"Wororororo, the warm-up ends here." Kaido rested his kanabo on his shoulder, his booming laughter echoing across the sea. He looked towards Whitebeard, who stood tall and unyielding in the distance, a gleam of exhilaration shining in his eyes.
The aftershocks of their clash still rippled across the icy battlefield. Instead of immediately launching another assault, Kaido shifted his gaze to the battlefield's edge, where Admiral Kuzan stood with his hands in his pockets, calmly observing the fight.
Kuzan gave a slight, understanding nod and adjusted his sunglasses. This entire battleground had been created by the power of his Hie Hie no Mi. Though it appeared as solid as an island, the ice had already been shattered to pieces under the collision of these two Yonko-level powers. Deep seawater seeped from countless fissures, threatening to swallow the arena at any moment.
"Ice Age!"
With Kuzan's low utterance, a piercing cold erupted. Cyan ice crystals spread rapidly from his position, refreezing the entire sea area in an instant. This new layer of ice was far thicker than before, gleaming with a frigid light under the sun.
The moment the battlefield stabilized, Kaido eagerly resumed his offensive. "Borai: Hachibun!" he roared, his Haoshoku Haki coiling around the Hassaikai like black and red flames. His form blurred, moving more than twice as fast as his human form, appearing instantly before Whitebeard.
"Gurararara! Just what I wanted!" Whitebeard laughed, swinging Murakumogiri. The massive blade tore through the air with a sharp whistle.
BOOM!
Two world-shattering forces collided once more. A violent shockwave exploded from the point of impact, and the newly formed ice proved incapable of bearing this power. The ice within a radius of several hundred meters cracked like a spider's web. Shards of ice flew everywhere, refracting dazzling light in the sun.
Fortunately, Kuzan had gone all out this time. The ice layer was now an astonishing hundred meters thick. Though the surface was severely fractured, the foundation remained solid, successfully preventing the seawater from bursting through.
On the frozen sea, Kaido swung his colossal Hassaikai, while Newgate gripped Murakumogiri tightly. The two legendary weapons clashed repeatedly in the air, generating deafening roars.
Every collision stirred up violent shockwaves of air, spreading out like a physical force and pulverizing the ice for hundreds of meters around.
"Hahaha! Incredible!" Kaido laughed wildly, his dragon-scale-covered body shimmering with a metallic luster under the sunlight. "Whitebeard, you truly haven't disappointed me!"
Newgate's lips curved into a slight smile, his white mustache fluttering in the wind. "Not bad yourself, brat Kaido."
The battle had raged for a considerable time, yet neither side showed any sign of waning vigor. A fanatical fighting spirit blazed in Kaido's eyes. He abruptly altered the trajectory of his Hassaikai, aiming a surprise strike at Newgate's flank.
However, "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate was a veteran of countless battles. A glint flashed in his eyes as he instantly saw through the ploy.
But was this legendary pirate one to shrink back? Not only did he not retreat, he instead accelerated his swing. Murakumogiri, shrieking through the air, aimed straight for Kaido's shoulder.
CLANG——!
A sharp, clear metallic clang reverberated across the entire battlefield. The tremor force attached to Murakumogiri erupted fully at that moment. The high-frequency vibrations of the blade forcefully breached Kaido's proud Busoshoku Haki defense. The keen edge cut into the hard dragon scales, leaving a deep, bone-visible wound on Kaido's shoulder. Blood sprayed out instantly.
"Grah! Daidai: Raimei Hakke!" Bellowing through the pain, Kaido unleashed his counter. The Hassaikai, wreathed in black and red lightning, smashed towards Newgate's defensive arm with thunderous force.
This blow, infused with the power of Haoshoku Haki, sent Whitebeard flying back hundreds of meters. Newgate adjusted his posture mid-air, his feet carving deep trenches over a hundred meters long into the ice before he could come to a halt. His left arm was twisted and deformed, rendered useless for the time being.
Kaido touched the wound on his shoulder; blood still flowed freely. He snorted coldly and activated his Seimei Kikan ability, forcibly staunching the bleeding. An injury of this level was nothing to him now.
"Newgate, did you skip breakfast? You hit like you've got no strength!" Kaido roared, his dragon tail lashing behind him, kicking up a storm of ice shards.
Newgate slowly straightened up, the muscles on his right arm bulging. "You still have a long way to go, brat!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Kaido charged at Newgate again. The Hassaikai hummed with a bloodthirsty vibration in his grip, as if craving more combat. Facing Kaido's ferocious onslaught, Newgate did something unexpected. He hurled Murakumogiri high into the air, clenched his right fist, and tensed every muscle in his body to its limit.
This time, he did not choose to shatter the air to create shockwaves. Instead, he concentrated all his tremor power into his fist. The moment his fist shot forward, an unprecedented and terrifying shockwave tore through the air. Where it passed, the ice surface was utterly pulverized into dust, racing straight for Kaido.
The very air distorted in the shockwave's wake. Kaido's pupils contracted. He immediately crossed the Hassaikai in front of his chest to block. The horrific impact struck him directly, blasting him back hundreds of meters. Every muscle in his body ached from the vibrations of the shockwave.
"Damn old man!" Kaido tumbled through the air, fine cracks appearing on his dragon scales.
But Kaido had no spare attention for such details now. He saw Newgate catch the falling Murakumogiri with one hand, leap high into the air, and then swing the blade. A sphere of vibrating light, carried upon the naginata, detached and flew forward.
With every inch it traveled, the oscillating light sphere expanded. By the time it reached Kaido, it had grown into a vibrating orb over twenty meters in diameter.
"Daidai: Raimei Hakke!"
Kaido gripped the Hassaikai, wrapped in his Haoshoku Haki, with both hands and smashed it directly into the center of the light sphere.
BANG——!
The moment the Hassaikai collided with the sphere, the terrifying tremor force transmitted through the weapon nearly caused Kaido's grip to falter. The skin at the base of his thumbs split open, blood flowing down the Hassaikai's handle.
"Scatter!" Kaido bellowed, putting his entire body into a mighty swing that finally dissipated the vibrating orb. But this strike came at a cost; the muscle fibers in both his arms had suffered tears.
Yet, in the next instant, Murakumogiri, propelled by Newgate's monstrous strength, came straight for Kaido's head. Caught off guard, Kaido could only raise his kanabo to block. How could a hasty defense hope to withstand Newgate's fully powered strike?
As expected, Kaido was sent flying once more, fragments of dragon scales scattering in the air. The airborne Kaido forcibly stabilized his posture, then pushed off backwards, using the force of the large-scale ice shattering beneath him to launch himself back towards the charging Newgate, his Hassaikai raised high for a counter-smash.
Once again, the attacks of the two titans caused the surrounding ice sheet to fracture on a massive scale.
***
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