Meanwhile, Sengoku ordered the camera feeds be shut down in preparation for his next move, then sent in Sentomaru and the Pacifistas from the rear, flanking the pirate forces and raining down a torrent of laser fire upon them. Unfortunately for him, one feed remained open, as Buggy and the Impel Down prisoners somehow managed to snag one of the Video Transponder Snails, and were using it to create what was essentially a propaganda film for Buggy.
Itachi noticed how dire the situation was, and was desperate to break away from Mihawk to assist with the Pacifistas. He blocked an incoming strike from Mihawk, then jumped back while forming hand signs. As Mihawk surged forward for a follow up attack, Itachi launched a Fireball Jutsu, which Mihawk avoided easily and caught up. The split second in which Mihawk lost visual contact was still enough, however, and right as the Warlord caught up, a pair of hands sprang up from the ground, catching him by the ankles. Itachi prepared to use Amaterasu to finish the fight while Mihawk was immobilized, but without skipping a single beat, he jammed his sword into the ground, destroying the clone, then slashed upwards, launching a shockwave that broke Itachi's line of sight with him. Itachi blocked the shockwave by summoning the ribcage of his Susano'o and backing it up with a block from his sword. Even so, the hit staggered him, and Mihawk was on top of him with more relentless offensive pressure by the time he regained his balance. The Head Hunter Jutsu ploy hadn't even slowed him down.
"You've got quite the bag of tricks up your sleeve, Red Eyes."
"Tricks you don't seem to have much trouble answering," replied Itachi. In the background, he could hear the laser fire of the Pacifistas, and the screams of his allies as they were being assaulted. It troubled him greatly that he was stuck dealing with Mihawk, unable to help. Eventually, the laser fire reached their location, and they found themselves having to dodge stray shots as well as each other. Eventually, Mihawk lost his patience with it.
"Seems like we won't be able to properly finish our bout in these conditions," said Mihawk. "Go and deal with the Pacifistas. I technically can't do anything about them since they're supposed to be my allies, but I won't deny they're being quite the nuisance. I swear on my honor as a swordsman not to go after Straw Hat in the meantime."
Itachi studied Mihawk closely. Even though he was avoiding eye contact as a precaution against the Sharingan, he could tell he was being truthful.
"Thank you, Hawkeye. I appreciate that."
"Next time we meet, we will have to settle this once and for all, Red Eyes. I hope you'll be even stronger when that day comes."
"I'll try not to disappoint," said Itachi, turning and heading towards the Pacifistas.
Squard had made his way onto the bow of the Moby Dick, standing beside Whitebeard as he observed the progress of the battle. As Whitebeard advanced, preparing to participate in the battle, Squard suddenly drew his sword and stabbed Whitebeard through the gut. Marco, in a fit of rage at this betrayal, tackled Squard to the ground, demanding to know why he attacked Pops, to which Squard responded by talking about a deal Whitebeard had made with the Navy to ensure Ace and the rest of the crew's safety, in exchange for allowing them to take allied pirate crews such as Squard's own.
In the end, Whitebeard knelt down and hugged Squard, forgiving him for his stupidity, asking only for the name of the man who fed him those obvious lies. Squard acquiesced, telling him that it had been Admiral Akainu. Enraged at the idea that he'd ever sell out his sons, Whitebeard used his Devil Fruit powers to shatter the ice wall surrounding the base, giving the allied pirates an escape route and demonstrating the absurdity of the accusation. Then, he leapt into battle himself, the Strongest Man in the World surging forward, his presence singlehandedly changing the tide of the battle. Cannonballs were launched from turrets, but a simple application of the Gura Gura no Mi's power returned them to sender, destroying the turrets. Vice Admiral John Giant attempted to confront him, but Whitebeard called upon his Gura Gura powers, causing the entire island, and even the sea itself, to tilt, greatly disorienting the Marines. The pirates were used to this sort of thing, and were prepared for it to happen. Itachi, for his part, simply focused some chakra into his feet to keep himself anchored and kept moving towards his goal.
When the dust settled and the base and surrounding ocean adjusted back to its proper axis, the entire island's buildings and infrastructure was devastated. John Giant attempted to engage Whitebeard again, but was beaten in a single punch.
Sengoku gave the order to raise the walls around the bay area to trap the pirates, but Oars Jr's body lay atop one of the sections, and the mechanisms weren't strong enough to lift him. Regardless, Akainu stepped forward and began raining magma down onto the battlefield, melting the layer of ice over top of the water and sending Whitebeard's forces plummeting into the now boiling water. Those who managed to stay on what little ice was left were either bombarded by the cannons mounted on the walls, or by the lasers of the Pacifistas.
