Kaidou clawed his way out of the rubble, his Observation Haki already locked on to Ortoren's position.
That Bolo Breath hadn't done much to him at all. Not far away, Ortoren crouched low on all fours like a predator about to pounce, long silver-white hair spilling over his shoulders and brushing the ground. His eyes were bloodshot, his aura wild and unstable.
"What the hell is this?" Kaidou frowned.
The form felt familiar—like a Mink Tribe Sulong—but Minks didn't just lose their minds when they transformed. And besides, it wasn't even a full moon.
He had no time to think. Ortoren's gaze locked on him, a spark of lightning flashed, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Kaidou reacted instantly, wrapping his fist in Conqueror's Haki and throwing a punch forward.
Almost at the exact moment his fist shot out, Ortoren appeared right in front of him. From the trajectory, Kaidou had read him perfectly—but this was where the Goro Goro no Mi showed its terrifying edge.
Kaidou's punch was already at Ortoren's nose, the force whipping his silver hair back, yet even at that point-blank range Ortoren's lightning flared, slipping him out of the punch's path in a burst of electricity, flashing forward in an instant.
Kaidou's strike hit nothing but air, and Ortoren was already in his face.
A surge of concentrated lightning exploded between them, drowning both in blinding light.
The next moment, Kaidou's body was wreathed in black smoke as the blow sent him hurtling back. His feet slammed into the ground dozens of meters away, gouging two deep trenches before he managed to stop.
No sooner had he planted his stance than Kaidou's Observation Haki showed him the near future. He reached forward with one hand, clenched the other into a fist, and pulled it back, winding every muscle tight.
Ortoren appeared right on cue. Kaidou's hand shot out, clamping down on his shoulder and pinning him in place—just for a heartbeat, but that was all he needed.
A fist wrapped in crushing Conqueror's Haki slammed forward, smashing into Ortoren's forehead with a heavy crack. The force drove him into the ground before sending him tumbling away in a rough bounce, rolling end over end for over a dozen meters.
"Bolo Breath!" Kaidou didn't chase. He knew he'd never match Ortoren for speed, so he chose overwhelming firepower instead.
Heat gathered in his throat, pressure building until it was ready to burst. Then he spat a condensed ball of blazing energy straight at Ortoren, who had just gotten to his feet in the distance.
But just before the explosion, Kaidou caught a glimpse of Ortoren's lightning-charged form flickering away from the spot.
Kaidou tensed, expecting a counterattack. Haki flared over his body, muscles coiled, ready to block and strike back.
A second passed. Nothing came.
When the smoke from the blast finally cleared, Kaidou saw him—standing atop a shattered boulder not far away. His silver-white hair was gone, the long mane pulled back into his usual short, sharp brown cut. His eyes were calm again.
"You back with me?" Kaidou grinned.
"Sorry, sorry. Family's hereditary sickness acting up," Ortoren said with a sheepish look, rubbing the swollen lump on his forehead. "Though… this is actually the first time I've gone into that state without a full moon. Weird. Guess it's not the moon that triggers it after all, but my 'crazy blood.'"
He was clear-headed now, but both knew things wouldn't return to how they'd been before. That pure, blow-for-blow slugfest had already reached its end.
The two understood each other without a word, neither mentioning picking up where their last clash had left off. Ortoren drew in a deep breath and said, "From here on… we're going all out."
As his words fell, the black in his pupils began to shift, streaked with a flash of lightning-blue. Kaidou then saw it—a layer of condensed lightning forming over Ortoren's skin, clinging to him like a suit of armor.
"Lightning Release Armour!" Ortoren growled.
He had divided his use of the Goro Goro no Mi into two broad attack styles. The first was long-range—leveraging the fruit's massive boost to his Observation Haki to strike with large-scale energy assaults from outside an opponent's foresight, often paired with the fruit's mobility to create an almost inescapable situation.
But Kaidou was different. His hide was too thick, his endurance too monstrous. Even if Ortoren used that mode, there was no guarantee a barrage would do him any serious harm.
So Ortoren chose the second style—close combat.
Ever since he had gained the Goro Goro no Mi, Ortoren had trained with constant electric stimulation coursing through his body, forcing his physique to grow beyond even what his natural monstrous talent had given him.
Now, in this full-power Lightning Release Armour state, the current surged through him at maximum intensity, driving his muscles, reflexes, and speed to new heights.
Kaidou met Ortoren's serious gaze without a word. Power welled from his own body, blue-green scales rippling into view across his skin, his frame swelling even more massive. It was the unique transformation of a Zoan user—the hybrid form Kaidou preferred to call his "Dragon-Man" form.
Ortoren could have struck before the transformation finished, but he didn't. He waited in silence.
A few seconds later, Kaidou spoke. "Then let's see who comes out on top."
The instant the words left his mouth, both moved—rushing at each other with the same intent.
In the blink of an eye they were face-to-face, close enough to feel each other's breath. Kaidou's Conqueror's Haki-coated fist swung for Ortoren's arm, but instead of taking it head-on as before, Ortoren flowed aside, his reaction speed almost unreal. His body rode the punch's air current like a sheet of paper, slipping past it.
It was akin to Kami-e, one of the Rokushiki techniques, but refined—merged with the Goro Goro no Mi's supercharged reflexes for an active, lightning-quick dodge.
Sliding in close, Ortoren's chest was now against Kaidou's. Given their height difference, his target was clear—the abdomen.
Elbow strike.
"Elbow Bolt!!!" Ortoren roared.
The crackling Lightning Release Armor around his elbow slammed into Kaidou's gut. Kaidou's torso folded sharply, his body bowing like a shrimp as pain twisted his face.
The force behind this blow was far beyond what Ortoren had shown earlier. Kaidou's raw strength already lagged slightly behind Ortoren's natural power, and now Ortoren's limits had been pushed even higher by the surging lightning in his body.
The strike ripped Kaidou's feet from the ground, sending him flying back.
Ortoren didn't pause. Like a storm breaking, he launched his follow-up immediately.
Lightning roared. In a flash, Ortoren closed the gap on the airborne Kaidou. His arm bent, body twisting like a blade being drawn from its sheath, and he swept his elbow toward Kaidou's throat.
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
Kaidou was already slower than Ortoren, and midair he had no way to evade. Rage flared in his eyes, but he could do nothing—Ortoren's arm smashed into his throat, making his Adam's apple feel as if it had been crushed. A mouthful of thick, dark blood burst free.
It wasn't over. An instant later, an uppercut crashed into Kaidou's chin, blasting him straight upward.
But this was only the setup. As Kaidou's body rose, a bolt of lightning overtook him from behind—Ortoren, moving several times faster, locking onto him even from the disadvantage of size.
His arms hooked up under Kaidou's armpits, bending back to clamp together behind Kaidou's neck.
"Bastard…" Kaidou's eyes widened. He struggled, but Ortoren's grip was too strong.
The lightning pouring off Ortoren spread over Kaidou like the bite of midwinter frost, engulfing him in a sheath of crackling energy.
The moment Kaidou was fully wrapped in it, a savage gleam lit Ortoren's eyes.
"Lightning Self Bomb!!!" he bellowed.
The two of them, locked together in a cocoon of thunder, plummeted from the sky. They hit the ground like a falling meteor.
In an instant, blue-white light flooded the earth, and the ground for hundreds of meters around shattered apart. Waves of lightning tore outward in all directions, consuming everything in their path.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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