Thread by @3SkullJoe

#ONEPIECE Theory

Imu's Survival Game -

One Piece Battle Royale

In a recent Jump Festa statement, Oda teased that a 'free-for-all battle royale' would begin in One Piece this year, 2023.

With battles ongoing or coming up at Winner Island, Hachinosu & Egghead, we can see that this battle royale has already started to begin.

In battle royale games like PUBG, Fortnite & Warzone, players usually enter a warzone that starts with a large battle arena and slowly shrinks to a small one until there's a last man standing.

If we apply this to the interactive map made by @ClayStage. It might look like this.

There is usually a looming threat that encroaches on the battle zone and is the cause of the battle field becoming steadily smaller.

In Warzone, it is a deadly gas. In One Piece. I believe it will be the Great Cleansing.

Perhaps the Great Cleansing itself will not be the only threat that will cause this situation.

It is highly likely that Akainu's strategy to -
'strike back on all fronts' will mean that the Marines will have a big role to play in this as well.

This is what I think will make up what I would call 'Imu's Great Survival Game'.

As the battles rage on, Imu will be overlooking it all & carrying out the Great Cleansing.

This would not be the first time that we've seen such a survival game take place.

The Great Cleansing has already begun with the erasing of Lulusia Kingdom & it is possible that Egghead might be targeted next.

Vegapunk was already a target for elimination & now one of the Gorosei is getting involved.

It's likely that Egghead will also end up being erased.

I believe that it is through Saturn coming to Egghead that we will get a revelation about the last time a Great Cleansing happened.

Myself & others have believed for a while that this is the origins of the Gorosei.

Perhaps they are the survivors of the previous survival game.

This is a bit of a tangent from the main theory but it has some relevance & it's one of my favourite recent ideas.

The basis of the idea is that. If the Gorosei are the 5 survivors of Imu's survival game, then this parallels Enel's survival game.

This raises an interesting detail. Because in the end, Imu predicted ended up being wrong. There was not 5 people left standing, there was 6.

Perhaps this was also true of the Gorosei. Perhaps there was originally a 6th. Making them the Rokurosei.

If the Gorosei are named for the 5 planets that were observed by the Romans & given names of their Gods, then perhaps there is a 6th figure who also fits this pattern.

Someone who parallels Luffy as a representation of the sun.

Saint Figarland Apollo.

The ancestor of Shanks.

If this is true then it would explain how & why Shanks holds such influence over the World Government.

It also potentially explains Shanks' motivations in working with the Gorosei.

Together they have been attempting to prevent another Great Cleansing

With this revelation of the previous survival game, let's take a look at how the next one might look.

The first major battles are already taking place. -
Greenbull has defeated Weevil, Law is fighting Blackbeard, Garp is going to Hachinosu. Kizaru & Saturn are coming to Egghead.

Although we may be in for a few surprises, it seems like these situations can tell us which characters are most likely to be the first to get defeated in this battle royale.

The most likely first 4 to fall would be Weevil, Law, Garp & Kizaru.

The battlefield is beginning to shrink and soon it will likely look more like this.

If Imu's Great Cleansing continues, then Egghead is likely to be erased.

Meanwhile, it's possible that the Navy may take territories such as Whole Cake Island

So far we've got battles set to take place at Egghead, Winner Island & Hachinosu. Adding to that Weevil already being defeated at Sphinx Island.

It seems likely to me that we'll also see a fight at Yukiryu. Shanks' main territory.

Perhaps this will be Shanks vs Bartolomeo 😂

The possibilities of other fights we may see also raises a few other considerations.

Aokiji has kidnapped Pudding & this may mean that Katakuri will end up joining the fight at Winner Island

It's also uncertain what role that Cross Guild will play.

I think it is most likely that Katakuri will end up joining in at Winner Island & this may be how Law survives.

Meanwhile, the most likely role of the Cross Guild is that they will have a major battle against the Navy.

This may also be how Fujitora gets involved.

Eventually the battle zone will close in again & the most significant fight remaining in this stage will most likely be Garp's fight at Hachinosu

We're also likely to cut back to Elbaf & what Kid is doing at this point.

Perhaps he'll be hearing that the Straw Hats have arrived

With the Great Cleansing continuing in the background & Akainu's Navy closing in. The battle arena will shrink down to just one island.

Elbaf.

This is where the last ones standing will fight & I think everyone agrees that Luffy, Kid, Shanks & Blackbeard will be the main ones to fight to the end.

However, there are a few other major characters who are likely to be involved. These are mainly, Law & Aokiji.

Both Law & Aokiji may have major roles to play revolving around Saul & the hidden knowledge of Ohara.

Both of them also have close connections to Robin.

This raises an interesting possibility that may connect back to something that Robin said at Zou.

"I have strong friends who will protect me."

It would be interesting if this ended up referring not to the Straw Hats but to Aokiji & Law instead.

To bring things to a conclusion. This also leads us to a consideration that will likely be the cause of Imu turning their attention to Elbaf.

The information contained within the protected texts from Ohara includes an Ancient Weapon & the name of the Ancient Kingdom.

As the battle of Elbaf reaches its finally - most likely with Luffy, Kid, Shanks, Blackbeard & Aokiji being the last 5 standing - Imu's attention will turn toward Elbaf.

In a last ditch attempt to stop the name of the Ancient Kingdom from being revealed. Imu will erase Elbaf.

That's about all I've got for this one, thanks for reading 🙏

Shout out to @ClayStage who's maps I've used here & shout out to @NamiOrigins & @newworldartur who's observations about the Gorosei & translation of Oda's Jump Festa statement that I used as reference