Chapter 188: The Ultimate Clash of Kings!
"Boom...!!!!"
The earth-shattering explosion was deafening, a sound so loud it threatened to rupture the eardrums of every living creature within a mile radius.
Susanoo's massive, ethereal blue fist, carrying the weight of a falling meteor, instantly and ruthlessly engulfed Kaido's enormous body.
The sheer kinetic force of the impact was apocalyptic. Kaido was sent violently flying down towards the hard ground like a cannonball fired from the heavens.
He crashed with a sickening thud, the bedrock groaning and shattering beneath him, instantly creating a massive, perfectly human-shaped crater that spanned dozens of meters across!
Thick clouds of pulverized rock and choking dust violently plumed into the air, completely obscuring the point of impact from the terrified eyes of the onlookers.
However, after the giant blue fist struck Kaido with such devastating force, what echoed from the depths of the smoking crater was not a scream of pain or agony.
Instead, what tore through the settling dust was an even more furious, genuinely thrilled roar that chilled the blood of weak-willed men!
"Wororororo... interesting! Truly interesting!"
Kaido strode out of the deep, human-shaped crater with heavy, earth-shaking steps. As the dust cleared, his monstrous physique was revealed to be completely unharmed, bearing only a few minor, disheveled dirt marks on his thick skin!
His incredibly tough, dragon-like vitality was on full, terrifying display. He cracked his thick neck, a loud, bone-popping sound echoing clearly across the ruined landscape.
He bared his teeth in a savage grin, revealing a mouthful of stark white, razor-sharp fangs. His golden, vertical pupils were completely filled with pure, unadulterated, bloodthirsty excitement!
He hadn't felt an impact like that in years. His warrior's blood, long stagnant from a lack of worthy challengers, was finally boiling over.
Kaido violently mobilized all the massive, corded muscles and immense physical strength in his gigantic body. His grip tightened fiercely on the thick handle of his signature, spiked kanabo, Hachisai-kai.
On that massive, deadly, and historically blood-soaked weapon, a terrifying power began to manifest.
Conqueror's Haki, condensed to an absolute extreme and clearly visible to the naked eye like wild, crackling black and red lightning, instantly wrapped tightly around the spiked club!
The sheer density of the Haki began to forcefully distort the very space around the weapon, emitting a low, ominous hum.
"Roaring Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido roared, his voice echoing like rolling thunder. This was not his standard attack; this was a fully enhanced, devastating version of his signature Thunder Bagua!
He ruthlessly poured his immense, ocean-like Conqueror's Haki into the kanabo without the slightest reservation, achieving a whole new, terrifying dimension of both explosive speed and crushing power!
He moved. His massive body practically teleported, becoming a blur of motion as he swung the heavily coated club, reaching absolute extreme speeds that defied his immense size!
The air itself was violently torn apart by the sheer velocity and Haki pressure. It let out a sharp, mournful shriek, crying out under the unbearable, crushing pressure of the approaching strike!
Facing this genuine, world-destroying blow aimed squarely at his chest, Uchiha Madara did not flinch. Instead, his lips finally curved into a wide, genuinely interested, and blood-chilling smile.
"Now that's more like it. A dance worth my time."
His crimson Sharingan spun wildly. In direct response to his surging chakra, a massive, highly concentrated blue energy violently erupted from his body.
The chakra rapidly solidified, instantly constructing a giant, terrifying skeletal frame composed of pure energy completely surrounding his comparatively tiny human body!
Susanoo - First Stage!
Without a second's hesitation, Madara manipulated the construct. The giant, skeletal energy fist drew back and once again met the incoming black lightning head-on, smashing outwards with uncompromising brutality!
"Clang...!!!!"
A deafening, metallic clash of absolute extremes echoed throughout the entirety of Onigashima, shaking the very foundations of the floating island!
Blinding, chaotic light fiercely erupted from the exact center where the giant blue energy fist and the Haki-coated kanabo ruthlessly wrestled for physical dominance.
The sheer, compressed force of their clash had nowhere to go. A violent, highly destructive shockwave spread out in a massive, expanding ring, mercilessly stripping yet another thick layer of skin and bedrock from the already devastated ground!
