Kaido was not afraid. His gaze locked straight onto that giant golden Buddha.
At that moment, he no longer hesitated. After putting down his kanabo, he slammed his hands together in front of him, then suddenly spread them apart. A surge of green energy erupted from his body, shattering the ground beneath his feet.
This time, he did not open the limiters one gate at a time. He tore through every barrier at once and unleashed all of his power.
"Eight Gates! Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit, open!"
Green chakra flames burned wildly across his body. Veins bulged under his skin, and his breathing became heavy and scorching.
He lowered his body, bent his knees, and in the next instant, the ground exploded beneath him. Broken stones scattered in every direction.
Whoosh!
After grabbing his kanabo, Kaido vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was already flashing through midair like green lightning. Only then did a sharp sonic boom tear through the air behind him.
Sengoku's eyes narrowed. The afterimage of Kaido's previous position still lingered in his pupils. He had not even had time to capture Kaido's movement path.
And in the instant Sengoku was distracted, Kaido's kanabo, wrapped in howling wind pressure, smashed down toward the golden Buddha's head.
Bang!
A dull, heavy boom exploded in the air.
The air shook in layers of ripples, like a boulder dropped into the surface of a lake.
Sengoku's feet slid backward. That massive golden Buddha body had actually been forced back several steps by this single blow.
'What did this guy do? How did he raise his strength to this level in such a short time?' Sengoku was inwardly shocked, his gaze fixed tightly on Kaido.
"Again!"
Kaido gave him no chance to breathe. In midair, he twisted his body, borrowing the force of his descent to swing the kanabo again with even more violent momentum.
This time, Sengoku reacted much faster. He did not defend. He directly thrust out a palm, and a powerful shock wave burst from the Buddha's hand like a golden pillar of light meeting Kaido's attack head-on.
Boom!
The kanabo and shock wave collided in midair. The explosion of energy was deafening, and dazzling light burst from the point of impact.
Kaido's body was blasted away by the recoil like a kicked stone and crashed heavily back to the ground.
Boom!
The earth beneath him caved into a shallow pit, smoke and dust spreading everywhere.
Sengoku looked down at Kaido in the pit. His palm drew back again, gathering power, golden energy pulsing in his hand.
He spoke coldly, with the condescension of a judge delivering sentence. "Kaido, you have one final chance to answer me."
"Heh... hehehe..." On the ground, Kaido slowly stood up, blood at the corner of his mouth and a grin still plastered across his face. "Stop looking down on me."
Sengoku's gaze sank. Kaido's answer was already clear. He would not make any deal with the Marines like Ochoku had.
This kind of man had bones too hard to bite through.
"In that case." Sengoku took a deep breath, and the energy in his palm suddenly swelled. "Receive my attack."
"Great Sun Void!"
He thrust his palm forward. A muffled roar tore through the air like the bellow of some ancient beast.
The golden shock wave condensed into a gigantic Buddha hand, its entire form burning with scorching golden flames as it roared toward Kaido.
Kaido did not retreat. He gripped his kanabo with both hands and wrapped all of his Haki around it. Black patterns looked especially savage beneath the green energy covering them.
His arms exerted force, and with the Eight Gates strengthening him, he swung the kanabo with all his might.
Boom!
The kanabo and the golden Buddha hand slammed into each other.
In that instant, violent aftershocks spread in every direction like a tsunami. Stones on the ground were thrown into the air, then torn into even finer fragments by the shock wave.
Under the collision of power, Kaido was clearly at a disadvantage.
The ground under his feet collapsed instantly. Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb being torn apart.
"Aaaah!"
Kaido roared. The muscles in both arms bulged, blue veins crawling across the backs of his hands like vines.
He kept increasing his output, trying to push the Buddha hand back, but the effect was minimal. At most, he slowed its advance for a second or two.
"Insect."
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came from behind Kaido.
"You seem to be struggling quite hard. Let me help you find release."
Kaido's pupils shrank. The voice was impossibly close, yet he had sensed nothing.
He instinctively tried to turn his head.
But it was already too late.
A flash of blade light swept across his back.
Squelch.
