A Familiar Figure!

While Luffy waited, Imu forced himself to stop flying backward.

But the barrage of attacks had left his sword hand trembling.

He was afraid.

Eight hundred years.

He had grown used to looking down on everyone, to crushing them utterly.

Fear?

That word should have vanished from Imu's mind long ago.

Yet the sword before Luffy had shaken him.

Like a knife,

it carved open his memories of fear.

Imu lowered his head and stared at his trembling right hand.

The sword's pure-white reflection filled his dark-red eyes.

"Hahaha."

A low laugh rose from deep in his throat.

It was so soft the wind nearly swallowed it.

Then it suddenly grew louder,

turning into a strange, trembling sound of nostalgia and madness.

There was no joy or anger in it, only twisted longing.

In the distance, Whitebeard tightened his grip on Murakumogiri.

Rocks' pupils shrank to pinpoints. He stared at Imu's expressionless, laughing face and dared not speak.

After a while, Imu stopped laughing.

A sigh followed.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the sword and Luffy.

The scene before him looked just like one from his memories.

"It really does feel like it did back then."

Imu spoke to himself.

"How I've missed it."

Nostalgia flickered in his eyes.

Eight hundred years ago, he had faced a scene much like this one.

He had joined forces with the original ten kings to fight that man!

That man had stood right before him,

holding the same sword and looking at him the same way.

That man had driven him to the brink. If Imu hadn't resorted to trickery,

he might not be standing here today!

That was the closest he had come to death in eight hundred years!

The battle had ended with Imu killing that man himself.