Seeing Zephyr continuously dodging his attacks, Kaido immediately began to calm his emotions. He constantly used his Kenbunshoku Haki, attempting to glimpse a fragment of the future.
Finally!
Kaido opened his enormous draconic maw once more. Boundless heat gathered within it.
"Boro Breath——!"
A vortex of super-high-temperature flame, several kilometers long, shot out, striking directly on the path Zephyr was inevitably about to take.
"What?!"
Facing this sudden predictive attack, Zephyr had nowhere to dodge. He crossed his arms in front of him, fists clenched, and his entire body turned pitch-black like ink.
"BOOM——!"
The massive energy blast of the Boro Breath directly struck Zephyr, engulfing him.
A full minute passed before the flames and energy dissipated, revealing a figure still in the air—Zephyr.
Apart from his skin being slightly redder than before, there seemed to be no other change to Zephyr.
It was as if the terrifying heat breath, capable of melting mountain ranges, hadn't hit him at all.
"Whew—! What a terrifying brat." However, Zephyr on the other side wasn't completely unaffected.
Although the energy impact of the Boro Breath didn't cause much damage under the protection of his Busoshoku Haki, the terrifying heat made Zephyr feel as if he were soaking in magma, his entire body continuously being scorched.
Kaido, seeing this, muttered to himself, "It seems I've found your weakness, Zephyr."
Subsequently, endless flames spewed from Kaido's mouth, continuously enveloping his colossal form.
Raging flames fiercely burned around Kaido's body.
"Blazing Bagua!"
A dragon, a kilometer long and entirely covered in super-high-temperature flames, now floated on the sea surface dozens of meters high.
The sea beneath Kaido began to boil slowly due to the intense heat radiating from his body, with seawater around him constantly evaporating.
"Zephyr, die!"
Kaido charged directly at Zephyr.
Even before the terrifying temperature could get close, Zephyr felt a wave of scorching heat assault him.
"He has such a troublesome move as well?"
Feeling the dreadful high temperature, Zephyr spoke with some wariness—though it was only wariness.
As one of the Navy's highest combat powers, there existed nothing in this world that made him afraid, let alone terrified.
While Kaido's move was fearsomely powerful, for a physical combat master like him, an attack that couldn't land was useless.
But since Kaido used this move, he naturally had a way to make Zephory take it. Kaido didn't pursue Zephyr after he dodged. Instead, he charged directly toward the only warship currently present on the sea.
"Kaido, how dare you!"
Seeing Kaido's intention, Zephyr's eyes nearly burst with rage as he roared at Kaido.
Kaido in this state was horrifying. If that terrifying high-temperature form crashed into the warship, aside from a very few exceptional marines, no one else on that vessel would survive.
And in the seas of the New World, without a ship, adrift on the vast ocean, likely only he alone would survive in the end.
Therefore, even though Zephyr clearly knew this was a trap set by Kaido, he had no choice but to step into it.
Zephyr swiftly appeared in front of Kaido, blocking his path.
"Wororororo... Zephyr, try and stop me if you can!" Kaido said, using all his strength to charge at Zephyr.
"Bastard!"
"Black Arm: Star Destroyer!"
Facing Kaido's attack, Zephyr also went all out. The Busoshoku Haki within his body gathered continuously at his wrists before he struck out at Kaido.
Facing the high temperature radiating from Kaido's body, even Zephyr didn't want to make direct contact. Thus, he could only use Busoshoku emission.
"BOOM——!"
Their attacks collided once more.
The great sound is inaudible. The colossal roar momentarily silenced the surrounding sea.
Their attacks met in mid-air. Immediately, it became apparent that even the skin covered by Zephyr's Busoshoku Haki began to turn bright red, like steel being forged in a furnace.
This was the terror of the Blazing Bagua. No matter how powerful one's Busoshoku Haki was, it couldn't completely immunize the body against damage from extreme heat.
If Zephyr hadn't used Busoshoku Haki to protect his clothing in advance, history's first streaking Admiral might have made an appearance.
"Wororororo... Zephyr, die!" Kaido laughed while continuously adding more force.
"Brat, don't underestimate my Justice!" Zephyr also poured all the power from his body into the clash.
"BOOM——!"
Finally, the energy erupted, causing a terrifying explosion between Kaido and Zephyr.
Kaido was blasted back hundreds of meters by the explosive force, reverting from his Blazing Bagua form and floating in the air.
Zephyr didn't fare well either. The energy shockwave from the explosion sent him crashing into the sea.
Looking at Zephory sinking into the ocean, Kaido understood this battle could only end here.
If they were on an island, Kaido was confident in his current physical strength and recovery speed. But they were on the boundless sea, which was terribly unfriendly for a Devil Fruit user.
Zephyr, a non-user, could be knocked into the sea dozens of times without much effect. But if it happened to him even once, he might be headed for a long stay in Impel Down.
Even so, Kaido decided to cause some trouble for Zephyr before leaving.
Kaido's dragon form began to spin like a top in a circular motion. As he spun, several enormous waterspouts gradually formed on the sea surface around him. The waterspouts continuously sucked up seawater, forming several massive water tornadoes that then charged toward the warship.
"Old man Zephyr, I'll come for your life next time! Wororororo...!"
With that, Kaido laughed heartily and flew off into the distance.
"Dammit!" Watching Kaido fly away, Zephyr could do nothing. The most pressing issue now was dealing with these growing waterspouts. A single misstep, and the entire warship would be destroyed.
At that moment, Zephyr began to miss Sengoku. If Sengoku were here, with the shockwaves inherent to his Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Daibutsu, he could easily calm these growing waterspouts. Zephyr, after all, was primarily a physical combat master and wasn't particularly adept at handling such large-scale area attacks.
On the other side, Kaido quickly flew over to the pirate ship. He then used his ability to create flaming clouds, lifting the ship into the air and flying off into the distance.
By the time Zephyr had dealt with the waterspouts, the surrounding sea was completely empty.
All Zephyr could do was grit his teeth in frustration before ordering the warship to return to base. He needed to return to Navy Headquarters and personally report the threat posed by Kaido to Fleet Admiral Kong.
But before Zephyr could even make it back to Navy Headquarters, a major event that would make him regret it for the rest of his life occurred.