This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf arc.

Summary

Imu has immortal powers from the Ope Ope no Mi surgery during the Void Century.
The immortality of Elders and Holy Knights comes from Imu, who can manipulate life and grant it.
Imu's Leviathan Devil Fruit allows a death pact for immortality and a mark to pass through the Abyss.

Oda has never shied away from introducing new abilities to the story, and with One Piece's Final Saga, fans are seeing something similar happen. With the Egghead arc, Oda finally decided to have the Five Elders move and now, in the Elbaf arc, it is the Holy Knights who have made a big move with the ambition of conquering the Warland. It goes without saying that the fans are incredibly intrigued by the powers of the Holy Knights, especially their immortality.

One Piece Strongest Gorosei Five Elders Garling Figarland

One Piece: Oda Has Already Revealed The Strongest Of The Five Elders

The Five Elders are an extremly powerful group in One Piece. Oda reveals who out of them is the strongest.

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By Rei Penber

Oda has previously demonstrated this ability in One Piece's Egghead, and it is clear that this power will be absolutely massive in the story moving forward. Of course, given that many characters share this power, it is clear that it is tied to Imu themself, and based on the small hints that Oda has dropped in the story so far, it is already clear how the Holy Knights and the Five Elders acquired their immortality.

The Immortality Of The Holy Knights And The Elders In One Piece

Imu Has Existed Since The Void Century
The Immortality Of The Elders And Holy Knights Comes Through Imu

At this point in the story, it is already quite clear that Imu, the Five Elders, and the Holy Knights are all immortal. However, they are immortal in different ways. Fans might assume that Imu has somehow extended their immortality to the Elders and the Holy Knights, but that's not the case. Imu is immortal through the Perennial Youth Surgery of the Ope Ope no Mi, which was a strong possibility that Oda hinted at through Ivankov. Imu has successfully become immortal long ago, likely during the Void Century itself and this has helped them stay in power for centuries, carefully pulling the strings from behind the shadows.

It won't matter. We have to get out of here. These guys are immortal! — Luffy

Meanwhile, the immortality of the Holy Knights and the Five Elders is different. Their immortality directly comes from Imu, but it is very different from the power that Imu has. The fundamental difference is that Imu can give and take the immortality of the Elders and the Holy Knights, but nobody can do that to Imu.

Naturally, fans are wondering as to how Imu can manipulate life itself so easily. Imu can give eternal life to someone, but they can also strip it away from them in a second, as fans saw at the end of Egghead.

Imu's Slaves Are Bound To Them By A Contract

The Holy Knights and The Five Elders Are Imu's Slaves

The answer to the immortality of the Holy Knights and the Five Elders is rather simple and it all lies with Imu’s powers. So far, fans don't know what powers Imu has, but Oda has already revealed quite a lot of hints about it. Fans have only seen Imu's ability once and that was during the Reverie flashback. Here, Oda highlighted two things. The first was that Sabo likened the place Imu was in to Hell, and the second was the fact that Imu was able to consume the fire that Sabo threw.

One Piece: The Source Of The Abyss Has Already Been Revealed By Oda

Oda has already revealed the source of the Abyss in One Piece. It all relates to Imu.

Posts 1

By Rei Penber

Only those with the mark can pass through the Abyss. — Saint Killingham

On its own, this isn't much. But, when combined with the idea that Imu can give or take souls and has a Zoan-type ability, the answer becomes simple. Imu has the power of the Leviathan.

Imu's Devil Fruit Is The Key To All

Imu has the Leviathan Devil Fruit and was made immortal at some point during the Void Century. Then, Imu carefully elected loyal followers, who have existed for long, even if they've been cycled through, such as the Five Elders and the Holy Knights. The Leviathan Devil Fruit makes perfect sense for Imu since it consumes all, even fire, through its mouth, which is known as the Gateway to hell, as pointed out by Sabo, and most importantly, the Abyss.

In the Bible, the Abyss is where the souls of all the sinners go, and this is also where the Imu's death pact comes in. By sacrificing their souls to Imu, the Leviathan, the Five Elders, and the Holy Knights have successfully gained immortality, and received a mark for it, which allows them to pass through the Abyss.

One Piece chapter 1148 will be out soon, in two weeks' time. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on May 11. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1148 is May 11, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.

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Release Date: October 20, 1999
Network: Fuji TV
Directors: 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 Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou