Reborn as Kaido, Protect Whitebeard Summit war

Kaido looked at the Great Whirlpool Spider.

This guy.

During the Paramount War, the damage he caused to Whitebeard... He can be ranked third.

The first place is undoubtedly Blackbeard.

He killed Whitebeard directly.

Although Whitebeard was seriously injured at that time, he still had enough energy to overpower Blackbeard. In the end, if he had used all his strength, the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit could have destroyed Marineford, sinking everyone into the sea.

But Blackbeard absorbed the power of Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Then he united the entire Blackbeard Pirates to give Whitebeard his final blow.

The second-greatest damage came from Akainu.

His sheer force was undeniable, as shown when he blew off half of Whitebeard's face.

As for the others?

Though they hurt Whitebeard to some extent, none were as fatal as the Great Whirlpool Spider's attack.

The long blade had pierced straight through his chest.

Whitebeard's already deteriorating condition worsened. Since Kaido has a God's perspective, he knows what will happen next.

This incident is destined not to change.

...

On the Moby Dick, the Great Whirlpool Spider walked toward the bow and appeared behind Whitebeard.

Whitebeard noticed his approach.

"Squard?"

Whitebeard was puzzled.

He should be on the battlefield.

Why was he here at the bow, standing behind him?

Hearing this, Squard—the Great Whirlpool Spider—replied, "The pirate crews behind us, surrounded by the Marine forces, have taken heavy losses…"

Was it about the battle situation?

Whitebeard responded, "Push all our forces to the front. Don't worry about the enemies behind."

Then, Whitebeard turned his gaze to the battlefield.

"It's time I join the fight."

Whitebeard declared, "Now we must fight together and break through the Navy's defenses to reach the square."

At the moment, the pirates were still in the inner bay.

They hadn't yet reached the square.

As long as they made it there, the path to Ace would be clear.

"Indeed."

The Great Whirlpool Spider nodded, unsheathing his long sword. "We've all received great favors from you. For the Whitebeard Pirates, we'll go through fire and water without hesitation."

At that moment, many in the Whitebeard Pirates noticed what was happening.

What was Squard doing standing beside Whitebeard instead of fighting on the front lines?

Something wasn't right.

After drawing his sword, instead of leaping off the Moby Dick to charge at the Marines like everyone expected, Squard suddenly turned and thrust his sword at Whitebeard!

And in the next second—

Swish!!

The long blade sank into Whitebeard's chest.

Half of the sword had disappeared into his body.

Anyone could tell that the invisible half had pierced through Whitebeard.

This sudden betrayal stunned everyone.

Whitebeard's crew.

The Great Whirlpool Spider...

Had rebelled?!?

A sneak attack on Whitebeard?!!

"Dad!!!!"

A roar of shock and anger erupted from the Whitebeard Pirates, echoing across Marineford.

The captains of the Whitebeard Pirates were furious.

How could Squard betray them?

How dare he?!

Why didn't Dad dodge the strike or even block it?

With Whitebeard's power, there's no way he couldn't have stopped the attack.

What had just happened?

Everything was so sudden and incomprehensible.

The shock this caused within the Whitebeard Pirates was unimaginable.

It was like finding out your wife of decades suddenly reveals she was actually a man the entire time—it completely shattered their reality.

Whitebeard couldn't dodge such a simple blow?

It was a horrifying breach of common sense.

Even the Marines, witnessing this, were stunned.

Was Whitebeard really so old and weakened?

What was going on?

And this moment, this image, was transmitted live to Sabaody Archipelago.

The world was in shock.

"Whitebeard has been stabbed!!!!!!"

The uproar was immense.

Who could have predicted such a turn of events?

War changes fast.

No one can predict what will happen from one second to the next.

"Whitebeard was betrayed by one of his own!"

"The one who stabbed him is the captain of a pirate crew allied with Whitebeard."

"The New World pirate—Squard, the Great Whirlpool Spider!"

Reporters on Sabaody were busy broadcasting the shocking news, eager to report on the momentous event.

