The tension was suffocating.
A storm of dread had descended upon Wano Country, heavier than anything seen since the Fire Festival. The joy following Kurozumi Orochi's downfall had been snuffed out like a candle in the wind.
In the Flower Capital, Kuang Shi Lang stood stiffly by the window of the brothel's upper floor, his fan frozen mid-wave, cold sweat dripping down his temple.
"It's returned… 'Beast' Kaido…"
This—this was the true reason Orochi kept Komurasaki's identity secret, even in death. No matter how deep the snake burrowed, there was always a dragon coiled above it. That dragon—Kaido, the so-called "Strongest Creature"—was the eternal shadow cast over Wano.
"Denjiro…" Hiyori's voice trembled with concern.
"It's fine," Denjiro replied, the steel in his tone matching the firm grip on his katana. "Even if those two can't stop Kaido, the prophecy will be fulfilled."
For twenty years, the prophecy of Toki—the Kozuki matriarch—had guided them.
The Nine Red Scabbards will rise and cut down the darkness engulfing Wano.
He believed it. He had to.
Hiyori—once Komurasaki—stood silently at the window, her violet gaze fixed on the darkened sky.
"That monster… he's even more terrifying than he was twenty years ago."
Even without combat ability, Hiyori could feel it. The sheer presence Kaido now radiated dwarfed the tyrant of her youth. He had grown more powerful, and the Beasts Pirates more expansive. Though she clung to her mother's words, that distant hope began to flicker.
Can anyone truly defeat that monster?
On Onigashima—Kaido's Stronghold
Inside the skull-shaped palace, Jaki Jaki no Mi user Queen, the wildfire-winged King, and the brooding X Drake all stood stiffly before their Emperor.
Kaido sat with a jug of sake, massive and bare-chested, tattoos glowing under flickering torchlight.
"So… the blind old Marine and Solomon Carl… are still in Wano?"
Though his voice was calm, it held a dangerous undercurrent. The room was silent—none dared speak.
Kaido was infamous for his violent mood swings. One moment bawling about the world's futility, the next screaming for a grand war. "The World's Greatest War"—his obsession.
"Prepare to move," Kaido stood, sake spilling down his beard. "I'm going to kill them myself."
"YES!!"
The hall echoed with the cries of pirates. No one hesitated.
Then it came—whoom—his full Zoan transformation.
A massive blue-scaled Eastern dragon spiraled up into the clouds, thunder rolling behind him as he soared toward the main island of Wano.
Jhin and Queen exchanged a glance, then rushed to assemble their forces.
This was Kaido.
He didn't overthink, he didn't scheme—he crushed.
When he said he was going to fight, he launched into battle without hesitation, just like the time he leapt off Sky Island in a suicide attempt.
Capital of Flowers.
Carl and Fujitora stood at the edge of the bustling district, staring skyward.
A titanic shadow was closing in.
"Tsk. You really want to fight that thing?" Carl muttered, cigarette dangling from his lips.
"Naturally. What I say comes from conviction," Fujitora replied, calmly thrusting his sword—his shikomizue—into the earth.
Carl lit his cigar and sighed. "Alright. Since you're set on it, I'll help you test his scales."
He'd planned to leave. But the system's sign-in progress had stalled at 2/3.
More importantly, he wasn't scared.
No one could fight two Yonko-level opponents at once—not even Whitebeard or Shanks.
This level of combat had reached the ceiling. Whether you were Kaido, Big Mom, or someone else, the difference between them was marginal.
Even with an advantage, it'd take an exhausting slugfest to win.
So of course—facing two ceiling-level monsters together was absurd.
But here they were—Carl and Fujitora—facing Kaido.
ROOOAAARRR!
The skies shook as Kaido's dragon form loomed, lightning dancing through the clouds. His golden eyes locked on the pair below.
"Is it you?"
WHOOSH—
Gale-force winds kicked up. Leaves and dust swirled like a typhoon in the capital.
Carl squinted against the gust. "Goddamn. Looks as nasty as they say."
Just the size alone was oppressive. The power rolling off Kaido's form was crushing.
"Even blind, I can feel that monstrous aura," Fujitora said, calmly raising his sword, his face impassive. "Shall we begin, Sir Carl?"
"Yeah." Carl exhaled smoke and unsheathed Sakura Ten, his crimson right eye pulsing with power.
The number in his eye silently shifted from 6 to 4.
[Asura Path: Active!] A surge of purple-red energy flared around him.
ROAR!
Another thunderous cry cracked the sky.
Lightning surged downward in columns.
"Let's go!" Carl growled, launching into the air with a blast of force.
"HAAH!!"
Slash!
The black-gold arc of his blade split a lightning column in two.
He rocketed upward, dark tendrils of Conqueror's Haki coiling around Sakura Ten.
Kaido opened his mouth, targeting Carl.
FWOOOM—!
A flurry of wind blades howled forward like guillotines.