Until they weren't. Itachi made it to within range of the Pacifista line, channeling his Haki through his Sharingan to stave off the blindness, and lighting them all up with Amaterasu. It cost a ton of chakra, but the threat was dealt with quickly. With the mechanical threats dealt with, he turned to once again join the advance towards Ace's location.
At the same time, Whitebeard used his Gura Gura powers to try and breach the walls, but whatever material it was made of, the wall was able to resist the shot. Akainu then turned his attention to the Moby Dick, raining his magma shower down on it and burning it to cinders.
None of this deterred Luffy, though, and he continued to charge straight ahead towards the gap in the wall provided by Oars Jr's body. His unflinching determination encouraged the Whitebeard Pirates, and they surged forward to back him up, even though they knew they were marching directly into the line of fire. Even as the combination of the Navy's cannons and Akainu's magma devastated them, they continued the push, but Luffy was beginning to slow down. The cannon fire was taking its toll. One cannon blast launched him into the ocean, and just as Jinbe was about to dive in and go after him, Itachi beat him to the punch, swimming down to rescue his captain. When he surfaced with Luffy in tow, he set his captain down on the ice, then collapsed next to him, physically exhausted, low on chakra, and gasping for air after the dive.
Sengoku, satisfied at the resulting carnage, gave the order to proceed with Ace's execution immediately.
"Captain," he said between breaths. "Have I ever told you your brand of pirating is hell on the nerves?"
"Itachi?" said Luffy. "You're here, too?"
"Yeah, I'm here, captain. I was a Whitebeard Pirate once, you know. When I heard my former crewmate as well as my captain's brother was a captive of the Navy, I had to come and help."
"Thanks, Itachi. Do you happen to know where the rest of the crew ended up?"
"No, I don't," said Itachi, which was the truth. When he had used the Sharingan on Kuma to confirm his story, he hadn't checked to see where the big man had sent everyone. He had only dived deep enough to confirm what he had told Rayleigh.
"That sucks," said Luffy. "Oh well, I'm sure they're fine. In the meantime, where's Jinbe? I need a favor from him."
Suddenly, Oars Jr regained consciousness, and the Navy had to shift their attention to firing on him before he could do any more damage. Kizaru stepped up to finish the job, preparing to kill him with a single beam of light to the head, but before he could fire, Luffy, having been propelled to the other side of the wall by Jinbe's fishman karate, appeared in front of the Admirals, and immediately went on the offensive. Itachi had stayed behind to catch his breath, but assured Luffy he'd catch up before long.
Whitebeard ordered Oars to stay put, and Jozu to prepare the "trump card" he'd kept in reserve until now.
Luffy activated Gear Second, surging past the Admirals toward Ace, but was easily intercepted by Kizaru, who kicked him into a nearby building.
Sengoku ordered the headsmen to execute Ace, but Crocodile intervened, taking them out just before the blades could find their mark, stating that he could kill Whitebeard whenever he felt like, and that he'd rather focus on making sure the Marines didn't win. Doflamingo, offended by both Crocodile's refusal to join him and his apparent siding with Whitebeard, engaged him in single combat. Meanwhile, Luffy was being chased down by various Marines. Aokiji chucked an ice spear into his shoulder, but was intercepted by Marco before he could land a follow up strike.
Many of the leftover Whitebeard pirates from inside the bay began swimming towards the opening in the wall, prompting the Marines stationed atop the wall to begin firing down on them with cannons once again. Suddenly, an enormous paddle boat burst forth from beneath the water, which many of the pirates boarded, including Whitebeard and Itachi. The ship surged forward at full speed, dodging cannon fire. Sengoku realized the ship was too fast and gave the order to instead fire on Oars Jr, but it was too late. Oars grabbed the ship and carried it through the gap in the wall into the plaza.
Oars finally succumbed to the cannon fire, pleading with his comrades to save Ace for him, then fell over, dead. Enraged at the losses inflicted on them up to this point, Whitebeard jumped down from the bow of the ship and got right to work wreaking absolute havoc on the enemy forces. The Division Commanders and Itachi soon joined him, and were making great progress pushing back the enemy line.
Aokiji attempted to engage Whitebeard, freezing his body, but the Yonko easily broke free, running Aokiji through with his naginata. His Logia powers kept him safe, though, and just as he was forming ice spears to skewer Whitebeard, Jozu intervened, giving Whitebeard the opening to advance by keeping Aokiji occupied.