Who could have imagined Whitebeard would be betrayed by one of his own?

It was explosive.

Grabbing the headlines would make fortunes!

Ordinary people watching on Sabaody were glued to the screens, desperate to see what would happen next.

Countless prayers and hopes were sent up.

Would Whitebeard die from this blow?

If the world's strongest man were to fall like this...

It would be a staggering turn of events.

The war would end immediately.

Though everyone knew the odds of this seven-meter-tall man being killed by a single sword strike—even in his old age—were low, they still hoped for it.

Marineford.

At this moment.

On high ground.

Akainu stood with a calm but stern expression, surveying the battlefield.

His plan had worked.

But now, Akainu was frustrated by a different problem.

That guy, Doflamingo, is just too slippery!

Earlier, Doflamingo had fled in fear of Kaido, becoming a deserter.

Akainu gave chase.

But even after chasing him for a long time, he couldn't catch him.

Thanks to Doflamingo's String-String Fruit ability, he could fly quickly by attaching strings to any surface—even clouds.

Catching him was nearly impossible.

Of course, with Akainu's strength, if Doflamingo tried escaping into the sky, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Akainu could just launch a volcanic fist.

No matter how high or far Doflamingo flew, he'd be knocked out of the air by the magma.

But Doflamingo was more cunning than that.

He used the buildings of Marineford to evade, hide, and dart around.

While Akainu has incredible offensive power and combat skills, his ability to chase down an opponent is lacking.

From a God's perspective, it's clear.

Akainu couldn't even catch up with Ace without taunting him to come back.

Later, after Whitebeard died, Akainu pursued the Whitebeard Pirates.

But he was stopped by Coby, who blocked his way.

How fast is Coby, really?

Luffy beat him so quickly, Coby couldn't even react.

Yet he was able to stop Akainu and demand a ceasefire.

Later, Red-Haired Shanks appeared.

Akainu didn't see, predict, or sense it beforehand.

It goes to show that even the strongest have weaknesses.

Akainu's weakness is pursuit.

It's just not his thing.

He excels at standing his ground, fighting head-on when the enemy comes to him, unleashing his full power.

But when it comes to taking the initiative, it's a different story.

Of course, part of the reason is the restrictions of fighting within Marineford.

If it had been some insignificant island, Akainu could have easily blanketed the entire area in magma, showcasing his fearsome pursuit ability.

But right now, launching such an attack was far too inconvenient.

He couldn't very well chase Doflamingo and set half of Marineford ablaze, could he?

It gave Akainu a serious headache.

The situation was effectively tying his hands, rendering him unable to use his combat power to join the frontline battle.

"Damn it," Akainu muttered, his face darkening as he continued moving.

...

Meanwhile, on the Moby Dick,

Marco rushed over in a fury, tackling Squard—the Great Whirlpool Spider—down to the ground.

"You bastard! Why are you attacking Dad?!"

Marco was furious, but then he froze, his eyes wide. "Dad, are you okay?!"

The others were equally stunned.

Even Squard, the Great Whirlpool Spider, looked shocked as he heard this.

Everyone's gaze shifted toward Whitebeard.

They saw that Whitebeard's chest was unharmed.

But then why had the front half of Squard's sword disappeared, while the back half still pressed against Whitebeard's chest as if it had pierced through him?

The Navy was equally bewildered.

Sengoku's face darkened in confusion.

What had happened?

The sneak attack had obviously been successful. So why was it that only half of the sword remained?

Where had the other half of the sword gone?!

Whitebeard hadn't even moved.

While everyone stood in stunned silence, they suddenly saw Kaido walking across the deck of the Moby Dick toward the bow.

In his hand, he was holding the missing half of Squard's sword.

The moment they saw this, everything clicked into place.

Kaido.

He was the one who had intervened and helped Whitebeard just now!

"Damn it! Kaido!!"

Sengoku's eyes widened in fury. "Why is it always Kaido?!!!"