One Piece has reached the climax of the Elbaph Arc with the newest chapter of the series, and Luffy has finally kicked off his fight against the series’ biggest villain after 29 long years. One Piece has been in the midst of its Final Saga for quite some time now, but the Elbaph Arc really has felt like the first step towards the end of Eiichiro Oda’s story. The biggest reason why is that not only has the mysterious King Imu been fully revealed, but now he’s gotten into the center of the action.
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One Piece‘s Elbaph Arc has been working through the climax of this fight against Imu, but the latest chapter of the series has taken a major step towards whatever grand finale it might have planned as now Luffy is in a full fight against Imu. This will be the first time that the two of them are truly coming to blows, and it’s likely going to play a role in how the rest of the series shapes its final runway of chapters to come.
Luffy vs. Imu Begins in One Piece Chapter 1187
One Piece Chapter 1187 sees Imu knock Loki out of the fight for now with a pretty monumental blow, and Luffy is recovered enough to jump back into the action. After landing a good hit on Imu at the end of the previous chapter, Luffy is also able to quickly counter Imu’s dark abilities. But while Imu keeps calling him Joyboy, Luffy brushes that aside as the final moments of the chapter officially kicks off the long awaited fight between the two as the Elbaph Arc reaches its final climax.
We’ve seen a bit of what Imu can do as his devil infused abilities have been able to possess others and turn them immortal, but there have also been a few combat moves that make him an interesting pair to Luffy. Imu’s dark abilities seem to be very threatening, but that’s also going to be curious as Luffy’s own abilities bend reality to his whim as well. We’re going to see a god and devil clash with this fight, but it will also likely be far from the last time the two face off against one another.
What’s Next for One Piece’s Final Saga?
The most curious element of this fight between Luffy and Imu is that while Luffy is technically facing off against the king of the world, Imu doesn’t feel like he’s the biggest villain for Luffy in this Final Saga. Imu is technically the biggest in scope because of whatever ties he has to the Void Century and what it means for the lore of the world overall, but he’s never really been in Luffy’s point of view as an antagonist until this point. This fight is likely only the first confrontation they’ll have heading into the future.
This is only the second arc of the Final Saga overall, and there are many events and reveals still needing to be made before Luffy even tries to make it to the One Piece treasure itself. Luffy’s more focused on his fellow Emperors like Shanks and Blackbeard, and it’s likely that one of them will actually serve as his final opponent before becoming the King of the Pirates. So now we just need to see where this fight with Imu goes.
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