
He killed his beloved Ace so much trauma that he replaced Ace asap with Sabo. Oda is genuinely terrified of Akainu and the havoc he would wreak on the readers. Oda knows plot armor can’t save Luffy from Akainu so he has to keep him busy with paperwork. Akainu scares Oda so much he has to make a fake final villain like Imu just to put his mind off Akainu. He knows it’s inevitable, but Akainu is just too strong so he needs to keep him away from the main story for as long as possible. TLDR; Akainu genuinely gave Oda PTSD

