Yimi's raw strength was nowhere close to Kaido's. Without the Doom-shroom, that had been the most powerful attack she could produce—and even layered with Armament and Supreme King Haki infusion, it had only managed to graze Kaido's muscle.
"Nowhere near enough. Wind Breath!"
Kaido coiled his enormous body into a ring and spun, generating a violent tornado to shake Yimi loose. He went so far as to aim wind blades at his own back, shearing away the mane she'd been gripping for support.
The tornado couldn't faze Yimi in the slightest. She launched into a Vaulting Dance mid-air to reposition, her spear finally flowing with the fluidity and grace it deserved against an opponent that matched its intended scale. Like a dancing butterfly, she chained Strong Jumping Advancing Slashes through the air, circling the dragon. Her target: the wound she'd just carved.
For Yimi, opening a wound was essentially the endgame.
She closed in at last. Yimi drew the Spear of Longinus across the soft, pale skin of her small hand, then pressed her bleeding palm against the gash.
"Frightening Monsters!"
An unprecedented wave of hunger ripped through Kaido's entire dragon form. He couldn't see Yimi from this angle, but his powerful Observation Haki pinpointed the source of the danger immediately.
"You underhanded little brat..."
Kaido opened his jaws and bit off the wounded chunk of his own flesh. A blast of dragon breath incinerated the torn meat along with every trace of Yimi's blood, and he immediately reverted to human form, ending the mount.
In that single second, he'd felt as though he hadn't eaten or drunk anything in three days.
And in exchange—by absorbing only a fraction of his nourishment—Yimi had gained more Supreme King Haki potency than draining ten giant squid combined.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Kanabo met spear once more. This time it wasn't just Love Train absorbing the recoil—Kaido could feel a dramatic surge in Yimi's Supreme King Haki.
"That kid is actually matching Boss Kaido blow for blow?!" The Beasts Pirates, busy saving themselves, nearly popped their eyeballs out.
They'd been scoffing at the "Fifth Emperor" title Morgans had slapped on her just moments ago.
"I see—so that's how you get stronger. How underhanded. It's almost like you inherited it from me." Kaido bared his teeth in a vicious grin, still running the con.
Deflecting Yimi's force skyward, Kaido shifted back into dragon form and hovered beyond her reach. He didn't attack.
His gaze turned to Shanks, who still hadn't sheathed his sword. "Brat from Roger's ship—are you here for Whitebeard's head?"
Shanks scratched his head with his phantom limb. "I'd like to think I'm the respectful-to-elders, gentle-with-kids type. Taking advantage of someone like that is pretty low."
Kaido snorted. He glanced at the chunk he'd bitten out of himself, then fixed Yimi with a long, hard look before conjuring floating clouds, scooping up his crew, and flying away.
Yimi blinked, then realized he was fleeing.
"Don't run!" She tried to give chase.
She couldn't remotely keep up.
As an Emperor, Kaido had his pride. Had it been a fight to the death where she'd genuinely outmatched him, he wouldn't have retreated. But this was different—his leaving was an acknowledgment that Yimi truly possessed the power to threaten him. Throw Shanks into the mix and it was no longer a fair fight.
He only fought battles that were even—or stacked in his favor.
There was also one overriding reason: he was starving beyond belief and needed to eat something immediately.
This brat would come to Wano someday to defeat him, wouldn't she? Joy Boy...
Anticipation? Fury? He couldn't tell. But the fight had been thoroughly unsatisfying. He'd much rather have an evenly matched opponent who could trade real blows, instead of punching cotton and never getting to vent.
"She actually drove off an Emperor..." Hancock, who'd been spectating for a while, had somehow climbed aboard Shanks's ship. She stared at the departing dragon in a daze.
"Congratulations to the host for completing the achievement [I Have Nothing Left to Teach You]. Reward: 5% portal energy."
"Meow?" Yimi's ears twitched. Her small mouth fell slightly open.
So that huge big-big cat had been teaching her Haki on purpose? And the cat had treated him like that.
Bad cat!
She checked the quest log. It didn't show a successful defeat of the final Emperor.
Compared to the mutual withdrawal that had ended the Akainu fight, this time Yimi hadn't inflicted a truly decisive blow on Kaido—she couldn't even keep up with his retreat—so the system didn't count it as a victory.
The real Emperors were incredibly powerful. Even stronger than the Admirals.
The little cat turned to Shanks. In her eyes, Shanks saw a fighting spirit that didn't belong to someone her age.
Shanks grinned, bent down, and ruffled her hair. The silky texture was leagues better than Luffy's—that kid never washed his hair.
"It's me—Uncle Shanks. Hawk-Eye must've mentioned me, right?"
"I only know Dog-Eyes." Don't try to cozy up to the cat!
Yimi pointed the spear at him. Water gun.
A stream of water hit Shanks square in the face. He could have dodged it easily but didn't, staring at Yimi in utter confusion.
"Is this seawater?"
Having never eaten a Devil Fruit, he naturally felt nothing.
But when he saw Yimi draw her spear again, Shanks—in a hurry to reach Marineford and in no mood for a fight—immediately played along, sticking out his tongue and flopping to the ground. "Oh no, I'm so weak, I've been defeated..."
Yimi bonked him on the head out of sheer muscle memory.
"Hahaha! What are you doing, Captain?" His crew didn't lift a finger to help—they were too busy laughing.
The bonk carried no Armament or Supreme King Haki, but the sheer bewildering indignity of it transported Shanks back to the days of being bullied by mountain bandits in East Blue.
"Mamamamama..." Only one person in the world had a laugh that bizarre.
These waters weren't exactly peaceful, either.
"Old hag..." Kaido glared at the woman blocking his path in midair.
Big Mom.
Back in their youth on the Rocks Pirates, she'd been something of an older sister who looked after him—in her own way. She'd even given him his Devil Fruit.
None of which stopped them from being rivals now.
"Kaido..." Big Mom studied the wound on his body with open surprise. "What could possibly make you lose a chunk of flesh out here, before even reaching the New World?"
"Hmph!"
Of all the things to bring up.
Kaido's face darkened. He put on an air of profundity. "I bet it on the new era."
"?"
"Got any cake? Let me eat something."
"How rare..." Big Mom narrowed her eyes, then snapped them wide open. "So, do you know why that cat-eared 'Fifth Emperor' brat's bounty is so high?"
"..."
Seeing his blank expression, Big Mom broke into a delighted grin. "You don't know. Good."