The call, of course, came from Marineford headquarters.
As soon as the Beasts Pirates' fleet was spotted, Marine Headquarters received reports from Momonga and the other officers at the front line. Without delay, they patched the line through to G-1 Branch.
Listening to Sengoku's low, heavy voice from the other end, Akainu's expression grew more and more grim.
"I understand, Admiral."
He took a deep breath. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as if he had made a decision. He hung up the phone, changed into his uniform as fast as he could, and grabbed his Justice cloak from the hanger, draping it over his back.
Then—
Crash!
Akainu actually smashed directly through his bedroom window, used Geppo, and arrived atop the base fortress building at top speed.
The next instant.
A low, vigorous roar suddenly spread like rolling thunder, echoing throughout the entire base fortress:
"All elite Marines, get up immediately, prepare to depart, reinforce Hall Island!"
Alarms blared instantly. The G-1 base, dark in the predawn light, abruptly lit up. Countless Marines, previously drowsy and still asleep, were startled awake and hurriedly gathered on the plaza, rushing towards the military harbor.
There, three warships already stood prepared, ready to depart at a moment's notice.
Akainu stood on the bow, looking in the direction of the New World. His eyes were cold, and his aura was full of a chilling bloodlust.
"Kaido of the Beasts…" His voice was cold, filled with an uncontrollable rage and fighting spirit.
Originally, when the CP unit had fallen into danger and Nao stepped onto the battlefield for the Poneglyph alone, Aokiji had already reported the situation to him. At the time, he hadn't been the least bit concerned.
Because in his eyes—
With Nao taking the field, the outcome of the Poneglyph's struggle was already decided. With his monstrous strength, how could mere men like Katakuri or Marco hope to stand as equals?
But what he never expected was—
The situation on Hall Island would shift so suddenly. Not only did Kaido personally appear, but the Beasts Pirates also moved out in full force, surrounding the Marine forces on Hall Island.
And Nao—was now trapped in a desperate fight, his life hanging by a thread.
That was something Akainu absolutely could not allow.
Nao wasn't just his most promising junior—no, at this point he was already a comrade of equal standing, a man destined to carry the Marine's future on his shoulders.
To Akainu, his importance and trustworthiness far outweighed even longtime peers like Borsalino.
If Kaido wanted to swoop in after the dust settled, pluck the fruit of battle, and exact vengeance on Nao—he'd have to get past Akainu first!
Soon—
The elite forces of G-1 had fully assembled at maximum speed.
At Akainu's command, the three-ship fleet surged out of the harbor, heading straight for Hall Island at full throttle.
...
The Marine's response was swift.
And almost at once, the great and small powers of the New World—who'd been following the struggle over the Poneglyph since last week—received the news as well.
The fact that Kaido himself had flown all the way from Onigashima to Hall Island sent shockwaves across the seas. Every faction, like predators scenting blood, was stirred into frenzy.
This scale of mobilization hardly looked like a mission for a Poneglyph anymore—it looked more like a vendetta aimed squarely at Nao.
After all, everyone knew: one after another, Kaido's Calamity commanders had fallen at Nao's hands.
Countless eyes converged on Hal Island. In nearby waters, many underground forces who were originally uninvolved couldn't resist their curiosity and sent people to investigate the latest news.
Although the name Romanov Noxia had indeed resounded across the seas over the past few years, placing him among the world's top-tier powerhouses and earning him widespread reverence—
The opponent he now faced was a figure who truly stood at the very pinnacle of the seas: Kaido of the Beasts!
If the rumors were correct, and a one-on-one duel was happening on the island...
Everyone wanted to know, facing such an Emperor of the Sea head-on, just how long that Marine Vice Admiral named Nao could last.
Half a day? Or an entire day?
The World Economy News couldn't sit still either. Overnight, President Morgans himself put together a frontline reporting squad and rushed them straight toward the battlefield!
In an instant—
This battle, raging through the midnight hours, had seized the attention of the entire New World!
...
Meanwhile, on Hall Island—
Countless bolts of lightning raged and crackled across the skies. With every deafening explosion that split the air, two figures could be faintly glimpsed clashing, flashing in and out of sight.
Several nearby mountain peaks had already been scorched bare, reduced to blackened wastelands. Jagged cracks spread in all directions, so deep and ominous that everyone below feared the mountains might collapse at any moment.
By now—
The battle had raged on for hours. The night on Hall Island was deep, the sky heavy with clouds that blocked the moonlight. The land was swallowed in darkness, broken only by the flickering glare of lightning that lit the world for a heartbeat at a time.
Yet Nao and Kaido's duel never slowed.
At their level, vision hardly mattered. Like Fujitora fighting blind, they relied entirely on Observation Haki to sense the enemy's every move.
"Brat!!!"
Kaido's savage roar tore through the night. His eyes glowed blood-red as he lunged in close, hurling a colossal punch. Nao didn't dodge, didn't flinch—he drove his own fist forward to meet it.
Boom!
Their fists collided head-on, bursting with crackling arcs of lightning.
The shockwave rippled outward, tearing through the ruins of an ancient town below, reducing it to rubble.
A few pirates who had been hiding there never even had time to scream. The force crushed their insides to pulp—darkness swallowed them, and they were gone.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thunder of blows never ceased. Before anyone realized it, Nao and Kaido had already traded hundreds of exchanges, battling in midair, body against body.
Every collision was bone-jarring, flesh against flesh. Both fighters, monstrous in physique and utterly confident in their durability, had abandoned the idea of evasion.