Luffy was attempting to advance, but was cut off by two Vice Admirals, Momonga and Dalmatian, who used their Rokushiki to wear down Luffy. Kizaru then launched a beam of light at Luffy. Before it could land, Itachi intercepted it with his Haki-coated sword. At this point, though, the adrenaline shot given to Luffy by Iva was wearing off, and he was rapidly losing steam.
"You're not gonna touch my captain, Kizaru," said Itachi bitterly. "If you dare raise a hand against him, I. Will. Kill. You."
"Oooh, scary," replied Kizaru. "I admit if you were still fresh you could probably give me some trouble, but you're all worn out now. Even now, you're having a hard time catching your breath."
Itachi ignored this, and instead focused on getting Luffy away from Kizaru. He looked back at Whitebeard. "Sorry about this, Luffy," he said before kicking his current captain into the arms of his former captain. "Pops! Take care of him while I handle Kizaru!"
At that time, Iva and Jinbe managed to make it over the wall. Whitebeard tossed Luffy over to a few of his crewmates to be treated, but Luffy, ever the defiant soul, rushed off towards Ace again, but his wounds and exhaustion caught up to him, and he collapsed. Iva and Jinbe rushed over to him to look after his unconscious body and try to help.
Then, many things started happening at the same time. Akainu approached Whitebeard, and the two clashed. Itachi began his battle with Kizaru, coating the blade of Sasuke in Haki and using it to block Kizaru's strikes. Marco transformed into his Phoenix form and flew up towards Ace, but Garp intercepted him, sending him crashing back to the ground with a huge punch.
Just as Iva resolved to move forward without Luffy, he was grabbed by the ankle. Luffy asked one last favor of him: a second adrenaline shot. Iva initially refused, stating that it would at the very least shorten his life and most, kill him outright. Luffy countered that he'd rather die than fail here, and Iva agreed to his request.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard was dealing with Akainu handily, until the wound from Squard caught up to him forcing him to drop to his knees and start coughing up blood. Jozu, distracted by Whitebeard's predicament, was frozen over by Aokiji, who then moved on to Marco, wounding him by throwing an ice spear through his chest. Akainu, meanwhile, took the opportunity to sink a magma-coated punch square into Whitebeard's chest.
Itachi's training had fully kicked in, however, and he knew better than to get distracted when facing such a powerful opponent. He remained laser focused on his battle with Kizaru, making sure to keep him from advancing. Unfortunately, this also drew the attention of Aokiji, who joined in the fight. Itachi, exhausted and running low on chakra, now faced the seemingly insurmountable task of fending off two Admirals at once.
"I see," he said. "No choice but to pull out all the stops, then." He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, calling forth the majority of his remaining chakra in order to once again conjure the Susano'o.
Aokiji made an attempt to freeze the giant chakra avatar, but the Yata Mirror easily repelled the ice, and Itachi swung at him and Kizaru with the Totsuka Blade, using the knowledge he gained from his battle with Mihawk to coat the entire blade in Haki, to prevent their Logia powers from saving them.
Kizaru and Aokiji dodged, with Kizaru dematerialising into light and zipping behind Itachi, and Aokiji jumping into the air to rain down more ice spears. Itachi ignored the latter, instead focusing on Kizaru; the Susano'o's armor would be more than enough to repel the spears.
Luffy, revitalized by an adrenaline shot from Iva, ran towards the scaffolding once again, beating back any Marines who got in his way. Eventually, he found himself surrounded, but Iva cleared a path for him with a Death Wink. As the pair advanced, Coby, who had up to this point stayed out of the action, stood before them, prepared to fight his friend. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't much of a fight. He tried to close the distance with Shave, but Luffy was more than used to fighting Rokushiki users by this point, and flattened him instantly with a single punch square in his face, continuing forward without a second thought.
With no more Pacifistas around, thanks to Itachi, the real Kuma appeared before Luffy, preparing to bombard him with laser fire, but Boa Hancock stepped in between them, causing the newly roboticized Kuma to lower his weapons and allow Luffy to continue forward.
Meanwhile, Marco was getting back up after regenerating from the wound dealt to him by Aokiji, but was quickly set upon by another Vice Admiral, who used his Devil Fruit powers to pin him down and get a Seastone shackle on his wrist. Jinbe had gotten surrounded and wrapped in numerous chains. At the same time, dozens of Marines approached the now wounded Whitebeard, stabbing, shooting and generally doing anything they could to do more damage to him. None of it seemed to faze him, however, and he sent the whole lot of them flying with a single swing of his mighty naginata. Hundreds of Marine bodies were suddenly dropping from the sky.
