As powerful figures of the seas, Kaido had naturally crossed paths with Roger before.
Even when he had first joined the Rocks Pirates, Roger's name had already resounded across the seas.
Kaido remembered Roger's slash far too clearly.
But Roger had been dead for a year.
Could this brat be Roger's disciple?
To possess such strength at this age... 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 attack 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 Divine Departure.
"Does watching his execution count?"
Lin Ye spoke calmly.
But that response only confused Kaido.
If he truly were Roger's disciple, he would never speak so casually about watching Roger's execution.
Just what was this guy?
Kaido felt that Lin Ye had to be connected to Roger, and closely at that.
Otherwise, how could he have learned such a technique? It was exactly the same as the one Roger used.
That bastard Roger had actually found himself a successor before dying?
Kaido regarded Lin Ye seriously, his heart filled with shock.
He could tell Lin Ye's age. He was, at most, in his teens.
Though this world had many strange races whose ages were difficult to judge, Lin Ye was a pure human, so his age was easy enough to discern.
Judging from that slash alone, Kaido had even suspected that he was Roger in disguise.
Lin Ye was also studying Kaido, looking at the wound that slash had left on his chest.
It was shallow.
The bleeding had already stopped, and the muscles around the wound were still wriggling, seemingly about to heal.
Lin Ye lowered his head and looked at the blade in his hand.
Now he understood why masters of the sword wanted a fine blade.
After being forged into a Black Blade, its durability had greatly increased. Especially when the Haki used to forge it coated the blade, it became even sturdier, comparable to those Great Grade Blades.
But its sharpness was far inferior.
A Flying Slash ultimately could not compare to a Haki-coated edge.
It seemed he needed to find himself a good blade.
As Lin Ye pondered this, his expression suddenly shifted.
Damn, Kozuki Oden's swords!
Lin Ye realized what he had overlooked.
Kozuki Oden's twin blades were both among the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades. Though they could not compare to the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, they would certainly be sharper than the one in his hand.
But if he wanted to unleash his full strength, it seemed he still needed to find a Supreme Grade Blade.
As Lin Ye thought this, his gaze settled on Kaido.
Of course, he needed to deal with Kaido first.
He raised his blade and pointed it at Kaido again. 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 now be an overlord of the seas, but Roger had crushed countless opponents on his way to Laugh Tale and becoming the One Piece. These great pirates truly admired him.
Otherwise, Golden Lion would not have gone mad and charged Marine Headquarters alone, destroying half of it.
Dragon scales surfaced across Kaido's body as it began to transform, a thick dragon tail growing from his tailbone.
Kaido activated his Devil Fruit ability and directly transformed into his hybrid form.
This was a form that could only be entered after awakening a Devil Fruit ability.
In this state, his speed and strength increased drastically, while his defense and vitality also surged.
The wound Lin Ye had left on his chest was squeezed by Kaido's transformation until it looked like nothing more than a faint bloody mark.
Kaido casually swung the club in his hand, and a peal of thunder exploded above his head.
At some point, the sky had once again become overcast.
Kaido fixed his eyes on 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 along the ground, so fast that he seemed like a black line tearing through space.
"Die!"
Upon reaching Lin Ye, Kaido suddenly leaped into the air. Gripping his spiked club in both hands, he pulled it sharply back, then used the force of his spinning body and the thunder crashing down from the sky to smash it toward Lin Ye's head.
"Great Virtue: Thunder Bagua!"
Terrifying power accumulated within the spiked club, wrapped in lightning and Conqueror's Haki.
The lightning and Conqueror's Haki seemed to draw in every ray of light around them.
The club was too fast. Lin Ye's arms suddenly swelled as he gripped his blade with both hands and once again unleashed Divine Departure at the descending club.
Before their weapons even touched, the clash of Conqueror's Haki had begun.
The collision of their Conqueror's Haki seemed to condense into a dark sphere of light between their weapons, while countless bolts of Conqueror's Haki burst outward in every direction.
Boom!
Lin Ye narrowed his eyes, proactively withdrew his blade, and used the descending force to fly backward.
Boom!
The enormous spiked club slammed into the ground. A small mushroom cloud rose as the earth exploded, and all of Wano Country trembled.
Kaido threw back his head and laughed.
So this brat was not that strong after all!
Kaido had indeed been cautious earlier, because Lin Ye had given him a strong sense of danger.
But after that head-on clash, he had sensed the limits of Lin Ye's strength.
Strength was not everything, but in a battle like this, the stronger side held an enormous 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-coated Black Blade at Kaido's neck.
Bang!
The blade tip struck Kaido's neck. His Haki-coated skin sank slightly, blocking the thrust.
Lin Ye did not mind. Borrowing the rebounding force from the blade tip, he spun into position before Kaido's face and thrust his blade like a venomous snake, targeting Kaido's eye.
Clang!
Kaido raised his scale-covered left hand before his face. Lin Ye's blade struck his palm with a light clang.
"Kundali: Dragon Swarm!"
Kaido clenched his hand around Lin Ye's blade and wildly swung the spiked club in his right hand.
The spiked club, coated in Conqueror's Haki, moved at such terrifying speed that it seemed Kaido was swinging thousands of clubs at once, sealing off every inch of space around him.
Lin Ye crossed his arms before him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After his Haki-coated arms took several blows, 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 coated his Dragon Claw in Haki. The Black Blade bent under his grip before snapping with a crack.
Feeling the soreness in the arms that Kaido had just struck, Lin Ye sensed it rapidly fading away.
Lin Ye looked up at Kaido, then reached behind himself and grasped the hilt of the Fine Grade Blade Yingxue embedded in the ground.
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