One Piece Theory: Gear 5 is the Key to Imu’s Downfall

In the recent One Piece Chapter 1163: “Promise”, we witness the clash between Imu and the alliance of the strongest 38 years ago in the God Valley Incident.

The strongest Pirate (Davy D. Xebec) joins forces with the strongest human (Edward Newgate), the strongest woman (Charlotte Linlin), the strongest creature (Kaido), the strongest Marine (Monkey D. Garp), and the future King of the Pirates (Gol D. Roger).

However, even their strongest attacks did nothing to stop Imu and could not withstand his Haki.

Moreover, Imu has managed to turn Xebec into a demon with Domi Reversi, sealing him in a seemingly inevitable fate, to either rampage and kill his family or to die and be stopped.

Recently, some fans have speculated that Domi Reversi is a power that is tied to the homeland of the target and there is plenty of evidence in the recent chapters, as Imu only turned the Davy Clan into demons in God Valley and killed the Marines and Pirates with raw power.

Not to mention when Sabo came to Mary Geoise, he simply stabbed him with a pointed tail or Gunko’s Aro Aro no Mi.

In the God Valley Incident, Kaido, who jumped at the opportunity to finally get a Devil Fruit, was immediately humbled and realized that Haki is the ultimate power in this world.

He finally understood what made his Captain Rocks, his enemy Roger and legendary crewmate Whitebeard the rulers of the sea and he saw that in the massive wave of Conqueror’s Haki unleashed by the ruler and god of the current world, Imu.

And even then, Xebec was not able to counter Domi Reversi in spite possessing some of the strongest Conqueror’s Haki in the series, as was on full display through his fights with Harald, a mighty King of Elbaph and constantly conquering the immortal Holy Knight Supreme Commander, Figarland Garling.

The basic rule of Haki is that they are the natural counter to Devil Fruits and Wano shows that intensifying one’s Haki blocks Devil Fruit effects, whether it is Trafalgar Law’s Ope Ope no Mi being unable to teleport Big Mom and Kaido or Law himself countering Doc Q’s Shiku Shiku no Mi that turned him female via disease.

We now see that even raw strength cannot even hold a candle to Imu and that the Haki of the present world will never reach the point that would make Imu tremble.

That was until in the Egghead Island Arc when Joy Boy’s knot on the Iron Giant Emet was undone, releasing an overwhelming amount of Haki that reversed

This is a key point to this theory

Elbaph Arc Reveals the Key to Imu’s Defeat

The entirety of the Elbaph Arc has been giving us a process outlining , from revealing the history of the Void Century in one mural in Chapter 1138: “The Harley” to the role of Conqueror’s Haki in countering the Holy Knights’ immortality.

With Imu’s descent upon Elbaph in Chapter 1149: “One Second” and the activation of Domi Reversi, we find that Imu has been set up for defeat in this arc or at least a significant blow.

This is because we see Imu’s overwhelming power on display during the God Valley Incident, using Domi Reversi just like in the present.

Furthermore, the Elbaph Arc came after the events of Egghead, where Imu took more direct action and was affected by Joy Boy’s Haki.

Put together, we can conclude that Imu will be defeated by a stronger force in the present and that is Gear 5.

To begin unravelling this, we must understand the logic behind Imu’s powers and that those who have become immortals (Holy Knights), immortal sentient Yokai (the Five Elders) or immortal demons (Elbaph and the Davy Clan) are created the same way: through A Kuwaru, the spell that summons an Abyss portal in the air to convert a single target into a demon in exchange for part of their lifespan.

The Five Elders are Not Devil Fruit Users

The anime has been subtly leaning towards this idea, from Opening 26: “Ussss!” showing S-Shark (Jinbe’s Seraphim) being submerged into water and turning into a shadowy figure with glowing eyes, akin to a demon, to the method of St. Jaygarcia Saturn’s transformation into his yokai form.

S-Shark’s scene is more of a foreshadowing technique since this is the Seraphim using a copy of Senor Pink’s Sui Sui no Mi while the anime showed Jaygarcia Saturn submerging into the Abyss mark, first in human form, then turning into a blob of black like the Elbaph Giants in Chapter 1150: “Domi Reversi”, and eventually changing into a “higher form” of the demon.

With such a visualization being focused on during the episode, is it possible that Oda is confirming this idea?

If so, then this means that the Five Elders are not Devil Fruit users in themselves.

