Clashing with Kaido, a Collision of Conqueror's Haki

As fellow powerhouses of the seas, Kaido had naturally crossed paths with Gol D. Roger.

In fact, 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 far too deep.

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 slid across the ground, carving a long trail before finally coming to a stop.

The wound on his chest was not serious. He had not taken that blow 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.

"Does watching his execution count?"

Lin Ye spoke evenly.

But that response only left Kaido puzzled.

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

Just what was this guy's deal?

Kaido felt that Lin Ye was definitely connected to Roger, and deeply so.

Otherwise, how could he have learned such a technique? It was identical to the one Roger had used.

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

Kaido began to take Lin Ye seriously, shock filling his heart.

Because he could tell that Lin Ye was, at most, only in his teens.

Though this world had many strange races whose ages were difficult to determine, Lin Ye was a standard human, making his age easy to judge.

If he had only seen that earlier slash, Kaido might even have suspected that Roger was in disguise.

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

It was very shallow.

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

Lin Ye lowered his head to look at the blade in his hand.

Now he understood why skilled swordsmen sought out good blades.

After being forged into a Black Blade, its durability had increased greatly. Especially when the Haki used to forge it wrapped around 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 an edge wrapped in Haki.

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 Twenty-One Great Grade Blades. Though they could not compare to the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, they were certainly far sharper than the one in his hand.

But if he wanted to unleash his strongest power, it seemed he still needed to find a Supreme Grade Blade.

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

Of course, he first had to deal with the Kaido before him.

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

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

Though Kaido was now also an overlord of the seas, Roger had stepped over countless opponents to reach Laugh Tale and become 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 emerged across Kaido's body, and his physique began to change. A thick dragon tail grew from his tailbone.

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

This was a form one could enter only after awakening a Devil Fruit ability.

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

The wound Lin Ye had left on Kaido's chest earlier was compressed by his transformation, making it look like nothing more than a shallow streak of blood.

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 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 definitely become an even more troublesome opponent in the future.

With that thought, Kaido's clawed feet suddenly exerted force. He shot toward Lin Ye just above the ground, so fast that he seemed like a black line tearing through space.

"Die!"

As he reached Lin Ye, Kaido leaped high into the air. Gripping his spiked club with both hands, he pulled it back fiercely, then brought it crashing down on Lin Ye's head with the force of his spinning body and the lightning falling from the sky.

"Great Virtue: Thunder Bagua!"

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

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

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

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

As their Conqueror's Haki clashed, a dark sphere of light seemed to condense between their weapons, while countless bolts of Conqueror's Haki burst outward in every direction.

Boom!

Lin Ye narrowed his eyes, withdrew his blade on his own initiative, and used the descending force to send himself flying backward.

Boom!

The massive spiked club struck the ground. A small mushroom cloud rose up as the earth exploded apart, and all of Wano Country trembled.

Kaido threw back his head and laughed.

This brat was not that strong after all!

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

But after that head-on clash, he had sensed the upper limit of Lin Ye's strength.

Though strength was not everything, in a battle like this, the stronger side held a massive 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.

While still in midair, the Haki-coated Black Blade in Lin Ye's hand stabbed toward Kaido's neck.

Bang!

The blade tip struck Kaido's neck. His Haki-coated neck sank slightly, blocking the strike.

Lin Ye did not mind. Using the rebound from the blade tip, he spun through the air and arrived before Kaido's face. His blade shot out like a venomous snake, aimed at Kaido's eye.

Clang!

Kaido raised his scale-covered left hand before his face. Lin Ye's blade pierced his palm and let out a soft clang.

"Kundali: Dragon Swarm!"

Kaido clenched his hand, gripping Lin Ye's blade in his palm, while the spiked club in his right hand swung fiercely.

Kaido swung the Conqueror's Haki-coated club at extreme speed, as though wielding thousands upon thousands of clubs at once, sealing off every inch of space around him.

Lin Ye crossed his arms before himself.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After taking several blows on his Haki-coated arms, Lin Ye pulled back and retreated beyond the range of Kaido's attack.

"Brat, no blade now, huh?"

Kaido sneered, glanced at the Black Blade in his hand, and wrapped Haki around his dragon claw. He squeezed the Black Blade until it warped, then it snapped with a crack.

The soreness in Lin Ye's arms, where Kaido's club had struck him earlier, was rapidly fading.

Lin Ye looked up at Kaido, reached behind him, and gripped the hilt of the Fine Grade Blade Yingxue embedded in the ground.