BOOM!
For a split second, time itself seemed to freeze. Then, before countless shocked eyes below, the Conqueror's Haki of the two collided head-on in a violent clash!
If Kaido's Conqueror's Haki carried the wild, unrestrained ferocity befitting an Emperor of the Sea…
Then Nao's Conqueror's Haki was like the shining sword of justice raised by a king, basking in sunlight, upright and unyielding, gazing down upon all!
In that instant—
The sea of clouds churned violently. Black lightning seemed to split the night sky in all directions, crackling and intertwining, spreading under the moonlight like a storm.
On the island below, trees collapsed, flocks of birds scattered in panic, and the once-calm sea raged violently, blasting upward with dozens of massive geysers of water as thick as wagon wheels!
"Just the clash of Conqueror's Haki alone has this kind of force…"
Many swallowed hard at the sight, their voices trembling:
"Are these two even human anymore…?"
In the sky.
"How unexpected."
Surrounded by a terrifying aura of Conqueror's Haki, the azure dragon fixed his cold eyes on Nao standing atop the cliff.
"I didn't expect that besides that stinky old man Sengoku, there would be someone else in the Marines who could possess such powerful Conqueror's Haki."
"But…"
As he spoke, the dragon's massive body blurred with light and shadow before shrinking into his human form. Under the moonlight, Kaido's towering, demonic figure emerged.
"If you think this alone is enough to anger me…"
Kaido grinned savagely, his face twisting into a cruel expression.
"…then you're dreaming far too big."
With that, he reached behind his back and drew his weapon—
A massive spiked kanabo, several meters tall, its surface studded with deadly iron spikes that gleamed in the moonlight, radiating a terrifying aura.
Its name: Hassaikai!
"Are you ready to die, brat!"
With a low roar, Kaido raised the kanabō high and smashed it downward. It whistled through the air, and pitch-black lightning suddenly crackled around the club.
"Thunder… Bagua!"
That move again?
Nao's expression stayed calm, a cold laugh in his heart. Back in the G-1 battle, he had taken that very strike head-on with his body and walked away unharmed. And Kaido still thought this could bring him down?
Yes, this swing carried more force than before—but Nao wasn't the same man he had been back then either.
"You call that thunder, Kaido?!"
Gripping the Yone twin swords tightly, Nao roared, his eyes bursting with intense fighting spirit. Azure lightning suddenly surged around the blades as he swung upward to meet the giant descending kanabo!
KRA-KOOM!
Amidst the deafening explosion, the two figures with disproportionate sizes collided again. With the clashing of their weapons as the center, a huge ripple, visible to the naked eye, spread out in all directions.
The sea immediately trembled violently, creating monstrous waves. Even the surrounding space seemed to be slightly twisted and deformed at that moment!
At the point where the swords and the kanabo met, crackling thunder currents continuously spread from the Hassaikai to Kaido's body. They pierced through his rough and thick skin, making his hands feel slightly numb.
"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, huh…"
Looking down at Nao from behind the gap between the kanabō and the swords, Kaido's oppressive gaze held a sneer of disdain.
"Not as good as a Zoan, but… I'll admit, it's a decent ability. Still—don't tell me this is the trump card you think qualifies you to challenge me?"
As the words fell, Kaido suddenly pressed harder, blasting Nao's twin sword apart.
Without even glancing, his massive right leg swung from left to right in a brutal kick aimed straight for Nao's head.
That kick came down sharp and fast, almost impossibly quick—only to meet another strike from above.
BOOM!
Two legs, both coated in Armament Haki, smashed together with a sound like colliding iron.
After a brief deadlock, Kaido was forced two steps back by the recoil.
On the other side, Nao, shielded by his dense Armament Haki, only slid back five or six steps before planting his foot firmly in midair, stabilizing with ease.
But even so, he was a fraction of a beat slower than Kaido—and in battle, that was enough. In the blink of an eye, Kaido's figure flickered behind him. The black kanabo came down hard on Nao's head.
