At that moment, Biscuit Island was shrouded in smoke and chaos.
Katakuri had arrived there and ended up fighting Yamato.
With her Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, Conqueror's Haki coating, and Oni physique, Yamato completely surpassed Katakuri in terms of raw advantages.
But Katakuri's Observation Haki had already been honed to the absolute limit.
He could see the future, so as long as he focused purely on evasion, that was enough.
And Yamato hadn't intended to fight in the first place.
Once she realized she couldn't hit him, she simply stopped trying.
Earlier, she had been starving, and when she saw all the biscuit buildings on the island, she started eating them on the spot, which attracted Cracker.
At the time, she had been completely focused on eating and hadn't been the slightest bit polite toward Cracker when he got in her way.
One Thunder Bagua later, Cracker was knocked out cold, and she went right back to stuffing herself.
Only after fighting Katakuri did Yamato realize there was no need to keep battling.
She immediately stepped forward and apologized, saying plainly that she had been sailing alone for a very long time, hadn't eaten properly in ages, and only caused all this trouble because she had been so hungry.
"I understand the feeling of going too long without eating," Katakuri said in a low voice. "But are you really apologizing right now?"
Even Katakuri, who was usually calm, couldn't help but feel annoyed.
Yamato was currently hanging off him, biting his arm and refusing to let go!
"AH, SORRY, SORRY!" Yamato immediately let go and clasped her hands together in apology.
"This is the first time I've seen a Paramecia user besides Zoan and Logia types. I didn't expect your body could actually turn directly into mochi. Can it be eaten?"
"No."
"EHHHH? YOU'RE LYING!" Yamato shot back at once. "THOSE MOCHI BULLETS YOU THREW AT ME EARLIER—EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T SWALLOW THEM, THEY ACTUALLY TASTED PRETTY GOOD WHEN I CHEWED THEM!"
Katakuri instantly felt a headache coming on.
For some reason, this personality felt strangely familiar.
In the next moment, he thought of a certain straw-hatted figure.
Suppressing that thought, he looked Yamato over, frowned, and asked cautiously,
"You're from Wano? A samurai?"
"Yeah." Yamato nodded, spread one hand, stamped a foot on the ground, and rested her kanabo across her shoulder.
"I'm Kozuki Oden! I escaped from Wano."
'So she really was from Wano—the territory of one of the Four Emperors, Kaido.'
'And considering the strength she had just displayed, being able to escape from Kaido's grasp certainly wasn't simple.'
'It looked like he'd have to bring her to see Mother.'
Seeing that Yamato showed no intention of resisting, Katakuri turned and said, "Come with me."
"Eh? Where? Oh right, are you a pirate? This is my first time sailing out, so I have no idea where I'm going. Earlier I read in a logbook that you need some kind of pointer… Oh, right, right, and another thing…"
Yamato kept chattering after him, then suddenly paused and added,
"Oh yeah, what's your name?"
"Katakuri."
"Oh, got it! Then do you have a ship here? Can you lend me one…?"
'So noisy,' Katakuri thought to himself, without breaking stride.
…
Whole Cake Island, inside the central castle hall.
Having listened to Yamato's endless babbling the whole way, Katakuri finally brought her in and respectfully reported to Big Mom:
"Mother, I've brought the one who invaded Biscuit Island. She says she escaped from Wano."
Yamato was still looking around the hall curiously.
The instant she saw Big Mom, she blurted out in amazement.
"WHAT A HUGE BODY! SHE'S PRACTICALLY THE SAME AS THAT BULL-HEADED GORILLA."
"Mamamama… hmm?"
Big Mom wasn't angry.
Instead, she fixed her gaze on Yamato, staring at the horns on her head as she spoke.
"If I remember correctly, you're Kaido's son, Yamato, aren't you? What are you doing in my Totto Land?"
Although Big Mom had never seen Yamato in person, she had heard Kaido mention her before over the Den Den Mushi.
At the side, Katakuri was stunned.
He had never expected Kaido of all people to have a son!
