The kanabo Hassaikai slammed heavily into the ground.
The ground instantly shattered into pieces.
Before Kaido could retract his strength, a door suddenly opened in the air behind him.
A figure shot out from the door and punched Kaido in the back of his head, sending him staggering.
In the next moment, the attacker, Control, retreated back into the door and vanished.
Reddy, witnessing Kaido being repeatedly outmaneuvered by the clones, curled his lips into a faint smile.
Kaido was one of the top two targets on his hunting list.
He could not afford to take this lightly.
Previously, he had used Sakazuki and Kuzan as training partners to hone the clones' advanced Armament Haki techniques.
The ultimate goal was to obtain the genetic samples of Kaido and BIGMOM to create the most powerful clones.
After numerous tests and verifications, it was confirmed that Kaido, just like in the original story, could not be effectively damaged without the advanced application of Armament Haki.
On the other hand.
Kaido's signature move, Thunder Bagua, was clearly overpowered.
Pyo was the first to suffer, taking a direct hit that made him vomit blood and nearly knocked him out of the fight.
Under Reddy's orders, the other clones switched to guerrilla tactics.
The Door-Door Fruit ability became the core of this strategy.
The alternate space created by the Door-Door Fruit allowed the other clones to act like assassins, striking at opportune moments.
After each attack, regardless of the outcome, they would immediately retreat into the alternate space, patiently waiting for the next opportunity.
By this point, Kaido had been ambushed countless times. While the damage was minimal, the humiliation was immense.
"Kaido, stop fooling around!"
BIGMOM's face darkened as she issued a warning to Kaido.
Seeing Kaido being toyed with like this was a disgrace to her as a fellow Emperor and former comrade.
She then glanced at Sakazuki and Kuzan, her eyes filled with silent warning.
Sakazuki remained silent, arms crossed, completely ignoring the threat in BIGMOM's gaze.
His plan was to let Kaido and BIGMOM exhaust the clones' stamina. The best outcome would be for Kaido, BIGMOM, and Reddy to weaken each other, allowing him to capture all three Emperors in one sweep.
However, as a Marine, he knew he could not show any sign of backing down from BIGMOM.
"Shut up, Linlin!"
Kaido was in a foul mood.
He was experiencing a battle unlike any he had ever fought before.
These clones were indeed strong, each comparable to an Emperor. However, they could not break through his defenses, or rather, the damage they dealt could not outpace his monstrous regeneration.
Moreover, these clones were as slippery as eels. Despite his overwhelming strength, he could not land a solid hit.
Hassaikai struck empty air once again.
The surrounding terrain had already been completely transformed.
The ground was shattered, littered with massive craters.
At that moment, a figure rushed over from the distance.
"BIGMOM..."
Jinbe's pupils constricted the moment he saw BIGMOM.
Then, his expression changed drastically as he exclaimed, "Why is Kaido here too?"
Two Emperors gathering in one place made him secretly worried for Reddy, silently praying that Reddy could find a way to win this war.
Soon, another figure arrived nearby.
Hawk-Eyes Mihawk saw BIGMOM blocking Sakazuki and Kuzan, and Kaido being harassed by a group of clones. A strange glint flashed in his eyes.
Not long after, Doflamingo also arrived.
When he saw Kaido struggling against the clones, unable to gain the upper hand, his usual grin disappeared completely, his face flickering between emotions.
He had thought he had already overestimated Reddy's strength, which was why he had desperately urged the other Warlords to contribute more to this operation.
But not only were the other Warlords scheming among themselves, the current situation made it hard for even him to believe that Reddy would lose.
The Marines' top fighters were reduced to just Sakazuki and Kuzan, and these two were being held back by BIGMOM.
Meanwhile, Kaido alone clearly could not break through the clones' encirclement to capture Reddy.
Doflamingo's first thought was to incite BIGMOM: "BIGMOM, the Marines' goal is to deal with that guy. Sakazuki and the others won't interfere in your fight."
"Hah?"
BIGMOM glanced sideways, her eyes darting between Sakazuki and Kuzan's faces, as if judging whether these two would actually make a move.
Truthfully, she was already impatient with Kaido's inability to turn the tide, believing he was dragging down the Emperors' reputation.
Sakazuki met BIGMOM's gaze, his face unreadable.
Doflamingo had exposed his plan.
But even with his extreme personality, he would never admit it openly.
"Everyone, we were summoned by the World Government for this operation."
Doflamingo stopped there, shifting his focus to Jinbe and the other Warlords, trying to play on their fear of the World Government to get them to attack Reddy.
"Hey hey, I don't want to fight monsters like this."
Crocodile crossed his arms, puffing on his cigar with a meaningful smile.
At this point, he was curious to see if Reddy could actually defeat Kaido.
If so, allying with Reddy would be even more necessary.
As for who the "monster" in his words referred to, it was open to interpretation.
"I am no match for him."
Jinbe had already gotten the answer he wanted from Reddy and openly admitted his lack of strength.
As for who "him" referred to, that was also subjective.
Mihawk, too, had received a very satisfying promise from Reddy and paid no heed to Doflamingo's provocations. His attention remained fixed on the battle between Kaido and the clones.
So far, the clones had only used Armament Haki and Devil Fruit abilities against Kaido. The swordsmanship he wanted to see had yet to appear, so he had no reason to intervene.
Doflamingo had expected this reaction from Jinbe and the others. Though frustrated, he did not continue urging them to gang up on Reddy.
He had done his best.
Yet, he ended up drawing Kaido's attention.
"JOKER, are you looking down on me?"
Kaido, already enraged by the clones' slippery tactics, exploded when he heard Doflamingo urging others to gang up on Reddy.
A massive azure dragon soared into the sky, then unleashed a scorching Boro Breath straight at Doflamingo.
Doflamingo quickly shot out a string to latch onto a protruding boulder in the distance, yanking himself out of harm's way.
With a thunderous boom, the Boro Breath carved out a massive crater, the edges of the earth glowing red-hot as black smoke rose.
"Idiot."
Crocodile sneered.
Jinbe shook his head.
Mihawk did not even glance at Doflamingo.
In their eyes, Doflamingo was nothing but a clown, making a fool of himself.
This was a battle involving Kaido of the Beasts.
An Emperor would never tolerate outsiders interfering in his fight!
Doflamingo, realizing his haste had led to an uncharacteristic mistake, shut his mouth and quietly became a spectator.
After teaching Doflamingo a lesson with his Boro Breath, Kaido turned his attention back to Reddy.
His massive maw opened, scorching heat rapidly gathering within.
The next moment.
An even more terrifying Boro Breath shot toward Reddy.