THUD!
The blow landed dead-on, straight to the forehead, with a gut-twisting crunch. Nao's body plummeted, smashing into the cliff top and drilling straight through solid rock, leaving a deep, bottomless crater.
"Too weak after all—"
Kaido's lips had just curled into a mocking smile when his pupils constricted the next instant. "What?!"
WHOOSH!
From the crater, Nao shot back into the sky like a cannonball, returning to his original position almost instantly.
Apart from a faint white mark on his forehead that was rapidly fading, he was completely unharmed.
"Didn't even tickle!"
Nao brushed dust and rubble from his hair, calmly gripping his twin swords again. With a mocking laugh, he crossed them and slashed sideways.
"Is that all you've got, Kaido? With strikes this weak, you still dare call yourself the so-called 'Strongest Creature in the World'?"
"You insolent brat!"
A vein twitched at Kaido's temple as he swung his kanabo to meet the incoming blades. The two forces clashed midair, locked for several seconds, their cold gazes locked together.
"Just a warm-up, and you're already this impatient?"
His face twisted into a savage grin.
"Fine. Since you're so eager, I'll show you what real power looks like!"
BOOM!
An earth-shaking aura erupted from his colossal body. Kaido threw back his head and roared, gripping the kanabo tight. For the first time, he swung with his full strength, smashing down with everything he had!
"Perfect timing!"
Nao laughed loudly, fearless. His twin swords crackled with blue lightning as he swung them upward to meet Kaido's strike head-on!
...
Far away, dozens of kilometers away.
Two large ships, flying the flag of the Beasts Pirates, had appeared in this sea area at some point and were sailing toward HalL Island.
"Lord Queen! Lady Sena!"
The pirate in the lookout tower seemed to have noticed something. His eyes widened, and he bent down and yelled at the deck, "Look at the sky over there! It's Lord Kaido!"
"You think I can't tell?"
Below, Sera said coldly, "With an aura like that, who else could it be but Lord Kaido?"
During last year's battle at Marine G1 Base, she had been grievously injured by Nao. Though her thick, dinosaur-hide body granted by the Triceratops fruit let her barely escape with her life, she still lost an arm.
Her bounty hadn't changed since then, and Kaido allowed her to retain her position as a Calamity out of recognition for her contributions.
But not everyone could be like Red-Haired Shanks. With one arm gone, her strength had already slipped to the weakest among the three Calamities, leaving her standing on shaky ground within the Beast Pirates.
Countless mid-to-high-ranking officers at the "Tobiroppo" level eyed her position covetously, watching her like tigers eyeing their prey.
Because of that—
Her hatred for Nao ran bone-deep.
"…" The pirate on lookout shivered at the chill rolling off his captain, quickly ducking back into the tower, not daring to say another word.
On the bow of the other ship sailing alongside, a fat man with a cigar between his lips clicked his tongue and sighed:
"Guess the one trading blows with Lord Kaido must be that Nao. Never seen him with my own eyes before… didn't think his strength had already reached that level…"
This was none other than Queen, who last year rose to the rank of Calamity after replacing the deceased "Famine" Arno.
For the sake of that Poneglyph—
And to avenge the death of Poison Sonic—
The Beasts Pirates, who had spent the past year keeping a low profile on Onigashima, had now mustered nearly all their top fighters, almost a full mobilization.
"Come to think of it, I've got some old scores to settle with that brat myself…"
Queen glanced at the one-armed woman beside him, her body radiating venomous malice, and said with a grin:
"How about we go lend Lord Kaido a hand—take that guy down as fast as possible?"
"Interfere with Lord Kaido's fight?"
Sena shot him a frosty look, her tone openly mocking:
"If you're not afraid of him beating you half to death afterward for sticking your nose in, then sure—be my guest."
"Just kidding, just kidding."
Queen puffed his cigar, raising his arms in mock surrender before shrugging.
