Final villain, even above imu?
People are Hyping Imu too much, They are gonna be Disappointed
Imu is definitely among Strongest Characters Ever (Ability Wise)
But not the Enel-Figure that Fans were waiting for
Imu doesn't see the entire World, Imu relies on Vegapunk's Invention to Punish a Kingdom or sends Holy Knights
She needs to Transform to Attack Cobra or Sabo, and didn't even Finish them off with First Hit
She couldn't Capture Sabo or Wapol or Vivi
She only rules World Government (Which is around 170 Countries, so Majority of World doesn't answer to Imu)
... etc
Throughout every Arc, many Characters talk about "Fate", just look at Blackbeard Pirates, They can't stop talking about it, especially in Fights.
Why do you think is that? Because this World's Enel can affect the entire World with his Powers, everyone is under his Rulership, They just don't know it
Dorry already said it, God of Elbaf is the one who decides who Wins & who Loses, and even though Dorry & Brogy were Fighting Half the World away from Elbaf, They still believed that their Ruler is the one who decides their Fate, which not only indicates Worldwide Observation Haki, but also Worldwide Powers, just like Enel ruled Skypiea, and They called this "Divine Protection"
Law keeps saying "D. will bring another Storm"
What is Storm? Mihawk was Introduced in Chapter titled "Storm", why? What does Mihawk have to do with Storms?
It's because He represents Zoro's Obstacle, his Storm that is preventing him from reaching his Destination
A Storm is just a name for Obstacle towards your Dream
World Government are mostly Robin's Obstacle, literally 90% of times They involve themselves, it's because of Poneglyphs, even Imu's Speech to Cobra was about Poneglyphs & D. Meaning, Grand Line represents Brook's Storm cuz He needs to conquer it to reunite with Laboon, Mihawk as i said is Zoro's Storm ... etc and since Luffy is their Captain, He shares with them all these Obstacles, but He also have his own "Storm", He is simply not Introduced yet
It needs to be someone that when Luffy meets, He is gonna be like "I can't fulfill my Secret Dream unless i Defeat this Person".
So it's not someone who is gonna prevent Luffy from reaching One Piece Treasure, WG, Yonko, Marines ... etc are already trying to prevent that, instead it's someone that you can't use One Piece as long as He remains
This God of Elbaf's Divine Protection was shown in same Saga that Little Garden was in, how did Luffy Defeat Crocodile?
Using an Attack named "Gomu Gomu No Storm" & Oda made Luffy literally bypass his Weakness to Blades in their Final Attack, something that shouldn't happen, unless Luffy received "Divine Protection" from Elbaf God
And Biggest Hint of them all is literally in Chapter 2, Luffy was absorbed by a Whirlpool & He ended up inside a Barrel, We can say that Luffy's Journey officially started when that Barrel was Opened, what's the meaning of that Barrel?
If you go to Thriller Bark Arc, you will find that it started with SHs finding a Barrel in the Sea, what did Robin say? It said that People put Offerings to Sea God in Barrels for Safe Passage! Which is not only Oda insisting on this Concept of Sea God, but it's a Hint that Luffy was actually an "Offering for Sea God" since Chapter 2, who made this happen? The guy who unleashed that Whirlpool which was confirmed to be Man With Burn Scar!
Burn Scar is from Shanks who uses a Flaming Sword & He is same Pirate that He went to warn Gorosei about, you think Shanks would warn Gorosei about someone if He wasn't more Dangerous than Imu? Even if Shanks doesn't know about Imu, Oda wouldn't bother with such Scene if Imu was Strongest, it's like Wyper going to Enel's Priests to warn them about Arlong, who cares? There is Enel already
Man With Burn Scar is Stronger than Imu & He serves or served Sea God before, because as i said, God of Elbaf controls Fate, so by making an Offering, you're basically asking this God to change Fate, which was again confirmed at End of Jaya Arc, when Luffy saw a Whirlpool & said "This is a Dream within a Dream", which is indirecly confirming that SHs are already inside a Dream, they are already inside a World controller by someone, a Narrator or a Dreamer or a God
Going back to that Thriller Bark Scene, SHs opened that Barrel, it was obviously just a Trap, but what did happen after that? A Storm appeared right away! It's another Confirmation by Oda that Sea God is a Storm! And They ended up in Nightmarish Arc of Thriller Bark where They had to Defeat Moria (The guy who relies on that Barrel as a Trap) before Dawn! otherwise those whose Shadows were removed would Die!