"Don't you dare underestimate me, you arrogant bastard!"
Kaido's thick, purple veins bulged grotesquely on his massive, muscular arms. He roared with a deeply ferocious, almost demonic expression, pushing against the giant fist.
He could clearly feel the opponent's terrifying, unnatural power pressing down on him, threatening to crush his bones. But so what?
He was the Governor-General! He was the absolute pinnacle of physical might in this world!
"I am Kaido, the Yonko, the ruler of the New World, with a staggering bounty of 4,611,100,000 Berries, renowned and feared across this entire sea!"
With a heaven-shaking roar, Kaido dug his boots deep into the shattering earth and pushed his monstrous, physical strength to its absolute, breaking limit!
"Crack... snap...!"
A crisp, heart-stopping sound of fracturing energy suddenly pierced through the roar of the clash.
Under the incredibly fervent, wide-eyed gaze of thousands of Beasts Pirates, the impossible happened.
Susanoo's giant, skeletal fist, made of incredibly dense, protective blue energy, was actually shattered head-on by the sheer, overwhelming brute force of Kaido's Haki-coated kanabo!
The construct couldn't hold. Blue energy fragments, looking exactly like massive shards of broken, glowing glass, scattered wildly into the air before dissipating into nothingness.
The Beasts Pirates army, witnessing their invincible leader shatter the enemy's defense, erupted.
"Ooooh oh oh oh oh oh...!!!"
"We won! The Governor-General completely crushed that arrogant monster's defense!"
"As expected of Governor-General Kaido! He truly is the strongest, most invincible man in the entire world!"
"That's exactly right! Let those foolish outsiders know exactly how foolish it is to dare provoke our mighty Beasts Pirates!"
The shattered morale of the Beasts Pirates instantly rebounded, reaching an absolute, fanatical peak at this very moment.
Every single pirate seemed to have been violently injected with highly potent stimulants. They were jumping, roaring, and shouting until their throats bled, offering their most fervent, cult-like worship to their supreme Governor-General!
They believed the battle was already decided.
"Hahahahaha!"
However, Hashirama Senju, casually watching the intense clash from a safe distance, was not nervous in the absolute slightest.
Instead of worrying for his lifelong rival, the First Hokage put his large hands squarely on his hips and laughed heartily, a bright, completely carefree sound that contrasted sharply with the battlefield's tension.
"Madara! You really seem to be underestimated by these folks! Stop playing around and show them your true, overwhelming power!"
"Hmph, you talk entirely too much, Hashirama!"
Uchiha Madara's cold, heavily displeased, and thoroughly arrogant voice immediately echoed out from deep within the glowing center of the shattered Susanoo.
"Are you, of all people, presuming to tell me what to do on a battlefield?"
Hashirama's cheerful, teasing voice, combined directly with Kaido's arrogant, premature assumption of total victory, had completely, violently touched Uchiha Madara's most sensitive raw nerve.
His pride as an Uchiha would not allow such insolence to stand for even another second.
"In that case..."
Madara's crimson eyes widened slightly. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan within his pupils began to slowly, deliberately rotate, bleeding into a far more complex, terrifying pattern.
"I will let you pathetic, crawling ants clearly witness the true, unadulterated power of the Uchiha!"
Before his cold, commanding words had even finished echoing across the crater, the already shattered, incomplete blue skeleton underwent a sudden, drastic, and terrifying transformation!
Massive strands of energy, resembling thick, glowing muscles and dense flesh, rapidly grew and heavily intertwined over the skeletal frame at a visibly shocking speed.
The construct expanded outward violently, and a much larger, far more complete, and anatomically terrifying giant body instantly formed, casting a massive shadow over Kaido!
But it didn't stop there. Immediately after the flesh formed, a heavy, ancient Karasu Tengu Armor, shimmering with an eerie, oppressive blue glow, materialized out of thin air!
The thick, spiked armor seamlessly covered the giant energy construct's body, providing it with impenetrable, divine defense.
Finally, two massive, intricately designed great swords, seemingly burning with intense, volatile blue flames, manifested and were gripped tightly in the construct's giant hands!
Susanoo - Fourth Stage!
