The absolute silence of Kamui always felt larger when Riser walked through it alone. There was no light, no shadow, only a void that breathed deeply like something alive. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the space warp around him as the technique expanded.
ZUUUUM
The dimension responded to the command. Lines of distortion ran across the ethereal floor, opening a path that extended like a crack in the glass of the world. Kamui began searching for something specific.
"World Government…"
His voice echoed with no return, breaking the metallic silence.
"I'd better see how things are going over there. I've never stepped into that trash heap before."
The distortion deepened. Kamui reacted, unfolding in layers. Each tear revealed a different point on the planet, like thousands of mirrors forming around him. Kingdoms, seas, fortresses, ships… nothing escaped.
But none of them was the target.
Riser lifted his hand, and the technique adjusted its direction. The space shook when he focused on the central government.
"Mary Geoise…"
The word triggered something in the dimension. A larger rift formed, pulsing with cold red light. Through the tear, distorted images emerged, as if filtered through a dirty lens.
The Pristine Room.
The forbidden chamber where even the Gorosei lacked full permission to tread.
Riser observed in silence, letting the vision stabilize. Silhouettes moved at the far end of the hall. A massive throne occupied the center—but the figure seated upon it was something else entirely.
Imu.
But not the Imu of legend.
Dark masses dripped from the figure's back like liquid roots. Thin tentacles pierced the floor, the walls, the ceiling. And the most grotesque of all emerged from the top of the head: a bundle of long, flexible tendrils connected to a luminous tear in the air.
A portal.
The connection pulsed slowly, like a heart syncing the body to an abyss.
Riser tilted his head.
"This definitely wasn't in the anime."
The vision zoomed in. Kamui revealed grotesque details: the tentacles vibrated in slow waves, sending impulses that made Imu's body twitch. Every command came from the portal, not the figure sitting there.
"So that's it…" Riser murmured. "A walking puppet."
He crossed his arms, his expression mildly disgusted. "In the end, I'll never know what the real plot of One Piece was supposed to be."
A short breath, almost a faint laugh.
"But it's fine. I'll finish this one my way."
Imu's empty, unfocused eyes began to move. Slowly at first, then accelerating as if searching for a presence hiding behind walls, the throne, or the air itself.
Riser watched closely.
"Looking for someone?"
The eyes kept sweeping the hall, frantic, desperate. Tentacles tightened, vibrating like strings ready to snap.
Riser touched his chin with two fingers.
"Ah… I get it."
He tilted his face into a cold grin.
"It's because of me, right?"
Imu's tentacles shook more violently, spreading a dry crack across the floor of the Pristine Room. The rigid posture hovered between collapse and explosion.
One of Imu's eyes locked onto a fixed point for a moment—but found nothing.
The body trembled again. The portal attached to his head pulsed with irritation, as if something inside it were trying to sniff out a presence that simply wasn't there.
Riser leaned his head to the side, amused.
"Should I appear and wave?"
He raised a hand in a fake greeting.
"Hello, parasitic monster that never existed in the anime, nice to not be found."
A low, breathlike laugh escaped him.
Imu reacted violently.
The tentacles anchored to the ground contracted, cracking part of the stone. The body bent in an unnatural arc, the eyes widening as if trying to see past reality.
Riser spoke with the same boredom someone might use when watching a caged animal.
"Angry… how cute."
Imu's frantic movements intensified, but frustration was evident. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't detect anything.
Riser snapped his fingers, satisfied.
"Of course you can't. I'm inside Kamui, idiot."
His dry tone echoed through the void.
"Not even the gods here can see this place."
He tilted his chin slightly.
"And you… are definitely not a god."
The projection of the Pristine Room trembled when Imu struck his own throne, cracking the stone. Tentacles whipped against walls and pillars, sending fragments flying.
Riser smiled, almost entertained by the exaggerated reaction.
"You know… this is more fun than I expected."
The vision widened. The portal attached to Imu's head throbbed aggressively, responding to its failure to locate the hidden intruder.
Riser sighed, relaxing his shoulders.
"To think the anime fooled me all those years with cheap mystery."
He shook his head.
"In the end, One Piece will never reveal everything anyway."
His smile grew.
"But I can reveal you."
Imu's eyes scanned the hall one last time. Frustration overtook him. The tentacles arched backward, ready to strike at anything.
Riser took a deep breath, as if choosing the perfect moment to ruin the surprise.
"Alright… let's end this."
The space around him trembled. He opened his hand and activated the dimensional exit.
ZUUUUM
A black tear split open on the floor of the Pristine Room. The walls shook. The tentacles froze for a moment, like beasts sensing blood.
Riser stepped through the cut as if passing through a curtain.
He appeared directly in front of the throne.
Three steps from Imu.
The shadows of the tentacles contorted instantly, reacting violently to the sudden presence. A dry crack spread across the hall as the floor split beneath the impact.
Riser raised his hand in a casual greeting.
"Hey. I'm conflicted."
He pointed directly at Imu.
"Do I talk to you… or to that thing hanging out of the portal?"
Imu didn't respond. The body only shook—slow at first, then spasming aggressively.
The tentacles reacted instantly.
FWOOSH
Three of them shot forward at once, from different angles. One from above, one from below, one from the side—all aimed to kill.
Riser stepped back, a small, precise movement.
The tentacles pierced the space where his chest, head, and leg had been.
"Violent, huh? I like it."
He stepped forward, closing the distance to the throne. The tentacles struck the stone, shattering everything.
Imu slowly raised his right hand—not like a human, but like a puppet being pulled by invisible strings from the portal above.
The portal glowed in response, as if someone were trying to shove Imu forward by force.
Riser lifted an eyebrow.
"So the one inside is impatient… got it."
The tentacles moved again. No longer three—but dozens. A flood, a direct, brute-force attack with no strategy, only mass and savagery.
Riser snapped his fingers.
SHLK
The sound echoed through the hall.
He leaned slightly to the side, avoiding the first strike. The floor where his arm had been turned to dust.
Another tentacle came from above. He lowered his head. The ceiling tore like paper.
A third lunged from below. Riser lifted his foot. The tentacle pierced the throne behind him, shattering half the structure.
"You are a complete mess."
The tentacles recoiled and surged again, trying to encircle him like a living net.
Riser raised his palm.
"Enough."
A crimson flash burst at the center of the room.
WHRRR
The tentacles froze mid-air, stopped mere centimeters from his face. Not because of spontaneous magic—but because Riser held them in place with Busoshoku at the tips of his fingers, gripping three at once like wet ropes.
He tilted his face slightly.
"I really wanted to know who's pulling your strings up there."
He pulled the tentacle closer, dragging Imu with it.
"But you know what? I prefer to ask in person."
Imu trembled violently, trying to break free. The portal pulsed, forcing the tentacles to move again, trying to crush Riser against the floor.
He only laughed.
"Relax. Your turn will come."
He released the tentacle and stepped back twice, as if giving room for the next move.
The tentacles rose again, all at once, forming a wall of strikes ready to tear him apart.
Riser lifted his chin.
"Let's see how long you last without your puppeteer."
The tentacles lunged.
The hall shook.
And the confrontation between Riser and Imu finally began.
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