"Tch. We have the same element. Lame," Carl spat, slashing against the incoming wind.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
They collided like steel on steel. Though made of wind, the blades roared like swords clashing.
Charlotte Linlin's Soru Soru no Mi had created sentient homies like Zeus, Prometheus, and Napoleon, and even those were nightmares to fight.
But Kaido? Kaido didn't create power. He was power.
A living calamity. A monster among monsters.
And now, he had set his sights on them.
Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, possesses the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu, a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit. Though a fish by classification, it allows him to transform into an immense Eastern-style Azure Dragon, capable of flight and elemental manipulation.
With this form, Kaido commands the forces of wind, fire, and lightning—breathing scorching flames with Bolo Breath, conjuring flame clouds to levitate islands, and calling down thunderous strikes with Raimei Hakke. An outrageous, almost mythical power set for someone labeled a "fish."
"So it's a fish-type fruit, but you turn into a dragon?! What kind of broken logic is that!" Carl sneered, slashing downward with his blade. The air itself split before the force of his strike, forming a fissure in the sky.
In a blink, Carl appeared atop Kaido's massive draconic head, staring into the beast's lantern-sized eyes, glowing with primal fury.
"Do you think you're some damn koi that leapt the Dragon Gate?!"
A surge of advanced Armament Haki exploded from Carl's blade—black lightning crackled and coiled, an aura so sharp it seemed to slice the sky itself.
Kaido's pupils shrank. That strike—it carried the same deadly intent as Oden's Togen Totsuka, the only attack that had ever scarred him. Twenty years had passed, but this power… it brought that memory roaring back.
"ROAAAAARR!!"
Kaido's mighty roar shook the heavens, and he immediately twisted to dodge the oncoming blow. But just below, the blind old man had already raised his cane-sword.
"Gravity Blade: Hell Brigade."
Fujitora's gravitational aura erupted—an invisible well of force yanked Kaido's immense body downward, stalling his movement mid-air.
SLASH!
Carl's eyes flared red, and with both hands gripping his katana, 'Sakura Ten' plunged into Kaido's serpentine neck. He then dragged the blade downward, slicing along the scales like a zipper.
Sssscccchhh!
Blood spurted like geysers. The wound extended from Kaido's neck down toward his midsection.
"GUOOOHH!!"
Kaido bellowed in pain. His dragon form twisted violently, winds screaming around him, kicking up cyclones across the Flower Capital.
But Carl held steady—his feet embedded into Kaido's scales like stakes. Unfazed, he dragged 'Sakura Ten' back out with a fluid motion.
"Tch. Too shallow," he muttered, inspecting the gaping wound. Despite the blood, Kaido's scale armor and massive size dulled the attack. The real damage came from the Haki—without it, this blade wouldn't even scratch him.
Suddenly—
WHAM!
A massive air blade surged toward him—Kaido had launched a wind slash from his tail. Carl reacted instantly, slicing it apart mid-air.
"Still struggling?" Carl clicked his tongue.
Kaido had stopped flailing. He recognized that Carl wasn't just a fluke—he had real threat-level power. Worse, that blind Marine below kept locking him down with gravity.
RRRRRHHHHHH!!
Kaido inhaled deeply—his throat glowing, steam venting like a furnace. Magma-like energy began to coalesce in his jaws.
Carl's brow lifted. "Hot Breath?"
It was the Bolo Breath, Kaido's signature dragon attack—a blazing energy beam capable of melting mountains and vaporizing entire cities. It once sliced through the nine Red Scabbards' stronghold with terrifying ease.
But this time, it wasn't aimed at Carl.
The beam shot toward the Flower Capital, directly at Fujitora.
"Gravity Blade: Tiger!"
Fujitora, calm as ever, unleashed a horizontal gravity slash. Purple smoke enveloped the field as gravitational energy collided with Kaido's heat ray.
BOOOOOOM!!
The two forces clashed in mid-air—heat versus pressure. The collision vacuumed the air from the city, flattening buildings and sending people crashing to the ground. A heavenly collision, godlike in scale.
WHAM!
Carl suddenly descended under Kaido's maw, landing a kick straight into the dragon's jaw, snapping his mouth shut with brutal force.
The redirected Bolo Breath fired skyward, and Fujitora followed it up with another gravity slash, catching Kaido's chest.
BOOM!
Kaido's entire dragon form recoiled—his coiled body spiraled uncontrollably as he plummeted toward the city outskirts.
"Phew—" Carl exhaled a thick puff of smoke, his red eyes fading as the Haki veil receded.
He lifted 'Sakura Ten' horizontally, its blade now laced with frost and spiritual energy. Behind him, a phantasmal figure appeared—cold, sharp, and silent.
"Ultimate Ghost Swordsmanship: Storm Style – Cold Requiem."
Sword phantoms and icy killing intent surged into the blade. The air grew still—death was coming.
"Slash."
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