Time stretched without limit, then compressed into a single point too small to grasp.
In Zaraki's vision, Hassaikai filled the world.
The wind pressure tore at his skin.
Kaido's Conqueror's Haki pressed down like iron needles, stabbing into his nerves until even his soul seemed to tremble before that pure violence.
His body was roaring.
Every cell screamed under the overload, pushed to the edge by the power gathering inside him.
'The limit.'
'This was the limit.'
Zaraki took a deep breath. His lungs burned, and the taste of blood coated the back of his throat as he slowly exhaled.
Hum—
A faint sound, almost swallowed by the storm, rang out.
The sealed blade of Nozarashi finally left its sheath.
And in that instant, the world in Zaraki's eyes changed.
A short future flashed across his mind.
Not a long vision, not an answer to everything, only a fragment of the next heartbeat.
If he met Thunder Bagua head-on, he would be crushed.
So he did not meet it head-on.
Dark-gold Reiatsu sparked around his body in arcs that looked like lightning.
Thunder Breathing's rhythm roared through his legs and spine, forcing his battered body into motion one last time.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash — Godspeed.
There was no long trail or roaring spectacle at first.
Zaraki vanished into a dark-gold streak and shifted half a step off the centerline of Kaido's strike.
It was less than the width of a blade.
It was also the difference between being killed instantly and gambling everything on a counter!
...
New World, aboard the Moby Dick.
The atmosphere on the enormous deck was heavy as iron.
On the projection from the Visual Den Den Mushi, that tiny dark-gold flash and the massive black shadow of Hassaikai were about to collide.
"Pops!"
Ace clenched his fists without realizing it, nails digging deep into his palms.
His heart felt as if it had been seized by an invisible hand.
Marco's brows were locked tight, and blue flames flashed briefly in his eyes.
He had never seen a duel this insane!
Whitebeard said nothing.
Only those hawk-like eyes that overlooked the sea narrowed slightly.
...
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku stared hard at the screen, veins bulging at his temples.
The rice cracker in his hand had already been crushed into powder.
"Madman! That complete and utter madman!"
Beside him, the gaze of Vice Admiral Tsuru's had become more serious than ever.
She gripped the armrest tightly and murmured, "No... with this strike, he's trying to make the whole world understand something."
In the corner of the office, Sakazuki stood with his arms crossed beneath his Justice coat.
For the first time, disbelief showed on that face as cold and hard as volcanic stone.
...
Across the world, countless people held their breath.
Then—
Pfft.
A wet sound, like a blade driving into flesh beneath armor, pierced through the static of the Den Den Mushi.
Only after that did the collision arrive.
Boom—!
The edge of Hassaikai still clipped Zaraki's shoulder and side.
Even after shifting away from the center of the blow, the force slammed through him like a collapsing mountain.
Bones cracked. Flesh split.
Blood burst from his mouth as his whole body nearly folded under the impact.
But Nozarashi had already slipped through the gap.
The blade stabbed into the side of Kaido's neck, tearing through scales and muscle before the rebound hurled Zaraki away.
A white ring of force exploded across the beach.
The shattered coastline caved inward, sand melting into patches of dark glass while seawater rushed over heated stone and erupted into thick steam.
The broken wall of water kicked up by the earlier impacts was smashed into spray before it could reach the inland evacuation routes.
The image from Morgans's relay Den Den Mushi shook wildly, sinking into white noise and crackling static.
No one knew how long passed.
Maybe one second.
Maybe several.
When the picture finally stabilized again, everyone saw a sight they would never forget.
The beach had become a wide scorched crater of blackened glass, smoking stone, and boiling runoff.
On one side of it, Zaraki knelt on his knees, Nozarashi stabbed deep into the ground to support his swaying body.
He was drenched in blood.
Beneath his ragged black coat, every inch of muscle twitched irregularly. Each breath dragged blood foam from his mouth.
That strike had not been a victory but a gamble that nearly tore him apart.
But no one was looking only at Zaraki.
Every gaze moved past him and landed on the other side of the crater.
There... lay a mountain of a man.
Kaido of the Beasts' enormous human body was half-buried in the ruins, his infamous kanabo, Hassaikai, fallen beside him.
Most terrifying of all was the wound on the side of Kaido's neck.
It was not a clean hole through his body, but it was deep enough that blood poured from between torn scales and knotted muscle.
That dark-gold flash had not overpowered Thunder Bagua from the front.
It had slipped through the smallest opening and wounded the "world's strongest creature" anyway.
Silence.
Across the world, there was only silence.
Morgans's wing trembled violently as he held up the Camera Den Den Mushi. His beak hung open, but no sound came out.
On the Moby Dick, Ace and the commanders were frozen like statues.
"Gurararara..."
Whitebeard's low laugh broke the silence.
The veins on the back of the hand gripping Murakumogiri bulged.
"That brat... actually made him bleed."
...
Marineford.
Crack.
Sengoku's desk gave way beneath his hand, leaving a deep palm print in the wood.
"He pierced it..." Tsuru's voice was dry, filled with shock. "He really found a gap in Kaido's defense."
"That man..." Sakazuki's voice was low and dangerous, magma churning faintly over his arm. "He's already a disaster capable of overturning the balance of the sea."
Vice Admiral Momonga abruptly stood up, his eyes filled with feverish shock and admiration.
"War Demon Zaraki... did he win?!"
No one answered him.
Because everyone in that room knew the battle was far from over.
For Kaido, that kind of wound might not even count as serious.
But its meaning was completely different.
That strike was a thunderous slap across the face of the legend called the World's Strongest Creature.
It announced one fact to the whole world.
Even Kaido could bleed.
After their brief shock, the leaders of every force watching the broadcast almost all had the same thought rise in their minds.
Why did he do this?
Was it only for victory?
No.
With the brief flashes of future sight Zaraki had shown before, he could have chosen a safer method. Instead, he had chosen the most brutal, most public way to prove a point, nearly destroying his own body to carve a wound into Kaido in front of the world.
This was no longer a simple fight.
Zaraki had carved a message into the age itself.
So what would he do next?