Jinbe managed to break free of his chains, and he and the various Division Commanders formed a line around Whitebeard's back, preventing the Marines from advancing on him from behind.
The substitute headsmen finally arrived, and Sengoku once again gave the order for Ace to be executed. Just as their blades were about to come down on Ace's neck, Luffy screamed for them to stop, unleashing an enormous wave of Conqueror's Haki which instantly incapacitated hundreds of Marines on the ground, as well as the headsmen.
Sengoku ordered all remaining men to eliminate Luffy at once, but Whitebeard blasted them away with his Gura Gura powers and ordered all his men to back Luffy up. The enemy engaged Whitebeard, and despite his injuries, the old man easily cleaved through their numbers with the combination of his naginata and Devil Fruit.
Luffy continued to advance, but once again came under fire from Mihawk, who was intercepted by Mr. 1 and Crocodile. Kuma then attempted to come for Luffy again, only to be intercepted by Boa, but this time, Sentomaru attacked her. By the time he was able to intervene, however, Luffy was already gone.
Itachi was at the end of his rope. It wouldn't be too much longer before he'd be unable to maintain the Susano'o, and then he'd have very little defense against two Admirals. Kizaru noticed this, and decided it would be more efficient to leave this to Aokiji and assist in the greater battle.
"Hey, Kuzan, think you can handle the rest? There are other things that require our attention."
"Sure. This guy looks like he could collapse any second. This no longer requires the attention of two Admirals."
Kuzan then left, dematerialising and shooting off to some other area of the battlefield. Itachi hated to admit it, but that was a lucky break. He was only just able to hold his own against one Admiral. Two was entirely too much for him to handle. Even so, he was exhausted. Even trying to hold his own against one Admiral seemed like it might be too much for him at this point.
Marco then stepped into the fight, offering his assistance.
"Hey, old friend, you look like you could use a hand."
"Marco! I'm glad you're alright, but how do you intend to fight with that shackle on you?" asked Itachi.
"Well, I was hoping you'd have an idea for that."
"Sure. Let me see it." Itachi stared at the shackle, concentrating his chakra. "Hold still, this will burn, but once I snuff out the flames, you can use your powers to heal it off." He activated Amaterasu, only conjuring just enough of the black flames to engulf the shackle, quickly burning it away before Itachi willed them to snuff out. Marco immediately erupted into his Phoenix form, healing off the burns and fully joining Itachi to somewhat even the odds.
Meanwhile, Inazuma, who had been recovering inside Iva's hair, joined the fray, using his Choki Choki powers to carve a ramp up to the scaffolding for Luffy. As the rubber man was beset on all sides by Marines, the remaining Whitebeard pirates arrived to back him up, clearing the path forward for him. As Luffy made his way up the ramp, his grandfather came crashing down, blocking his path. Garp angrily declared that in this moment, Luffy was no longer his grandson, but the pirate Straw Hat Luffy, and that as a Vice Admiral, he would fight to the death. Kizaru moved to back Garp up, but was kept in place by a surprise attack from Whitebeard, who told him to sit down and just enjoy the show.
Garp moved to strike at Luffy, but was unable to bring himself to strike down his own family, and Luffy shifted into Gear Second, landing a clean hit on Garp and knocking him off the ramp.
Finally, Luffy had made it. He quickly ran behind Ace, grabbing the key to his cuffs that Boa had given him earlier, but Kizaru shot a laser to break the key. Sengoku, enraged, morphed into his full Buddha form, and moved to strike both of the brothers down.
At that moment, one of the substitute headsmen woke up, who turned out to be Mr. 3, who had disguised himself in order to blend in. Luffy told him to forge a key, then ballooned up with Gear Third in order to absorb the impact of Sengoku's punch. Mr. 3 formed a wax dome around him and Ace for protection, and the impact of the punch caused the scaffolding to fall apart. As they all tumbled down through the air, Mr. 3 finished making the wax key and tossed it to Luffy. The Navy cannons all turned their fire to their location, causing massive explosions as they landed.
The dust settled, and Ace's flame powers burst to life, carrying him, Luffy, and Mr. 3 down to safety. Luffy had managed to unlock the shackles just in time, and Ace was now free, much to the relief of Whitebeard, Itachi, and basically everyone except the Marines and three of the four Warlords present.
