A massive shadow instantly swallowed the buildings below.
Roof tiles shattered. Wooden planks exploded apart.
Inside the banquet hall, wine cups toppled across the tables.
Bahl, the man who'd been holding a mountain-splitting axe, was already sprawled in a pool of blood—alive or dead, no one could tell. Everyone present could only sigh at the same thought:
Why is it always the ones with zero ability who love throwing themselves at death?
Shinju sat at the seat of honor, the wine cup in his hand steady as a rock.
Hashirama paused his chopsticks. Madara set down his sake gourd.
The three of them looked up at the same time.
Above them, a savage dragon head dipped down.
Azure scales reflected a cold, hard sheen in the sunlight.
Dragon whiskers whipped wildly through the wind.
Kaido of the Beasts.
The monster known as the world's strongest creature had crossed a thousand miles and descended directly upon them.
That enormous maw opened, heat rolling out in waves.
"Shinju!!"
The voice boomed like thunder, echoing across the entire island.
Shinju didn't even stand. He stared at the huge dragon head, expression unchanged.
Kaido's vertical pupils locked onto the boy below.
Rumor said this boy was a god.
Kaido didn't believe in gods. He believed in violence.
"I heard you're strong?"
Somehow, that single question carried the weight of a challenge carved into bone.
Kaido roared again.
Dragon breath blasted outward, scattering debris and ripping the surrounding buildings apart.
"I came all this way on purpose. I'm not here to listen to stories!"
His gigantic body coiled through the air. The wind pressure alone made people on the ground struggle to keep their footing.
"Come on! Kill me!"
Kaido's voice was madness distilled.
"Or let me kill you!"
"Show me you've got the qualifications to end this boring life of mine!"
A naked provocation.
A Yonko's pressure erupted without restraint.
The attendants behind Shinju went pale, knees trembling.
Shinju lifted his hand and took a slow sip of wine—calm, unhurried, almost leisurely.
That disregard completely enraged Kaido.
"Brat! Are you looking down on me?!"
The dragon's howl shattered even more windows.
Shinju finally spoke.
"You want to die?"
Kaido froze for a beat—then threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"That's right! I want to die! Can you do it?!"
Shinju leaned back in his chair, with no intention of standing.
"Then I'll grant it."
Those words carried killing intent like a blade—yet Shinju still didn't move.
Instead, he turned his head toward the two beside him.
Hashirama was staring up at the dragon with a face full of excitement. Madara looked contemptuous, arms folded across his chest.
Shinju pointed up at Kaido.
"You two."
"The so-called strongest creature… a sandbag that delivered itself."
"Take him. Warm up."
Hashirama shot to his feet so hard his chair scraped backward.
"Really?! Shinju!"
He cracked his knuckles, eyes shining.
"Something that big—looks like it'll be fun to fight!"
Madara snorted and stood as well.
"Just a lizard."
His gaze swept coldly across the sky.
"And it dares call itself the strongest?"
Kaido heard every word.
These three brats… were treating him like a warm-up. Like a punching bag?
"YOU BASTARDS!!"
Kaido roared, then plunged downward.
Dragon claws screamed through the air, slashing toward the terrace where Shinju sat.
One hit—enough to pulverize a mountain.
Hashirama moved. He slammed his palms together.
The ground instantly split open as countless thick trees erupted upward.
They grew crazily, twisting and entwining—until, in the blink of an eye, a gigantic wooden dragon formed.
The wooden dragon roared and shot into the sky, colliding head-on with Kaido.
The two titanic beasts smashed together in midair—an explosive shockwave bursting outward.
The surrounding buildings were ground into dust.
The wooden dragon clamped its jaws around Kaido's neck. Kaido's claws tore into the dragon's body.
Wood chips sprayed. Scales cracked and burst.
"What the hell is this?!"
Kaido's fury spiked into shock.
This wood—its hardness rivaled steel. And it was draining his stamina.
Hashirama stood amid the ruins, laughing loudly.
"Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"
His hands held the seal steady.
"Big guy, you've got some strength!"
Kaido roared, raw power surging.
The wooden dragon's body was ripped apart by force. Kaido broke free.
He opened his mouth—an orange-red glow condensing deep inside.
Heat warped the air.
A massive pillar of flame blasted out, aimed straight at Hashirama and Madara below.
Hashirama started to form seals to defend
Madara stepped forward first.
He crossed in front of Hashirama.
His eyes turned into a crimson pattern.
Then, the pattern shifted—becoming purple Rinnegan.
Blue chakra flames surged into the sky.
A towering blue giant erupted from the ground
Complete Susanoo.
Wings spread from its back. Twin blades gleamed in its hands.
Facing the incoming flame, the giant simply swung its long sword.
The blade cut through the air.
A vacuum slash formed from the monstrous wind pressure, splitting the fire pillar cleanly down the middle.
Flames poured to both sides, scorching the distant land.
And the slash didn't stop—racing straight for Kaido in the sky.
