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Imu, the Sovereign of the One Piece world, is a bag of mysteries and fans absolutely can’t wait to see him get more involved in the story. Having been first introduced in the story during the Reverie arc, Imu has continued to grow in terms of prominence and importance, quite possibly becoming the most mysterious character in the entire series.
Following the Wano Country Arc of the story, fans got a glimpse of Imu’s capabilities, and it is safe to say that he might have multiple Devil Fruit or demonic abilities up his sleeve. That’s precisely what makes Imu special, and given their relationship with the Elders, and the fact that they have yet to to fully reveal what power they truly hold, fans know that Imu’s role in the final saga will continue to add more intrigue to the story, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats.
What Imu’s Devil Fruit Ability Is
Imu having a Devil Fruit ability isn’t something that should shock the fans at all. That said, the power that Imu has might not exactly classify as a Devil Fruit ability. This is largely down to the fact that the Elders, upon finally being revealed at their full power inOne Piece, went on to showcase demonic powers, also known as the Yokai abilities. Curiously enough, Oda didn’t highlight their powers to be anything other than Yokai abilities, and specifically chose to not label them Devil Fruit abilities. This makes sense, given what happened at the end of the Egghead Arc with Saturn, but more on that later.
Which light do you want to be erased from this earth, Great Imu? – Elders
For one, fans need to keep in mind that Imu’s powers, just like those of the Elders, will likely belong to the class of the Yokai.Whatever Yokai Imu is likely holds the ability to command all the other powers, and there is good reason to believe that.
For one, fans need to head back to the Reverie, where a proper display of Imu’s powers was first given. Here, Oda revealed Imu’s ability as soon as Sabo hit him with a Rook Check. Imu clearly transformed into some massive beast with four limbs and a massive mouth. Within seconds, the blast of flames that Sabo threw at Imu was gobbled up and it became clear that Imu was truly an ability user. While fans believe this form to be Imu’s go-to ability, things may be more complicated than just that. Imu’s powers could easily be far greater, and this is based on what fans saw from Imu at the end of the Egghead Arc.
Imu Might’ve Granted Powers To The Elders And The Holy Knights
Imu Killed Saint Saturn Using Their Powers
At the end of the Egghead Island Arc, fans saw Imu utilize a very shocking ability, and this power proved to be great enough to completely strip Saturn of all his powers. As fans know, Saturn is an Elder who has lived for centuries. In fact, he remembers Nika, which clearly suggests thathe was alive during the Void Century. Yet, his being alive is a massive point of confusion among the fans. Of course, there are ways to be immortal inOne Piece, such as the Perennial Youth Surgery, offered by the Ope Ope no Mi. But, this ability can only be used once and the performer of the operation dies, which means the whole process of making every single Elder immortal would take years.
Saturn, why did you let Nika escape? – Imu
Instead, it is highly likely that only Imu is immortal, but he can pass on his power to others. This makes sense, given that the ability of the Gyuki that Saturn possessed was stripped from him at the end of Egghead, as well as his immortality, leaving him a husk of his former self and a sack of bones. Imu can only take powers if he was the one who granted them. This means Imu has command over such powers. It also explains how the Elders were able to communicate with each other telepathically and how all of them somehow use the summoning circle.
More recently, fans saw this Summoning circle being utilized by Shanks’s brother as well, which is another indication of the fact that Imu might have shared this ability with him. But, even more than that,Gunko, a powerful Holy Knight, was recently seen utilizing an arrow-like ability. As fans might remember, Imu themself used this arrow ability to pierce both Cobra and Sabo, killing the former while mortally wounding the latter. Unless that ability was somehow different, it is clear that even Gunko could’ve had abilities granted by Imu. This makes things even more special as it indicates that these abilities can be freely used by Imu themself whenever they want. Given that Imu is utilizing immortality for themself and freely sharing it with others, this train of thought makes a lot of sense. As such, Imu must have access to multiple powers and the ability to switch between them, as well as distribute them.
Imu Might Be Able To Freely Utilize Abilities
Imu Could Potentially Be The Source Of Devil Fruits
Imu having such monstrous power is a clear indicator of one fact and that is them possessing the most dangerous ability of all inOne Piece—the power of the Sea Devil. While fans might not remember it clearly, Shanks, during Buggy’s flashback, mentioned that he heard once that all Devil Fruitsare the incarnate of the Sea Devil. Following this train of thought, it would make sense why Imu has so many abilities and how they seemingly find a way to offer powers to their underlings, as well as why the World Government somehow always have strong ability users in their ranks.
The Sea Devil itself could be a myth like Nika. Either Imu is the reincarnation of the Sea Devil, or, somewhere during the Void Century, Saint Nerona Imu found the ability of the Sea Devil, consumed it, similar to how Joy Boy consumed the power of Nika, and then made themselves immortal using the power of the Ope Ope no Mi, something that Ivankov is a strong believer in. Then, this would imply the existence of the Sea Devil long ago, and given the recent lore reveal, this makes sense. Elder Jarul revealed inOne Piecechapter 1136 that the world of One Piece was destroyed twice and that Nika foughtsomeone long before the Void Century. Clearly, if the Sea Devil reincarnated and was consumed by Imu, then the original Sea Devil could’ve been fought by the original Nika, and this could’ve been the time when Devil Fruit first came into existence, along with structures such as the Red Line.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1137, is set to be Aug 01, 2025.
