The burn on Kaido's waist healed at a visible rate, the flowing blood stopping instantly, though that scar would remain permanently as a testament to the damage.
He threw his head back and released a heaven-shaking dragon roar.
The sound waves swept through like a physical storm, tearing a massive hole through the clouds above.
Moonlight cascaded down like a waterfall, illuminating his rapidly transforming body.
Dragon scales contracted into tight, indestructible blue armor.
Dragon claws evolved into flexible, five-fingered hands gripping his kanabo.
The thick dragon tail rapidly shrank but remained powerful, whipping the air behind him.
When the complete Hybrid Form (Man-Beast Form) descended, the entire island trembled under the terrifying pressure.
The surface of his spiked club, Hassaikai, shimmered with eerie purple-black ripples.
This wasn't ordinary Armament Haki—it was the advanced projection of Haki.
"Brat..."
Kaido's voice became low and hoarse, each syllable carrying a threatening tremor.
"Let me show you what true power really means!"
A violent aura stirred up a storm, whipping up countless grains of sand into a dust devil.
Jozu was forced to squint his eyes as he coldly stared at the Yonko.
Even with his diamond defense, he was pushed back half a step by this overwhelming presence, leaving spiderweb-like cracks in the rocky ground beneath his feet.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido's Hassaikai swept out with earth-shattering force.
Along the path of the kanabo's swing, the air was completely expelled by the violent Haki, forming a vacuum corridor.
The surrounding airflow rushed in violently, howling like ghosts.
Purplish-black Haki, thick as viscous liquid, oozed from the weapon, condensing into a translucent shockwave entity within the vacuum.
Wherever it passed, space twisted unnaturally.
Even more terrifying were the black and red lightning bolts coiling around the Haki's outer layer—these manifestations of Conqueror's Haki were like greedy vipers, shattering any rock they touched into dust!
Dark cracks spread like spiderwebs across the entire barren island.
The carbonized rock layers crumbled into fine black powder under the night wind, scattering silently.
"What a monster!"
Before the strike even landed, its terrifying pressure caused the ground beneath Jozu's feet to collapse into a crater dozens of meters wide.
Debris sent flying into the air was pulverized into dust by the residual force.
"Diamond Art: Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi!"
Jozu hastily raised his Diamond Sword to block.
CLANG——!!!
The moment diamond clashed with Haki, a blinding light, bright as the sun, erupted.
Golden streaks within the blade surged wildly as the tremor force formed dozens of buffering layers.
Yet, he was still forced back step by step under the blow.
BOOM——!!!
The resulting shockwave spread out in a ring, shearing off three meters of the barren island's surface!
Jozu's legs sank deep into the rock layer.
Visible cracks appeared on the diamond blade.
Even more frightening, the purplish-black Haki crept along the sword like a living entity, corroding and peeling away the diamond wherever it touched through Internal Destruction.
"See that?"
Kaido's dragon tail slammed heavily against the ground, each step leaving deep footprints in the rock.
"Top-tier Haki can counter any Devil Fruit ability!"
White smoke reeking of sulfur snorted from his nostrils as he raised Hassaikai once more.
"Next strike sends you to hell!"
Jozu gasped heavily for breath, but the golden and white light in his eyes burned even brighter.
"You're right… Haki does counter all Devil Fruit abilities…"
CRACK!
He violently shattered the corroded surface of his own diamond blade.
The newly formed crystals gleamed with a strange luster—high-frequency vibration particles infused with tremor power now merged within the diamond.
As Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi reformed, the entire sword, starting from the hilt, visibly began to coat itself with Advanced Armament Haki!
"Stop boasting… Top-tier Armament Haki or whatever—I've got it too!" Jozu spat out a bloody mouthful and assumed a new stance.
"I'm the Third Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Jozu's full-body diamond armor suddenly erupted with a piercing purplish-black radiance.
Every facet of his sword now flowed with liquid-like Ryuo.
A terrifying wave of Haki surged out like a tsunami, clashing with Kaido's aura mid-air and tearing spiderweb-like fissures in space.
The rock beneath his feet exploded as he transformed into a streak of purple and black light, shooting forward.
"Haki Blade · Heaven-Shaking Tremor!"
The moment the diamond greatsword descended, the heavens and earth seemed to change color.
Where the sword's edge passed, the atmosphere was split in two, forming a vacuum corridor stretching for kilometers.
BOOM!
A purplish-black shockwave, identical to Kaido's earlier attack, collided with it.
The resulting energy storm split the entire deserted island in half!
As seawater poured into the fissure, it instantly vaporized, forming a white mist wall that blotted out the sky.
"This can't be!"
King's black wings trembled violently, his Lunarian pupils contracting to pinpricks.
How could a mere Division Commander have trained Armament Haki to such a level?
Queen's eyes flickered wildly as his data analysis panel continuously flashed "ERROR" warnings.
"Damn... this Armament Haki reading has surpassed the average level of the Calamities!"
Jack's tusks clattered.
The usually reckless drought calamity now looked deathly pale.
"You've got to be kidding me... Even the Third Division Commander has this kind of strength?"
Kaido's dragon scales bristled.
The instant Hassaikai clashed with the Diamond Sword, he clearly felt the terrifying mastery contained within his opponent's Haki.
A rare trace of solemnity flashed through his pupils as he suddenly roared at his subordinates.
"What are you standing around for?! Go after that Fire Fist Ace! Now! Immediately!"
Just as the Calamities began to move, Jozu's entire body erupted with blinding golden light.
"Diamond Art: Yata no Kagami!"
Every facet of his diamond armor precisely reflected the light-speed movement of the Glint-Glint Fruit.
His figure trailed seven afterimages in the air as he forcefully broke through gaps in Kaido's defense, instantly blocking the Calamities' path.
"Don't even think about leaving!"
Jozu swept his sword horizontally, the tremor power wrapped around its edge sealing off the entire hundred-meter space ahead.
SLASH!
The Calamities were forced to halt abruptly.
Several black feathers were shaved from the edges of King's wings by the spatial cracks.
But this distraction lasted only a moment before Kaido's dragon tail came whipping down with overwhelming force.
"Daring to lose focus while fighting ME?!"
WHACK!
The Haki-coated dragon tail tore through the sky.
Jozu's hastily erected diamond shield was shattered to pieces, and his entire body was sent crashing into the rock layer like a cannonball, stirring up a hundred-meter-high wave of debris.
"Cough..."
Jozu leaped out from the ruins, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Kaido had already coiled above him, with black-red lightning flickering around Hassaikai in his hand.
Worse still, the Calamities had taken the opportunity to disperse and ascend, forming a triangular formation ready to break through the blockade.
"Jozu," Kaido's dragon eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"How about this—"
He suddenly withdrew his offensive posture, casually resting the spiked club on his shoulder, a mocking grin spreading across his face.
"You go stop those three, and I'll personally hunt down Ace... Deal?"
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