Imu's true form, the secret of Devil Fruits

The veteran next to him knelt on the ground, his hands clasped together, his forehead pressed firmly against the ground, his shoulders trembling incessantly.

In the distant ruins, one Navy Soldier after another laid down their weapons and knelt on the ground. Some began to weep, some began to pray, and some simply stared blankly at the sky, their eyes as empty as two stagnant pools of water.

Garp stood atop the highest point of the ruins, his arms enveloped in jet-black Armament Haki, while a surge of Conqueror's Haki's Haki rippled around him.

He glanced at Imu, then at Sengoku beside Sengoku.

The Sengoku was also watching him.

Neither of them spoke, yet they both saw the same thing in each other's eyes.

Lord Imu has reverted to his original form.

But the World Government is finished.

The navy is finished.

The Five Elders are dead.

Mary Geoise is being reduced to ruins by meteorite fragments.

Lord Imu's arrival cannot change the outcome of this war.

It will only make this war more brutal.

Imu didn't look at anyone.

She walked slowly down through the void, her long red hair flowing behind her, her crimson almond eyes indifferently sweeping over everything below.

Her gaze swept over the ruins of the Sabaody Archipelago, over the slumped sailors waiting to die, and over the civilians shrouded in a crimson-gold film.

It swept past the Red Voss of the Red-Haired Pirates, past Shamrock's blood-stained face.

His gaze swept across the faces of the Killing Hall, Taki, Yan, Sora, Kūga, Chinatsu Blaze Yelan, Qinglan, Iron Sand, and the four elite Night Owl Guard.

It swept over Fugaku's Complete Susanoo, across Shanks ' face, and finally landed on Madara Uchiha.

She looked at it for a long time.

Those crimson almond eyes were as calm as a lake in the depths of winter, cold and clear, without anger, arrogance, the vicissitudes of eight hundred years, or even the condescending air of a "ruler looking down upon all living beings".

She just looked at Ban.

It's like looking at something you've finally found and have been waiting for for a long time.

Then she spoke.

The voice was ethereal and cold, like the chilling air seeping out from the cracks in ice.

"Madara Uchiha."

Four words.

The tone was flat.

But the pair of giant, scarlet eyes behind her lit up for a fleeting moment at the same instant.

After uttering those four words, Imu did not immediately make a move.

There are no blemishes either.

The two people stared at each other across thousands of meters of space.

Everyone below could feel the oppressive atmosphere, like the sea suddenly becoming unusually calm before a storm.

The air between the two of them stagnated, compressed, and vibrated silently.

Killing Hall's Mangekyō Sharingan spun faster involuntarily; his fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword, then loosened.

Taki, who was beside him, whispered something, but Killing Hall didn't hear it and didn't answer.

Madara's Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan slowly rotated in its eye socket, the crimson light flickering in its pupils.

Six jet-black Tomoe are evenly distributed on a scarlet background, their patterns deep and ancient.

He is evaluating.

Imu is also evaluating it.

The pair of giant, scarlet eyes behind her watched silently amidst the Demonic Energy, like two blood-red moons sunk into an abyss.

"That does surprise me," Madara spoke, his voice not loud, yet it traveled thousands of meters through the void and clearly reached Imu's ears, "Is this your true form now?"

Imu did not respond to that sentence.

She merely tilted her head slightly, her long red hair fluttering in the Demonic Energy, her crimson almond eyes calmly gazing at Ban.

After a few breaths, she finally spoke.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The curve of Ban's lips was a little deeper.

That wasn't laughter; it was something colder, something closer to "finally getting serious."

He didn't speak again, and slowly raised his left hand. The Susanoo's Tachi adjusted its angle slightly in response to his movement.

Sky-blue Chakra flowed along the blade, from the tip to the hilt, in a continuous cycle.

Imu made the first move.

She simply raised her right hand and flicked it lightly with her fingertips.

Among the eleven weapons hovering beside her, a longsword, dark red in color and engraved with ancient patterns, suddenly flew out.

Heaven's Punishment Sword

The dark red streak of light tore through the void, its speed far exceeding any attack on the battlefield of Sabaody.

As the sword pierced through the air, a dark vacuum crack was dragged through the surrounding space, with ripple-like fragments spreading on both sides of the crack.

The Space Rend reached the ears of everyone below a beat too late.

Madara did not dodge. Susanoo's Tachi.

The moment the swords clashed, sky-blue Chakra and dark red Demonic Energy exploded in the void.

A ring of shockwave spread outwards, pressing a huge dent into the sea surface thousands of meters below.

Ban felt the force. The force was heavier than he had expected.

Susanoo took a half step back, and a white shockwave rippled out from the air beneath its feet.

The Heaven's Punishment Sword was deflected, spun several times in mid-air, and then fell back into the array of weapons surrounding Imu.

Madara glanced down at Susanoo's Tachi.

A very fine, dark red crack appeared on the blade.

The crack quickly healed as Chakra flowed, but Madara noticed it.

Imu's casual flick left a mark on his Complete Susanoo.

Previously, when he fought against the Marine Admiral, the God's Knights, and Kaido in Sabaody, no one's attack could ever leave even a trace on his Susanoo.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Imu didn't give him time to analyze.

With a flick of her finger, three weapons flew out from the array of weapons beside her.

Void Sword, Chaos Sword, Honebami Tōshirō.

Three weapons simultaneously pierced towards Ban from three directions.

Madara's Susanoo swung his Tachi to parry, deflecting the Void Sword and the Chaos Sword, but Honebami Tōshirō slipped through the gap in his defense, his blade grazing the Susanoo's left shoulder.

Another crack appeared.

It's even more obvious than the previous one.

Madara's Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan spun rapidly.

He realized that Imu's weapon attacks were completely different from those of the previous Admiral and the God's Knights.

Those men's attacks "hit the armor," while Imu's attacks "hit the structure."

Her weapon does not destroy the total amount of Chakra in Susanoo, but directly erodes the structure of Chakra.

Each crack was not just surface damage, but Susanoo's Chakra at that point.

That fracture will not heal, as if a small piece of Susanoo's "existence" has been removed.

Then Imu unleashed that strike with the Void Sword.

The sword left no physical cuts.

On Susanoo's chest, a large patch of sky-blue Chakra turned grayish-white in an instant, then silently shattered, dissipated, and vanished.

It was as if that place had never existed.