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"Golden Burst!"
Tesoro launched himself into the air, power gathering in his fist.
He soared across the battlefield, his target locked.
He brought his fist down on Reiju.
Tesoro recognized Reiju. He knew her connection to Jin was anything but ordinary, and his strategy was simple: capture her, fast. It was a two-pronged attack—curry favor with Big Mom and secure a bargaining chip to force Jin's hand over Uta.
"Hm?"
A blast of wind, a surge of imminent danger.
Reiju sensed it. Her right palm slammed against Snack's longsword, her body leaning back as she threw herself into a desperate, undignified roll.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Tesoro's punch struck the earth where she had been. The ground buckled, unleashing a shockwave of heat and glittering gold shrapnel.
Snack grunted, raising a Haki-coated arm to defend himself.
The butterfly-wing cloak of Reiju's Raid Suit flared, shielding her from the blast.
As the dust began to settle, she saw that Tesoro was already on her.
"Golden Right!"
His right arm, his entire fist, transmuted into solid gold, wreathed in Armament Haki. He lunged at her.
Reiju's form was a graceful blur as she dodged.
"Slowing Ray!"
A beam of light shot from her finger, striking Tesoro and immediately dulling his speed.
But before she could follow up, Snack's greatsword came slashing down.
"ROOM!!!"
Law, who had been clearing out fodder, was about to intervene when his body suddenly froze, bound by an invisible force.
"Fuffuffuffu... Law. Long time no see."
Doflamingo strode toward him.
He had spotted Law earlier but had held back, waiting—just like Tesoro—for the perfect moment to strike.
"DOFLAMINGO!"
Law's pupils contracted. He never imagined he would run into his most hated enemy here.
"What are you doing here?" Law growled, his body rigid with tension.
"Fuffuffu, come now. We're family, aren't we?" Doflamingo purred, a mocking smile on his face. "I've kept the Heart seat open for you all this time. I never thought you'd throw in your lot with the Winter Blossom Kingdom. Come back, Law. Come back to the Donquixote Family."
"Family?" Law's eyes were cold steel. "You don't have a family. Everyone is just a tool to you—a puppet. I will never go back to that place."
"Fuffuffu," Doflamingo chuckled, his fingertips twitching. "I'm afraid that's not up to you—"
But before he could finish—
Law's Haki flared, shattering the invisible hold of the Parasite String. He lunged, slamming a fist into Doflamingo's face and sending him sprawling.
————————————————————
Jin weaved through the attacks of Katakuri and the others.
The assault was relentless, coming from all sides. Everywhere he looked, there was an enemy.
It was a death by a thousand cuts. These weren't ants he was facing; they were the elite of the Big Mom Pirates.
His shirt was in tatters, his body peppered with the marks of cheap shots—bullet grazes and shallow cuts. But there were also seven or eight deeper wounds, most of them left by Big Mom herself. Katakuri's attacks, however, were just as threatening. He was clearly stronger than before.
"Flowing Mochi!" Katakuri roared, his black hair whipping around him as the very ground turned to mochi, surging into the air and coiling toward the sky.
Smoothie and Cracker, in perfect sync, unleashed their own attacks, blade waves of immense power. The other assassins followed suit.
Jin's Observation Haki screamed, and he moved, dodging through the storm of attacks. But it was an all-out assault; he couldn't evade everything.
He took the hits, his body absorbing the damage, his focus locked on a single target.
There was only one way out—cut off the head of the snake.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
He dropped from the sky like a meteor. His fist, a warhead of pure Haki, slammed into the churning mass of mochi.
It was a full-power blow.
The impact was apocalyptic.
The ground buckled and split, a tidal wave of force ripping through the earth, blasting Katakuri deep into the crater.
"Gwah...!"
Katakuri emerged from the rubble, his head split open and bleeding, his clothes shredded, his skin stained crimson.
Jin rose, his eyes still calm, but his movements were now feral, like a beast uncaged. He left an afterimage in his place as he shot toward Cracker.
He brought his leg down in a devastating axe kick, aimed at the giant biscuit soldier.
Cracker's eyes widened in shock. He stacked layer after layer of biscuit armor—a thousand deep, all hardened with Haki.
CRACK!
An overwhelming force smashed into the biscuit giant. The armor shattered, layer after layer disintegrating, blasted apart into a shower of crumbs.
Cracker, his face a mask of terror, shot out from the wreckage, his sword thrusting forward.
Jin charged, ducking under the sword thrust and driving a knee into Cracker's stomach.
Blood erupted from Cracker's nose and mouth.
Jin used the momentum to launch himself into the air, spinning and bringing his heel down in a final, crushing blow.
Cracker screamed as the sound of snapping bone echoed through the air. He was sent flying, crashing through a dozen of his own men.
Dust and debris filled the air.
A blade wave tore through the smoke, and Jin felt a searing pain as it sliced across his back, leaving a long, white gash.
Smoothie, now grown to the size of a giant, had joined the fray.
A dark-red blade of light erupted from her sword, a crimson ribbon in the chaotic battlefield.
Smoothie, proving her worth as a Sweet Commander, was not to be underestimated.
But Jin was unfazed. He spun and met the attack head-on, his own punch shattering the blade wave and sending a concussive blast of Haki back at her.
Smoothie was sent flying, the impact like a thunderclap, blood trickling from her nose and mouth.
In an instant, all three Sweet Commanders were down, grievously wounded, unable to get back up.
"A monster..." someone whispered, the words filled with a chilling awe.
The other family members were frozen in terror.
Jin's chest heaved as he caught his breath. His stamina was draining, but he stood tall, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield, an emperor surveying his domain.
Those who had been charging forward froze, their faces turning pale as his eyes passed over them. They scrambled backward.
Without the three Sweet Commanders to lead the charge and pin him down, their sneak attacks were useless.
No one dared to move...
The battlefield fell silent...
Then, a distant explosion.
Jin's head snapped in that direction, his brow furrowing.
Law vs. Doflamingo.
Reiju vs. Tesoro and Snack.
'Why are Doflamingo and Tesoro getting involved?'
Doflamingo, he could understand. They had a history.
But Tesoro? What was his angle?
The current Law was no match for Doflamingo. And Reiju, her stamina already depleted, was barely holding on against the combined assault of Tesoro and Snack.
It was only a matter of time before they both fell.
Jin took a deep breath, calming the raging fire in his blood.
"Are you done yet?" he sent, using the badge to contact Robin and Maya. They had already finished making the rubbing of the Poneglyph.
His objective on Whole Cake Island was complete.
It was time to leave.
After all this, he doubted Big Mom would be inviting them to stay for dinner.
BOOM!
Under the relentless assault of Tesoro and Snack, Reiju was on the defensive, sent tumbling to the ground again and again.
Her poison was useless against Tesoro's gold, and she was taking heavy damage.
"Golden Cage!"
Tesoro's arms turned to gold. He slammed his hands on the ground, unleashing his awakened ability—the power to turn anything he touched to gold.
The ground turned to a flowing, liquid gold, erupting around Reiju and forming a cage.
"Hahaha! Just give up quietly, Vinsmoke Reiju!" Tesoro laughed.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him.
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