Blood sprayed from Kaido's back.
A long wound ran from his shoulder all the way down to his waist, flesh curling open to reveal torn muscle beneath.
The blond woman did not launch a second attack. After striking, her figure flickered like a cat that had completed its hunt, lightly withdrawing from his range.
Kaido's body stiffened. Strength rapidly drained from his arms. The golden Buddha hand he had barely managed to resist suddenly lost all obstruction and smashed into him.
Boom!
A violent explosion rang out. Smoke, dust, and gravel shot into the sky, then scattered in every direction like bullets.
A deeper and wider crater appeared in the ground, its edges charred black and smoking.
The blond woman landed on higher ground. She sheathed her bloodstained blade and looked at Sengoku with dissatisfaction. "Look at you. What exactly are you doing? You took this long to deal with one insect."
Her tone carried undisguised accusation and contempt. After a pause, she continued, "Also, has our target appeared or not? The commander is already growing impatient."
Sengoku's gaze swept over her. The golden Buddha face revealed no emotion, but his voice clearly held a suppressed trace of displeasure. "You..."
He took a deep breath and ultimately did not flare up. She was, after all, a member of the World Government's mysterious organization and possessed monstrous authority.
Even with his high position, Sengoku had to restrain himself toward these people in certain matters.
"Haa..." Sengoku slowly exhaled before explaining, "For the moment, I don't know. My informant failed to respond in time."
"Tch, tch, tch." The blond woman made no attempt to hide her mocking expression. "Of course. If the Marines were reliable, why would we need to act?"
"This is an unexpected situation," Sengoku tried to argue.
"Unexpected?" The blond woman sneered, her cold gaze landing on Sengoku. "Think about it. That rabble calling themselves the Rocks Pirates has stolen the Heavenly Tribute meant for the Celestial Dragons how many times now? You don't know?"
Sengoku was rendered speechless. Since the Rocks Pirates had appeared, any Heavenly Tribute they targeted had basically been looted clean. Although most of the escort work was handled by World Government personnel, as a Marine, he truly could not refute her words.
Rustle, rustle.
From the dust-filled crater came a faint sound.
The blond woman instinctively looked over, the corner of her mouth pulling into a cold arc. "Tch, tch... insects truly are tenacious."
Deep in the pit, a bloodstained hand reached out from among the rubble. Then the other hand braced against the ground.
Kaido staggered to his feet. His face was smeared with blood, and the wound across his back was still slowly leaking crimson, dyeing his torn clothes red.
The Eight Gates state he had opened earlier had already faded when the Buddha hand struck him.
He looked miserable.
And yet, he was smiling.
"Ptooey." Kaido spat out a mouthful of blood, his voice hoarse. "Rocks... you were right. This really is a trap."
He paused, looking toward the sky as if seeing something far away. "Ron, I broke my promise. I won't be able to show you the big treasure."
He grinned, blood sliding down the corner of his mouth. "I gambled and lost. Fair and square!"
The moment that shout fell, a fierce current of air exploded from his body and blew away all the smoke left in the pit.
Then the Nine-Tails cloak around Kaido seemed to be absorbed by something. It rapidly shrank until it completely vanished.
"You turtle bastard who ambushed me, even if I die, I'm dragging you down with me!" Kaido roared.
Then he slowly closed his eyes, opened them again, and the chakra inside his body burned madly like dry firewood catching flame.
"Borrowing Ron's power, I feel like I can break through that next shackle."
He inhaled deeply and flung both arms wide.
"Eight Gates! Sixth Gate, Gate of View, open!"
A thunderous roar resounded from the crater.
In an instant, dazzling white light erupted from his body, as if a small sun had burst from his chest.
The green energy instantly transformed into even brighter white steam, surging, expanding, and burning around him.
The blond woman's expression changed sharply. She instinctively raised a hand to block the dazzling light, but it pierced through the gaps between her fingers, stinging her eyes.
Then her Observation Haki screamed its highest alarm.
A chill rose in her chest, as if something was closing in at a speed she could not comprehend.
The blond woman abruptly lowered her arm, intending to assess the situation and dodge.