A gargantuan, heavily armored blue energy demon god, standing well over hundreds of meters tall and radiating a heavy, suffocating, world-destroying aura, fully descended upon this fragile battlefield!
"…"
"…"
The tens of thousands of Beasts Pirates, who had been loudly cheering and celebrating like a roaring tsunami just a single second ago, were now completely, utterly silent.
The cheers died in their throats, replaced by a cold, paralyzing dread.
Every single pirate looked up, their weapons slipping from their sweaty hands, their mouths hanging wide agape. They stared blankly, their minds entirely unable to comprehend the mountain-like blue giant towering before them.
Seeing such an enormously terrifying, divine giant, an uncontrollable, primal fear violently gripped their throats, completely suffocating their bravado.
What kind of... absolute, apocalyptic monster was that?! It was a god of destruction made manifest!
However, standing directly in the massive shadow of the construct, Kaido's golden eyes showed absolutely no trace of fear.
Instead, they burned with an even more fervent, dangerously manic fighting spirit!
"Worororororo...! That's more like it! Now this is truly getting interesting!"
He didn't back down an inch. He once again raised his massive kanabo high above his head, his muscles bulging, and charged fearlessly, head-on towards the towering, heavily armored blue demon god!
"Roaring Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido's comparatively tiny, human-sized body erupted with a violent, overwhelming Haki aura that was absolutely no less intense than the massive energy output of the giant!
He swung his kanabo, heavily wrapped in thick, crackling black lightning, with all his might.
It collided fiercely, directly against Susanoo's descending energy greatsword, a blade massive enough and sharp enough to easily cleave entire mountains in half!
"Clang...!!!!!"
This second collision was monumentally, exponentially more forceful and grander than the one before!
The sheer, terrifying kinetic shockwave instantly transformed into a highly destructive, tangible hurricane storm. It mercilessly swept everything around it away, uprooting massive boulders and sending unfortunate pirates flying through the air like discarded ragdolls!
"Tsk tsk tsk,"
Suzaku, comfortably watching this apocalyptic battle of gods from a safe distance on a high ridge, couldn't help but slowly stroke his chin and comment aloud.
"I really have to say, he truly, genuinely lives up to his boastful title of being the 'strongest creature' in this world."
Suzaku's eyes critically analyzed the clash, his mind working rapidly.
"In this highly elevated, serious state, Kaido's raw physical power and his masterful, seamless application of Conquerors Haki Infusion are indeed absolutely top-notch. It's flawless execution."
Watching the thick black lightning dance across the kanabo, Suzaku suddenly had a very bold, highly amusing idea pop into his head.
"Speaking of which, if I went up there right now and intentionally took a few heavy hits from him, would my System also allow me to instantly max out my own Conquerors Haki Infusion proficiency?"
He chuckled softly to himself, entertained by the thought.
"After all, it is very well known among readers that 'teacher kai's' practical teaching ability in the heat of battle is absolutely in a league of its own in the One Piece world. He beats the lessons right into you!"
Suzaku shook his head, a wry smile on his face as he remembered the canon story.
"That completely mediocre, laid-back teacher Silvers Rayleigh shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath. Compared to Kaido's crash course, Rayleigh is purely a misleading, slow influence!"
However, before Suzaku's internal, comedic grumbling was even fully over, a shocking development occurred on the battlefield.
High in the sky, positioned safely within the glowing crystal forehead of the massive Susanoo, Uchiha Madara was watching intently.
His rapidly spinning Three-Tomoe Sharingan, eyes that possessed the ultimate ability of observation and terrifying comprehension, seemed to have completely seen through the very fundamental mechanics of Kaido's power.
"Oh? So this highly condensed, will-based power... is this what you call 'Haki'...?" Madara murmured, his voice laced with dangerous curiosity.
He analyzed the flow, the density, and the exact method Kaido used to draw out that spiritual energy and coat his weapon. It was crude compared to chakra manipulation, but brutally effective.
The very next second, to Kaido's absolute, foundation-shaking horror, an incredibly impossible, logic-defying scene unfolded right before his eyes!
Uchiha Madara channeled his own indomitable, tyrannical will. Suddenly, the giant blue energy greatsword held by Susanoo actually erupted violently with something entirely new.
