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Faced with the choice between Kaido and an Ancient Weapon, Akainu chose the latter.
After all, no matter how strong Kaido was, he was still just one person. Even if he teamed up with Orrick, the situation would merely go from a "grueling battle" to a "desperate fight."
However, Princess Shirahoshi, as Sea King Poseidon, had the power to command all Sea Kings across the world.
If she turned hostile, the world would be turned upside down!
On the battlefield, neither Kaido nor Kizaru was aware of the developments outside. Kaido, like a madman, stepped through the air to pursue Kizaru, and his frenzied attacks tore the ocean apart; the scene resembled the end of days.
There were many in this world who could clash head-on with Kaido, but Kizaru just happened not to be one of them. If he wanted to fight Kaido, he had to rely on hit-and-run tactics, catching a moment to land a Light-Speed Kick to his face, then pulling back instantly to avoid retaliation.
"Is running away all you can do, Kizaru?!"
Round after round, white steam puffed furiously from Kaido's nostrils. That stifling frustration, being unable to land a decisive blow despite having overwhelming power, only drove him further into a frenzy.
"Well, now… speed is power. If I'm faster, why wouldn't I use it to my advantage?"
Kizaru replied in his signature sleazy tone, launching a Light-Speed Kick that blasted Kaido backward, though, as usual, it couldn't break through his defense.
Heaven knows!
He wasn't mocking Kaido on purpose; it was just that lazy, slow drawl and his wrinkled old face that made anyone feel insulted.
"You're courting death!!"
Kaido skidded back several meters and came to a halt, eyes burning blood-red.
Kizaru immediately sensed danger, and sure enough, Kaido opened his mouth wide, a blazing red light gathering in the dragon's maw.
The Azure Dragon Fruit allowed him to manipulate the atmosphere. Using that power, Kaido created a superheated airstream, then coated it with Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), resulting in an attack of terrifying might.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kaido raised his dragon head like a cannon turret and launched three scorching torrents of heat. The terrifying temperature mixed with Haki turned them into massive steel-like pillars, shattering the air and leaving cracks behind.
"That many?!"
Kizaru's expression changed. Though the heat blasts looked like pillars, the moment they left Kaido's mouth, they expanded to over twenty meters in diameter!
They came down like massive lids, covering a vast area.
And a triple volley like that sealed off nearly all of Kizaru's options for evasion.
Yata no Kagami!
He raised his arm, and several golden prisms formed in the air. In an instant, Kizaru transformed into particles of light, ricocheting rapidly between the prisms.
Boom… rumble…
Just as he left the spot, the burning breath shattered the prisms he had just used. Feeling the searing heat brush the back of his head, Kizaru exhaled a shaky breath.
"Phew, that was close… almost got roasted, Hm?"
Suddenly, that sense of danger returned.
Turning his head, Kizaru's mouth twitched violently.
"Doesn't your throat hurt from that?!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Another three blasts of scorching breath whizzed past, exploding high above the sea. The shockwaves caused by the explosions even depressed the ocean surface, like falling meteors compressing the atmosphere.
As the firelight died down, Kaido's grotesque dragon head turned to look , only to feel something jab beneath his chin.
A pitch-black, fierce-looking Thunder Halberd was thrust upward at his throat. A crack appeared in his scale armor.
Drip…
A single drop of blood oozed from beneath the scale and landed on the halberd, evaporating instantly in a puff of smoke from the lightning energy it contained.
"If I remember correctly… I broke your bones last time."
"Ah, yes, you did."
Rowen, holding the halberd in one hand, looked at the result with some dissatisfaction. Pouting a bit, he then smiled and replied:
"That's why I hid for so long, waiting for my injuries to heal."
Raigo – Thunder Greeting: Soul Shock!
Black crystal formed on the fingertips of his left hand, while a giant electric orb spun rapidly in his palm. With one hand, Rowen shoved it onto Kaido's face.
Zzzzzt… BOOM!!
The explosion sent both of them flying.
Kizaru instantly flashed to Rowen's side and patted his now-curled, scorched hair.
"Whoa, hot hot hot… Thanks, Rowen!"
If Rowen hadn't pulled the same trick to divert Kaido's attack, even an Undying like Kizaru would've been seriously hurt.
"Be careful, Senior Borsalino!"
Rowen rolled his eyes.
"As the poster boy of the Glint-Glint Fruit, getting outsped by an enemy's attack? That's just embarrassing."