Ace wasted no time flexing his powers, wiping away dozens of Marines at a time. Luffy fell right into sync with his older brother, going into Gear Second. They covered each other's blind spots, executed combo attacks, and generally raised hell on the battlefield while making their way to the paddle boat.
Aokiji immediately abandoned his fight with Itachi, focusing instead on cutting off the brothers before they could get too far. Itachi, relieved to no longer be locking horns with an Admiral, dispelled the Susano'o and fell to his knees, struggling to catch his breath. He was in no condition to help Luffy now. He'd have to trust in Ace.
Ace, for his part, did what a good older brother should do. He asked Luffy to stand aside, engaging Aokiji on his own, both flexing the extent of their Devil Fruit powers to a stalemate.
Squard, in an attempt to atone for his earlier betrayal of Whitebeard, offered to stay behind and cover Whitebeard and co's escape. Whitebeard, however, stopped him and his crew in their tracks, stating that it would be beyond cruel to force a father to bury his children. He then addressed the entirety of the crew, giving his final orders as captain of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Listen carefully, Whitebeard Pirates! It's time for us to part ways! You must survive and return to the New World! I'm a relic of a bygone era! No ship can carry me into the new age! Get away from here, my sons!" He then turned to stare down Sengoku. "It's been a long journey. Let's finish this once and for all, Navy!"
With a flex of his power, the strongest Paramecia type Devil Fruit in the world, he cracked and broke the very walls and infrastructure of what remained of the main base, bringing it crumbling to the ground.
Itachi had a feeling this was the case. Whitebeard knew coming into this war that, one way or another, it would be his swan song. Whether it would be his injuries from battle or his steadily declining health, something would inevitably do him in here. Despite the fact that Whitebeard was no longer his captain, he couldn't help but shed a tear for the most powerful man, and the greatest father, he'd ever known.
Even so, he could properly mourn the loss later. It wouldn't do for him to disobey his father's final wishes. He picked himself up and followed the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates in their retreat.
Ace was slowly advancing towards Whitebeard, to the protest of his younger brother.
"Ace! Come on, we gotta go! We can't let the old man's sacrifice go to waste!"
"Don't worry," Ace assured him. "I won't." Ace charged in, wiping out another dozen Marines in the wake of his flames, and dropped to his hands and knees, bowing to his captain.
"I have little use for soft words," breathed Whitebeard, "But tell me one thing, Ace. Were you happy with me as your father?"
"Of course!" exclaimed Ace, barely holding back tears, then turned and retreated towards the ship.
Whitebeard turned his attention back to the enemy, holding them back with mighty swings of his weapon and the use of his Gura Gura powers.
Itachi was spent. He was having trouble keeping his footing, nearly stumbling as he went. He'd overdone it. Fighting a group of Vice Admirals, Doflamingo, Mihawk, Moria, the Pacifistas, Kizaru, and Aokiji, back to back to back, had finally caught up to him. Jinbe noticed how wiped out Itachi was, and scooped him up in his arms, carrying him to the ship.
"Thanks, Jinbe. I appreciate the help."
"Of course, friend. You've done more than enough today."
The Whitebeard Pirates made sure to get Ace and Luffy to the front of the pack. They were the Navy's main targets, so they put as many bodies between them and the enemy as possible.
Akainu, though, wasn't having it.
"You free Ace and then you turn tail and run eh?" he taunted. "The Whitebeard Pirates are a pack of cowards. But considering who your leader is, that isn't a surprise. Whitebeard is a loser from a bygone era!"
Unfortunately, those words reached Ace's ears, and he couldn't stand to hear such slander against the man he considered his father. He turned around to face Akainu head on, his powers flaring up.
"A loser? Take that back! Take back what you said, or else!"
"Ace, no! Forget about it!" exclaimed Luffy.
"He said something bad about Pops! I can't let him get away with that!"
"Ace, please, I know how you feel!" called Itachi. "But you can't let his words bother you, he's just trying to get under your skin!"
"Yeah, I know that! And it's working!"
"Your real father, Gold Roger, stood in his way, making him an eternal loser who could never become the king," continued Akainu. "That's who Whitebeard is. I'm only speaking the truth! You pirates call him Pops and love him, and put on the farce that you're one big happy family. Even though he ruled the seas for decades, he was still never able to become the king. He never achieved his dream! And in the end, one of his own idiot sons was smooth-talked into stabbing him! And now he's going to die to protect that same idiot! Isn't that just pathetic?"