It was... the exact same, crackling, dark red and black lightning!
"...What?!"
Kaido's golden eyes nearly popped entirely out of their sockets. His jaw slackened in sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
He was a master of Haki, and his senses were absolute. He clearly, undeniably felt the terrifying energy signature radiating from the giant blade pushing against his own.
The opponent's massive energy sword was now heavily, flawlessly wrapped in an incredibly pure, incredibly condensed layer of Conqueror's Haki!
"Is that... Conquerors Haki Infusion?! No, it can't be!"
Kaido's mind raced, struggling to comprehend the impossible reality. Only a handful of the absolute strongest individuals in the world could even hope to grasp this advanced technique after decades of grueling, life-threatening battles.
"This arrogant bastard... did he actually just learn the pinnacle of Haki merely by watching me use it twice?!"
The sheer absurdity of the situation hit Kaido like a physical blow.
"How in the hell is that even possible?!"
Kaido roared in utter, furious disbelief. Refusing to accept it, he desperately swung his massive kanabo again, furiously and repeatedly clashing with the opponent's Haki-coated greatsword!
He poured every ounce of his remaining strength into the strikes, trying to overwhelm the copycat.
But this time, the feedback he received was entirely different. What he felt pushing back against his club was an absolute, completely irresistible, immovable force.
It felt exactly like a massive, solid iron mountain violently collapsing directly onto him, paired with the unstoppable, crushing weight of a raging ocean tsunami!
"So that is how it works," Madara's highly intrigued, yet thoroughly cold and analytical commentary echoed down from within the glowing Susanoo crystal.
"By directly, forcefully coating physical or energy-based attacks with this highly concentrated, raw power of one's own will... it indeed greatly, exponentially increases the overall destructive output."
Madara nodded slightly, acknowledging the martial value of the technique.
"It is quite a good, practical technique. I will be taking it."
"Bang...!!!!"
With those final words, Susanoo's massive greatsword, now perfectly and heavily coated with highly potent Conqueror's Haki, suddenly exerted a terrifying burst of force!
Kaido's kanabo, despite his monstrous strength, could absolutely no longer withstand the overwhelming, combined pressure of chakra and supreme Haki.
His defense was completely broken, and Kaido himself was violently sent flying backward through the air.
He looked exactly like a small baseball that had just been cleanly hit by a massive, high-speed runaway train! He was launched backward at an even faster, more terrifying speed than he had initially attacked with!
"Boom... rumble...!!!"
The sound of his impact was catastrophic. He flew across the battlefield and directly, violently crashed head-first into a distant, solid rocky small mountain.
The sheer force of his landing caused the entire rock formation to collapse in on itself, completely burying the Yonko beneath countless tons of heavy, jagged rocks and thick dust!
Suzaku, standing safely in the distance, was completely, utterly speechless. His jaw hung slightly open.
He looked blankly at the comical thought he had literally just had about Kaido's teaching abilities, and then he looked back at the distant mountain where Kaido had just been effortlessly sent flying by a single, copied sword strike.
His mouth began twitching entirely uncontrollably, a mix of absolute shock and overwhelming amusement warring on his face.
"No way... I literally just finished internally complaining about 'teacher kai's' legendary, forced teaching ability..."
Suzaku ran a hand through his hair, chuckling in disbelief.
"...and this absolute cheat of a Madara guy just completely learned and mastered the absolute most advanced, difficult Haki technique in the entire One Piece world in under five minutes?"
Suzaku let out a loud, genuine laugh, shaking his head at the sheer absurdity of his summoned crew.
"Indeed... I have to admit, it really, truly still has to be teacher kai! He manages to teach even multidimensional gods!"
Down on the ground below, seeing the seemingly invincible Kaido being brutally sent flying head-on in a direct clash of pure strength!
Yamato was incredibly, overwhelmingly excited! She was jumping up and down, her massive kanabo forgotten by her side.
"Uncle Madara is so incredibly amazing...!!!"
Yamato excitedly pumped both her fists high into the air, her bright eyes completely full of shining, adoring stars as she gazed up at the towering blue Susanoo.
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