Yamato had introduced herself earlier as "Kozuki Oden," which meant that name had been fake.
He hadn't expected someone who looked so straightforward and airheaded to actually hide their real name.
Worse yet, he had brought someone this dangerous straight to Mother without any restraints whatsoever.
That was unacceptable.
In an instant, Katakuri rushed behind Yamato, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her hard to the floor.
"HEY, KATAKURI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WEREN'T WE JUST GETTING ALONG FINE A MOMENT AGO?!" Yamato shouted from the ground.
Katakuri said in a low voice, "Letting you stand before Mother so openly was my failure. Sorry, but I have to do this."
"Don't be so rough, Katakuri," Big Mom said, stopping him.
Then she looked at Yamato.
"Well then, Yamato, what did that brat Kaido send you here for?"
Katakuri loosened his grip.
Yamato immediately climbed back to her feet and puffed out her chest as she declared.
"My name is Yamato, Kaido's son, and also Kozuki Oden, the one who has inherited Oden's name!"
"And I came here with absolutely nothing to do with that bastard old man! I went to sea on my own to save my dear friend!"
"Mamamama. So that means Kaido doesn't even know you're here?" Big Mom said.
Then her voice sharpened.
"Do it, Katakuri."
"Yes, Mother."
Katakuri responded at once and immediately gathered force to attack again.
Yamato tensed her whole body, instantly on full guard.
"There's no way I'm letting you stop me! I barely made it to the sea…"
Dodging Katakuri's attack in a flash, Yamato turned to face Big Mom directly.
Conqueror's Haki instantly wrapped around her kanabo as she swung it down hard.
"AND ACE IS STILL WAITING FOR ME! HOW COULD I POSSIBLY STOP HERE?!"
The moment the name Ace left her mouth, both Katakuri and Big Mom froze for the briefest instant—but Big Mom's movements did not stop.
"Napoleon!"
"Aye, Mama!"
The hat on Big Mom's head instantly transformed into a giant sword, likewise coated in Conqueror's Haki, and came crashing down to meet Yamato's kanabo head-on.
The collision of those two fierce streams of Conqueror's Haki tore straight upward, ripping a massive gap through the clouds.
Then, in the next moment, Big Mom suddenly exerted more force and blasted Yamato away with a single crushing strike.
"Mamamama! That brat Kaido really did raise himself a fine son!" Big Mom laughed wildly before lowering her voice and asking.
"But brat, tell me—what's this about Ace?"
After all, even she had only learned of Ace's execution because Cain had passed the news to Katakuri.
For Yamato to appear here like this… could it be that Kaido had already figured out the Marines' plan to surround Whitebeard and wanted to take advantage of it?
"DAMN IT! I ALREADY TOLD YOU—I'M GOING TO SAVE MY DEAR FRIEND! WEREN'T YOU LISTENING?!" Yamato shouted.
"What we're asking is how you found out about it," Katakuri explained in a deep voice.
"How should I know?! Someone suddenly sent me a message saying something had happened to Ace and that he'd be executed in two months, so I rushed out to sea in a panic!"
As she said that, Yamato raised her kanabo again, clearly intending to continue the fight.
But Big Mom lifted a hand to stop her.
"So that means Kaido doesn't know about this at all? Then the one who tipped you off…"
"It was probably Cain," Katakuri immediately said.
"Cain?!" Yamato raised a brow.
That name sounded familiar—she was pretty sure Ace had mentioned it before.
Katakuri went on to explain.
"He's Ace's brother, and also my younger brother. We're already planning to depart in one month to rescue Ace. It looks like you'll make a very useful ally."
"EHHHHH?!!"
Yamato froze on the spot, her kanabo hanging motionless in midair.
…
Egghead Island, Vegapunk's laboratory.
At that moment, Vegapunk's satellites were each carrying out their own duties, patrolling their designated areas.
Vegapunk's main body stood in front of a machine, operating it.
Without even raising his head, Vegapunk spoke to the figure standing some distance away.
"If you'd arrived just a little earlier, you would've run into an Admiral you know."