"You shut your damn mouth!" screamed Ace, and charged at Akainu, despite the protests of his brother and crewmates. "Pops gave me a place I could call home! You don't know a thing about his greatness!"
"People who live outside the law are worthless! You filthy pirates don't deserve a home! Whitebeard will die a loser! A fitting end for a band of human trash!"
"Whitebeard is the greatest pirate in the world! Don't you slander the man who saved me! The very name of this era is 'Whitebeard'!"
Their Devil Fruit powers clashed, and to everyone's shock, Ace was badly damaged in the exchange.
Itachi's eyes widened. "No, he can't fight Akainu! Jinbe, put me down! I've got to go help him!"
"I can't let you do that, ItachI!" countered the fishman. "You're too weak as it is! You'd only get yourself killed, too!"
Akainu stood over Ace, who was knelt over from the pain. "Getting careless just because you're a Logia type? You may be made of fire, but my magma burns even hotter than fire! My powers are far superior to yours!"
"Ace!" shouted Luffy, starting off toward his brother only to stumble and fall to the ground.
"Luffy, no! You're at your limit, too!" cried Jinbe.
"Hey, Ace's Vivre Card!" said Luffy. It must have fallen out of the band of his hat and onto the ground.
"Gold Roger the Pirate King, and Dragon the Revolutionary!" exclaimed Akainu. "How surprising that their sons are now brothers. You're both criminals by blood! You'll never be allowed to escape! You brothers won't get past me!"
Akainu launched himself towards Luffy, who was distracted by his attempt to grab Ace's Vivre Card off the ground. Suddenly, Akainu was upon him, ready to launch a killing blow. Itachi, desperate to protect his captain, found the strength to wrest himself from Jinbe's grip, but it was too late. He was too far away, and his body was too weak to carry him there fast enough. But, Ace appeared between the Admiral and his brother, taking the blow that was meant for him.
What followed was stunned silence. Neither Luffy, Jinbe, Itachi, the Whitebeard Pirates, nor Whitebeard himself could come up with the words to describe the scene before him.
Itachi felt a familiar rage bubbling up within him. It was similar to what he felt back in Enies Lobby when he saw Spandam smacking Robin around, but this was different. This was a far more intense anger, the kind he felt towards himself the night of the Uchiha Massacre all those years ago. But now, instead of being directed inward, it exploded forth, and was all aimed squarely at the Red Dog of the Navy. He had just killed one of Itachi's family, and he would pay with his own life, no matter what. He could feel an intense chakra welling up within him as a result of his rising emotions. This ultra-intense anger had brought with it new strength, and generated a dark chakra. one so fierce and so concentrated that even the people of this world, who had no concept of chakra, could physically see it emanate from Itachi's body, manifesting as a faint purple aura that surrounded him. As dark and intense as this new chakra was, Itachi didn't care. It didn't matter how far he allowed himself to fall into his hatred, nor what kind of chakra that was born of that hatred. All that mattered was that it would be enough chakra to carry out his vengeance.
Garp, rendered stone silent, began walking towards Akainu, an intense anger also burned into him. Sengoku stopped him, tackling him to the ground and pinning him in place.
"Keep holding me down, Sengoku," seethed Garp. "If you don't, I will kill Sakazuki."
Akainu withdrew his fist from Ace's torso, letting him fall to the ground in front of Luffy. Without wasting any time, he began winding up another attempt on Luffy, but when he moved to strike, he found himself blocked by a Haki-coated sword. Itachi stood there, his face downcast.
"What's this?" said Akainu. "Another piece of pirate trash coming to defend his loser father's honor?"
"Shut your filthy mouth, you damned government lapdog." replied an infuriated Itachi, pressing forward in the bind and gradually pressing Akainu back. "If anyone here is trash, it's you. I told Kizaru this, and now I'll tell you. You've made an attempt on my captain's life, and now I will kill you for it."
While Itachi was dealing with that, another, much sadder scene was unfolding. Ace, with only seconds left to live, apologized to Luffy for not letting himself be saved, and lamenting that he wouldn't be around to see Luffy achieve his dream.
"But you… I know you can do it," said Ace. "You're my little brother! Just like how I swore back then, I have no regrets."
"Liar!" screamed Luffy. "You're lying!"
"I'm not lying!" countered Ace. "What I really wanted wasn't fame. All I wanted was to know whether or not I should've been born… ugh, I can't even shout anymore. Luffy, listen to my next words carefully. Tell everyone what I'm about to say to you. Pops. Fellow pirates. And you, Luffy. Thank you… for loving me."
