"Hahahaha! I'm here, Ace!!"
"Thunder..."
Diving at high speed, Yamato took off her mask and laughed excitedly. Then, she looked at Allen, her gaze sharpening as lightning crackled violently around her kanabō!
"...Bagua!!"
*Bang!!!*
Allen hurriedly raised his heavy sword above his head to block, but the immense, heavy strike of the kanabō knocked him back, sending him flying.
"Yamato?!"
Ace's eyes widened in astonishment.
Seeing Yamato appear, Kaido in the distance instantly lost his composure. His face showed confusion mixed with anger as he shouted:
"What are you doing here! And you just called him Ace—don't tell me you know him!"
"Haha! Ace is a good friend of mine," Yamato said with a wide grin, looking to be in very high spirits. She turned to Ace, who was half-kneeling on the ground, and extended her hand. "Are you okay, Ace? I knew you would definitely come back."
"Yeah, though I'm looking a bit pathetic for our reunion." Ace reached out, grabbed Yamato's hand, and let her pull him up. He then gave a relieved smile. "I originally came to rescue you, but I ended up being saved by you instead. This isn't how I pictured it. How embarrassing."
"Hehe, don't tell me you forgot? I'm really strong, you know." Yamato grinned, patting the kanabō resting on her shoulder.
Then, the two turned their heads simultaneously to glare at Kaido and Allen.
"Anyway, our opponents right now are Kaido and that guy, right?"
"Yeah... but I remember Kaido is your father. Even though you hate him, can you really bring yourself to fight him?"
"Of course! I've fantasized about beating him to a pulp more times than I can count," Yamato chuckled softly. She tightened her grip on her kanabō, a flash of determination in her eyes.
Kaido gritted his teeth, his expression growing increasingly ugly. "What the hell is going on? Why do you know Roger's son? And you, you brat, what exactly did you say to my son?!"
"Well, when I first entered the New World three years ago, I got caught in a shipwreck and ended up drifting to Wano Country. I met Yamato by pure chance," Ace said, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "Yamato and I made a promise. One day, I'm going to take her out to sea with me."
"Bring it on, Kaido! No matter what happens today, I'm going out to sea with Ace, and you can't stop me!"
Yamato shouted. Her skin began to change at a visible rate, sprouting white fur and a pair of long ears, while a ribbon of azure flame clouds wrapped around her shoulders.
Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Type, Model: Okuchi no Makami!
With her transformation, the surrounding air suddenly turned freezing cold.
Yamato opened her mouth, revealing two rows of sharp fangs, and exhaled a concentrated stream of white, icy breath.
"Hey, wait a minute, is that your power? A Mythical Zoan?" Ace glanced sideways, a look of surprise on his face.
Seeing this, Kaido grew even more furious. He said in a deep voice, "I went through hell to find that fruit for you so I could raise you to be the Shogun of Wano, and now you're using it against me?!"
"Eating this fruit wasn't my choice! Cut the crap, Kaido! Let's fight!"
Yamato raised her kanabō and pointed it straight at Kaido. A wave of Haki, combined with freezing air, erupted outward with her at the center!
"Let's go, Ace!"
"Tch, it's been three years. Let's see who's improved more."
Ace raised his arm, transforming it into surging flames. He continuously compressed and built up the power, his aura climbing wildly until it gradually merged with Yamato's Haki.
"Sun Flare: Fire Fist!!"
"Namuji Ice Fang!!"
The two roared simultaneously. Ace threw a massive, majestic fist of flames, while Yamato opened her mouth and unleashed a roaring blizzard.
Their combined attack resembled two giant pythons—one crimson, one white—twining together to form an even more devastating strike that blasted toward Kaido!
*Boom!!!*
The immense energy detonated with a deafening roar. Flames and freezing air frantically ravaged Kaido's body, while the shockwave of their Haki tore through everything, completely obliterating the surrounding buildings!
Meanwhile, inside the spacious banquet hall of the Shogun's Palace.
"Blast Breath!!"
"Immortal!!"
*Boom!!!*
A beam of scorching dragon breath violently collided with a shield formed of a phoenix's blue flames, sending a massive shower of intertwined blue and red sparks flying in all directions.
Marco maintained the shield with his arms transformed into blue flames, his feet plowing through the ground as he was continuously pushed back.
It wasn't until Sanji's Blast Breath ended that he flapped his wings to dispel the shield, the blue flames gradually reverting back into his arms.
"For rookies, your growth rate is terrifyingly fast. But no matter how confident you are..." Marco adjusted his glasses with his index finger and chuckled softly. "Thinking you can take us on with just the two of you... aren't you looking down on people a bit too much?"
"Do you think I want to be here? It's all because of a certain hot-headed captain who ignored the difference in military strength, yelled about fighting two Emperors at once, and just charged right in."
Standing on a broken pillar in his Dragon-Man Form, Sanji spoke around the cigarette clamped in his teeth. "Add a certain idiot teammate to the mix, and I couldn't exactly just watch him run off to his death, could I?"
As he spoke, Sanji turned his head to look at Kid not far away.
Hearing this, Kid immediately glared back. "Hey, you shitty cook! I never said I needed your help!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blame it on my kind heart. I just couldn't bear to see you die too miserably, so I came over to help out of my own unrequited goodwill. Happy now?"
Sanji shrugged with a look of utter disgust and brushed him off. He turned back to the front, where Marco and Jozu stood apart, forming a triangular standoff with him.
"Dragon scales, plus Blast Breath... this guy's abilities are exactly the same as Kaido's," Jozu said in a low voice, his eyes serious.
Marco's gaze also carried a hint of gravity.
Although he acted nonchalant, after exchanging a few blows, he was basically certain that Sanji's power was undoubtedly a replica of Kaido's.
Immense strength, invulnerable dragon scales, the ability to unleash Blast Breath and storms, and the power to summon lightning—he had it all. Calling him a miniature Kaido wouldn't be an exaggeration.
One had to know that across the entire sea, there were only a handful of people who couldn't be taken down by him and Jozu working together, and almost all of them were Emperors or Admirals.
And now, another rookie pirate had popped up, putting "veterans" of the New World like them in quite an awkward position.
At this moment, Sanji's heart was equally heavy.
Opposite him were Jozu and Marco—one whose entire body was as absurdly hard as diamond and completely impervious to attacks, and the other an immortal who could perfectly regenerate even fatal wounds.
Although they had only been fighting for a short while, Sanji knew clearly in his heart that taking down these two was basically impossible. At best, he could only drag this out into an endless stalemate.
'Hmm...'
'Wano Country is famous for producing Seastone goods. It should be pretty easy to find Seastone weapons inside the Shogun's Palace, right?'
Sanji couldn't help but think.
Aside from Seastone, which specifically countered Ability Users, he couldn't think of any other method to take down this duo.