The Navy had sealed the Whitebeard Pirates within the circular bay using massive steel walls, forming an inescapable trap.
Whitebeard frowned slightly, then leaped into the air and unleashed a mighty strike. Yet, all it managed to do was leave a shallow dent in the wall.
"Sengoku… so this was your plan all along!" Whitebeard landed on the bow of Moby Dick, his gaze locked on Sengoku atop the execution platform.
Sengoku met his eyes calmly, then turned toward Akainu and gave him a slight nod.
Akainu rose slowly, both arms transforming into searing magma.
He swung his fists upward, hurling a barrage of molten projectiles into the sky. In moments, a rain of fiery magma fists came crashing down like a meteor shower.
The circular bay became a sea of lava and fire; the ice began to shatter, and countless pirates plunged into the water below.
Many of Whitebeard's men were Devil Fruit users, once they touched seawater, their strength vanished.
Chaos spread through the battlefield. Luffy barely avoided being hit by a magma blast, saved only by Sabo's quick intervention.
Just as Sengoku thought victory was at hand, a surge of bubbles rose from beneath the bay.
Before everyone's eyes, a massive warship, nearly the size of the Moby Dick, burst out from beneath the waves.
Whitebeard's crew quickly boarded the vessel, and with Little Oars Jr. pushing from behind, they smashed through the Navy's steel barricade and reached the plaza before the execution platform.
Now, the real life-and-death battle had begun.
While the war at Marineford raged at its peak, the situation in Mary Geoise took a strange turn.
The entire Holy Land had been reduced to dust under the devastating power of Arima's Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion.
A blinding golden arc had sliced open the Red Line itself, creating a colossal rift that allowed seawater to flood in.
The New World and the first half of the Grand Line were now connected for the first time in history.
Deep beneath the ruins, Imu, who had long slumbered, finally awakened.
He sensed the faint, flickering life forces of the Five Elders, as weak as candles in the wind. At the same time, in the sky above, a man hovered, his presence blazing like the sun.
Imu hadn't expected that in less than three years of his rest, someone so powerful would emerge upon the seas. Yet, even with that thought, he felt no fear.
Arima also sensed Imu's awakening.
He had long imagined this mysterious opponent, and now that he stood before him in person, Arima realized that the man's aura was every bit as overwhelming as his own.
Imu slowly rose from his high throne and gazed up at Arima in the air. "So, the name lives up to the legend. Arima, I finally see you with my own eyes."
"So you're the one they call Lord Imu?" Arima replied calmly. "I'll admit… I'm a little surprised."
"Surprised?" Imu tilted his head. "You don't look surprised to me."
"No, I am," Arima said. "When I saw your eyes… I wondered, are you perhaps of the Otsutsuki clan?"
It was a natural suspicion. At first glance, Imu's eyes seemed to bear markings similar to the Rinnegan, though upon closer inspection, the patterns were subtly different.
"Oh? Interesting," Imu murmured, rubbing his forehead with a faint smile.
"So, you're one of their descendants as well, aren't you? Hah… it's been so long I've nearly forgotten about that clan."
"You seem to know a great deal about them," Arima probed.
"Know them? Not exactly," Imu replied coldly.
"That clan was nothing but a pack of thieves, parasites feeding off the worlds they invaded. As for my own people… well, let's just say you won't have the chance to meet them."
Imu's indifferent gaze fell upon Arima, like a god looking down at an insect.
That arrogance made Arima chuckle softly. "Imu, you seem quite confident in yourself."
Instead of answering, Imu posed another question. "Tell me, Arima, why do you think Devil Fruits exist in this world?"
Arima shook his head. He had no idea.
"Then let me ask another way," Imu continued. "Where do the Celestial Dragons come from?"
"Although the history from eight hundred years ago was erased by your kind," Arima said evenly, "I've learned a little about the Celestial Dragons.
On Skypiea, two races once lived, the Shandians from Jaya, and the winged Sky People.
Clearly, the Sky People didn't originate from the Blue Sea below.
They were more like… beings from beyond the heavens. I suspect the Celestial Dragons are the same, outsiders to this world."
Imu clapped slowly, a faint smile curling his lips. "A reasonable deduction. But you've only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.
The Celestial Dragons are, in fact, a branch of my race, exiles cast out long ago. I was left here as their overseer." He paused. "But that's enough talk. There's no need for you to know more."
As he spoke, Arima sensed something amiss. Imu's power was rapidly returning, while the Dark-Dark Fruit's energy within his own body began to stir, as if something inside him wanted to break free.
"Don't tell me… all Devil Fruits came from you?" Arima asked quietly.
Imu only shook his head, saying nothing more.
Arima would not stand idly by while Imu regained his strength. In an instant, he appeared before Imu, raising his Truth-Seeking Staff and swinging it down with tremendous force.
Imu merely glanced at him, unmoving.
Just before the staff struck, an invisible barrier materialized, halting Arima's attack.
"The Barrier-Barrier Fruit?!"
Unable to break through, Arima warped space with Kamui, reappearing behind Imu with both hands shrouded in black mist, striking forward.
Imu's body scattered into countless photons, effortlessly evading the blow.
His mastery of the Glint-Glint Fruit far surpassed that of Kizaru.
Even though Arima could foresee his movements with Observation Haki, he could not stop the swarm of light particles from slipping through his grasp.
"Oh? So the Dark-Dark Fruit ended up with you… Curious, why can't I sense its power?"
Soon, Imu realized that he had lost control not only over the Dark-Dark Fruit, but over many other critical fruits, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the Float-Float Fruit, and most crucially, the Slow-Slow Fruit.
"What have you done?"
For the first time, fury flashed across Imu's face.
Arima's expression remained calm. "Nothing special. Just doing what the Otsutsuki do best."
Imu laughed coldly. "Hah… as expected of that cursed clan."
"So the Devil Fruits' weakness to seawater," Arima mused, "was designed deliberately, to make reclaiming their powers easier, wasn't it?"
"You're quite perceptive," Imu admitted, his tone dripping with disdain. "Still, I didn't expect you to steal the Dark-Dark Fruit. I must admit, I'm impressed, little insect."
"And you," Arima replied mildly, "are no less an insect yourself."
Those words struck a nerve.
"Very well," Imu said, his voice trembling with contained rage. "Now I have even more reason to destroy you, even if it means angering that clan."
He transformed into a giant of light, raising his glowing fist and slamming it down.
Arima met him head-on, summoning a towering True Thousand Hands with Wood Release.
Their colossal figures clashed violently, light and wood colliding in a storm that shook the heavens.