One Piece: I am Imu
Chapter 385: Where Souls Collide and Titans Clash

Chapter 385: Chapter 385: Where Souls Collide and Titans Clash

Teigu World.

At that moment, Imu was also in the Underworld.

However, in this world, the Underworld had no conscious ruler, nor was there any highly structured system like the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Instead, the souls of the dead wandered freely across the vast emptiness.

Until they were either devoured by stronger souls—or until their soul lifespan burned out and they dissolved into spirit particles, scattering into the heavens.

In other words—

There should be powerful souls in this Underworld too... they just hadn’t reached the level required to be acknowledged by the Underworld’s will.

But Imu hadn’t come here looking for trouble this time.

After clearing out a radius of a few kilometers, he began watching Enma demonstrate the so-called ’Shinigami abilities’ she had crafted based on his descriptions.

Of those, ’Shunpo’ was the least interesting. It resembled both the ’Soru’ technique from the Starfish World and the Body Flicker Technique of the Shinobi World.

In short, it was just a technique for explosive bursts of speed.

By comparison—

Imu was far more intrigued by the ’Sonído’ Enma had displayed.

In the Bleach universe, this was an ability unique to the Hollows.

Though it also achieved high-speed movement, it was actually a form of instantaneous spatial displacement.

"Father, look! Aside from Sonído, I can now gather spirit particles into spiritual ropes."

Having returned to her adult form, Enma smiled as she conjured glowing yellow cords beside her.

Then, with impressive control, she demonstrated how the cords could be used for full-body restraint.

"I even ran a few tests—it works on both wandering souls and living targets."

Imu calmly watched Enma shifting her stance with theatrical precision.

Clearly, she had a talent for dramatic presentation. Her demeanor in this older form was far more theatrical and expressive compared to her younger appearance.

Still, the technique she was showing now seemed to be a form of Bakudō, didn’t it?

"Besides that—can you convert spirit particles into lightning, shockwaves, or fire?"

Compared to Bakudō, he was definitely more interested in Hadō.

"Hmm..."

Enma dispelled the glowing ropes from around herself.

"Father, fire is not difficult."

She then conjured a fireball in her left palm, and with her right hand released a shockwave that tore a trench over 100 metres long across the ground.

"Shockwaves are simple too. You just compress the spirit particles and release them forcefully."

"But lightning, ice, or that black coffin you mentioned—made from shadows—I’ve tried over and over, but no success."

Enma returned to her child form.

’Looks like Kidō still requires dedicated study,’ Imu mused inwardly as he rubbed his chin.

In theory, Kidō was a type of advanced incantation spell used exclusively by Shinigami.

And since it was spell-based, one would naturally need to learn the proper chants—especially for the higher-level Hadō and Bakudō.

In fact, Imu suspected that what Enma had figured out so far couldn’t truly be called Kidō in the strict sense. It just produced similar effects.

Different methods yielding the same result wasn’t all that surprising.

"Enma, in the Underworld of the Starfish World—did you happen to encounter any of the powerful souls from the past? Especially former Navy Admirals?"

Taking advantage of the moment, Imu finally asked the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind.

His earlier fear of the King of the Dead wasn’t just due to his identity and strength—but also the power he wielded.

It was now confirmed that the King of the Dead could retain any soul he favored and make them fight for him in the Underworld.

That meant the Starfish World’s top combatants from the past might very well be under his command.

"Father, in my memory, the King of the Dead did indeed keep Shimotsuki Ryōma of Wano Country by his side, letting him continue refining his swordsmanship."

Little Enma touched her lips with a thoughtful expression.

"But he’s the only one who received such treatment. All the other powerful souls—including those Navy Admirals—were devoured by the King of the Dead in all sorts of ways."

"All sorts of ways..."

Imu’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t help imagining all kinds of disturbing scenes.

Still, Enma’s answer helped him make sense of many things.

The King of the Dead had devoured all of the former Starfish powerhouses—not just out of gluttony or to gain strength, but likely because he couldn’t yet access other Underworlds at the time.

After all, without war, there was no need to keep that many powerful souls around.

But now, with Imu supplying soul coordinates from other realms—

The King of the Dead could invade alternate Underworlds, which explained why he had begun retaining more powerful souls from both the Starfish World and others.

"Hah... if that’s the case, then I don’t have to worry too much about his forces."

Imu let out a quiet sigh of relief. At the very least, he could be sure that he and the World Government wouldn’t be facing every single former powerhouse from the Starfish World.

"But Father," Enma added with a playful smile, "before the King of the Dead’s fleet set out, I saw that ’Pirate King’ Roger following right behind him~"

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at Imu with a sweet, teasing tone.

