Big Mom's lifeless body crashed heavily onto the icy surface. Because of her sheer bulk, she even bounced twice.
...
Whitebeard and the others stood frozen, clearly still processing the fact that Big Mom was dead.
Kaito made no attempt to hide his actions. Right there on the spot, he turned Big Mom into a Six Paths puppet. Possessing the Soul-Soul Fruit, she was the perfect Human Path vessel.
Before everyone's stunned eyes, Big Mom's eyes suddenly snapped open — but what appeared within them was the same ripple-pattern Rinnegan as Kaito's.
Kaido called out cautiously,
"Lin... Linlin?"
Big Mom didn't respond. She slowly rose from the ice without a word and walked straight to Kaito's side, looking like a silent, obedient bodyguard.
"Mama!"
Behind them, members of the Big Mom Pirates thought she was simply under Kaito's control and tried calling out to her to snap her out of it. But what they didn't know was that Big Mom was now nothing more than a corpse that obeyed only Kaito's will.
Shanks frowned deeply and demanded,
"What did you do to her?!"
Kaito smiled faintly.
"You'll know soon enough."
Then, through the Rinnegan, Kaito gave Big Mom her first command: kill Red-Haired Shanks.
At once, Big Mom's fists were clad in Armament Haki. She pushed off the ice with explosive force, her massive body shooting toward Shanks like a cannonball.
With the White Kama's power backing him, Shanks naturally wasn't afraid of Big Mom, but this bizarre situation caught him off guard. For now, he simply raised a hand to block her strike.
Whitebeard, on the other hand, didn't bother to think twice — he smashed a Tremor-Tremor punch into Big Mom's abdomen. The impact rang out like shattering glass.
Though the blow rattled her body, Big Mom only shuddered slightly before bringing her other fist down toward Shanks.
Shanks cursed under his breath and drove a kick into her, sending her flying back.
She landed beside Kaito without hesitation, then pressed a hand to the ice and poured a soul into it.
At once, a human-like face formed on the ice. The frozen ground beneath Shanks suddenly cracked open.
By now, Shanks had given up any hope of "snapping her out of it." He leapt clear of the ice and unleashed several red, fist-shaped shockwaves toward her.
Big Mom crossed her arms in front of her chest to defend herself, but Shanks' strength had already surpassed that of an Emperor. She was blasted straight into the frigid waters beneath the ice.
Shanks exhaled in relief as he landed. In his mind, a Devil Fruit user falling into the sea meant they would inevitably lose the ability to fight.
But Big Mom had been remade into a Six Paths puppet — her actions were entirely under Kaito's control. He could simply force her to ignore the sea's restrictions.
Sure enough, she erupted from the water again, charging at Shanks.
Whitebeard had seen enough. He grasped at the air with both hands, then yanked downward. Space itself inverted, and the airborne Big Mom lost her balance, crashing hard into the ground.
Whitebeard moved to follow up, but Kaito suddenly appeared before him.
A semicircular space enclosed Whitebeard's body. Kaito formed his fingers into the shape of a gun and pressed them to Whitebeard's abdomen.
Boom!
A dull thud sounded as Whitebeard spat a mouthful of blood, clutching his stomach and staggering back before dropping to one knee.
"What... what kind of ability is this?!"
He could feel that his abdomen had been pierced from the inside, yet outwardly there was no visible wound — deeply unsettling.
Seeing Whitebeard's state, his crew panicked and rushed toward him, heedless of their own safety. One by one, Akainu reduced them to ash with his magma.
Kaito gave the Whitebeard Pirates' desperate charge a sidelong glance before turning back to Whitebeard.
"Whitebeard, your sons truly are admirable... but unfortunately, today you'll be buried here."
Whitebeard forced himself to his feet, gathering quake power into his fist and hurling a shockwave at Kaito from a distance.
Kaito shook his head lightly.
"Why bother?"
With a casual wave, he dispersed the shockwave in midair. Then, curling his fingers into a claw, he clenched them toward Whitebeard.
"Black Coffin."
Two masses of darkness appeared on either side of Whitebeard before slamming shut, forming a black coffin that enveloped his body — leaving only his face exposed.
Whitebeard strained with all his might to break free, but under the pull of the darkness, simply keeping his body intact was already a victory. Escaping was out of the question.
A deep sense of helplessness welled up inside him.
"Am I... truly getting old?"
For the first time, Whitebeard doubted his own strength. But he quickly discarded the thought.
"No... this Shikiryū is a monster. He's not even human!"
On the other side, Shanks saw Whitebeard's plight and immediately tried to rush to his aid — but Big Mom clung to him like a relentless leech.
Even though his power now far exceeded hers, dealing with an Emperor who feared no death kept him pinned down. All he could do was watch as Kaito approached Whitebeard.
Kaito's Rinnegan eyes were calm and still, as if the so-called "Strongest Man in the World" before him was nothing worth noting. He asked in an even voice,
"Whitebeard, do you have any last words?"
Looking into the young face before him, Whitebeard sighed.
"You must be after my Tremor-Tremor Fruit. If you want it, take it. I only have one request — spare the lives of my sons."
"Pops!!!"
Hearing his words, the Whitebeard Pirates burst into tears. Though they were only steps away from him, Akainu blocking their path was like an unscalable wall. Despair filled their hearts.
Kaito ignored the commotion behind him and shook his head.
"It seems you've misunderstood something. I don't need your permission to claim the Tremor-Tremor Fruit."
Whitebeard's hope sank to rock bottom. But Kaito's next words lit a spark again.
"However... I can spare them. But you'll have to say one thing in front of everyone."
"What thing?"
Kaito locked eyes with him. His voice rang directly in Whitebeard's mind.
"You'll shout... 'One Piece is a lie. It doesn't exist!'"
"Nani?!"