The moment those words faded, Kaido didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second, hoisting his club and charging furiously toward the blond woman.
He and Sengoku weren't gaining any real advantage in their fight, and if they added this kind of bizarre, undying woman to the mix, his odds of winning would drop to practically zero.
So, his plan was simple... take care of the blond woman first to remove any worries from behind, then focus entirely on Sengoku and wait for the right moment to run for it.
He's charging right at you!! Sengoku shouted aloud, his voice booming from the mouth of the golden giant Buddha.
But the moment those words fell, Kaido had already closed the distance and was right in front of the blond woman.
The blond woman's pupils shrank sharply, and a flash of genuine panic appeared on her face, which had yet to fully recover its original shape.
"Worm! Stop right there!" the blond woman shrieked, subconsciously crossing her arms in front of her to block.
"Bang!!"
Kaido led with a swing of his club, slamming it heavily into her head.
The shaft of the club was imbued with the residual power of the Eight Gates, and the moment it struck, the impact shattered the ground as dust and debris vented upward along the fissures.
The blond woman's body sank abruptly, her legs plunging into the fractured earth.
Fearing she wasn't completely dead, Kaido followed up with a furious series of strikes.
"Thud, thud, thud!!!"
With every blow, the ground shuddered in response, shockwaves rippling outward in stacked layers as surrounding gravel bounced into the air.
Seeing that her head had already been beaten completely out of shape, Kaido shifted his aim to her body and smashed down savagely once more.
"Thud, thud, thud!!!"
"Damn you!" Kaido panted, every strike vicious and heavy. "If! You! Still! Don't! Die! From! This! I! Kaido! Will give you my life!"
"Bang!!"
Before his voice had even faded, a golden shockwave slammed into his side like a wall.
That force hurled Kaido's body away violently, sending him tumbling across the ground like a kicked stone.
"Rumble!"
Dust and gravel carved a long trail along the path of his tumble.
Kaido rose swiftly, planting his club against the ground to use his own strength to dissipate the last bit of momentum.
Sengoku, transformed into the golden giant Buddha, stepped over to the side of the blond woman.
He slowly reached down, pulling the blond woman's grotesquely deformed body out of the crater in the ground much like plucking a trampled weed from the dirt, and carefully placed her in the palm of his hand.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Black smoke swirled violently around the blond woman's surface, acting like some kind of dark flame frantically repairing her injuries.
Her sunken skull re-inflated, her shattered skin healed rapidly, and her crooked neck emitted a series of cracking noises as it slowly twisted back into its original position.
Lifting his head, Kaido happened to catch this exact sight.
He blinked.
Then he smiled...
Unbelievable.
She's cheating, how are you even supposed to fight this?
Instantly, Kaido whirled around and bolted, running for his life.
From within Sengoku's palm, a muffled voice slowly sounded: "Ch-Ch-Chase... him..."
The voice was halting and intermittent, as though her mouth hadn't fully grown back yet, but it quickly grew clear: "Give chase! What are you standing there for?! I'm going to make that bug pay a heavy price!"
Sengoku lowered his eyes to glance at the figure in his palm still desperately trying to regenerate, silently letting out a mental tch, a cascade of unvoiced complaints spinning through his mind.
Clearly, it was your own carelessness; if I weren't still here, Kaido probably would have beaten you into a meatball by now.
Still, complaints aside, Sengoku followed orders anyway.
Only, he hadn't even run a couple of steps before he abruptly came to a dead stop.
"You bastard?!" the blond woman roared in his palm. "What are you doing?!"
Yet the very next second, her voice choked off as well.
Because Kaido had stopped running, too.
He had even turned back around to face them.
"Boom!!"
Right at that moment, something flashing with golden light plummeted from the sky and landed right in front of them, causing the entire ground to violently shake. The surrounding air was shoved aside, kicking up a fierce wave of wind that swept up dust and gravel, roaring outward in all directions like a tidal wave.
The blond woman instinctively moved to raise her hand to shield herself, but the exact moment she lifted her arm, she suddenly remembered!
The last time she had lowered her arm, that damn bug had smashed a club right into her face.
The thought gave her a violent jolt, causing her to stubbornly force her arm back down and stare straight ahead against the incoming blast of wind.
As the smoke and dust cleared, a massive golden Nine-Tailed Fox Demon stood on the open ground between Kaido and Sengoku, its nine enormous tails swaying slowly behind it.
Its body radiated a scorching glow in the sunlight, the golden chakra cloaks clinging to it like flowing flames.
The blond woman furrowed her brows slightly, a fine layer of sweat beading across her forehead.
"This is..."
"Ron," Sengoku murmured.
"Never heard of him," the blond woman replied.
Sengoku ignored her; that name had simply slipped out of him on instinct.
At that moment, Kaido tilted his head back, staring blankly at the massive golden figure with his mouth slightly agape as he slowly spoke, "Ro... Ron? Is that really you?"
The golden Nine-Tailed Fox Demon turned its head slightly, eyeing him for two seconds! Then, without a reply, it shifted its gaze back to Sengoku ahead.
"Long time no see, Sengoku," Ron's voice echoed from the mouth of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon.
"Swish!!"
The moment those words dropped, that little bastard Kaido had already vaulted onto the shoulder of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon, brandishing his club as he hollered, "Go, Ron! Beat the living daylight out of him!"
Before you continue