The Strong

"Huh? A Devil Fruit User?"

Kurozumi Orochi, now a brat, looked in surprise at Sirius, who was strolling out of the burning dense forest. His large eyes revealed intense malice. "To be discovered, this is not good!"

"Be careful, Lord Orochi, he might be Oden's subordinate."

Another old man, following behind Orochi, spoke up. At the same time, he stepped in front of Orochi, crossing his arms over his chest. In an instant, a semi-transparent barrier formed into a hemisphere, directly enclosing him and Orochi.

Sirius focused on the semi-transparent cyan barrier. A Paramecia-type, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, capable of creating barriers of unimaginable strength. It didn't look very tough, but in reality, even a strong person like Oden couldn't do anything about this barrier.

"Fukurokuju! Take him down!"

As the barrier protected Orochi, Kurozumi Orochi gave an order. The ninjas surrounding Orochi also moved quickly. Their movements were exceptionally agile, turning into black shadows as they bounced around and surrounded Sirius.

"Ooh!!"

Yamato, who had been lying on Sirius's back, sat up in an instant. Her eyes were shining, and she excitedly grabbed the fur on Sirius's back. "Sirius!! Ninjas! They're ninjas!!"

Yamato excitedly looked at the long-eared bald ninja blocking their path. "Hey, hey, are you ninjas from Konoha? Where is Naruto?" She crossed her hands in front of her chest and formed a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu! Do you know this one?"

This little girl, is she out of her mind?

Fukurokuju, who once served Kozuki Sukiyaki and later defected to Orochi, and is currently the leader of the Oniwabanshu, tilted his head slightly as he looked at the gesticulating Yamato. She seemed completely unaware of the current situation.

However, Fukurokuju didn't care. He waved his hand, and the ninjas began to close in on Sirius.

Sirius, however, was not as carefree as Yamato. He casually brushed her off, "Can't you tell, Yamato? These are all dropouts from the Ninja Academy. They won't know advanced ninjutsu like the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Eh~ So it's Naruto who doesn't know Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

"It's Konohamaru's level."

"Wow, so weak."

While speaking casually, Sirius was actually very nervous as he watched the approaching ninjas.

These ninjas under Orochi were not good people. In his previous life, these guys would have been professional killers!

They approached expressionlessly, putting considerable pressure on Sirius.

Honestly, Sirius was a little scared.

But soon, Sirius's gaze became firm again.

King had told him before, he could only become strong!

Sirius felt he was right. In this world, if you want to control your own destiny, if you want to achieve your dreams, you can only become strong!

To want to do something, to do it, and to have the ability to accomplish it, that is the freedom of the strong!

"Capture them."

Following Fukurokuju, ninjas lunged from all directions.

Whoosh--

Flames leaped from Sirius's nostrils. He exhaled lightly, and the flames drifted out like a stream of water, directly separating him from the ninjas.

Legend had it that when Fenrir broke free from his restraints and rushed to the battlefield, flames erupted from his nose, mouth, eyes, and pupils!

The ninjas instantly became vigilant and retreated.

"Don't misunderstand, ninjas," Sirius felt his fear dissipating. He smiled, flames spewing from his mouth. With a casual sweep, the ninjas in front of him retreated in terror.

"Fire! It's fire!"

Kurozumi Orochi turned pale with shock and immediately hid behind the old man who had erected a barrier. "Semimaru, you must protect me!"

"This guy!!"

Kurozumi Orochi exclaimed in surprise, "Mythical Zoan? Like Lord Orochi?"

Behind Sirius, two ninjas leaped, intending to grab him from behind.

But at that moment, Yamato leaped up. "It's my turn to protect Sirius!"

She drew the mace from her back. "Thunder Bagua!"

It wasn't accompanied by thunder, nor did it resemble the Eight Trigrams; at best, it was a mere fraction of a trigram's power.

However, caught off guard, the two ninjas were sent flying by Yamato.

Sirius felt increasingly at ease. He was no longer a weak person; he could remain calm and composed. "We are not enemies. We are members of the Beasts Pirates."

"Lord Kaido's subordinates?"

Fukurokuju eyed Sirius suspiciously, then glanced at Yamato behind him. The expression on his face softened considerably.

