The true nature of Devil Fruits

But he saw the fleeting distortion on Sengoku's face, the Akainu seeping from Akainu's wound, the extinguished light particles at Kizaru's fingertips, and Tsuru's clenched fist.

He glanced at Sengoku, Sengoku was also looking at him.

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

High above the sky, Madara Uchiha narrowed his eyes as he watched Imu's power surge once again.

His long white hair billowed in the air currents of Six Paths Chakra, his greyish-white Sage Robe fluttered in the sea breeze, and ten Truth-Seeking Orb spun quietly around him.

He held the Six Paths Staff in his palm, the dark golden light flowing across the black sphere at its top.

He hovered in the void, not attacking immediately, but watching the surging Demonic Energy around Imu, the black mist linked by chains, and the demonic power being extracted from the Devil Fruit User's body.

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

He was watching, analyzing, and piecing things together.

"These must be your Devil Fruits abilities, right?"

Ban spoke, his voice not loud, but it traveled thousands of meters through the void and clearly reached Imu's ears.

Imu did not answer.

Her crimson almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Ban, as if she were looking at someone who was uncovering her secret.

Ban continued speaking, his tone calm, as if stating something he had already thought through.

"I've long heard the legends of the Devil Fruits on this sea. I was curious about where these powers came from, since they seem to possess a power akin to rules."

He paused.

The scepter rotated slightly in his palm, turning an inch.

"Natsu had explicitly forbidden his people from using these Devil Fruit. Many people didn't understand at the time." Ban's gaze shifted from the black mist surrounding Imu to the chains, then to the pair of giant crimson eyes behind her. "But now it seems that Natsu's orders were undoubtedly correct."

His Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan contracted slightly. The Six Tomoe in his pupils spun a few degrees faster.

"Those Devil Fruits, you probably tampered with them, didn't you?"

A very faint smile curved the corners of Imu's lips.

She neither admitted nor denied it.

She simply stared at Ban, her crimson almond eyes swirling with something ancient, as if someone had finally revealed some secret.

Ban didn't wait for her reply. He continued, his voice now filled with more certainty.

"Many have speculated about the origin of Devil Fruits. Some say there might be a legendary Devil Fruit Tree." He tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on the twisted, struggling, half-human, half-beast silhouettes of black mist within the Demonic Energy surrounding Imu.

"Now it seems that you so-called gods, in combination with your own power, created these so-called Devil Fruits."

His scepter slowly rose, the black sphere at its tip pointing towards Imu.

"You possess power within you that doesn't belong to you. From those powers, I sensed the rules and Scepter of this world." Madara's Six-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan slowly rotated in its socket, crimson light surging deep within its pupils.

"In other words, you devoured those who, like you, wielded Scepter this world."

His gaze collided with Imu's crimson almond eyes in mid-air. The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Plus the secrets Natsu once mentioned," Ban's voice was deep and resolute, each word like it was sliced from a blade, "I guess what you devoured were the other nineteen of the original twenty, right?"

Imu's pupils contracted slightly. The curve of his eye froze for a moment.

"And each of them represents a god." The dark gold patterns on Ban's scepter brightened slightly. "That's why you're able to wield so much Scepter over the rules of this world."

Imu remained silent for a long time.

Everyone below looked up at the two figures facing each other in the sky.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

The sea breeze blew between the two groups of people, carrying with it the smell of gravel and gunpowder.

They couldn't hear Ban and Imu's conversation, but they could see Imu's expression.

For the first time, a very subtle, almost imperceptible fluctuation appeared on that aloof face.

Then Imu laughed.

The laughter was very soft, so soft that only Madara could hear it.

But the smile contained an extremely complex mix of emotions: surprise at being told what was right, annoyance at being exposed, and a subtle sense of relief, as if someone could finally talk to her about these things.

"You guessed correctly," Imu said, his voice ethereal and cold, "But you're wrong about one thing."

Her crimson almond-shaped eyes brightened slightly, and the giant scarlet eye behind her suddenly widened.

"They were still alive when Mu devoured them." Her voice was as calm as an undercurrent beneath the ice. "Mu imprisoned them within her body and nurtured them for eight hundred years. She used their descendants as cages and their bloodlines as shackles."

She paused. Her long red hair drifted in the Demonic Energy.

"And today, Mu finally opened the cage."

The scepter of the scepter did not stop.

The first strike knocked away three weapons, the second cleaved through the Demonic Energy shield, and the third forced Imu to retreat several meters.

His pace quickened, so fast that those watching in the arena could no longer see the trajectory of the scepter.

The grayish-white afterimages drew arc after arc in the void, each arc ending with a dull thud.

Imu's weapon array repeatedly disintegrated, flew backward, returned to its original position, and disintegrated again amidst the crashing sounds.

Madara knew very well what he was fighting for.

Imu broke free of only three chains, yet his strength was already comparable to that of the Six Paths Sage Mode.

If she tears the fourth and fifth rules to shreds, she will drain the power of all Devil Fruit User on the entire ocean.

Kaido, Big Mom, Blackbeard, Whitebeard, Ace, Marco, Jozu, and even the Marine Admiral below who haven't recovered yet.

Once those truly powerful Devil Fruit User are drained, Imu's power level will rise to a level he cannot suppress.

She must be stopped before the fourth chain breaks.

Ban's scepter slashed down diagonally from the upper right.

Imu dodged to the side, the black sphere at the top of the staff grazing her shoulder and smashing a Sacred Decree Spear behind her, which couldn't dodge in time, into two pieces.

Imu frowned, and with a flick of his right hand, five weapons simultaneously stabbed at Ban from different directions.

Ban didn't dodge.

He used the end of his scepter to knock away the Heaven's Punishment Sword, grabbed the blade of the Sea God Sword with his left hand, enveloped his palm in Armament Haki, and forcefully pulled the sword out of Imu's control, then threw it at Imu's face.