Locking Kaido Up as a Sparring Partner

Katakuri's dragon claw stopped in midair.

The sharp claw tips were only an inch from Kaido's scalp. The fierce wind stirred up by them sliced off a strand of Kaido's black hair.

The severed hair drifted down into the bloody water.

Hearing Rektol's order, Katakuri's thick arm paused.

He did not ask a single question. He immediately withdrew his dragon claw.

His massive body began to shrink inward. The blue hardened scales sank beneath his skin one by one. His dragon horns retracted into his forehead. His bones let out several dull cracks as he returned to his original human form.

He grabbed a strip of torn cloth nearby and crudely wrapped it around his bleeding right arm. He panted heavily.

Rektol sat in an ornate armchair.

He set down his teacup. The bottom of the cup struck the armrest with a crisp clink.

"Bring the chains." Rektol tilted his head and glanced at the quarry slaves in the distance.

Several gaunt Wano warriors trembled all over.

They scrambled to the foot of the mine and dragged two freshly mined High-Purity Seastone chains from an iron crate.

The chains scraped across the bluestone slabs with a heavy clatter, throwing sparks everywhere.

The warriors tossed the chains into the deep pit. Using both hands and feet, they flipped the half-dead Kaido over.

The sword wound in Kaido's chest was violently pulled open. He convulsed in pain, coughing up two mouthfuls of frothy black blood.

Thick iron chains wrapped around Kaido's neck, binding his arms and legs tightly behind his back.

The chains tightened. Kaido was trussed up like a dead dog.

The High-Purity Seastone instantly drained the last trace of strength from his body. Kaido could not even lift his eyelids, and his head dropped limply into the mud.

Three days later, Kuri, Wano.

A stretch of leveled wasteland stood enclosed by tall wire fences. The wind howled through the wire.

Two Fine Steel pillars as thick as thighs stood in the center of the grounds.

Kaido was suspended between the pillars by Seastone chains. His arms were pulled to their limit, while his toes barely touched the dirt below.

His old wounds had not fully healed, and the newly formed scabs were dark red and black. Several sea flies buzzed around his wounds.

Rektol sat on an ammunition crate at the edge of the grounds.

He held half a red apple in his hand and took a bite. The flesh crunched crisply, and juice splashed onto the back of his hand.

Rektol treated the strongest monster on the seas as the family's ultimate punching bag.

"Cracker, get up there." Rektol spat out two apple seeds. They fell into the sand.

Cracker had been squatting on the ground drawing circles. At the sound of his name, he immediately stood up.

He brushed the dirt from his hands. The features on his chubby face were squeezed together by nerves.

He slapped his thighs hard with both hands. The Magnet-Magnet Fruit power surged into action.

A pile of discarded katana and scrap iron bars in the corner of the grounds began to shake violently. Dozens of sharp metal pieces floated into the sky, defying gravity.

"Go!" Cracker roared, his voice cracking.

The scrap metal turned in midair. Its pointed ends aimed at Kaido and shot toward him like a torrential rain of metal.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Dull piercing sounds rang out in rapid succession.

Sharp iron bars stabbed into Kaido's chest and thighs.

Blood instantly sprayed out, flowing down Kaido's legs into the mud and forming a pool of dark red liquid.

Yet the moment he was attacked, Kaido's monstrous muscle fibers instinctively clamped down tightly on the metal.

The iron bars only penetrated two inches before they could go no farther. Several low-quality katana even broke their blades on impact, half-blades flying off and embedding themselves in the wire fence.

Kaido woke from the pain.

He suddenly raised his head. His bloodshot eyes glared at Cracker.

"A weakling's little trick..." Kaido grinned, revealing broken teeth, then spat bloody saliva onto the ground.

Cracker retreated half a step under that glare. His heel caught on a rock, and he fell flat on his butt.

Rektol finished the last bite of his apple and tossed the core into an iron bucket.

"Not enough penetration. Scrap metal is still scrap metal."

