With the first leaks of the new chapter, One Piece fans have received an unpleasant headline, as the manga will go on a one-month break after the release of this week's issue. One Piece Chapter 1086's official release is scheduled for June 12, 2023, meaning that the hiatus will last until July 10, 2023.
Author Eiichiro Oda released information that he would have surgery to correct his astigmatism, which was interfering with his work. While the hiatus may be disappointing, its reason is unquestionable. Granted, readers of the series won't be left empty-handed.
All recent chapters of One Piece have disclosed impactful revelations regarding the lore of the series, especially delving into the secrets of the World Government. According to the spoilers, chapter 1086 is no exception.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1086.
Spoilers for One Piece chapter 1086 explain how Imu can destroy entire islands, and it's not by using Uranus
Recent One Piece chapters are a fountain of information
Sabo's report of the latest turbulent Reverie is absolutely intriguing. Through the recount of Nefertari Cobra's meeting with the Five Elders and Imu, the flashback touched on major topics related to the lore of One Piece, including the Will of D. and the Poneglyphs. It also introduced readers to the Holy Knights and the figure of Nefertari D. Lily.
More than anything, the flashback of the Reverie finally shed some light on Imu-sama. Imu is the world's highest authority and the only person who can sit on Mary Geoise's Empty Throne, with even the Five Elders, the highest-ranked Celestial Dragons, bowing down to the former.
To hide the World Government's tyranny, Imu's existence is kept a complete secret from the public, with the Five Elders acting as the leaders. However, the truth is that they execute Imu's direct orders, aimed to prevent the world from learning the true history of the Void Century and the Ancient Kingdom.
Imu and the Five Elders want to hide the atrocities the World Government has committed since its establishment and the tyranny the organization has instituted over time to give the public a false illusion of democracy. In truth, whoever tries to oppose the World Government gets mercilessly crushed.
This recently happened to the island of Lulusia, where the citizens sided with the Revolutionary Army and decided to depose their monarchs. However, the country's revolution was immediately rendered moot by Imu's intervention. Through unknown means, the cryptic leader of the World Government destroyed Lulusia in chapter 1060.
Owing to a devastating ability or weapon that can be employed in a matter of seconds, Imu rained down beams of energy from the sky. The destructive power thus generated was such that the entire island of Lulusia was erased from the maps as if it had never existed.
Until One Piece chapter 1086, it was unclear how Imu could perform such a destructive feat. Most fans assumed that the enigmatic villain used Uranus, one of the three Ancient Weapons, mysterious items capable of mass destruction.
Imu's destructive superpowers explained
While the idea that Imu used Uranus to destroy the Lulusia Kingdom was widely accepted in the fandom, the spoilers of One Piece chapter 1086 proved it wrong. According to the first leaks of the new chapter, Imu's destructive superpowers depend upon a weapon created by Dr. Vegapunk, the greatest scientist at the service of the World Government.
This is compelling, as the same World Government is now trying to kill Dr. Vegapunk, having sent three elite CP0 agents, i.e., Lucci, Kaku, and Stussy. Interestingly, Lucci suggested that the mission they were tasked with could be connected with the destruction of Lulusia.
Lucci's concerns were quickly silenced by Kaku and Stussy, who didn't want to get into trouble for meddling in sensitive topics. However, it's now disclosed that Lucci's intuition was correct. CP0 was sent to kill Vegapunk as the latter, after having created such a devastating weapon, was no longer of any use to Imu and the Five Elders.
Regarding the weapon Vegapunk provided to Imu, it's yet to be revealed if the scientist built it by reproducing Uranus or created it from scratch. What's certain is that the connection between Vegapunk and the Lulusia Kingdom incident sheds new light on the events now ongoing on Egghead.
Final thoughts
Imu is bound to be the final villain of the series. Since his introduction in chapter 906, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda is masterfully depicting the character, slowly revealing more and more cues about the malevolent individual's abilities and identity.
Imu's mystery is undoubtedly tied to the Void Century and the Ancient Alliance, as implied by his personal acquaintance with Nefertari D. Lily, the queen of Arabasta, about 800 years ago. This is also reinforced by the fact that Imu addressed the enemies of the Ancient Alliance.
Going by these elements, it seems highly likely that Imu is centuries old and has been somehow granted eternal youth. As seen in One Piece chapter 1085, Imu can transform into a dreadful beast-like creature capable of easily counterattacking Sabo's Flame-Flame Fruit.
The leader of the World Government can also control sort of sharp-pointed shadow arrows, whose strikes wounded Sabo, despite the latter having the powers of a Logia-class Devil Fruit. So far, it's still unrevealed if this happened due to Imu's Haki or some other peculiar ability.
As the leader of a tyrannical dictatorship that manipulates everything, including history itself, and the owner of weapons with enough power to erase entire islands within a few seconds, Imu is absolutely threatening. The recent chapters have only contributed to raising the hype even further.
Unfortunately, One Piece will be on break for the next month, leaving readers more curious than ever.