarled. "You're all fools! You think you can stop justice?! I'll burn all of you to the ground before I let you protect that pirate!"
Before Akainu could strike again, Jinbe moved in, his Fish-Man Karate infused with the power of the sea as he sent a wave of seawater crashing into Akainu's molten form. The impact sent steam hissing into the air, forcing Akainu to step back, his magma arms cooling slightly under the onslaught.
"You won't touch Luffy," Jinbe said, his voice calm but firm, standing between Akainu and his target.
Meanwhile, Shanks continued his battle with Kizaru, their duel a blur of light and steel as the two powerhouses clashed again and again. Each strike sent sparks flying, their movements too fast for the average eye to follow. Despite the intensity of the fight, Shanks remained focused, his eyes sharp and unwavering.
"You've grown strong, Kizaru," Shanks said between strikes, his sword clashing with Kizaru's light-based attacks. "But this ends here. Luffy's going to change the world, and you're not stopping him."
Kizaru, ever the calm and detached admiral, smirked. "You're too sentimental, Shanks. Light moves faster than dreams."
But Shanks, with his Conqueror's Haki surging, forced Kizaru back, his blade cutting through the light itself. "Some dreams are faster than light," Shanks replied, his voice steady.
Back at the heart of the battle, Luffy and Imu continued their clash, their powers reaching levels that warped the very fabric of existence. Luffy, with the full power of the Sun God Nika coursing through him, launched himself at Imu with a speed and strength that seemed impossible, his fists leaving trails of light as they blurred through the air.
"Gomu Gomu no... Supreme King's Justice!" Luffy roared, his haki-infused punch colliding with Imu's monstrous form.
The impact was cataclysmic. The ground beneath them shattered, sending cracks rippling across the island. The air itself seemed to split as the force of their clash tore through time and space, sending shockwaves that were felt far beyond Raftel. The skies above twisted, clouds swirling in chaotic patterns as the power of their battle threatened to tear the world apart.
Imu, though struck hard by Luffy's attack, remained standing, his monstrous form now flickering with unstable energy. He laughed—a cold, echoing sound that sent chills down the spines of everyone on the battlefield.
"You think you can end this? You think you can change the world? Foolish boy, I am the world! Without me, everything falls apart!"
But Luffy, his eyes blazing with the power of his haki, stood tall. His body glowed with the radiant light of the Sun God Nika, his will unbroken.
"You don't control the world anymore!" Luffy shouted. "We're going to change it! We're going to make it free!"
With a final surge of power, Luffy charged at Imu once more, his fists glowing with a brilliant light that seemed to pierce through the darkness. His Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, crashing into Imu's time-warping abilities and shattering them like glass.
The collision sent a shockwave so powerful that it reverberated across the battlefield, knocking both allies and enemies off their feet. Imu, for the first time, staggered back, his monstrous form flickering with instability. His control over time was weakening, and Luffy's haki was breaking through every barrier he had built.
"You're done, Imu!" Luffy shouted, his fists raised for the final blow. "This world belongs to everyone, not just you!"
As Luffy's fist crashed into Imu, the air around them exploded with light and energy, the force of the attack shaking the heavens themselves. The ancient ruler, for so long the shadow behind the world, began to crumble under the weight of Luffy's will.
And in that moment, as the light of the Sun God Nika filled the sky, the battle for the future of the world reached its climax.