He hadn't seen Yamato before.

But he knew Thunder Bagua was Kaido's technique.

"Oh! Oh! Isn't this Kaido's precious daughter? Fukurokuju, behave yourself in front of Oni-Hime!"

Orochi, finally seeing Yamato clearly, waved his hand, signaling the old man beside him to lower the barrier. He grinned and stepped forward, loudly scolding the ninjas to retreat. Then, he smiled at Yamato and said, "As expected of Kaido, to bring such a young daughter to the battlefield?"

"Does the disgusting old man know my father?"

Yamato looked at Orochi with some surprise, then said thoughtfully, "It seems I do have some impression of you."

"Dis-disgusting old man?"

Orochi's smile froze, but he immediately looked at Sirius as if nothing had happened, "Found another new monster? It seems the strength under our Myo-o is also growing day by day! But, guhehehehe,"

"Why are you stopping our actions? We are helping Kaido, can't you see? Kaido is in great danger!"

"Great danger?"

Sirius turned his head and looked at the battlefield between Kaido and Oden in the distance, "I think he's laughing quite happily."

Time returned to a little earlier, around the same moment Sirius appeared.

Having been struck down from the sky by Oden and having recovered his human form, Kaido hadn't even had time to get up from the ground when the enraged Kozuki Oden closed in.

"Get out of this country, Kaido! Never come back!"

The Samurai stomped the ground, coming with a gale, "Oden Two-Blade Style - Peach Blossom White Waterfall!!"

Haki wrapped around the blade transformed into a slash, tearing through the air, the air itself let out a wail.

"Thunder Bagua!!"

Pitch-black lightning shot up into the sky, an explosive aura causing the ground to crack and shatter.

Kaido, who had violently surged upwards, met Oden's twin blades with his lightning-wreathed Mace.

BOOM!

The earth shook violently, winds howled, rocks shattered, and soil flew.

"That hurt like hell!"

From within the smoke, Kaido's roar dispersed the dust and smoke like a gale. He clutched the wound on his right abdomen with his right hand, his forehead covered in cold sweat. "It will leave an indelible scar! But--"

The monster's lips curled up, a ferocious and unrestrained smile blooming on his face, "You did a damn good job, Bastard!"

Blue scales began to spread across his body, another pair of sharp, upward-curving horns like coral extended from his forehead, and a thick dragon tail grew from his lower back, striking the ground and creating cracks.

He tilted his head and glanced in the distance, in the direction where Kurozumi Orochi was, and chuckled, "The brat did well too!"

Then, Kaido, carrying his Mace, looked down at the grim-faced Kozuki Oden and suddenly roared with ferocity, "These five years weren't wasted waiting for me!!"

"Come on! Kozuki Oden! Let's fight! Make sure I have a good time!"

The monster opened its mouth, its roar transforming into a breath.

Lightning, fire, and wind, three catastrophic elements converged into one, forming a destructive Dragon's Breath!

Kozuki Oden didn't say a word and went straight to meet him.

"Father, I'm so happy!" Yamato watched the battle between Kaido and the other from afar, turning her head happily to Kurozumi Orochi. "I don't need your help! Father won't lose!"

"Yamato is right, don't interfere with Uncle Kaido's fight."

Sirius said, his eyes fixed on the second round of combat between Kaido and Kozuki Oden.

Kurozumi Orochi pursed his lips, his eyes filled with annoyance.

These two brats were bossing him around right in front of him!

But in the end, he didn't do anything.

These two brats in front of him, one was Kaido's daughter, and the other was a Mythical Zoan, clearly someone Kaido valued highly. He didn't need to create conflict with them.

Completely unaware of what Orochi was thinking, Sirius's entire attention was focused on the battlefield.

Kaido was a schemer, there was no doubt about that.

But Kaido in the original work should also have regretted his decisive battle with Kozuki Oden, right?

After all, even twenty years later, Kaido still couldn't forget Kozuki Oden, ranking him alongside Roger, Whitebeard, Rocks, Red-Haired, and others, considering him one of the five who could contend with him!

This was originally just Sirius's guess, but now it was confirmed.

The proof was the unrestrained smile on Kaido's face at this moment.

He was truly happy.

Let me watch properly, the battle of the strong!