"An ignorant Emperor of the Sea? Educate him well enough, and he'll learn."
Shirogai smiled faintly at the towering figure ahead. "Don't you agree, Kaido of the Four Emperors?"
"Utter arrogance," Kaido growled, eyes narrowing.
"Boy," he rumbled, gripping his massive kanabo as his aura surged with unrestrained Haki, "you make that face as if you look down on the Four Emperors."
Kaido's expression hardened into something primal. His voice was low, resonant, and filled with restrained fury.
"Do you know how the title Four Emperors came to be?" he said, his words cutting through the air. "It was not chosen by us—it was given by those trembling cowards who feared our power. They placed us high above, hoping that fear of our reputation would stop us from destroying their fragile world."
His grin widened as his voice thundered, shaking the air.
"In truth, neither Linlin, nor I, nor Whitebeard, nor that red-haired brat ever cared about the title itself! The name Four Emperors didn't make us powerful—it was because of us that the title became synonymous with absolute might!"
Kaido suddenly vanished from sight.
Whoosh!
In a single step, he appeared before Shirogai, Hassaikai raised high, his muscles bulging with unleashed power.
"I acknowledge your strength, boy!" Kaido roared. "Now I'll show you the true power of a Yonko!"
Black-red Haki Infusion coiled around his weapon, distorting the air.
"Descent of Three Worlds: Infernal!!!"
Shirogai's eyes darkened. Black flame and Haki swirled together along his claws, twisting space itself.
"Dragon Claw: Arrogant Dragon Repents!!!"
The sky split open as the two forces clashed. Lightning crackled, and the world trembled beneath the sheer magnitude of their power.
"Use everything you've got!" Kaido shouted, his voice echoing like thunder. His club blazed with crimson Conqueror's Haki, laced with purple lightning as he swung again.
"Show me the strength that even the Five Elders fear! Show me the power of the one they call…"
Light exploded across the battlefield—so bright it illuminated the entire sky.
"Joy Boy!!!"
---
Flashback
"It's strange," Kaido muttered, arms crossed as he looked at King. "I wonder where Yamato even heard that name—Joy Boy."
King frowned. "You mean that legend?"
Kaido chuckled darkly. "But, King… if that's the man you've been waiting for—"
His smile turned grim, almost mocking. "Then I probably already know who Joy Boy is."
King tilted his head. "…Who?"
"The one who will defeat me in the future," Kaido said seriously. "Only someone strong enough to defeat me is worthy of that name."
King gave a low laugh. "Then Joy Boy will never appear."
---
Back in the present—
The skies above Onigashima had gone silent. The Beasts Pirates stared upward, their cheers frozen in disbelief.
Ulti collapsed to her knees, voice trembling. "L-lord Kaido… lost?"
Page One stood beside her, shaking. "He… actually lost to that guy…"
Above them floated a sight they could hardly comprehend.
Kaido, back in his human form, was held by the neck—suspended in the air by a flawless, pale hand. His eyes were blank, his abdomen pierced through completely, blood dripping freely into the sea below.
"Among the Four Emperors," Shirogai said softly, his tone both calm and sorrowful, "only you, Kaido, truly loved this world—and hated it just as deeply. Only you sought to change it."
Kaido's body twitched weakly in his grasp.
"Linlin is nothing more than an unstable giant child. Whitebeard was a man haunted by his own regrets. And Red-Haired Shanks… he's bound by his role, his fire shackled by diplomacy."
Shirogai's body glowed faintly with black energy, his form almost inhuman as his wings of shadow stretched behind him. He smiled faintly at Kaido's defeated figure.
"Perhaps it was this world that limited you. In a sea of islands isolated by danger and death, too many brilliant souls have been buried. Killed in endless wars, starved to death, or erased by the merciless weather."
Kaido coughed blood, his chest heaving. "You've won… kill me already!"
He stared defiantly into Shirogai's eyes. "Tell me, boy—are you the Joy Boy from the prophecy?!"
Shirogai frowned slightly. "Kaido… are you really another fool who clings to prophecies and abandons his own beliefs?"
Kaido's head lowered. Then, slowly, a wild grin spread across his face.
"'A rebel against destiny,' huh?" he said, laughing. "Or ro ro ro ro!!! You're right. I once believed I could burn down this world and rebuild it from the ashes—ignite it with war and freedom. But in the end, I failed."
His voice rose again, filled with bitterness.
"The World Government… that rotten core of this world, that hides behind its holy image. They call us pirates cruel, greedy, and evil—but compared to them, what are we really?"
Kaido's eyes flared with rage. "Have you seen the experiments they conduct on living people, all for stronger weapons? The test subjects aren't just pirates—they're civilians, children, anyone unlucky enough to be caught in their grasp!"
He clenched his fist, trembling. "Do you know how pirates are born? People starved to death, stripped of everything, forced to steal to survive. The World Government drains their nations dry with its 'Heavenly Tribute,' leaving them nothing. And when those same starving souls take up arms, the Marines hunt them down like beasts—seizing the same treasures they stole just to live."
His voice broke into a roar.
"This endless cycle of suffering plays out every single moment! And only absolute power—true, God-level strength—can ever stop it!"
Kaido looked into Shirogai's dark, emotionless eyes. "They call me the strongest creature in the world… but even I can't shake the foundation that the World Government has planted for centuries. Yet from you, boy… I see something different. Something that could finally break them."
The black aura around Shirogai slowly faded. His eyes softened.
"Actually…" he said quietly, his voice calm, "none of you ever realized that Joy Boy could've been you all along."
____
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