Oak vs. Kaido: Who Was the Strongest Apprentice?

Oak and Kaido turned a deaf ear to the discussions around them, both fully immersed in their clash.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With every continuous collision, they rapidly shifted positions, quickly causing severe damage to the plaza. The ground was covered in enormous craters.

"Not bad!"

After another clash, Oak offered his assessment of Kaido.

In terms of strength alone, Kaido was no weaker than him. After every collision, the distance they were knocked back was about the same.

Kaido, too, had realized Oak's strength.

"This guy!"

Looking up at Oak across from him, Kaido was astonished that Oak had used his body to withstand his spiked club head-on. After so many clashes, Oak had not suffered the slightest injury. That sturdy physical defense seemed no worse than his own, so Kaido unleashed greater strength the next moment.

"Thunder Bagua!"

He swung his Haki-coated spiked club at incredible speed. This was a technique of pure explosive power. In what was practically an instant, the club had reached Oak's face. It was hard to imagine that someone as massive as Kaido could erupt with such speed, too fast for the naked eye to follow. But this did not trouble Oak. Having spent years on battlefields, Oak possessed an extraordinarily sharp combat instinct. At almost the same moment, he raised a leg and kicked above his head, his toe colliding with the tip of the spiked club.

Clang!

Their collision rang out with a crisp metallic sound.

"So you're using that move already!"

Oak looked up at the spiked club. Thunder Bagua was Kaido's signature move after becoming one of the Four Emperors in the future, used many times to teach Luffy a lesson. Oak had not expected Kaido to have developed it so early.

However, Kaido was not yet coating his weapon in Conqueror's Haki at this point, only Armament Haki. Even so, its power far surpassed that of their previous exchanges.

Born on the Grand Line and having ventured through the New World from an early age, Kaido had encountered and mastered this power earlier than Oak. Oak, meanwhile, only possessed awakened Conqueror's Haki so far.

The members of the Rocks Pirates who had followed them out of the hall saw this clearly.

"Gurararara! Looks like Kaido has the advantage in this fight between apprentices!"

Newgate let out a hearty laugh, pleased that Kaido, whom he had brought back, held the upper hand.

"Haki is the power that transcends all else. The newly joined apprentice doesn't know Haki. Looks like I've already won this bet."

Ganzui also spoke in agreement with Newgate, though he was far more blunt, believing Kaido would be the final victor.

"Not necessarily."

Shiki immediately refuted him.

"Don't be fooled just because Oak doesn't know Armament Haki. His physique is far from ordinary. It can practically rival Linlin's Steel Bone Balloon. So even without Haki, he might not lose to Kaido."

Only Shiki, who had brought Oak back, understood just how monstrous Oak's body was. Even in his normal state, Shiki had to strike with all his strength to break through Oak's defenses. Oak had even endured two of Garp's iron fists head-on. Saying he would definitely lose to Kaido just because he lacked Haki while Kaido had it was far too absolute.

"Kyakyakya!"

"I never would have guessed that the newly joined little brother had such a fine body. That makes me even more interested."

Upon hearing Shiki say that Oak's physical talent was no worse than her own Steel Bone Balloon, Linlin let out an enchanting laugh that made one's bones go soft, staring eagerly at Oak in the arena.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like one of our apprentices has caught the eye of a certain demoness. I wonder whether the little guy can handle it!"

Still perched daintily on Newgate's shoulder, Miss Buckin instantly understood what Linlin was planning.

One of Linlin's greatest hobbies was having children, and she liked having them with people of all kinds of races and talents. Clearly, Oak, whom Shiki had praised as possessing talent no worse than Linlin's Steel Bone Balloon, had caught her eye.

Thinking of the fates of the men Linlin had taken a liking to before, she could not help looking at Oak with pity.

Linlin, however, did not care in the slightest. Instead, her eyes shifted toward Newgate.

"What do you think, Newgate? Would you reconsider my proposal? Have a child with me. Our powerful genes combined would surely produce the most gifted child in all the seas."

Before Newgate could say anything in response to Linlin's blatant seduction, Miss Buckin bristled first.

"Don't even think about it, Linlin! Newgate is mine! If he has children, it can only be with me! If you dare set your sights on Newgate again, don't blame me for getting nasty!!"

Miss Buckin glared at Linlin with hostility, putting on a perfect display of what fake sisterhood looked like.

Newgate had quite a headache over this. He was troubled not only by Linlin's proposal, but also by Miss Buckin. What had originally been nothing more than an accident after getting drunk had somehow left him stuck with her like adhesive plaster. This really was...

Newgate did not even know what to say. After that accident, he had considered swearing off alcohol. But when he remembered that all the drinking tabs went on Rocks' account and he did not have to pay himself, he ultimately could not bring himself to do it.

Seeing that even after coating his spiked club in Armament Haki and striking with all his strength, Oak had still caught it with the tip of his foot, Kaido's gaze sharpened. He realized that he had still underestimated this guy's defenses.

To achieve this through pure physical strength alone, no wonder Rocks had taken a liking to him just as he had Kaido.

After catching Kaido's spiked club with his toe, Oak used its force to leap forward and threw a punch straight toward Kaido's chest.

He had no choice. At just over two meters tall, he was like a child compared to the more than seven-meter-tall Kaido. Without jumping, he could not hit his opponent at all.

His punch was exceptionally vicious and fast. An ordinary person would have been unable to react, but Kaido was no ordinary person. He reacted swiftly and raised his spiked club to block immediately.

With a clang, Oak's fist was stopped by the spiked club. This time, however, the two did not fall into a stalemate. Instead, after Oak let out a furious roar—

"Extreme Impact!"

A shockwave suddenly spread out, invading the inside of the spiked club from without and generating tremendous vibrational force. Kaido nearly lost his grip on the weapon, forced to stagger back several steps before shaking off the force.

This was the ultimate technique of Hasshoken. After learning it, Oak had modified it himself, giving it a unique effect. Not only could it strike through barriers, it could also spread force through an opponent or object from within, destroying it internally.

Kaido's spiked club had been reinforced by Armament Haki. Otherwise, that single punch would have been enough to shatter it into powder.

Both fighters had brought out their true abilities, and the battle escalated further.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Oak repeatedly swept his legs, using his feet to send out several flying slashes. Each carried tremendous force as it pursued the retreating Kaido.

Whoosh!

Kaido swung his spiked club into a series of afterimages, forming a circular defensive barrier before him that blocked every slash.

Boom!

Then he stomped both feet against the ground, his immense strength crushing the earth within a radius of more than ten meters. Borrowing that tremendous recoil, he swung his spiked club down at Oak's head.