With his final words spoken, Ace fell from Luffy's arms and hit the ground. His life was spent. 'Fire Fist' Ace was dead.
"Last I checked you were on your last legs," mocked Akainu. "How exactly do you intend to carry out that threat?"
"You said it yourself, your magma burns hotter, and that's why you could hurt Ace. Well, how's this for burning hotter!" Itachi looked up, staring down Akainu with the Mangekyo Sharingan activated, and focused his chakra. She sheer depth of his hate and anger finally overwhelmed his being, allowing him to tap into as of yet undisturbed reserves of power. This cold, hateful power roiled to the surface, becoming pure chakra, and focusing itself into a massive wave of the Amaterasu. Akainu had no time to react, the black flames were on him in an instant, and he found himself unable to use his Logia powers to get them off of him.
"What the hell is this! How can you burn me?!" he asked in a panicked voice as his left hand was reduced to cinders.
"Magma burns hotter than fire. This is the Amaterasu, black flames that burn as hot as the sun itself, and cannot be extinguished except by my will. They will burn away anything, even other flames, and no matter what you do, you cannot escape. No matter what you do, you will die here. Even if you could jump into the ocean, they would continue to consume you until you are naught but ash."
"Impossible!" exclaimed Akainu in between bouts of pained moans as the jet black flames slowly consumed him. "Just what the hell are you?! How can you do these things?!"
Itachi stared back at him, this uncharacteristic display of rage slipping into his voice as he proclaimed for the world to hear, each syllable dripping with venomous hatred, "I am Itachi Uchiha, and I am the man who killed you, Red Dog!"
Aokiji arrived on the scene, attempting to use his ice to nullify the Amaterasu. It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, to no avail. The black flames consumed all, and could not be stopped nor contained. Eventually, Akainu was completely consumed, his body and his screams of agony drifting into the wind as nothing more than a pile of ash.
"You son of a bitch," said Aokiji, turning toward Itachi. "You'll pay for-" the words caught in his throat as he saw the look of pure malice on Itachi's face. His eyes were filled with so much murderous intent that it made Aokiji's body hair stand on end, and every instinct in his body screamed for him to flee. It was as if the very specter of Death stood before him. It wasn't Conqueror's Haki; you had to be born with that, and that was basically impossible for Itachi considering he wasn't even born in this world. It was simply pure rage spilling out, his body instinctively leaking a chakra so dark and hateful that even those who were unaware of the existence of chakra could feel it, to the point that it was practically suffocating.
"We are leaving now," seethed Itachi. "Aokiji, I appreciate you looking after Robin all those years, and for that, I will grant you mercy. But, if any of you attempt to pursue us, you'll end up just like Akainu. I swear it."
Sengoku took zero heed to this warning, and immediately ordered his men to charge. Aokiji, on the other hand, was considerably smarter about it. He knew a lifeline when he was being thrown one, and elected not to lift a finger, instead turning around and allowing Itachi to grab Luffy, who had gone comatose from the shock of Ace's death, and flee the scene. With Akainu dead, however, Sengoku had no reason to keep holding down Garp, and was advancing to join the assault. But he forgot about the giant, terrifying elephant in the room. Whitebeard was on him almost as soon as he moved to give chase, and cracked him over the head with a fist cloaked in Gura Gura power. It wasn't quite enough to incapacitate him, but it did hurt him badly and make him cough up blood.
Sengoku responded by morphing into his Buddha form again, returning Whitebeard's punch with one of his own, with enough force to collapse half of Whitebeard's face. The old Yonko wouldn't go down that easily, though, and slammed him in the knee with another Gura Gura fist, forcing Sengoku off his feet and putting his chin within range of a follow-up uppercut. The resulting shock wave sent Sengoku flying into the wall of the main HQ and split the earth, definitively separating him from his crew, and preventing any other enemies from pursuing them.
As the pirates made their escape, one of them noticed something. A new group had entered the scene, standing atop the execution platform.
"Oh, it's about time you finally noticed us," came a familiar voice.
"You!" yelled Sengoku. "How did you get here?!"
"Ze ha ha ha!" laughed Blackbeard. "Long time no see, Pops! I'm glad I'll get to see you die!"
"Teach," seethed Whitebeard.
Blackbeard hadn't come alone. He brought with him his normal crew, as well as several prisoners he sprang from Impel Down: Avalo Pizarro, Vasco Shot, Catarina Devon, Shiryu of the Rain, and the largest creature known to man, San Juan Wolf. They had hypnotized the guard at the Gates of Justice to let any warships pass, but this had inadvertently allowed Luffy and his group to pass as well.