What met her was Kaido's kanabo.
That strike dragged a trail of white steam behind it. It was so fast it left an afterimage in the air, carrying a tyrannical force that seemed capable of crushing everything, aimed straight at her face.
"Die!"
Boom!
The kanabo smashed directly into the blond woman's face.
Under the violent impact, her entire head was flattened. Her eye sockets caved in, her nose bridge snapped, her mouth deformed, and blood and bone fragments sprayed from her shattered face.
Her body then shot backward like a cannonball and disappeared into the depths of the ruins, kicking up dust that filled the sky.
Kaido landed where she had just stood, gasping heavily. White steam kept rising from his body. The wound on his back had torn open further from that eruption, and blood dripped down his spine onto the ground.
But he was still standing.
He had not fallen.
He turned toward the golden Buddha and slowly raised the kanabo in his hand, pointing it at Sengoku.
Sengoku's pupils contracted violently. It had appeared again. Kaido's aura was even more ferocious than before. How exactly was he doing this?
At the same time, inside the stone temple on the rear mountain, hurried footsteps rang out on the stone steps.
A Marine soldier rushed into the hall and dropped to one knee. "Report! A member of the Rocks Pirates has been discovered in the northern waters. Identity confirmed as Shiki!"
No sooner had he finished than another Marine soldier rushed in behind him. "Report! Members of the Rocks Pirates have been discovered in the northern waters. Identities confirmed: Captain Rocks, Edward Newgate, and crew member Ron!"
The two pieces of news were separated by only a few breaths, like two stones thrown into the hall and sending ripples through the air.
From the depths of the hall, three figures slowly walked out.
Saint Garling walked in front, the hem of his cloak swaying gently with his steps. Half a step behind him, two men wearing similar cloaks walked side by side.
"So those cowardly insects have finally shown themselves?"
"Hehehe... making us wait this long really is irritating. Very irritating."
Saint Garling walked out of the stone temple and stared toward the northern sea.
"Commander, let me go."
Saint Garling shook his head. "We move together. End it quickly."
As his words fell, his figure shot toward the coast like a shadow.
The other two God's Knights did not pause at all. They followed him at the same time.
A moment later, over the sea, Golden Lion Shiki was the first to reach the island. Flying through the air, he noticed three figures rushing quickly toward him.
Shiki's eyes rolled. He glanced back over his shoulder.
On the sea, Rocks's speedboat had almost arrived.
Shiki immediately looked away and shouted down toward the speedboat, "Rocks! Three guys are charging over! They're yours!"
After saying that, Shiki rose higher and flew off toward another direction.
Saint Garling and the other two did not slow down because of this.
One cloaked member turned his head toward Garling and asked, "Commander, the other one changed course. Should we chase him?"
"No need," Garling said from beneath his cloak. "He cannot escape. Deal with their captain first."
The three sped up again.
Saint Garling's fingers landed on the hilt at his waist. The other two made the same motion almost simultaneously.
The blades hummed as they were drawn. Haki flowed over the edges like water, black patterns flashing coldly beneath the sunlight.
Then they slashed at the same time.
Hum.
Three sword cries resounded almost at once, overlapping into a shriek sharp enough to pierce eardrums.
The arcs carved by their blades left three visible crescent-shaped sword waves in the air, roaring toward the approaching speedboat.
Boom!
The moment the sword waves fell, the sea seemed to be smashed apart by an invisible giant hand.
Exploding water pillars shot into the sky. White spray and shattered curtains of water tangled together, completely swallowing the speedboat.
Before the water curtain could fall, an incomparably massive golden nine-tailed fox rose from the churning spray and smoke.
Its body shone with burning golden light beneath the sun, and nine huge tails spread out behind it.
On top of the golden fox's head stood two figures side by side.
Rocks stood on the left, arms folded and posture casual, a smile on his face.
Whitebeard stood beside him, his naginata held horizontally in front of him, the blade reflecting a steady silver light beneath the sun.
"Wahahahaha! So this is our first speed bump?"
Whitebeard and Rocks stood atop the golden nine-tailed fox demon.