Which is another Foreshadowing of how this Final Villain must be Defeated & his Powers Cancelled before One Piece could be used, otherwise many People would actually suffer or Die
This fully explains the meaning of "D. will bring another Storm", so Luffy being used as an Offering will indeed lead to him bringing a Storm, and not just any Storm like Mihawk or World Government, We are talking about Most Powerful Character Ever
And Oda continues with this in Fishmen Island Arc, where They talked about Legend of Vander Decken who in a "Very Stormy Day", angered Sea God, another tie-in between Sea God & Storms, it can't get more obvious than this, not to mention the countless Characters talking about Belief in God, do you think when Zoro/Sanji & WB/Marco talked about existence of God, They were talking about Celestial Dragons? Ofc not
Even if Imu is considered a God, the same goes for other Celestial Dragons, it's just that Imu rules them, but in Skypiea, Enel's Priests didn't share his Godhood, They had nothing in common with him, and that's how Final Villain should be, unlike Imu who is simply a Bigger & More Dangerous Yokai than Gorosei. WB even confirmed that Land of Gods existed "Before" Mary Geoise was even a thing, this Final Villain is from there & He is the one who Destroyed it, just like Enel destroyed Birka, Celestial Dragons are simply another Group who started a New Religion just like Nika was Worshipped or Lunarians or Kings of Skypiea & Fishmen Island or those who worshipped Brook/Satan ... etc
When Luffy reached Wano, what happened? Another Whirlpool took him, which apparently reversed his Fate, Wano is Special for that.
What happened at End of Wano? Luffy finally was able to Lose & Die, transforming him into Sun God Nika, and that's what gonna make Man With Burn Scar finally make a move & also Sea God
I mean just look at Enel, did He need anyone? The guy was talking to Robin while listening to entire Island & then Attacking from afar
Imu is simply not that guy, nor was Kaidou or any Character Introduced so far, except the God mentioned by Dorry
This Upcoming War is gonna be a Battle Royale between Man With Burn Scar, Luffy, Imu, Dragon, Blackbeard, Shanks, Akainu & Cross Guild
(Alongside few Third Parties), but it will mostly serve as Ultimate Showdown between Factions who are Candidates to Rule the World, and Oda gonna conclude all their Sub-Plots, so that He can add one final Arc at the end, where it's gonna only focus on SHs fulfilling their Dreams
And Oda gonna also focus on Vikings Culture, which is the entire reason He even thought about writing this Manga.
Actually, He wanted to draw Vikings Story, not Pirates, it's just that He learned Vikings were considered Pirates too.
And He was inspired by Viki The Viking Cartoon, and without checking that Cartoon, it also inspired How To Train Your Dragon Movies
Weakest Viking was Main Character & Strongest Viking was the Ruler, who had an Eye-Patch (Oda confirmed such Character for Ending)
And Main Character was resolving Problems using his Intellect & Imagination, since He isn't as Physically Strong as other Vikings (Basically Usopp), and do you know what was Epithet of Strongest Viking? It was Redbeard!
Hajrudin for example is Inspired from Name of an Ottoman Ruler alongside his Brother Urouge, what was their Real-Life Epithet? Red-Beard!
So Hajrudin & Urouge aren't Red-Bearded ofc, but They both are related to Elbaf with Hajrudin being part of it and what about Urouge? He Carries a "Large" Pencil, why is it that Large? Cuz it's made for Giants, and why a Pencil? Cuz it's used to Write
If you go check Oda's One-Shots before One Piece started, He made a Story about God who can write the Future, He can change Fate.
So both Hajrudin & Urouge are named like that because They are related to Redbeard, Ruler of Elbaf & OP World's God
These are just Hints & Foreshadowing, the real Story behind Elbaf & this Villain, i will keep it for after Egghead Ends.
But People shouldn't Hype Imu too much, He is Powerful, maybe as Strong as Kaidou or more Dangerous at least, but at a Stage where Admirals are being Portrayed as mere Soldiers (That's literally what Shanks called Ryo, followed by Aokiji becoming BB's Henchman, followed by Kizaru looking Inferior than Saturn & serving him), it's clear that We are gonna start witnessing many many New Powerful Characters