The Holy Knights have their own respective Devil Fruits but have immortality and have the same contract as those affected by Domi Reversi, albeit retaining their free will.

Yet the Five Elders are never confirmed as Devil Fruit users when they assume their yokai forms, unlike Rimoshifu Killingham, who is immediately outed as a Mythical Zoan user upon introduction.

Proof of this comes from how the Five Elders ignore the rules of Devil Fruits.

If you also notice, St. Topman Warcury, in his yokai form, jumped into the water to go after the Straw Hats, unafraid of the wide gap.

Although it could be countered with saying that the giant pig can inevitably make a giant leap, there was still a risk since he could still be countered, like what happened when Emet clashed with the Elder in the middle of the sea.

Furthermore, St. Shepherd Ju Peter, in his yokai form, sucked up the Cipher Pol agents in the Fabiriophase and this included S-Snake, who was trapped in Lilith’s Bubble Balls, which contain sea energy to nullify Devil Fruits.

Although Peter was a massive sandworm, there could have been a risk of being affected by such a bubble.

There is no confirmation yet about whether or not they are Devil Fruit users but no one can called them Zoan users like anyone would when they encounter a humanoid turning into a different creature or hybrid form.

This all leads to the idea that they are products of Imu’s undisclosed demon-related abilities.

How Gear 5’s God Haki Reverses Domi Reversi

But how does Gear 5 provide the solution to the Imu problem?

Well, it was Joy Boy’s stored Conqueror’s Haki that forced the Elders to teleport and it affected Imu.

With Imu being able to possess Holy Knights and the Five Elders the same way, we already have confirmation that Imu is imparting part of his essence into his chosen followers.

The method is tied to the Abyss mark on the Holy Knights.

In Chapter 1140: “Scopper Gaban”, Killingham has stated only those with that mark can travel through the Abyss.

In Chapter 1152: “A Horrible Day”, we see that Shank’s left arm had the same mark and it is the same arm that he sacrificed to protect Luffy from the Lord of the Coast in Chapter 1.

Given the rules of the Abyss, this means that the Five Elders are similarly marked as the Holy Knights.

And since Luffy recently ate the Nika fruit during that incident at the start of the series, Shanks had essentially prevented Imu from taking over his body.

But up against a yokai Elder or a possessed one, not even the amount of Conqueror’s Haki to stall regenration can stop it.

Imu dealt with Rocks’ attacks, which stalled regeneration, very easily and did not seemingly feel the effect.

Yet, Imu could not stop Joy Boy from sending the Five Elders back to Mary Geoise.

This means that Joy Boy specifically is the only being that can reverse the Abyss.

And since the Abyss is the means by which Imu activates Domi Reversi, this could mean that Luffy’s Gear 5, when fully mastered, is the key to restoring the Elbaph Giants back to normal.

It even makes sense when you see how Mythical Zoan awakenings change form, with the user turning white with white rings of smoke, as opposed to having a darker form with black rings of fire.

The Sun God Nika is also called the God Who Laughs, meaning the will of the fruit is of constant freedom and laughter.

While Imu’s will strips humans of their freedom, Gear 5 Luffy makes everything stretch and bounce like rubber without rhyme or reason, the chaos of absolute freedom.

Using Gear 5’s Haki, Luffy can reverse Domi Reversi, whether it is done through “toon force” logic by painting the entire board white again or striking the demons down with the Conqueror’s Haki infusion Luffy might learn from Gaban.

It is also somewhat thematic that the dawn of freedom required waiting for a specific moment in history to come.

No one else in the entire history of the world: not Joy Boy who fell in the Void Century, not Rocks who fell in the God Valley Incident, not the King of the Pirates Roger could possibly defeat Imu.

And the defeat of Imu is the beginning of reaching the One Piece, a treasure the World Government sought to erase.

Roger was the key to reigniting the spirit of the age, from declaring the Great Pirate Era to bringing back the Nika Fruit via Shanks’ actions.

By revealing the existence of the One Piece, a treasure he guards but cannot have, he tells many to sail on ships as a means to protect themselves from Imu’s apocalypse, where all nations are flooded until his world is complete.

And the key to getting to the One Piece involves defeating Imu and the only one to complete the Three World Cycle, which was visualized early on in this current arc, is none other than our protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, the freest man detached from the pasts and destinies of the past worlds and yet also the bearer of the complete will of Sun God Nika.

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