"Can't help it, I'm old. Not like you youngsters with all that energy." Kizaru puckered his lips playfully, but his eyes remained full of seriousness.
"Rushing to the battlefield with you at that speed earlier… nearly killed this old man from exhaustion."
Stamina, that was Kizaru's biggest limiting factor.
And the same applied to Rowen.
In fact, as time passed, the consequences of burning through their stamina while racing across thousands of miles to the battlefield were becoming more and more apparent.
Meanwhile, the Azure Dragon Fruit was a Zoan-type. And as the pinnacle of all Zoan Fruit ability users, Kaido's stamina was practically limitless.
When he was chasing Smoker earlier, he could even nap mid-flight, keeping himself in a constantly well-rested state.
"Yeah… this could be a problem."
Rowen clenched his fists. Having mastered Life Return, he could allocate every bit of his stamina with precision, wasting none. That gave him an edge over Kizaru in terms of condition.
But only slightly better.
The fact that his breathing rhythm had unconsciously sped up was proof that more than half his stamina was already depleted.
"Hold him off for me. I might have a move that can buy us some time."
"Hey hey, didn't you just hear me say I'm exhausted?"
Kizaru couldn't help but complain. Even at full power, fighting Kaido was a deadly mission, let alone in his current state.
However, Rowen completely ignored him. His whole body erupted in dazzling lightning, and he transformed into a streaking blue arc, lunging toward Kaido.
God's Cry · Thunderfall Spears!
Bēng kā!
The sky darkened instantly. An invisible force spread outward through the space. In the midst of a heaven-shaking thunderclap, Rowen caught a bolt of falling lightning from the sky, wrapped himself in a thunderstorm, and hurled radiant lightning spears with all his might.
"That move again?!"
Kaido's heart involuntarily skipped a beat, but he quickly realized something.
This time, Rowen hadn't thrown his weapon along with the attack. It was purely thunder-based.
"When will your arrogance end?! Attacks like this… they're nothing more than a tickle to me!"
"Hah!!"
Kaido clenched both fists and let out a mighty roar. Dense Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) surged outward, warping the air around him with heat-like visual distortion.
As the thunder spears closed in, he reached out and ruthlessly grabbed at them.
Zzzsh…!!
The sharp lightning spears clashed against his scale-armored palms, producing the shriek of metal grinding metal.
The resulting electromagnetic surge was so intense it pushed the air itself. Kaido had to exert the full power of his Zoan form to keep his balance.
"Such power…"
Zzzzzt!!
Exploding currents lit up everything before him. Gritting his teeth, Kaido suddenly clenched his iron-like fingers into a fist and yanked hard.
"Break… for me!!"
Kā chā!
With a bone-rattling low-frequency rumble, the vast thunderlight shattered like glass, dispersing into thousands of lightning serpents that flickered and faded into the air.
His palm was scorched black and smoking. Seeing this, Kaido's eyes grew dark and contemplative.
"I was right… Even without striking a weak point, this move packs serious killing power."
In this form, Kaido's defense was so monstrous that even fellow Admiral Kizaru would need over ten seconds of sustained attacks just to barely crack the scale armor, and only if he hit the same spot repeatedly.
But Rowen's Thunderfall Spears not only pierced Kaido's skull earlier and damaged his brain, now they had torn through his Busoshoku Haki, shredded his scale armor, and even injured his bones.
"Did you… develop this technique just for me?"
After all, Kaido was very aware, when it came to defense, no one in the world was tougher than him.
"That's right!"
Rowen admitted with a sharp grin, then added with a smirk:
"The world calls you an 'undying monster'… but I don't see it that way."
"You have your limits too. And once you hit those limits, even gods can bleed. Even gods can die."
"Besides…"
Boom! Crack!
Catching another bolt of falling lightning, half of Rowen's face was bathed in blue current. Standing in midair, he looked like a god or demon of thunder.
"Don't you think having two Undying fighters on the seas… is a bit redundant?"
While his titles "Thunder God" and "Admiral Azure Dragon" had gradually eclipsed it, Rowen was still widely known as "The Undying Vice Admiral."
From his self-healing abilities to his current dominance on the battlefield, Rowen's immortality was unquestionable.
"Fair point."
Suddenly, Kaido nodded in agreement. As Rowen watched with intrigue, Kaido opened his mouth, revealing a row of savage fangs.
"Even when I recruit subordinates, I don't like those with similar abilities."
"If two people are alike, then there's only room for the stronger one!"
"But…"
"That won't be you!!"
(End of Chapter)