Kaido's Shock

This heatwave was nothing to Moke and Kaido. But the already sparse trees and vegetation on the island suffered greatly.

Wherever the heatwave passes, the trees and vegetation are as if they have been scorched by fire.

The leaves immediately drooped.

Then the leaves fell like snowflakes, but before they even hit the ground, all the moisture in the leaves had evaporated, making them incredibly dry.

Under the high temperature, the leaves immediately caught fire.

This immediately created a spectacular sight. Leaves fell from the trees and then burst into flames in mid-air. It was both eerie and beautiful.

Anyone who witnessed this scene would surely be amazed.

Unfortunately, neither Moke nor Kaido were in the mood to care about that; they were both staring intently at each other. Kaido, in particular, Kaido burning with rage, wishing he could tear Moke to pieces and skin him alive.

Wano Country took him an immeasurable amount of time, energy, resources, and money to completely bring under his control. He went to great lengths to achieve this...

To my utter surprise, this guy in front of me ended up stealing the show.

How could he possibly tolerate this?

Most importantly, he even managed to abduct Yamato, this dutiful son, and turn him into this guy's henchman.

This is truly intolerable!

"Um?"

Even the greatest anger cannot change a person's strength. At this moment, Moke had already absorbed the Nidai Kitetsu, and his physical strength had not only reached a new level.

In addition to reaching the level of Great Grade Meito, his Ghost Aura more than doubled.

This significantly increased Moke's strength.

Moke immediately entered Holy Sword State, and his body, already in its gigantic form, underwent another transformation. The golden dragon scales now had a touch of purple.

Purple flames flickered within the dragon's eyes.

Then, Ghost Aura surged out wildly, immediately enveloping the flames and turning them a yellowish-purple color.

They then fired at Kaido together.

"Boom..."

The two were initially evenly matched, but the balance was broken by the terrifying Ghost Aura. Moke's flames directly shattered Kaido's flames and then slammed into Kaido's dragon head.

This was something Kaido hadn't anticipated at all.

Keep in mind, only a few days have passed since his first battle with Moke!

How could he have imagined that Moke's strength would increase so rapidly, and that he would now be slightly superior to him?

So, he was momentarily stunned by the blow. He crashed down from the sky, his terrifying size like a small mountain.

The entire island trembled.

The impact sent up a cloud of sand and dust.

When everything returned to calm, Kaido had already transformed into his Hybrid Form and stood there coldly watching Moke.

He had regained his composure by then.

Looking at Moke now, he was filled with apprehension. It wasn't just because of Moke's strength, but also because of Moke's cunning. He had always believed himself to be a person who possessed both strength and strategy.

Few in the entire New World can compare to him.

Red-Hair is an idiot. If it weren't for his first mate, Ben Beckman, Red-Hair, even if he were just as strong, would have been killed by him long ago.

And then there's Charlotte Linlin... If it weren't for our past relationship, wouldn't it have been easy to get rid of her?

After being partners for so many years, how could he not know her flaws?

Only Whitebeard was the one he had always considered a true rival. But now, he was being completely outmaneuvered by a newcomer, which was something he absolutely could not accept.

But the more this happened, the calmer he became.

He stared intently at Moke, as if trying to see right through Moke. After a moment, he asked bluntly, "From the last battle when you proposed a marriage alliance with me, you had already planned everything?"

After saying that, he added, "Your goal is my Wano Country?"

Moke nodded, then shook his head. "Only by defeating one of the Four Emperors can I truly be considered the Pirate Emperor. And my target has always been you. Last time, I planned to take you down, but unfortunately... I couldn't break through your defenses."

"Um?"

Kaido understood the implication in Moke's words, and his eyes narrowed involuntarily. "So, you're already confident you can break through my defenses?"

Then his gaze fell on Moke's waist.

He recognized two of them; they were the ones that had been on Moke's waist before. But now, Moke had four knives on his waist!

One of them was one he had never seen before.

But the other sword was very familiar to him. It was one of the only twin swords that had ever left a scar on him: Kozuki Oden, Ame no Habakiri's sword, and Enma from Enma.

Kaido's pupils contracted slightly, because those two swords, and Kozuki Oden, had left an indelible impression on him.

Because this was the only person and the only knife in his decades of navigating the seas that could break through his defenses and leave scars on him.

However... that was Kozuki Oden.

A slight smile crept onto his lips as he looked at Moke with a hint of mockery, "You don't actually think that just because you got your hands on one of Kozuki Oden's swords, you can break through my defenses and leave a scar on me, do you?"

"You are Kozuki Oden. To me, wielding this sword or any other sword makes no difference!"

After saying that, he beckoned to Moke with his finger. "Don't believe me? Then feel free to try..."

"Brush..."

Moke drew Enma, then looked at Kaido and smiled maliciously, "Let's give it a try..."

"Bang..."

Moke stomped his foot hard on the ground, the terrifying force creating a large crater. Chunks of earth flew everywhere.

He shot out like a cannonball.

With incredible speed, they arrived in front of Kaido in the blink of an eye. Kaido remained confident as always. Indeed, he had clearly sensed from that attack that Moke had once again increased his strength.

So what?

It's still the same body that can't be broken. So, does it matter who's stronger or weaker?

Just like in that previous battle, even though he was clearly stronger Moke, the result was still that neither could gain the upper hand. It's the same now...

"Tsk tsk..."

Moke let out a strange laugh, and then Armament Haki surged wildly into Enma, manifesting as the unique Armament Haki of Ryuo... This is also the reason why Roronoa Zoro was able to injure Kaido with his breath in the original work.

"This is..."

The moment Kaido saw Ryuo, his eyes widened in shock. He would never forget this special power.

For a fleeting moment, Moke's figure transformed into that of Kozuki Oden in his eyes.

"Not good..."

He immediately realized what was happening.

But it was too late. Moke couldn't possibly miss such an opportunity. For powerhouses of their caliber, even a moment's distraction would be seized upon, allowing them to deliver a devastating blow.