"Thunder Bagua!"
While Karina and King the Wildfire were clashing in the sky, Kaidō, back in his normal form, somehow pulled out a kanabō wrapped in dark red lightning and charged at Link at blinding speed.
This was a greeting between top-tier monsters, yet one that could instantly kill anyone below that level—be they a New World freak or a fifteen-billion-berry "Fifth Emperor."
Link didn't dodge, nor did he enter Sage Mode. He simply gathered chakra in his fist and unleashed what is a super move for Tsunade but a basic strike for Hashirama—Monster Strength!
Boom—
The Monster Strength punch wreathed in Conqueror's Haki crashed against the kanabō far larger than Link himself.
The two never truly touched, held apart by an invisible force.
Dark red arcs crackled outward as a terrifying, formless shockwave rampaged across Onigashima's rooftop.
Unlike the howling winds on the rooftop, the sky itself changed.
Clear blue suddenly became a blanket of thick storm clouds.
When the shockwave swept the entire rooftop, a dark red pillar of light shot up, and the clouds overhead vanished in an instant—
Rather than vanishing, they were blasted apart.
The sky didn't split; it shattered and scattered.
It was the same sight as when Roger and Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki collided.
Seeing this, Kaidō's rage was instantly replaced by delight.
Looking at the much shorter Link—small as a child by comparison—he grinned with approval. "Brat, your Haki's not bad."
Link, eyes blazing with fighting spirit, answered, "Yours isn't bad either—worthy of the world's strongest creature."
"Uororororo… let's slaughter each other to our hearts' content!"
Kaidō loosed his distinctive laugh. "I don't know what you're plotting, but like you said—pirates don't need reasons. The winner takes everything!"
After speaking, Kaidō's body swelled again, cyan dragon scales covering him as a massive tail sprouted—his hybrid form.
Not only that, he hopped back to open distance, kanabō in one hand, and with the other yanked out his gourd, chugging in great gulps.
"Uororororo… 'strongest man of the new era'? If you haven't beaten me, some rookie brat has no right to stand above me."
Draining the gourd, already tipsy, he went wild, hefted the Hassaikai, and rushed in even faster than before.
But he didn't barrel straight at Link—mid-charge he vaulted high, his massive frame moving with impossible speed and agility, leaping over ten meters into the air as he chopped down like lightning with a Conqueror's-wreathed strike: "Drunken Dragon Bagua—Descent of the Three Realms into Naraka!"
From that opening exchange, Kaidō had judged Link's raw strength without any Devil Fruit.
As the "strongest man of the new era," Link's Haki was extremely powerful—at least not inferior to his.
His energy reserves were oceanic; a straight brawl might not yield a winner in days.
Long craving a rival who could give him a hearty fight, Kaidō seized the drunken heat and went all-out.
He had to. Kaidō was sure Link wasn't lying—
He had sent people to move against Joker!
Kaidō couldn't understand why a mere Joker warranted Link mobilizing like this.
But beneath the brute exterior was a sharp mind; among the few who truly understood Link, Kaidō was one.
Since the first time that brat made his name, everything had been schemes within schemes.
Impel Down and Marineford both bore his hand.
Even the rule-breaking dual-fruit user Marshall D. Teach only emerged with Link's tacit approval and pushes.
Wang Zhi, Shiki, Big Mom, the cloned Snake Empress—either crushed by Link's might or ensnared by his plots.
Now this man—no less shrewd than Benn Beckman, perhaps even more, and far more insidious—had come knocking. Kaidō was one hundred percent certain Link was scheming again.
He refused to be someone else's piece or pawn.
Beat or kill Link, and those worries vanish.
Link, of course, didn't know Kaidō's thoughts; if he had, he'd have praised the big guy's wary insight.
As the overhead strike fell, Link's future sight had already read the arc.
The instant Kaidō leapt, Link stirred Wood-Release chakra and murmured, "Wood Release—All-Encompassing Grasp!"
A colossal wooden hand burst from the ground, fist clenched, wrapped in dark red lightning as it collided with the descending bolt.
Rumble—
The entire rooftop of Onigashima heaved as the ground fractured.
"Sage Mode—"
Seizing the opening, Link clapped his hands once, red markings blooming at the corners of his eyes.
His pupils didn't turn golden, though; they turned scarlet, three black tomoe spinning within.
Then he called softly, "Wood Release… Flower-Tree World Advent!"
Rumble—
Across the barren crags and rock of the rooftop, a lush forest erupted, giant crimson blossoms releasing billows of pollen, filling the air with a gray haze.
Perched on a great trunk, Kaidō inhaled the faintest trace, and his drunk-flushed face changed at once. Without the slightest hesitation he became a cyan dragon and shot into the sky.
"Heat Breath!"
Glaring down at the pollen-drenched forest, Kaidō spewed a massive column of fire, trying to burn it away.
Otherwise he'd be forced to fight atop flame clouds.
Once he set foot below, he'd be at an absolute disadvantage—perhaps even suffer a baffling defeat.
"Rooaaar—"
Before the fire reached the trees, a wooden dragon burst from the forest, jaws unleashing a colossal torrent that spread a vast sheet of steam across the sky.
In the distance, the nine-tailed fox and a fire dragon were also hurling wind, flame, thunder, and cloud with abandon.
A mythic clash of beasts and elements raged over Onigashima.
The battle of the world's strongest had only just entered its white-hot phase.
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]