"My head… it hurts so much… what a strange ceiling…"
Consciousness slowly returned to him. Kaido struggled to open his eyes, a splitting headache warring with the intense pain that wracked every inch of his body. His bones felt like they were about to fall apart, and every muscle groaned in protest.
He looked around, bewildered, and mumbled to himself. "Hiss… was that last batch of sake really that strong?" In the mind of Kaido, the "World's Strongest Creature," only the mightiest alcohol could produce such a punishing hangover.
Just then, a voice filled with surprise and concern came from beside him. "Lord Kaido! You're finally awake! Are you alright?"
"King?" Kaido turned his head toward the sound. It was his most trusted subordinate. He shook his massive, groggy head and asked in a gruff voice, "Why are you here? And… where is this?"
King looked at his captain's confused expression and reminded him, somewhat dumbfounded, "Lord Kaido, you… you got drunk. This is Ambri Island in the North Blue. You were defeated yesterday by that kid, 'Strange Tail' Takero."
"NONSENSE—!!!"
The words sent Kaido into an immediate rage, like a dragon whose tail had been stomped on. "How could I possibly lose?! Especially to some unknown brat!" All he remembered was drinking happily in his castle on Onigashima. Then… he thought he got a phone call, and after that, nothing. He had woken up in this miserable place, bound by cold, heavy chains.
To move him all the way from Onigashima without him even knowing… only someone he trusted implicitly could have pulled that off.
"So…" Kaido's eyes became incredibly dangerous. He stared at King, his voice like a cold wind from the depths of hell. "...King… did you betray me?!" It was the only explanation that made sense in his fractured mind.
"I didn't! Lord Kaido!" King was stunned, more shocked than when he'd been taken out by Takero's single punch. He couldn't fathom how his captain's thoughts could take such an absurd leap.
But Kaido wasn't listening. The thought of being betrayed by his most loyal commander ignited a monstrous rage that burned away all reason. He roared and surged to his feet. Even though his body was tightly bound by thick chains mixed with Sea Prism Stone, the terrifying aura of a Yonko was enough to make the entire prison tremble. "You think these scraps of metal can hold me?!"
His muscles bulged, veins protruding like coiling serpents as he tried to break free with pure, beast-like strength. The chains, specially designed by Tesoro to restrain top-tier fighters, creaked and groaned under the immense strain but refused to snap. Defeated for the moment, Kaido could only roar in impotent fury. "BASTARD! IF YOU HAVE ANY GUTS, LET ME GO!!"
Just then, the heavy iron door creaked open. Takero walked in, looked at the roaring emperor, and said impatiently, "What's all the noise about? If you're awake, then be quiet."
Seeing him, Kaido's face darkened further. "You're that Takero brat, huh?! Let me go right now! If you've got any guts, you'll fight me fair and square!"
"Huh?" Takero looked puzzled. "What are you talking about? I gave you a proper beating yesterday. Did I hit you so hard you got amnesia?" While he didn't understand the man's confusion, he wasn't about to refuse another fight. He had actually come to like Kaido. The man was incredibly durable—a top-tier punching bag. The previous day's fight had been satisfying, even causing his long-stagnant Super Saiyan progress bar to tick upward.
Hearing this, King quickly tried to intervene. "Lord Kaido! You are no match for him!" He now understood that Takero was a monster who operated outside the known limits of their world. Seeing his captain about to rush to his own destruction, he had to try and stop him.
But Kaido wasn't listening. "Shut up!" he bellowed at King. "After I deal with this kid, I'm coming for you, traitor!" With that, he stormed out of the cell, ready for battle.
Katakuri, who had watched the entire exchange, simply turned and quietly asked Tesoro for a Transponder Snail. 'Mama, if you don't agree to the terms soon, I don't think I'll ever be going back.'
…
On the barren land behind the mountain that Takero used as a private training ground, the rematch began the instant Kaido's chains were removed.
"THUNDER BAGUA!!!"
Unleashing his Conqueror's Haki, Kaido wrapped it around his massive club and transformed into a bolt of black lightning. He brought the weapon down with terrifying power, a single blow meant to knock out a fellow Emperor, aimed directly at Takero's head.
In response, Takero casually raised his right hand.
"CLANG—!!!!"
A deafening ring, like the striking of a colossal bell, echoed across the island. Kaido's ultimate attack, capable of crushing mountains, was stopped cold by a single open palm.
"What?!" Kaido was dumbfounded.
"ROAR—!!!!"
Refusing to accept it, he roared and transformed once again into the sky-blotting Azure Dragon.
"BORO BREATH!!!"
A scorching blast of destructive energy, hot enough to vaporize a mountain in an instant, spewed from his mouth and completely engulfed Takero. This time, Takero didn't even bother to move. After his last major battle, his power had soared. An attack of this level was barely enough to tickle him.
When the fiery blast dissipated, Takero stood in the same spot, completely unharmed. He casually used his pinky finger to clean out his ear.
"Impossible!" Kaido's massive dragon head was filled with utter disbelief. "You brat… how can you be… so strong?! Could it be… I really was beaten by you yesterday?"
"Oh? Finally remembered?" Takero grinned, not caring in the slightest about the man's existential crisis. His body shot forward like a cannonball, appearing directly in front of the massive dragon's shocked face. Then, he unleashed a storm of utterly unreasonable, lightning-fast punches.
"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"
The dull thuds of fist meeting scale and Kaido's shrill, distorted wails echoed through the sky. Finally, he could bear it no longer and let out one last roar of defiance. "Enough! I am… Kaido of the Beasts! I AM THE WORLD'S… STRONGEST CREATURE—!!!"
Takero responded by grabbing his massive, mountain-sized dragon tail. Then, under Kaido's bewildered gaze, he began using his enormous body as a giant whip, slamming it back and forth into the ground with frantic, brutal force.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The earth groaned and mountains cracked. Kaido's world spun as his massive dragon form, thrashed senseless, could no longer be maintained. With a final, pathetic thump, he reverted to his human form, lying like a pile of broken mud in the crater he had created, barely breathing.
Takero's voice, full of disdain, came from above.
"Such a weak… 'Strongest.'"
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion