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Chapter 258: Golden Lion at His Peak; Kaido's Shock!
High in the sky, Shiki frowned. His Observation Haki flared with a warning. A wild, violent aura was approaching rapidly from below.
"That disgusting smell of a crawling lizard..." Shiki stopped, looking down just in time to see a massive azure dragon burst through the clouds, blocking his path.
"Worororororo! Shiki! It really is you, you old fossil!" The dragon's golden pupils glared at Shiki as he spoke in a voice like rolling thunder. "Why do you look so pathetic? I heard you went to Marineford to catch up with Sengoku. Judging by your ruffled look, did Garp kick you out?"
Kaido's taunt was precise, stepping directly on Shiki's nerves. Shiki, who was already fuming from his defeat, felt the veins on his forehead bulge.
"Wororororo! Shiki, why so silent? Did that old dog Garp beat the words right out of your mouth?" Kaido's massive body wove in and out of the clouds, his every breath carrying the sound of thunder.
As one of the Four Emperors, Kaido knew Shiki's situation. The man had lost both legs and had a steering wheel wedged in his skull. While the Float-Float Fruit was troublesome, in an era where Haki was king, physical disability was a fatal weakness. Not to mention, Shiki had wasted twenty years in the depths of Impel Down. To Kaido, the Golden Lion was a toothless tiger—nothing but a name from a dead era.
"Get out of my way!" Shiki growled, the cigar between his teeth nearly snapping. He was in a foul mood. First, he was double-teamed by Garp and Kizaru; now, even a former intern from his days on Rocks' ship dared to look down on him? Did Kaido really think the Golden Lion was some tame housecat?
"Hmm?" Hearing Shiki's spirited cursing, Kaido paused. He lowered his massive dragon head, leaning in closer. He wanted to see the old man's misery so he could laugh about it with his subordinates later.
However, as he got a clear look, Kaido's dragon eyes widened until they were perfectly round. The flame clouds around him nearly dissipated in his shock.
"This... how is this possible?!"
There, amidst the clouds, Shiki stood firmly. He was tattered and bloodied, but he was standing. His legs, which were supposed to be replaced by two famous blades, were flesh and bone. His feet were planted firmly on the air itself. Even more absurdly, the steering wheel that had been lodged in his head for twenty years—a wound the world deemed incurable—was gone! In its place was a wild mane of golden hair.
Aside from a few healing cuts on his face, Shiki didn't look like a cripple at all. He looked younger and more powerful than he had twenty years ago.
"Your legs... and your head..." Kaido roared in disbelief.
As a Mythical Zoan user, Kaido's perception of vitality was incredibly sharp. He could feel an overwhelming surge of life energy within Shiki—a force that felt like a withered tree blooming in spring, or even a total reversal of aging.
"Have you seen enough, brat?" Shiki snorted, reaching up to smooth his wind-blown hair. The arrogance that had once commanded the seas had returned to him. "If you've seen enough, then get lost! I don't have time to play house with you!"
Shiki only wanted to get back to Foosha Village, find that profiteer Blake, and enter the dungeon again. He needed to evolve his eyes to the limit and then go back to Marineford to smash Garp's face in. As for Kaido? He could stay wherever it was cool.
However, Shiki's dismissive attitude only ignited Kaido's excitement.
"Worororororo! Interesting! This is too interesting!" Kaido laughed, coiling his dragon body in delight. He didn't know what had happened to the old man, but this was a massive surprise. He had expected to kick a dying dog, only to find a lion at its peak!
"Since your body has recovered, then play with me for a bit! SHIKI!!!"
Kaido opened his maw. Scorching flames gathered deep in his throat, the temperature rising until the air distorted.
"HEAT BREATH!!!"
A massive pillar of red flame erupted like a volcanic blast, surging toward the Golden Lion. This was an attack capable of incinerating a mountain. Facing it, Shiki didn't even blink.
"Play? You think you're worthy?!" Shiki sneered. In the past, he might have used the Float-Float Fruit to evade. But now...
Whirrr!
Shiki's pupils shifted. A crimson hue flooded his eyes, and three black tomoe spun rapidly, merging into a sinister pinwheel pattern.
[Mangekyo Sharingan: Activated!]
Though his chakra was low, the insight and the chilling ocular power granted by these eyes placed him on a level far above this world.
"Ame-no-Ohabari: Reverse!"
Shiki simply raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward the incoming inferno. There was no flashy movement, no clash of Haki. The pillar of flame, capable of melting stone, stopped dead ten meters in front of him. It was as if an invisible hand had seized it by the throat.
Under Kaido's stunned gaze, the massive pillar began to collapse and shrink, as if the space there had become a black hole. In an instant, the vast sea of fire was compressed into a red orb the size of a fist, floating quietly in Shiki's palm.
"This... what kind of ability is this?!" Kaido's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"Take it back!" Shiki flicked his wrist. The compressed orb shot back at ten times the speed it had arrived.
BOOM!!!
The fire exploded against Kaido's head. While such an attack couldn't break through Kaido's thick hide, it was a massive humiliation.
"YOU BASTARD!!!"
═════ To Be Continued ═════
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