"Drunken Thunder: Naraka Pull!" Kaido opened with this overwhelmingly powerful blow, intending to use the area-of-effect damage of a Conqueror's Haki infusion attack launched from afar to make it harder for Charlotte Katakuri to evade.
This time, however, Charlotte Katakuri merely used his reshaping to avoid the direct strike of the iron club. He directly defended against the area damage with Armament Haki. Since he had deliberately shrunk his body to make himself a smaller target, only a small portion of Kaido's Haki struck him, so Katakuri naturally expended far less Haki than Kaido did.
Under such circumstances, even if Kaido's Haki recovered more than twice as fast as Charlotte Katakuri's, he would gain little from a battle of attrition.
Watching the fight, Mousse realized that while long-range attacks looked flashy, they also wasted a great deal of Haki. That was fine for crushing weaklings, but against opponents of the same level—or stronger—it was still best to hit them directly whenever possible.
"It's like energy waves in Dragon Ball. They look incredibly destructive, but unless they take an extremely long time to charge or come at a huge cost, they're useless against fighters of the same level. They can even waste stamina instead. Simple punches and kicks are the true path."
Katakuri's subsequent attacks happened to prove Mousse's point. Though he was extremely cautious and only rarely counterattacked, every counter was precise and ruthless. He released his Haki only after striking Kaido's body, wasting almost none of it and achieving remarkably high efficiency.
Moreover, by the rules of this world, bladed weapons were inherently more lethal than blunt strikes. Katakuri specifically targeted fragile yet vital joints, and by the time Kaido took the third hit, his right hand had completely lost its strength.
What made Kaido feel a faint fear