Kaido stared in shock as his breath attack had effortlessly been torn apart.
If he remembered correctly, just a few years ago when Whitebeard was in good health, tearing through his breath attacks had still required some effort.
It wasn't overly strenuous, but certainly not this casual.
He studied Whitebeard, sensing the terrifying aura emanating from the old man's body, and a realization struck him.
'This old bastard's illness was cured?!'
The next moment, Kaido was met with Whitebeard's fist, wreathed in white shockwaves.
An overwhelming force—one even Kaido could barely withstand—sent his massive flying form crashing into the ground.
Fortunately, the island was uninhabited.
Kaido had only come here to test his artificial Devil Fruits anyway.
The moment his exaggeratedly massive body crashed onto the island, the entire landmass seemed to tremble.
But Whitebeard's assault wasn't finished yet.
Watching Kaido's impact and the hundreds of meters of dust that erupted, he let out a boisterous laugh before slightly raising his hand.
With a single motion, he tore apart all the dust along with the very earth beneath.
Under this strike, Kaido vomited copious amounts of blood from his mouth.
Many of his dragon scales shattered, and deep bone-revealing wounds spread across his body.
Yet instead of anger or fear, Kaido merely contracted his massive dragon form, shifting into an intensely intimidating beast-man hybrid.
"Wororororo! Whitebeard! Seems you old bastard in better shape than before!"
"Gurarararara! Kaido, thanks to a friend of mine, this old man's body's healthier than yours now!"
Two thunderous laughs collided in the air, their mere sonic impact tearing apart the surrounding sky.
Hearing this, Kaido raised his spiked club as countless purple lightning bolts instantly coiled around him, interspersed with deep red Conqueror's Haki lightning.
Baring an exaggerated grin at Whitebeard, Kaido declared.
"In that case, I won't hold back against you! Wouldn't want to accidentally smash you old-timers to death in one hit!"
"Arrogant brat. Tend to your own wounds first."
Whitebeard showed not a trace of anger at Kaido's provocation.
He even planted his weapon into the ground, attacking Kaido with just his bare hands.
As violent tremors followed, Kaido witnessed a sight he hadn't seen since his youth.
Whitebeard's twin punches created a shattered world between them.
Black-red Conqueror's Haki Infusion lightning traveled along the fissures created by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, simultaneously expanding the cracks and tearing apart everything within that space!
This was the same ability Whitebeard had used during the God Valley battle against Garp, Roger and others.
When Kaido had witnessed this decades ago from kilometers away, the terrifying spectacle had shaken him to the core.
But now, facing it directly, all he felt was excitement and exhilaration.
"Wororororo! Whitebeard! I've waited decades for this move! When you were sick and dying, I thought I'd never see it again!"
Whitebeard exhaled deeply.
Though his health had been restored, the natural decline of age couldn't be reversed.
Using such techniques still strained his elderly body.
This had been his signature move during serious battles in his prime - first fracturing the atmosphere with his devil fruit power, then infusing the cracks with his Conqueror's Haki to intertwine shockwaves and conqueror's energy.
At its peak, this technique could tear entire islands to shreds.
However, it had been decades since Whitebeard last used this move against an enemy.
Naturally, he couldn't unleash the same force as he did back then.
After all, he had come only to stop Kaido, not to kill him.
For this brat who had once sailed on the same ship as him, Whitebeard had no intention of delivering a fatal blow.
This was also why Kaido had been able to return unharmed after provoking Whitebeard by killing Oden.
Whitebeard always showed greater tolerance toward familiar faces from the old era.
Kaido was no fool either.
After realizing Whitebeard had repeatedly spared him, he stopped seeking out the old man once he noticed Whitebeard's declining health.
To him, defeating such a weakened Whitebeard would bring no pride.
Yet now, witnessing the attack before him that stirred his very soul, Kaido felt his blood boil with excitement.
Swinging his spiked club with both hands, his face twisted into a manic grin as thick lightning and overwhelming Conqueror's Haki Infusion gathered around him.
With a roar, he shouted.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Two violent forces collided in that instant.
Contrary to expectations, no deafening explosion followed—only eerie silence, as if all sound had been sucked from the world, making their attacks seem to vanish into thin air.
But the next moment, the terrifying scene that unfolded before them drove the onlookers to scream in mindless terror.
At the collision's epicenter, Kaido and Whitebeard's attacks had formed a cataclysmic explosion capable of annihilating everything in its path—as if even the sea itself might evaporate before its fury.
More shocking and horrifying was the sight of both Whitebeard and Kaido watching the devastation with expressions of pure delight.
Then, Whitebeard wrenched his weapon from the ground and charged toward Kaido with a smile.
Marco watched this scene with growing concern.
He wanted to warn his father to be careful, but seeing the long-lost excitement and joy on the old man's face, he held his tongue.
He knew his father had yearned for a battle like this for far too long.
How could he possibly spoil the world's strongest man's enjoyment of the fight?
His duty was to clear away any other obstacles!
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Whitebeard relationship with kaido is kinda strange, they look kinda close in the manga back in the rocks pirates day and when kaido kill oden whitebeard didnt do anything either.