"Kaido has gotten far too strong." Whitebeard watched the battle with a grave expression.
"Fuffuffuffu, this is far too interesting." Doflamingo watched events unfold, feeling that his plans still had a chance. "Whitebeard, an old relic like you should have taken your final bow."
Koby had already gone numb.
"I knew that man was strong, but I never expected Mr. Luffy to be able to fight a Yonko already."
As everyone focused on the battlefield, Su Lin's points kept climbing rapidly. Just as he had expected, why bother showing off with his original appearance? As long as people were watching, that was enough.
King the Conflagration, who had been following the battlefield, stared dumbfounded at Kaido on the television broadcast, then glanced outside the room at Kaido, who was standing at the bow of the ship and sipping wine.
Then fury surged through him.
"Mr. Kaido!"
"Hm?" Kaido turned around in confusion. It was rare to see King this flustered.
"Someone is impersonating you at the Summit War!"
"What? The nerve!"
After hearing King's explanation, Kaido hurriedly looked at the television and became so furious that he transformed into his fish-dragon form.
"Queen, how far are we from Marineford?"
"By ship alone, the shortest route will take around three hours."
Yesterday, they had intended to seize Whitebeard's territory, but the meddlesome Red-Hair had shown up.
After their standoff, Kaido had planned to follow Shanks and fight him again, but he discovered that Shanks seemed to be headed for Marineford, so he had just turned around and left.
"Damn it."
Kaido was displeased. "You sail over. I'll go ahead and teach that idiot impersonating me a lesson."
He seemed fairly capable. Watching the performance of "himself" on the screen, Kaido had to admit that, if nothing else, the man really did have the right feel.
Kaido suddenly wanted the two men fighting on television to become his subordinates. Of course, he would beat them up first.
Transforming into an Azure Dragon, Kaido shot into the sky and sped toward Marineford.
"What's Kaido rushing off to do now?" Red-Hair held a wine bottle as he watched Kaido fly through his field of vision. "Isn't that Marineford over there?"
"Shanks, wasn't Kaido confronting us yesterday?" Beckman stared at the television. "I remember his ship was following behind us for quite a while just now."
"Yeah, he flew past the back of our ship only seconds before you spoke."
"What's going on?"
A crowd gathered around.
On the screen—
"Unqualified!"
"Kaido" struck Luffy with a single blow, sending him flying toward Ace's side.
When he hit Luffy, the amount of Haki in the strike had weakened considerably.
That blow snuffed out the intentions of several admirals who had been preparing to attack.
Because "Kaido" had chased after him as well. If they attacked now, there was no telling whether this guy would start causing trouble.
"Tch." Akainu gritted his teeth, wishing he could kill Kaido along with Luffy right now.
But he was not an idiot. Whitebeard was about to arrive, and Kaido was fighting the Straw Hat Kid, which would save them quite a bit of effort.
If they drew Kaido into this, and he gave up on fighting the Straw Hat Kid to join the battle, even if Hero Garp and Sengoku joined forces against Kaido—
Once a chaotic melee began, the Straw Hat Kid, who was no weaker than Kaido in his current state, and Whitebeard would be freed up to deal with them.
"Damn Kaido. If you want to fight, get the hell out of here."
"Luffy!" Ace anxiously called out, flames rising in his hands as he prepared to attack Kaido.
No one could hurt his little brother like that right in front of him!
"Ace!" Luffy stretched out a hand to stop him. "Leave him to me. You guys retreat first."
"What nonsense are you talking about? As your older brother, I'm not about to let my little brother protect me!"
A fireball shot toward "Kaido," only to be casually smashed apart with a single swing of his club.
"You haven't even trained your Haki properly."
"You're quite lazy, Fire Fist Ace."
"Shut up! I don't need you teaching me." Flames blazed over Ace's fists. "Come on, then."
"Foolish Logia user, get out of the way!"
"Kaido" sneered disdainfully. "Roger was also a man without Devil Fruit powers. Do you know why he was still able to become the Pirate King in the end?"
"Only Haki can transcend all things!"
His spiked club swung toward Ace, carrying black lightning.
If Fire Fist Ace took that blow, he would be forced to his knees too.
"Ace, move!"
"Gum-Gum, Kong Gun!"
The spiked club and fist collided once more.
Everyone present seemed to see cherry blossoms overflowing and dancing across the battlefield.
That was the transformation brought about by the form of Haki.
"Ryuo mastery, 98 points."
"Kaido" kicked off with both feet, leaving a deep crater where he stood. His spiked club whirled through the air and narrowly swept past Luffy's cheek.
By coincidence, it also smashed toward the two admirals who had been watching the show.
Naturally, they dodged.
"Observation Haki, 99 points."
"Next comes Conqueror's Haki Coating!"
Kizaru and Aokiji could not help stepping farther away.
Those two brawling maniacs had yet to use their Devil Fruit abilities, especially Kaido. They knew that Kaido would become even stronger once he used his Devil Fruit powers.
They might not be afraid, but there were too many soldiers around them.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku," Aokiji spoke up to remind him.
Without needing further words, Sengoku understood the situation.
"Everyone below vice admiral, spread out and suppress Whitebeard's forces."
And so, the back-and-forth continued, with the surrounding area plunging into a chaotic melee. Whenever the admirals and vice admirals wanted to make a move, Kaido and the Straw Hat Kid, whether intentionally or not, would spread the fighting in their direction.
As for Ace, only now, watching Luffy fight up close, did he understand just how powerful his little brother had become.
While he was happy, he also felt the gap between them because of his own current strength.
Luffy, who was younger than him and had set sail later than him, could already battle a Yonko.
"Luffy..."
Mr. 3 was unconscious.
The fight continued for nearly ten minutes.
"Kaido" suddenly stopped and glanced sideways at the two admirals slacking off nearby, as well as Akainu, who was radiating killing intent. "If you dare interfere, I'll deal with you first."
"You filthy pirate, what do you think this place is?"
Magma dripped from Akainu's fists. He looked ready to unleash his ultimate move at the slightest disagreement.
Sengoku gave an order at that moment. "Sakazuki, assist the Shichibukai and surround Whitebeard!"
"Hmph." Akainu turned and charged toward Whitebeard. "Crimson Lotus!"
Whitebeard snorted, and a white spherical barrier appeared in his hand.
"Garp!"
"Got it." Garp walked over while putting on his tiger knuckle guards. "Kaido, my grandson doesn't need you teaching him."
"Then will you teach him? Wororororo!"
Seeing Garp about to attack and interrupt his performance, Su Lin began rambling about something else.
"Do you know how long it took me to teach your grandson to this level?"
"Oh? How long?" Garp was stumped by the question.
"Three strikes!"
"What do you mean, three strikes?" Garp asked, not understanding.
"I only used three strikes to teach the Straw Hat Kid into this."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Sengoku also walked toward Kaido. It seemed he intended to join forces with Garp to suppress Kaido.
"One strike to learn Ryuo! Two strikes to comprehend coating! Three strikes for Devil Fruit Awakening!"
"Ask your grandson yourself. How many times did I hit him before he learned all those skills?"
Su Lin spouted nonsense he had once seen online.
"Devil Fruit Awakening?"
The people nearby seemed to feel that they had heard an incredible term.
(End of Chapter)