"If the government had seen me as a pirate, I couldn't have opened the Gates of Justice or infiltrated Impel Down!" explained Blackbeard. "That's why I needed to become one of the Seven Warlords! But now that it's done, I don't need that title anymore!"
"So, releasing them was your plan all along?!" asked Sengoku.
"Ze ha ha ha ha! That's right! It was all about this from the beginning! And that's everything! You'll know what I mean soon enough!"
"Teach!" yelled Whitebeard, aiming a Gura Gura shockwave directly at him.
"Captain! Look out!" cried one of Blackbeard's crew.
Whitebeard's attack crashed into them like a ton of bricks.
"No mercy, huh?" said Blackbeard after having barely avoided the oncoming attack. "Well, what else did I expect?"
"You are the only one I won't call 'son'!" declared Whitebeard. "You broke the iron law of my ship! You murdered your own brother!"
As much as Itachi wanted to turn back and help, to get revenge for Thatch, he couldn't. Even if Whitebeard hadn't created a massive ravine cutting everyone off from him, he had promised the old man he would let him take the first shot at vengeance.
"I will avenge Fourth Division Commander Thatch! You will pay for it with your life!"
"Ze ha ha! Bring it on! Black Hole!" Blackbeard called upon his Devil Fruit powers, creating a massive black vortex. "Thatch died, but so did Ace, Pops! I respected you and looked up to you more than anybody else! But you got old! You couldn't even save one of your own men from execution! I spared his life back on Banaro Island, but it was a waste!"
Whitebeard was beyond the point of words now. He simply advanced, rendered silent with fury, and wound up for another Gura Gura strike.
"Hold it right there!" exclaimed Blackbeard. "It's no use! Your powers have no effect anymore! You see?! You can't cause your earthquakes anymo-"
He was cut off by Whitebeard simply slamming his naginata into his shoulder, slashing him wide open and knocking him flat on his back.
"Aaaagh! That hurt, damn you!"
Whitebeard didn't care for anything Teach was saying. He grabbed the traitor by the neck, cutting off his cries of pain and pinning him to the ground.
"Overconfidence and carelessness. Those are your weaknesses."
"Hey, stop!" begged Blackbeard.
Whitebeard cloaked the hand holding Blackbeard with his Gura Gura power.
"Aagh! Stop! Pops, I'm your son, right?!" asked Blackbeard with mortal fear in his voice. "You're not really gonna kill me?!"
Whitebeard released the energy gathered in his hand, dealing severe damage to Blackbeard and shattering the ground beneath them.
"Gahh, you monster!" moaned Blackbeard. "Why won't you die, you old bastard!" Blackbeard looked up toward his crew! "Get him!"
The entirety of Blackbeard's company pulled guns, swords, and any other weapon they could, and unloaded everything they had directly into Whitebeard's body, finally dealing mortal damage to the monstrous figure.
Itachi did his best to move, to go to his former captain's aid, but he was well and truly spent. Sheer force of anger had already given him a second wind. There wouldn't be a third.
Whitebeard, the Yonko, the monster, the World's Strongest Pirate, even through all the damage he'd sustained, still found the strength to utter a few final words.
"You're not him," he said.
"What?!" exclaimed Blackbeard. "You're still alive?!"
"The man Roger is waiting for… is definitely not you, Teach. Just as there are some who inherited Roger's will, someone will eventually do the same for Ace. You can sever bloodlines, but their flames will never be extinguished. It has been passed down like that since ancient times! Someday, one will rise who will challenge the world and shoulder centuries of history. Sengoku, you and the World Government fear the great war that will come to this world someday! I'm not interested in the treasure, but when it's found, the whole world will be turned upside down! Someone will find it. That day will come." Whitebeard paused to take one last, mighty breath.
"THE ONE PIECE IS REAL!" he proclaimed for all the world to hear.
"Damn you!" screamed Sengoku.
With his children and the days he spent on the seas with them in his thoughts, the World's Strongest Man died on his feet.
Even in death, with his face half gone, he would never fall. He will forever be remembered as a monster for the way he destroyed his enemies that day. In this one battle alone, he suffered two hundred and sixty seven sword wounds, was struck by one hundred and fifty two bullets, and by forty six cannon blasts, and yet, neither his mighty body, nor his Pirate's Pride, suffered even one "coward's wound."