Just as Blackbeard's hand was about to touch Whitebeard's body, his pupils suddenly shrank.
The figure before him vanished into thin air, leaving only a shiny screw behind.
Law, who had been thrown over by Cain, had used the power of the Op-Op Fruit to swap Whitebeard's position with the screw.
With several smooth, fluid movements, he protected Whitebeard's body and returned safely to Cain's side.
Then he collapsed onto the ground, temporarily unwilling to talk to anyone!
That one move had exhausted him badly!
Cain remained standing there just as before.
In the next second, his palm suddenly grew heavy.
Whitebeard's Murakumogiri had already fallen into his hand.
He weighed the heavy famous blade for a moment, then turned and tossed it to Ace, who was standing nearby with his head lowered, wiping away tears.
"Inherit his will and live well, Ace."
"Of course…" Ace spoke as he tightened his grip around Murakumogiri.
Memories of the past surged through his mind.
He looked at Whitebeard, who still stood tall before them, and shouted.
"POPS! I'LL GROW STRONG ENOUGH TO PROTECT EVERY LAST MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY!"
Scorching flames instantly swept over Ace's body, curling upward and wrapping around Murakumogiri's blade.
The weapon that symbolized Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, had now been passed into Ace's hands.
The blade was a little too long, though, making Ace's figure look somewhat thin as he held it.
Cain did not look toward Ace again.
His gaze went straight to Blackbeard, whose scheme had failed.
The man did not charge over in rage.
Besides, Cain's grandfather and Fleet Admiral Sengoku were both present. Nothing too chaotic should happen for the moment.
What remained was the source of that Conqueror's Haki.
Cain turned his head toward the direction where the pressure was surging.
The identity of the person approaching was already obvious.
Then Cain shouted toward Shiki, "SHIKI! BRING THE ISLAND DOWN! THERE'S NO REASON FOR THIS WAR TO CONTINUE ANYMORE!"
Shiki ignored him.
He glared hard at Cain, and the humiliation from several months ago surged back like a tide!
He roared furiously, "THAT DRAGON JUST NOW WAS YOU, WASN'T IT?! I KNEW IT LOOKED FAMILIAR! SO IT WAS YOU, YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO THREW ME INTO IMPEL DOWN BACK THEN! WHERE ARE MY SWORDS? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SWORDS?!"
Buggy, who was still being held in Golden Lion's grip, suddenly began struggling violently as well.
He pointed at Cain and cursed at the top of his lungs.
"I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT YOU, BASTARD! YOU TRICKED THIS GREAT CAPTAIN BUGGY! YOU'RE EXACTLY LIKE SHANKS, BOTH OF YOU ACTING ALL SMUG AND DISGUSTING!"
Cain pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
Was this really the time to dig up old grudges?
He had only thrown them into Impel Down. Did they really have to be so petty about it?
At that moment, the Conqueror's Haki that had locked onto Shiki grew even stronger.
The pressure was so heavy that it quieted the noisy battlefield slightly.
A group of people came rushing in on powerful winds, their cloaks snapping sharply as they instantly drew everyone's attention.
One by one, people stopped what they were doing and stared at the newcomers.
It was one of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks, and the crew of the Red Hair Pirates.
Since Marineford had been lifted into the air, they had all jumped up onto the island.
Beckman had a cigarette between his lips, his flintlock rifle aimed directly at Kizaru. Lucky Roux hugged a huge piece of roasted meat and continued eating happily.
The rest of the crew had also taken their positions, ready for battle.
"You really turned everything upside down, didn't you, Cain? And you too, Luffy."
Shanks laughed loudly.
At this moment, however, Luffy was sleeping like the dead, completely unaware of Shanks' arrival.
Only Jinbe and Ivankov remained by his side.
Because of her status as a Warlord, Hancock could only leave temporarily.
Sengoku strode forward, his sharp gaze sweeping across the Red Hair Pirates as he barked.
"RED-HAIR! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Behind him, the Marine soldiers immediately raised their guns and drew their swords, ready for combat.
Shanks spoke slowly to Sengoku, then turned his head toward Golden Lion.
"I'm here to end this war."
"Shiki-senpai, if this war continues, it'll only create more meaningless casualties. Give me some face and lower the island."
"Hmph. I'm not giving you any damn face! I'm only doing this out of respect for your captain!"
Shiki's words were still stubborn, and his tone refused to show the slightest weakness.
But in his heart, he had already accepted reality.
Judging from the Conqueror's Haki that had suppressed him just now, he was no match for this man.
If he kept dragging this out, he would only make a fool of himself.
So he simply gave Shanks this favor and activated the Float-Float Fruit, slowly lowering Marineford back down.
While the island descended, Buggy and Shanks' eyes finally met.
"SHANKS, YOU BASTARD! STOP ACTING SO DAMN COOL!"
Buggy twisted in Golden Lion's grip and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Shanks glanced at him and said lightly,
"Sorry, Buggy. I only just noticed you. It's been a long time."
"Don't give me that crap! You know that kid over there, don't you? Sure enough, he's exactly like you! Always walking around with that smug look no matter who he meets. 'Long time no see'? I still hate that face of yours! And now you're standing there all righteous, saying, 'Give me some face.' Stop pretending! Your face isn't worth a single Berry to this great Captain Buggy!"
Buggy split off the part of his body Shiki was holding and rushed straight in front of Shanks, grabbing him by the collar and cursing him out.
Shanks simply listened in silence.
Then he turned toward Cain, as though about to say something, only to see Cain charging straight at him with his weapon raised.
Cain did not use Armament Haki.
He did not add Conqueror's Haki either.
He used only pure physical strength!
Seeing this, Buggy split his body almost instinctively, dodging Cain's strike toward Shanks in an awkward panic.
Yet in the eyes of his underlings, that movement looked unbelievably calm and graceful.
Shanks casually drew Gryphon from his waist and raised the blade to block.
But the edge of his sword did not meet the attack as he had expected.
Instead, it swung straight toward Cain's right side, completely missing its mark.
"Hm?"
Shanks raised an eyebrow and instantly reacted.
He abandoned his Observation Haki perception at once and used the guard of his sword to firmly block Cain's attack.
He could not help but said, "That move is interesting."
"The inspiration came from you," Cain replied.
Six Paths of Reincarnation: Human Path was, in a sense, the reverse of Observation Killing.
If Shanks' Observation Killing prevented opponents from seeing the future, then Cain's technique directly guided the future his opponent perceived.
By manipulating his own aura, he disrupted the opponent's Observation Haki perception, causing the trajectory of their attack to unconsciously shift toward the direction Cain had prepared in advance.
The inspiration for this technique came partly from Shanks' ability and partly from the unique sensation Cain had experienced when his Observation Haki once went berserk.
Although Cain's memories from that berserk state were blank, through Uta's ability, he could repeatedly revisit the details from that time and re-experience that special perception.
At its core, Human Path used Cain's aura and Haki to interfere with the opponent's Observation Haki judgment.
If Observation Killing was a derived high-level use of Conqueror's Haki, then Human Path was Cain's independently developed advanced use of Observation Haki.
It was not as domineering and absolute as Observation Killing, but in ordinary combat, it was more than enough to restrict an opponent's Observation Haki.
After all, the precise Observation Haki judgment that normally guided them would, once it encountered Cain's Human Path, instead become a deadly trap leading them into the abyss.
As for why he had not used it against Garp earlier…
Cain had a feeling that if he dared to use this technique on the old man, Garp would only beat him even harder!