Clashing with Kaido, a Collision of Conqueror's Haki

As fellow powerhouses of the seas, Kaido had naturally fought Roger before.

Even when he had first joined the Rocks Pirates, Roger's name had already resounded across the seas.

Kaido's impression of Roger's strike ran too deep.

But Roger had been dead for a year.

Could this brat be Roger's disciple?

At such a young age, he already possessed this kind of strength. Could he be another Roger?

Kaido, who had been sent flying, rolled and skidded across the ground, leaving a long trail before finally coming to a stop.

The wound on his chest was not serious. He had not taken that strike head-on.

Kaido rose to his feet and narrowed his eyes at Lin Ye in the distance, who was sheathing his blade.

"What is Roger to you?"

Kaido's voice boomed like thunder.

"Roger?"

Lin Ye knew Kaido had misunderstood because of that Divine Departure strike.

"Does watching his execution count?"

Lin Ye spoke calmly.

But that response only confused Kaido.

If he really were Roger's disciple, he would never speak so lightly of watching Roger's execution.

Just what was going on with this guy?

Kaido felt that Lin Ye absolutely had some connection to Roger, and a deep one at that.

Otherwise, how could he have learned such a technique? It was exactly the same as the one Roger had used.

That bastard Roger had actually found himself such a successor before dying?

Kaido regarded Lin Ye seriously, his heart shaken.

Because he could tell Lin Ye's age. He was at most in his teens.

Though this world had many bizarre races whose ages were hard to distinguish, Lin Ye was a pure human, so his age was easy enough to judge.

If he considered only that slash from before, Kaido might even have suspected Roger was disguised as him.

Lin Ye was also studying Kaido, looking at the wound that strike had left on his chest.

It was very shallow.

The bleeding had already stopped. The muscles around the wound were still twitching, seemingly about to heal.

Lin Ye lowered his head and looked at the sword in his hand.

Now he understood why skilled swordsmen wanted a good blade.

After being forged into a Black Blade, the blade's durability had increased greatly. Especially when the Haki used to forge the Black Blade infused the blade, its toughness became even greater, comparable to those Great Grade Blades.

But its sharpness was far inferior.

A Flying Slash was ultimately no match for the cutting edge of Haki Infusion.

Looks like I need to find a good blade.

As Lin Ye thought this, his expression suddenly shifted.

Damn it, Kozuki Oden's swords!

Lin Ye suddenly realized what he had overlooked.

Kozuki Oden's twin swords were both among the twenty-one Great Grade Blades. Though they could not compare to the twelve Supreme Grade Blades, they were certainly sharper than the one in his hand.

But if he wanted to unleash his greatest strength, it seemed he would still need to find a Supreme Grade Blade.

As Lin Ye pondered this, his gaze fell on Kaido.

Of course, he had to deal with Kaido first.

He raised his sword and pointed it at Kaido once more. Seeing this, Kaido's expression turned solemn.

Now that he knew Lin Ye might be connected to Roger, Kaido did not dare let his guard down in the slightest.

Kaido might have been an overlord of the seas now, but Roger had trampled over countless opponents to reach Final Island and become the King of the Pirates. These great pirates truly respected him.

Otherwise, Shiki would not have gone mad and charged Marine Headquarters alone, destroying half of it.

Dragon scales emerged across Kaido's body as it began to transform, a thick dragon tail growing from his tailbone.

Kaido activated his Devil Fruit ability and transformed directly into a human-beast hybrid.

This was a form that could only be entered after awakening a Devil Fruit ability.

In this state, his speed and strength increased greatly, while his defense and vitality also rose dramatically.

The wound Lin Ye had left on his chest was compressed by Kaido's transformation, now looking like nothing more than a shallow blood mark.

Kaido casually swung the club in his hand, and thunder exploded above his head.

At some point, the sky had once again become thick with dark clouds.

Kaido stared at Lin Ye. If possible, he wanted to leave this brat here for good.

Otherwise, Kaido had a feeling that this brat would become an even more troublesome opponent in the future.

With that thought, Kaido's clawed feet exploded with force. He shot toward Lin Ye close to the ground, so fast that he seemed like a black line tearing through space.

"Die!"

Upon reaching Lin Ye, Kaido leaped high into the air. Gripping his spiked club with both hands, he pulled it back sharply and used the force of his spinning body, along with the lightning crashing down from the sky, to smash it at Lin Ye's head.

"Great Virtue: Thunder Bagua!"

Terrifying power gathered within the spiked club wrapped in lightning and Conqueror's Haki.

The lightning and Conqueror's Haki seemed to draw all the surrounding light into themselves.

The club was too fast. Lin Ye's arms suddenly swelled as he gripped his sword with both hands and unleashed another Divine Departure toward the descending club.

Before their weapons could even meet, the clash of Conqueror's Haki had already begun.

The collision of their Conqueror's Haki seemed to form a dark sphere of light between their weapons, while countless bolts of Conqueror's Haki erupted outward in every direction.

Boom!

Lin Ye narrowed his eyes, withdrew his blade on his own initiative, and used the downward force to fly backward.

Boom!

The enormous spiked club smashed into the ground. A small mushroom cloud rose, the earth exploded apart, and all of Wano Country trembled.

Kaido threw his head back and laughed.

This brat wasn't that strong after all!

Kaido had indeed been cautious earlier because Lin Ye had given him a strong sense of danger.

But after this direct clash, he had sensed the upper limit of Lin Ye's strength.

Strength was not everything, but in a fight like this, the stronger side held a tremendous advantage.

Kaido had barely laughed twice when a figure with Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his legs tore through space and appeared at his side as if teleporting.

Still in midair, Lin Ye thrust his Haki-infused Black Blade toward Kaido's neck.

Bang!

The blade tip struck Kaido's neck. The Haki-infused flesh there sank slightly, blocking the strike.

Lin Ye did not mind. Borrowing the rebound force from the blade tip, he spun in front of Kaido's face and stabbed again like a venomous snake, targeting Kaido's eye.

Clang!

Kaido raised his scale-covered left hand before his face. Lin Ye's sword struck his palm with a crisp clang.

"Kundali: Dragon Swarm!"

Kaido clenched his hand around Lin Ye's sword and swung the spiked club in his right hand with all his strength.

The spiked club wrapped in Conqueror's Haki moved at terrifying speed, as if thousands upon thousands of clubs were being swung at once, sealing off every inch of space around him.

Lin Ye crossed his arms before him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After taking several blows on his Haki-infused arms, Lin Ye pulled away from the range of Kaido's attack.

"Brat, no sword now, huh?"

Kaido sneered, glanced at the Black Blade in his hand, and infused Haki into his Dragon Claw. The Black Blade warped under his grip before snapping apart with a crack.

Lin Ye sensed the arms Kaido had struck moments ago, where the aching numbness was rapidly fading.

Lin Ye looked up at Kaido, reached behind him, and gripped the hilt of the Skillful Grade Blade Welcoming Snow, which had been planted in the ground.