Chapter 52: Found them

‘It's decided. I’ll give Whitebeard a hand.’

‘He should be the topmost person who wants Blackbeard dead, second only to me’

Yami finally made his choice.

Simultaneously, both eyes transformed into Mangekyō Sharingan, enhancing his mental power.

When Squard's sword scabbard fell to the ground, the blade was only half a meter away from Whitebeard's chest.

"[Genjutsu: Sharingan]"

Powerful mental force instantly struck Squard's head.

The long sword Squard was preparing to thrust into Whitebeard penetrated the skin by barely an inch, then fell directly from his hand and clattered onto the whale-head bow.

"What!"

Whitebeard's reaction was one of disbelief.

He never imagined that his son would suddenly stab him in the back.

The slight flesh wound this time didn't significantly impact Whitebeard, but his heart ached.

Why would his son do this?

Disbelief filled his expression as he stared at the motionless Squard.

"Squard, what are you doing!"

Marco, who had been covering Luffy, flew back at full speed and kicked Squard onto the deck behind him.

His face blazed with anger.

The composure he'd maintained upon entering the battlefield vanished.

"Why!"

"Why did you stop at the last moment?"

"Pirates are really useless!"

One of the angriest people on the field was Sakazuki.

Everything had been proceeding smoothly, but this cowardly fool had stopped at the critical moment.

If Whitebeard could be seriously injured, the Navy would definitely suffer far fewer casualties in the subsequent battle.

When Squard was kicked away, he regained consciousness, unable to understand why he had stopped.

‘Success.’

"Whitebeard is in slightly better condition. He can cause some trouble for Blackbeard and won't fall so quickly.’

‘During this time, I'll first help Fugaku-san and the others deal with some of Blackbeard's subordinates and clear the battlefield.’

Yami glanced over and stopped paying attention to Whitebeard.

Backstabbing would only happen once at most.

The Navy's primary objective was killing Whitebeard.

Although they remained wary of Marshall D. Teach, he definitely wasn't as attractive a target as Whitebeard.

‘But Blackbeard's group should be lurking near the battlefield. Should I force them out first and let Whitebeard, who's in better condition now, take action?’

Yami considered his next move.

Blackbeard's group was a step behind Luffy and the others, but they certainly wouldn't be too far behind.

If he led a team to intercept them now, there might be some casualties.

The guys Blackbeard had brought were at least as strong as the Supernovas two years from now.

‘It's better to fight on this battlefield. Both the Navy and Whitebeard can pressure Blackbeard. Fugaku-san and the others just need to delay them. It won't be easy for them to escape in this terrain.’

‘If it's on the open ocean, maybe one or two could escape. That's too risky.’

Yami decided to fight at Marineford.

If he found Blackbeard, he'd force him out first, prevent his escape, and slowly use the battlefield to wear them down.

During this period, Whitebeard learned from Squard that Akainu had told him pirates like them would be used in exchange for Ace's life.

There was also the hatred between Squard and Roger, and his dissatisfaction with saving Ace.

After some delay, Whitebeard took action and shattered the surrounding ice walls, leaving an escape route for his sons.

"Let's attack together, you guys!"

Whitebeard finally joined the battlefield.

He couldn't wait any longer after being deceived and stabbed in the back by his own son.

These Marines would learn the consequences of using his own son against him.

The pirates' morale surged as they rushed toward the square.

On the ice, Whitebeard yanked his hands downward.

The surrounding sea surface split directly.

Including Marineford itself, the entire structure actually tilted.

Building foundations couldn't withstand such force, and houses where numerous Marines lived collapsed.

Although Shisui and the others already knew this man called Whitebeard was powerful, looking back now, they realized that their earlier imagination had been insufficient.

"Is this an Emperor?"

Fugaku felt somewhat uncertain.

After arriving in this world and listening to Yami's descriptions, he had regarded the Four Emperors as the Uchiha's targets.

But seeing this kind of power now, he felt that numbers seemed to have no effect whatsoever against such a strong individual.

Then Whitebeard killed a giant Navy Vice Admiral with one punch, the aftermath rushing directly toward the execution platform, but it was blocked by the three Admirals with their Haki.

The surrounding iron walls prepared by the Navy also rose, but one section was blocked by Little Oars Jr.'s body and failed to ascend.

Yami observed everything without surprise.

Everything matched the plot development exactly, except Whitebeard hadn't received a health-loss debuff; everything else remained almost identical.

However, after the surrounding iron walls rose, Sakazuki used [Meteor Volcano] for area-of-effect battlefield clearing, targeting everyone in the bay.

Simultaneously, he aimed to melt the ice so that the pirates would have nowhere to stand.

Whitebeard saw the iron wall and discovered his children's escape route had been cut off.

He flexed the huge muscles in his right arm and struck hard behind him.

The nearly eighty-meter-high thick iron wall blocking the entrance was blown away.

‘Is the plot starting to change?’

‘Is this because I prevented Whitebeard from losing blood, so he's bursting out with stronger power?’

Yami thought with some surprise.

At this point, no pirates remained in the square; they were all isolated in the bay, being beaten.

‘The ice wall is broken. Blackbeard should be close by…’

"Bang!"

Yami created a shadow clone and instructed it to find where Blackbeard was hiding while preparing for battle.

All attention on the battlefield was drawn to the bay.

No one noticed the shadow clone he'd created.

The clone transformed into an ordinary Marine and easily blended into the crowd before disappearing.

Luffy continued forward and had already rushed into the square.

However, Whitebeard also implemented Plan B. A coated ship was hidden beneath the sea, and he used this vessel to lead people into the square's interior.

When the melee erupted, the three Admirals on the Navy side couldn't attack indiscriminately or use their abilities recklessly.

Simultaneously, Whitebeard fully entered the battlefield.

Sakazuki faced him personally, while Aokiji was stopped by Diamond Jozu.

Only Kizaru was going through the motions, firing lasers with his fingers casually.

‘Found them!’

Yami's shadow clone located this mission's target, the Blackbeard Pirates.