Or rather—they found dodging pointless. Attack was the best defense. Why waste energy ducking when you could take the blow head-on and drive your own fist into your opponent's chest?
If you're a man, fight with your spirit!
Thud!
With a dull thud, their fists separated again. Nao was forced back over ten meters by the aftershocks before planting his foot firmly on a mountaintop to steady himself.
Kaido, on the other hand, like in the first punch of the exchange, held the absolute upper hand, stopping after only retreating four or five steps.
"In the end, this is all you've got!"
"Kaido spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, his gaze feral. 'After fighting this long, you should already understand the gap between us, shouldn't you? Just admit defeat already, brat!'"
"Admit defeat?"
Nao spat two bloodied teeth onto the ground, then sneered openly, voice laced with mockery. "Kaido, are you still not awake after traveling all day?"
"All this yammering about gaps and differences—shut up already! If you want me to admit defeat, stop barking nonsense. Knock me down first, then we'll talk!"
"Nonsense?"
Kaido laughed in rage, his grin twisting into something monstrous. "You really think highly of yourself… Brat, knocked down? Fine then—if you won't admit defeat…"
"...then I'll grant your wish!"
BOOM!
He tightened his grip on his kanabo, body rocketing forward like a cannonball as he brought it crashing down.
Nao didn't hesitate—lightning flickered along his twin swords as he swung them up to meet the blow head-on.
Strike after strike, swing after swing—their pace quickened to a frenzy. The shadows in the night sky blurred into one, while the shockwaves of their clashes surged outward without pause, wave after wave
After such a prolonged exchange, the areas surrounding the battlefield had been utterly devastated.
The destruction spread wider and wider across forests and mountains, forcing both marines and pirates to retreat toward the outskirts, desperate not to be swallowed by the storm of violence that no ordinary fighter could hope to survive.
Kaido had pushed his close-quarters combat to the absolute limit. Yet even so, Nao withstood every wave of his onslaught, holding his ground.
Another hour passed, and still no victor had emerged.
The stalemate began to wear on Kaido. The longer it dragged on, the more his face darkened—especially knowing that all his subordinates below were watching this fight. His pride twisted in his gut like a knife.
Truth be told, Kaido's earlier words hadn't been lies. They were cold facts.
Between the two, a gap in raw power did exist. In strength, in Armament Haki, in Observation Haki—Kaido held the edge. The only advantage Nao possessed came from hisRumble-Rumble Fruit, granting speed so sharp it seemed like teleportation.
But things were not that simple.
As the fight raged on, Kaido realized something infuriating: this damned Marine brat was still brimming with energy, spirit blazing, every ounce of his state unshaken, showing not the faintest sign of slowing down.
If it were only stamina matching his own, he could accept that. But worse—Nao's regenerative ability rivaled, even surpassed, his own!
Kaido's body now bore scattered wounds. Most were already healing, but one gash across his shoulder remained deep, muscle fibers writhing as they stitched back together.
By contrast, Nao's skin was flawless, unmarked. Not a scar betrayed the hours of brutal combat.
Even the two teeth Kaido had punched out earlier had already regrown in full.
So when Nao grinned across the clash of blades, teeth flashing bright in the lightning, that smile looked unbearably mocking in Kaido's eyes.
I won't drag this out any longer…
Kaido snorted coldly. Trading blows was exhilarating, yes, satisfying even—but if it couldn't widen the gap, then the longer he indulged in it, the greater the shame.
Old grudges and new fury alike burned in him. This wasn't about some drawn-out brawl lasting days on end.
This was about crushing Nao—utterly, overwhelmingly, in front of every watching eye.
With that thought—
ROAR!
Kaido threw back his head and bellowed. Thunder rumbled above. His form swelled, twisted, transformed in an instant.
Mythical Zoan: Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Azure Dragon
he next instant— The sea of clouds churned and violently split apart, scattering to both sides. Moonlight reappeared, and under the awestruck gazes of countless onlookers, the hundred-meter-long azure dragon once again revealed itself, claws bared beneath the heavens!"
CRASH!
As the pale-azure dragon emerged, terrifying bolts of lightning slashed the skies.
The rain, which had slowed, suddenly poured down again in sheets, like pearl curtains strung between heaven and earth. The world turned into a silvery haze under the moonlight.
"Marine brat!"
The azure dragon roared, whiskers lashing in the wind. Its eyes glowed cold as they locked onto Nao.
"The warm-up's over. Today, it's about time for you to reach your end!"
With those words, Kaido let out a vicious dragon's cry. His massive body twisted, coiling with power. Gathering every ounce of strength into his lower half, he whipped his tail forward with crushing force!
SWISH! SWISH!
The dragon's tail swept down, cloaked in thick, blackened Armament Haki. The strike ripped the air apart, a storm of pressure exploding outward.
In dragon form, Kaido's power scaled with his size—this single strike dwarfed the destruction he could unleash in human form!
...
"Transformed into a dragon again so soon..."
On the southeast shore below, Queen the Plague tilted his head back, cigar clenched in his teeth, eyes narrowing at the massive body writhing in the stormy sky.
"Looks like Lord Kaido doesn't want to waste time. He's going all out for a quick finish…"
"Whether he does or doesn't—your captain's business isn't what you should be worrying about right now."
Every word Queen muttered reached Aokiji's ears. His expression didn't shift, but with a flick of his arm he sent a storm of glittering ice blades whistling through the air, hemming in Queen's bloated body.
"In front of me, you don't get to be distracted. Worry about your situation first."