"NOW, SABO! DETONATE IT!"
Cain knew the truth about Luffy's fruit, but he had no time to think about it in detail.
He immediately shouted to Sabo beside him.
"But—"
"Don't worry. I'll handle the shockwave somehow! You protect Luffy and the others first!"
Before his words had even faded, Cain's enormous dragon body quietly shrank, transforming back into his human-beast form.
Standing on Flame Clouds, he raised his head toward the lead-gray sky and the Raigo that was about to explode.
"This was originally a technique I prepared to deal with giants, but it looks like I'll have to use it early."
"Six Paths of Reincarnation: Asura Path!"
In an instant, the lightning power gathering in his throat erupted outward.
Blue-white electricity scattered in every direction.
At the same time, scorching dragon breath surged up like fire, intertwining with the thunder.
The Six Paths of Reincarnation were six techniques Cain had developed for himself through his Devil Fruit ability and Haki.
And this Asura Path was a move he had specifically created to fight the enormous bodies of giants.
The technique fused Kaido's Flame Dragon Torch with violent thunder.
The moment fire and lightning collided and merged, Cain's body was lifted and expanded, turning into a massive giant phantom that blotted out the sky.
To borrow words from another work—
This was Cain's own Susanoo.
The instant Sabo detonated Raigo, that enormous body forged from thunder and fire stood like an unbreakable barrier, firmly blocking the earth-shaking shockwave.
Violent energy swept outward.
The dark clouds around them were instantly washed clean, and the oppressive sky that had weighed down on everyone's chest suddenly cleared.
Seeing that the danger had vanished, Cain dispersed the huge phantom of Asura Path and withdrew from his human-beast form.
He fell together with the others toward the ground below.
Ace reacted quickly and immediately reached out, grabbing Cain tightly.
Just like that, the four brothers held each other's hands as they fell through the sky.
"Luffy, why did you get smaller? Is it a side effect of that move just now?"
Sabo looked at Luffy's current appearance and asked in confusion.
Ace also rubbed Luffy's head, his voice full of worry.
"That move you used was way too reckless. Are you really okay now? You're not going to stay like this forever, are you?"
Faced with everyone's anxious questions, Luffy, who had turned into a child because of Gear Third's side effect, flashed them a bright grin.
"I'm fine! I'll go back to normal soon! Ace, Sabo, Cain… everyone's okay! That's great! Shishishi!"
Ace, Sabo, and Cain looked at one another.
Then all three of them laughed together, their laughter filled with helpless affection.
Ace spoke first.
"I'll live properly…"
Then Sabo followed.
"I don't want any more separations. Not after we finally reunited…"
Then Cain said, "This is what all of us fought with everything we had to protect…"
Luffy blinked his round eyes, then lifted his face into a smile too.
The four of them looked at one another.
Then they shouted together.
"AFTER ALL…"
"WE'RE—"
"BROTHERS!"
…
That roar from the sky shook the clouds, and almost every eye on the battlefield was drawn to it.
Beneath the cloud layer, Whitebeard, Shiki, Sengoku, and Garp, who were locked in fierce combat, all looked up toward the now-clear sky at the same time.
Whitebeard looked at the boys falling hand in hand above them, and a relieved smile spread across his wrinkled face.
'Ace, from here on, the road ahead is yours to walk. Now that you've broken free from the chains of that identity, you'll carve out your own path.'
Garp looked at those lively figures, and his eyes grew hot before he even realized it.
His heart felt both sour and soft.
'You little brats… why do this old man's eyes feel a little sore? If only all of you were willing to become Marines....'
"HEY! YOU TWO, FOCUS ON THE FIGHT! DON'T START GETTING SENTIMENTAL AT A TIME LIKE THIS, YOU BASTARDS!" x2
Shiki and Sengoku roared almost at the exact same time, finally dragging Whitebeard and Garp's thoughts back to the smoke-filled battlefield.
But at that moment, a crimson figure suddenly shot past everyone and rushed straight toward the sky.
It was Akainu, who had been gravely injured and had barely been able to stand earlier.
"Hey, hey. You're hurt that badly, and you can still move?"
Aokiji frowned and chased after him from behind.
Akainu ignored the voice behind him completely. His eyes held only bone-deep killing intent.
Those pirates in the sky were simply lawless!
Kizaru had vanished who knew where, while the Fleet Admiral and the Hero of the Marines were both tied down by Whitebeard and Golden Lion.
And those brats dared to act as they pleased high above Marine Headquarters, laughing so happily?
Did they really think the Marines had no one left?
"HOW DARE PIRATES LIKE YOU RUN WILD AT MARINE HEADQUARTERS!"
With that furious roar, Akainu's fist instantly transformed into scalding magma.
It condensed into a savage crimson dog head and blasted toward the falling four with force that seemed capable of destroying everything in its path.
"Look out!"
"Fire Fist!"
Ace stepped in front of the others without hesitation.
Flames roared over his entire body, and he launched a Fire Fist that howled forward, barely blocking Akainu's magma attack.
Cain hurriedly activated his ability as well, creating Flame Clouds to hold them in the air.
"It's useless!"
Akainu sneered.
His magma fist pressed forward again, wrapped in scorching heat.
"You are merely fire, while I am magma, capable of burning even flames to ash. Our abilities have an absolute hierarchy!"
"So what?"
Ace's gaze was firm, and he grinned faintly.
"I'm not alone, Sakazuki!"
"That's right. He has us!"
Sabo was the first to act.
He used the method of lightning control he had learned from Vegapunk, and the high-voltage current in his hand pierced through the air, transforming into scorching plasma flame.
"Plasma Fire Fist!"
"This time, nobody is taking Ace away from me, you bastard!"
Before Cain's words had even faded, fine dragon scales had already appeared at the corner of his mouth.
His partially draconic jaw gathered power, ready to release.
"Fire Dragon Fist!"
"IF YOU'RE FIRING IT FROM YOUR MOUTH, STOP CALLING IT THAT!" Ace could not help shouting back.
"Is now really the time to care about that?!"
Cain opened his mouth wide and fired blazing dragon breath shaped like a fist toward Akainu.
"And me!"
Luffy's voice suddenly rang out. By now, his body had already returned to normal.
He pulled his arm far back, and pitch-black Armament Haki instantly covered his right fist.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's gonna become King of the Pirates!"
"This punch isn't just some mindless imitation anymore. It carries the will of all us brothers!"
"Gum-Gum—Red Hawk!"
Four attacks.
All in the form of fire.
All carrying the same will to protect.
They were proof that the bond between these brothers would never disappear.
The three blazing attacks followed one after another.
Akainu had no way to block them.
He was struck head-on and sent flying, crashing heavily into the ruins of a building behind him.