The New World, Onigashima.
"That damn old hag Linlin!!"
"How dare she!"
"How dare she make a fool of me!!"
A giant sake barrel was sent flying by Kaido with a single palm strike, nearly crushing an innocent crew member outside.
He was wrapped in bandages, looking somewhat comical.
After the Marineford battle, Kaido wasn't completely unscathed.
Not just him… among the Four Emperors, except for the late-arriving Shanks, the other three all bore injuries.
In a situation filled with so many top-tier fighters, escaping completely unharmed was almost impossible.
Before him, King silently bowed his head.
"Kaido-sama, it's my fault. I didn't notice Katakuri's underhanded move."
On the previous battlefield, King was locked in a fierce back-and-forth with the Marine's newly promoted Admiral candidate, Aramaki, Ryokugyu.
On one side was a survivor of the Lunarian race + Ancient Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, and on the other was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
Fire should naturally counter plants, but Ryokugyu's plants seemed endless, simply impossible to burn completely.
To make him retreat would require flames at least on the level of Kaido's Bolo Breath.
Instead, King's high mobility in his Pteranodon form was countered by Ryokugyu's web of trees, especially during a war of attrition. King exhausted all his methods but couldn't defeat Ryokugyu.
-Of course, Ryokugyu couldn't catch King in this state either.
Members of the Lunarian race have flames burning on their bodies. After the flames extinguish, they sacrifice some defense for a great increase in mobility.
The battle between the two was dead even… they simply didn't notice that Doflamingo had been snatched from under their noses by Katakuri.
Before heading to Marineford, both Kaido and Big Mom had planned to seize the opportunity to snatch Doflamingo away.
Especially Big Mom.
Her grudge with Doflamingo was no longer limited to his previous act of betrayal on the battlefield.
For Big Mom, Doflamingo actually dared to escape from right under her nose and even took away her fiancé of that new race.
This was simply a slap in her face.
And Katakuri lived up to being Big Mom's most satisfactory creation… even on such a chaotic battlefield, he didn't forget his mission.
After the Summit War, Kaido, having thoroughly enjoyed the fight, was returning contentedly to Onigashima when he remembered this matter halfway.
By the time he thought about going back to find Big Mom, she was already long gone.
Hence, the scene of Kaido throwing a tantrum in his own stronghold.
"Kaido-sama! Let me go to Totto Land. I will definitely take Doflamingo back from Big Mom's hands."
King was also wrapped in bandages, but he was still determined to retrieve Doflamingo for Kaido.
Compared to his own pride, King's actions were more for Kaido's grand ambition.
In terms of loyalty, King was probably second to none within the Beast Pirates.
Hearing this, Kaido fell silent for a few seconds, clearly recalling how his other two All-Stars had been thwarted by that old hag Linlin.
King wasn't in perfect condition now either. If he charged into Totto Land alone like this, he might lose both the battle and his life.
For Kaido, King was far more important than Doflamingo.
-Even if it meant no more SMILEs, it didn't matter. He could just go out to sea and plunder other fruits.
But King was his right-hand man, his sworn brother.
Kaido was reckless, but he wasn't stupid.
Just as Kaido was hesitating, a series of dense, rumbling sounds suddenly came from next door.
Everyone in the meeting hall was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then immediately realized what was happening.
Some of the older Beast Pirates crew members showed expressions of being used to it.
Boom!!
The solid rock wall was shattered by a punch, and then a tall woman with white hair and horns on her head like Kaido barged straight in.
Beast Pirates' crew members blocking her path were shoved aside. She, like a relentless semi-truck, plowed through everything in her way.
"Move! Move!!"
Experienced old crew members pulled back the young guys who were about to step forward to stop her, signaling not to do anything foolhardy.
The white-haired woman's beast-like eyes swept across the meeting hall and without any hesitation landed on Kaido in the center.
"You old geezer!! How dare you not take me!"
"I want to see Naruto-sama too!!"
"Bastard!! Thunder Bagua!"
And Kaido, without any hesitation either, grabbed his club, Hassaikai, and countered with a Thunder Bagua of his own.
Zzzzt! Zzzap!
Purple-black Conqueror's Haki clashed and collided, the released pressure instantly knocking out many weaker individuals.
The entire meeting hall was left in disarray from the collision of these two attacks.
Strangely, King, who was extremely loyal to Kaido, remained completely indifferent to this scene.