"Then I guess our job's a little boring. All we've got to do is wait for the right moment, slip past, and grab the Poneglyph…"
"No. It won't be that simple."
Sena cut him off, her cold eyes narrowing as she gazed toward the vast forest.
"Don't forget—aside from that brat, there's another troublesome one among the Marines on this island…"
...
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Amid the sound of tearing air, three ice spears shot straight towards the straw-hatted young man's chest. He barely dodged them, parrying an ice blade slashing from the side with his sword, his face frantic with anger:
"Oi! You bastard—at a time like this, shouldn't you be helping Nao deal with Kaido? Why are you still clinging to me?!"
"That question, huh…"
Aokiji's expression didn't waver, his voice calm and cold.
"At first, yeah, I thought about it. But just as I was about to go, I realized maybe it'd be better to stay here… and deal with you."
"Huh?!"
Shanks was first stunned, then furious enough to see smoke.
"What the hell's wrong with you! Afraid you won't get any credit, so you're obsessed with my bounty instead? If your dawdling gets your own comrade beaten, you'll still call yourself a Marine?!"
You're a pirate, aren't you? Why are you the one getting so worked up…
Aokiji's eye twitched slightly. With a cold snort, he said:
"You don't get it… if I barge in right now, that guy won't be happy about it."
A year ago, Nao and Akainu had barely managed to hold off Big Mom, leaving Sengoku to face Kaido alone.
Aokiji knew that incident had always been a regret and a sore spot for his friend. After a year of growth and training, Nao's power had skyrocketed, and at last he had the chance to clash head-on with Kaido.
How could Aokiji be so thoughtless as to interfere in that moment?
"And don't underestimate him. Even Kaido won't be able to deal with him easily."
Fixing Shanks with a steady look, Aokiji said coolly:
"Instead of worrying about Kaido, you'd better worry about your own situation right now…"
Hearing those words—
Shanks' heart sank. Damn it… this guy's lost his patience with stalling me. He's about to get serious!
Sure enough—
"Ice Ball!"
In the next instant, Aokiji leapt high into the air above Shanks' head. His gaze cold and stern, he crossed his arms over his chest, lowered his eyelids, and shouted.
Ten pillars of ice as thick as bowls shot out from his fingertips, gleaming under the moonlight as they converged towards the straw-hatted young man below.
SWISH!
The ice pillars were extremely fast. Even though Shanks was alert and tried to dodge, one of them still managed to graze his body.
Thick frost instantly spread from his head down to his heels. Within mere seconds, it formed a huge ice ball, trapping him inside.
Thud.
Aokiji landed lightly, gazing calmly at the ice ball. Inside, Shanks' eyes were wide open, but his body was locked in place, his consciousness quickly fading…
"Take this kid and his crewmates, lock them up together. And make sure to assign extra guards."
Hands clasped behind his back, Aokiji gave the order to the Rice Admiral who rushed over with soldiers.
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
The officer answered immediately, then led his men to push the ice ball with great effort toward the warship. Aokiji, meanwhile, turned his gaze toward the depths of the forest.
"Still a few stragglers…"
As if sensing a presence in a hidden cave somewhere, Aokiji raised an eyebrow. Just as he was about to use Geppo (Moonwalk) to head over, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he turned to look beyond the coast.
"More people coming?"
His pupils constricted, his expression far more grave than when he saw the dragon crossing the sea earlier. "Dammit, the Beasts Pirates… they've really gone all out this time…"
...
Meanwhile, at G1 Branch.
Unlike Hall Island, which had just entered nightfall, the G-1 base was at the dawn before daybreak.
At 4 A.M., Commander Akainu, still deep in sleep, was jolted awake by the buru-buru ringing of a Den Den Mushi. Frowning, he sat up, voice low and rough:
"…This is Sakazuki."
At first his face showed annoyance. But once the call connected and he heard the voice from the other end, his pupils contracted sharply. Any trace of drowsiness vanished instantly.
"What?!"