He pointed at Cracker on the ground. "Keep practicing. Compress the magnetic force to its limit. Don't stop until you can punch through his bones."

Cracker swallowed and climbed back up, continuing to control the scrap metal.

By afternoon, the sunlight had baked the sand until it was scorching hot.

More than a dozen scrap iron bars were embedded in Kaido's body, making him look like a giant porcupine. The bloody smell drew even more flies.

A maid carried a cradle to the edge of the grounds.

Smoothie lay in the cradle. Her right arm was connected to the black barrel of the Miniature Plasma Cannon, which glinted coldly beneath the sunlight.

Rektol walked over.

His finger touched the energy furnace interface. Electricity from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit poured into the machine.

Blue-white lights lit up across Smoothie's back, and the machine gave off a low hum.

"Test the burn limit," Rektol ordered.

The mechanical gears in Smoothie's right arm turned. The cannon barrel slowly rose and aimed at Kaido hanging in midair.

Blinding blue light gathered at the muzzle. The air warped under the intense heat.

"Boom!"

A brilliant blue plasma beam shot out.

The beam did not pierce Kaido's vital organs. Rektol had deliberately adjusted the angle.

The blue light blasted past the left side of Kaido's abdomen.

The instant flesh came into contact with the beam, it vaporized.

The heat burned through Kaido's abdominal muscles, leaving a charred gap the size of a large bowl in his side. Dark red intestines could even be seen writhing inside.

The stench of burnt flesh shot into the sky, harsher than scorched fur.

Kaido's entire body convulsed violently. He pulled the Seastone chains until they rattled, making the iron pillars shake with him.

He was in so much pain that he could not make a sound. Veins bulged across his neck as his forehead slammed heavily into the Fine Steel pillar, leaving a smear of blood.

Rektol picked up paper and pen, recording the energy output and burn area. His pen scratched softly across the paper.

Night fell.

Kaido was left hanging from the pillars, ignored. His wounds remained exposed to the cold night wind.

The next morning.

Rektol returned to the training grounds, crushing the frost beneath his feet.

Kaido was still breathing. His breaths were weak but steady.

Flesh-pink granulation had already grown from the charred gap in his abdomen. Severed blood vessels were forcibly reconnecting, while the regenerating muscles slowly pushed the iron bars out of his body.

His constitution was monstrous beyond belief.

Beat him half to death, and the next day he could still open his eyes and breathe.

Rektol slipped his notebook into his pocket. This was the perfect living sparring partner.

As long as they controlled their strength and did not kill him, this punching bag could bring a qualitative leap to the family's combat power.

For the next half month or so.

Kaido endured this torture every day.

He was burned, pierced, and beaten, then healed with his monstrous recovery ability.

His mind was pushed to the brink of collapse. Every day, he could only growl unconsciously.

That evening.

Rektol stood at the edge of the training grounds.

A light rain fell from the sky. Rainwater struck the wire fence and washed away the bloodstains on the ground. The mud became slick.

Katakuri used fists infused with Conqueror's Haki to pound Kaido's jaw again and again, practicing control over the flow of his Haki.

Rektol's All-Knowing Eye was passively activated.

His sensory web spread like ripples across several kilometers around him.

Suddenly.

The heart in Rektol's left chest contracted sharply.

A needle-like stab of pain shot straight into his head.

His breathing stopped for half a second. One hand grabbed the wire fence beside him.

The wires woven from Wapometal were crushed into several dents by his grip. Two veins bulged on the back of his hand.

The warning from the All-Knowing Eye forcibly dragged his senses underground.

Past the hard layers of rock. Through the rushing underground river.

Deep beneath Wano.

His vision locked onto an abandoned temple long buried by mudslides.

Half of the temple's stone gate had collapsed, and white lichen covered its surface.

An ancient, bloodthirsty, terrifying aura.

It seeped through the crack in the stone gate, like a thousand-year-old sleeping corpse suddenly letting out a sigh.

Viscous. Cold. Reeking of nauseating blood.

It rushed straight toward the surface.