The biggest battle at Elbaf, Imu against Loki and Luffy, officially began with One Piece chapter 1178. It was quite a surprising fight, as it seemed to have ended rather quickly. However, Oda didn't take too long to confirm that this battle is far from over. Although Gunko's body has been defeated, Imu still has a lot to offer. For the very first time, the real body of Imu is set to make a move, meaning that round 2 of Imu Vs Luffy and Loki is now officially on the horizon, and this is the biggest development in the entire final saga so far.
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Assesses the outcome of the first battle between Imu and Elbaf's strongest duo
The first fight between Imu and Elbaf's strongest duo was quite surprising. Most fans expected Imu to last longer in the fight against these two. In fact, it was even expected for Imu to be able to turn Domi on one of the two and turn them against the other. While Imu attempted this in One Piece Chapter 1178, it clearly failed, and before they could even use any other power, Imu was crushed by Luffy and then frozen by Loki.
Moments later, Imu's shadow was completely cleared from Gunko's body, showing that the duo was able to successfully push Imu back for good. However, it must be remembered that this defeat came in Gunko's body, and that this body likely greatly limited the power they could put out. The biggest shock of the chapter came towards the end, when Imu personally set out to fight in Elbaf.
Why the ruler of the world is heading to the land of giants in person
At the end of One Piece Chapter 1178, Imu clearly mentioned to the Five Elders that they would be leaving the Holy Land for a short period of time. Clearly, Imu is on her way to Elbaf and will travel there through the Abyss. The moment they arrive in Elbaf, a second battle with the likes of Loki and Luffy will finally begin.
For the very first time, Imu's true body will be revealed in the Elbaf arc, and it goes without saying that this clash will be one of historic proportions, the likes of which Oda has never drawn in the series. The main reason for Imu going to Elbaf is simply that Gunko's body likely won't allow them to channel their full strength. More than that, Imu would probably also want to retrieve Gunko's body, which has been completely frozen by Loki, and take it back to the sacred land of Marijoa. For all these reasons, Imu is personally heading to Elbaf, marking the beginning of the second round of this exciting battle.
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The beginning of the second round of the decisive battle in the land of giants
One Piece Chapter 1179 will see Imu's arrival in Elbaf, and that will surely push the stakes of this arc through the roof. Just the fact that the Imu make a move of their own for the first time in history is enough to make this one of the most important chapters in the entire story. On top of that, Imu fighting two powerhouses in Loki and Luffy at the same time will result in a clash of historic proportions.
Five Elders, Mu will leave the country for a short time. — Imu, One Piece chapter 1178
Round 1 of this battle was certainly lost by the Imu, but the second round will see them crush all their competition and bring a dark doom upon the land of Elbaf. Needless to say, all fans of the story are incredibly excited to see what direction Oda takes next.
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Why Imu must win the fight against Luffy and Loki
Since the most exciting battle in all of One Piece begins in chapter 1179, it must be admitted that Imu must win the upcoming fight because it is far too early for the main villain of the entire series to fall. The Great War has not yet begun, and the battle against the Heavenly Dragons must continue for a very long time. The king falling here makes absolutely no sense, leaving only one way for this fight to end, and that is the defeat of Luffy and Loki.
Despite being incredibly powerful, they are not strong enough to take down Imu, because if it was that easy, Joy Boy and everyone else before him, and everyone else after him, could have accomplished it on their own. Imu is destined to win in Elbaf and, in doing so, likely cause massive amounts of damage to the land. No matter how Loki and Luffy fight, this battle must be won by Imu to maintain the high stakes and tension towards the final saga.
One Piece Chapter 1179 will be available to read on Manga Plus on April 5, 2026.
One Piece
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Author
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