As if he didn't see it at all.
Boom!!
In the end, it was Kaido who came out on top. Even injured and attacking on the spur of the moment, he still managed to smash his opponent away.
The white-haired woman shot like a cannonball straight into the mountain wall, raising a cloud of dust.
"Foolish son! What are you doing?!"
Kaido, leaning on his Hassaikai, roared angrily at the dust cloud.
His roar dispersed the dust. The woman whom Kaido called 'son' pulled herself out of the wall. Aside from her clothes being a bit dirty, she seemed unharmed.
"Young Master Yamato... Sigh..."
As one of the veterans who watched Yamato grow up, King understood her personality very well.
Due to the influence of a certain someone who broke into Wano Country twenty years ago, not only did Yamato's rebellious nature not diminish, it instead raced headlong down the path of being 'an exemplary filial child'.
She always called herself a [Chivalrous Hero], enjoying performing acts of chivalry around Wano Country and Onigashima.
The problem was, her father, the Captain of the Beast Pirates, was the most vicious crime boss in the area.
So, ninety-nine percent of her chivalrous deeds ultimately ended up targeting Kaido.
Faced with Kaido's punishments, Yamato simply paid no mind. Instead, she always wanted to form her own crew to go to sea for 'chivalrous deeds', and incidentally meet her spiritual idol, the [Great Hero], again.
Because of this, Kaido never allowed Yamato to leave Onigashima, putting 'explosive handcuffs that would detonate if she left Onigashima' on her.
However, Yamato was fiercely stubborn, showing no hesitation about sacrificing her hands to break free.
This put Kaido in a difficult position.
He had always been grooming Yamato as his successor… he couldn't possibly let her become disabled like that guy Shiki.
In the end, the helpless Kaido had to slightly relax Yamato's range of movement, allowing her to move freely between Onigashima and Wano Country.
But that was the limit.
Kaido directly threatened her with the lives of Wano's residents: if Yamato disobeyed and insisted on leaving, he would randomly start destroying the village in Wano Country one after another until Yamato returned on her own.
In this stalemate, father and daughter passed a relatively 'calm' period of coexistence.
To prevent Yamato from being lured away by certain people, Kaido cut off all information exchange between Wano Country and the outside world.
Yet, Naruto was involved in too many incidents. Yamato always managed to dig up news about Naruto from some unknown corner.
And every time she heard about Naruto's exploits, Yamato would always cause a ruckus.
Like now.
"Who let her see the news..."
Kaido held his forehead, feeling his head had never hurt so much before.
Not even when Akainu's Hell Hound hit him in the face.
Clearly, no one dared to answer that question at this moment.
Thud!
Yamato planted her treasured kanabo, Takeru, on the ground, then mindlessly shoved aside a furious-but-dare-not-speak Jack, sat in his seat, and directly picked up a large sake cup to drink.
She couldn't beat Kaido, and that earlier exchange could only be considered an intimate greeting between father and daughter.
After a few big gulps, Yamato finally let out a long sigh and turned to look at her father and King.
"Ha! Beaten up like this! Serves you right! Who told you not to take me along."
As she spoke, she began to laugh mindlessly.
Compared to her counterpart from another timeline, this Yamato seemed more carefree, more playful and irreverent.
She preferred being a 'heroic chivalrous person' over being a 'samurai'.
Only Yamato's laughter echoed in the hall… everyone else watched Kaido's increasingly dark face, not daring to breathe loudly.
"Enough, foolish son. What exactly do you want?"
Kaido angrily slammed the table, shattering it completely.
Gulp-
After the last mouthful of sake, Yamato stood up again, her expression serious as she looked at Kaido.
"Hey, old geezer, let me go help you get that 'Flamingo' guy back. In exchange, you let me go see Naruto-sama."
As she spoke, she walked right up to Kaido without a shred of reverence, pointing Takeru at Kaido's nose.
"No reason you can see him but I can't, right?"
"Don't worry, I keep my word."
"If you don't agree, I'm going to 'throw a drunken tantrum', you know."
After saying this, a powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Yamato.
And Kaido just quietly watched his daughter, not saying a word.
Well, Naruto's appearance wasn't without some good aspects.
At least Yamato's improvement in strength far exceeded his expectations.
Probably in another ten years... no, maybe even less than ten years, this bratty girl will be able to defeat him.