Kaido sensed extreme danger and instinctively tried to dodge.
But his massive body made him the perfect target.
The blade-light flashed.
Scales across Kaido's chest shattered in large chunks, blood spraying out.
His huge body tumbled in the air several times before he barely stabilized himself.
It had been a long time since Kaido had felt pain like this.
He looked down at the blue giant below… then at the wooden dragon that was already regenerating.
Who were these two?
The sea had never heard of them.
Madara stood within the crystal on Susanoo's forehead, staring down at Kaido from above.
"Is that all?"
"So-called strongest creature… you can't even dance."
Hashirama hopped onto the wooden dragon's head.
"Madara, don't get careless. This guy's vitality is ridiculous."
He sent the wooden dragon charging again.
"Perfect—let me try a newly developed move!"
Kaido's rage finally snapped into something total.
Being suppressed by two nobodies was humiliation.
"DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ME!!"
His body began to change.
Scales tightened. His size compressed.
He shifted into his man-beast form—his strongest fighting state.
A spiked kanabo appeared in his grip: Hassaikai (Eight Precepts).
Flame clouds formed under his feet—his speed skyrocketing.
"Raimei Hakke!"
Black lightning coiled around the kanabo.
Kaido became a streak of afterimage—instantly appearing atop Susanoo's head.
He brought the club down.
Cracks spidered across Susanoo's helmet.
The force transmitted downward—Madara's footing shattered as the ground collapsed beneath him.
"Hmph. Interesting."
Susanoo crossed its twin blades, blocking Kaido's follow-up.
At the same time, the wooden dragon struck from the side.
Its massive wooden tail whipped into Kaido's back
Kaido was blasted away.
He crashed through three mountain peaks, smoke and dust boiling into the sky.
Shinju still sat in his original seat.
Everything around him was ruins now.
Only the chair he sat on—and the table in front of him—remained intact.
He lifted his cup, gently swirling the wine, watching the distant battlefield.
Kaido burst out of the rubble, covered in blood—yet his aura only grew fiercer.
That monster's recovery really was astonishing.
But in front of Hashirama and Madara, that recovery meant nothing.
Hashirama pressed his palms together.
"Sage Art: Wood Style: Thousand Hands!"
A thousand-armed Kannon statue erupted from the earth, blotting out the sky.
Its shadow swallowed the entire battlefield.
Kaido stopped his charge, staring up at the wooden colossus that pierced the clouds.
What was this?
Genjutsu? A Devil Fruit?
What kind of awakened ability could create something like this?
Madara refused to be outdone.
"Iso Susanoo!"
Blue armor spread over the thousand-armed Buddha—this was the strongest combination technique of the shinobi world.
Now used… to crush a single pirate.
Kaido tightened his grip on the kanabo.
He didn't retreat. He couldn't.
He was Kaido of the Beasts.
"COME ON!!!"
He roared and charged the Buddha like an ant charging a mountain.
Hashirama bellowed.
"Chojo Kebutsu (Top Transformed Buddha)!"
Countless gigantic wooden fists—wrapped in Susanoo's armor—rained down like a storm.
Each punch carried the force to destroy an island.
Air detonated. Space itself warped from the impacts.
The unending roar shook heaven and earth.
Kaido's figure was instantly drowned beneath the fist-shadows.
The fight ended—without any suspense.
When the dust cleared, the colossal Kannon slowly faded away.
A bottomless crater gaped in the ground.
Kaido lay at the bottom.
His kanabo was snapped cleanly in two. Bones throughout his body were shattered. His eyes rolled white—unconscious.
Strongest creature?
Before absolute power, it was nothing but a joke.
Hashirama jumped back beside Shinju, dusting off his hands.
"Nice feel. Pretty sturdy."
Madara dismissed Susanoo and walked back coldly.
"Too weak."
"Didn't even make me excited."
The two stood at Shinju's sides—left and right—like twin guardian gods.
Shinju rose, walked to the edge of the crater, and looked down at the unconscious Kaido.
"Hang him up."
Shinju's voice carried across the entire scene.
"Put him on the tallest flagpole on the island we're stationed on."
"Let the whole world see."
"This is what happens when you challenge me."
This was the real monster.
The real god.
Out over the sea, a News Coo circled, camera shutter clicking madly.
Tomorrow, this news would detonate across the world.
The shinobi world's twin legends made their debut—Yonko Kaido was crushed in utter defeat.
And the mastermind behind it all, Shinju, would step over the so-called strongest creature and take his seat atop the era.
Shinju returned to his seat and poured himself another cup.
Hashirama leaned in.
"Shinju, how was that move just now?"
"So-so."
"Madara stole my spotlight."
Madara snorted.
"You were too slow."
The two started bickering again. Shinju didn't bother responding.
He just looked out at the distant sea.
Next… who would it be?
Shanks? Or someone else?
Hopefully they'd be tougher than that dragon.
(End of Chapter)
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