"Hm?"

Imu raised an eyebrow.

Roger had been brought along to invade the Shinobi World’s Pure Land? That was... interesting.

"Anyone else?"

Enma trotted over and stood beside Imu with a bright smile, her expression full of mischief.

"There were three more following him—and all of them are familiar faces! One of them was even my former master."

"Ohhh—"

Imu immediately understood who she meant.

So the Underworld was turning into quite a lively place too.

The only question was: could the King of the Dead and his group actually take down the Shinobi World’s Pure Land?

Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo’s side probably had plenty of powerful shinobi as well.

Honestly...

He was a bit curious to see how it would play out.

What a shame. What a shame.

Meanwhile—

Shinobi World—

[BOOM!!]

Aramaki had just used his own trees to overcome Hashirama’s Wood Release.

Raising a pitch-black arm coated in a layer of green light, he caught a furious punch that came crashing down from above—head-on.

The next instant—

Aramaki’s expression changed.

The sheer force of the punch—and the resulting shockwave—sent him flying backward uncontrollably. His feet gouged out two deep trenches in the ground as he skidded back.

He didn’t stop until he slammed into a tree behind him, shattering it on impact.

"Ara, ara, ara~ That had some punch to it~"

"Looks like a halfway decent opponent finally showed up. I’ll allow you to give your name before you die~~"

Straightening up, Aramaki shook his arm.

He looked playfully at the man who had just appeared—

But deep down, he already had a pretty good guess who it was. And that only made him more excited.

"I am Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage of Konohagakure!"

Standing atop a massive tree branch, Senju Hashirama responded to Aramaki in a voice devoid of warmth.

"As expected!"

Aramaki clapped his hands with delight upon hearing the name, grinning broadly.

"So you are the legendary Senju Hashirama! The man who once ruled the shinobi world with Wood Release—Rawawawa~ Not bad, not bad at all!"

However—

As he crouched to gently close the eyes of the fallen Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hashirama’s face did not show the slightest hint of amusement.

"Answer me. Why have you invaded this world?"

"Hmm?"

Aramaki blinked, then watched as Hashirama slowly stood up. With a smirk, he shook his right index finger.

"No! No! No!"

"This isn’t an invasion... this is conquest."

"What did you say?"

Hashirama was stunned by the shameless declaration.

"Your world should consider it a blessing to have encountered the World Government," Aramaki said, uncharacteristically serious. "Under its rule, your lives will be better—safer."

He wasn’t just being arrogant—he wasn’t a fool.

In fact, Aramaki had known from the very beginning:

If he brought up the issue of the Ōtsutsuki clan, there was a high chance he could avoid massive casualties by persuading them to negotiate and cooperate with the World Government.

But that wasn’t the outcome he desired.

He was currently vying with Crocodile for the last vacant Army General seat. To win, he needed a military achievement of sufficient weight.

And besides, Aramaki suspected that the World Government’s leadership wouldn’t want a conquest that was too peaceful either.

After all, the World Government’s very nature was authoritarian.

Unless the opposing force was utterly beyond their ability to fight—

They demanded unconditional submission from every world they encountered. Only then would they allow room for negotiation.

"Utter nonsense. Shameless to the extreme!"

But Hashirama—still unaware of the Ōtsutsuki threat—couldn’t understand a single word of Aramaki’s twisted logic.

If anything, it only ignited his already simmering fury—turning it into blazing, unrestrained rage.

"Die alongside the Konoha shinobi you’ve slaughtered!"

With righteous fury scrawled across his face, Hashirama’s chakra erupted from within, surging outward in the form of a fierce purple flame.

The ground beneath him suddenly sank and cracked, the surrounding trees splintering and shattering from the force.

[CRACK!]

He slammed his palms together with immense force.

[RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!]

The earth beneath Hashirama’s feet convulsed violently, as if a great dragon were thrashing madly beneath the surface.

At the same time—

Mounds of soil began to swell visibly to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye—

Colossal, twisted trees erupted from the earth like coiling serpents, surging toward Aramaki in an unstoppable tide.

"Hmph."

Facing such a majestic assault, Aramaki merely scoffed.

"I am the true King of Nature!"

His arms transformed into thick tree trunks and plunged deep into the earth on either side. His voice rose in a battle cry, brimming with defiant energy.

"Let me show you, you frog in a well, the terrifying might of an Army General!"

[RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!]

From the violently shaking earth behind Aramaki, countless trees burst forth.

[BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM——————]

In an instant—

Hashirama’s twisting, surging Tree World clashed head-on with Aramaki’s forest of titanic fists.

The ground beneath them, spanning hundreds of kilometers, became a war zone of violently colliding wooden titans.

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