Whitebeard's voice reached his ears.
His towering figure vanished so quickly that it was almost impossible to see how he moved. In an instant, he was already behind Kaido.
His face was grim and cold, as forbidding and dark as a night in the depths of winter.
He clenched his right fist. With a crackle, black-red lightning burst forth, while a halo appeared around it, a Tremor Wave enveloping his fist.
"They even placed you among the Four Emperors, on equal footing with me!"
At that icy voice, Kaido shuddered. Madness flashed in his eyes, and his right hand tightened sharply around his Club.
Then he twisted at the waist, wheeled around, and swung his Club.
"How ridiculous!"
"We aren't even men of the same era!"
Whitebeard threw his punch, his cold, furious eyes meeting Kaido's as he turned.
In that moment, the terrifying, forbidding gaze of this old man—the sole remaining legend of his era—made even Kaido's heart tremble.
At the same time, that heavy punch struck his abdomen. Savage force surged into him in an instant, like a tsunami, a thunderclap, a volcanic eruption.
Kaido's abdomen caved in. Cracking sounds rang out inside his body, and blood filled his throat.
But his Club swung toward Whitebeard all the same.
"In my eyes..."
"You're nothing but children who've only just started playing Pirate!"
Whitebeard's expression did not change. He kept speaking, paying no heed to the Club swinging toward him.
The Haki-coated Club closed in swiftly, coming within little more than ten centimeters of his face.
Clang!
A Naginata appeared from nowhere, planted firmly in its path, and blocked the Club.
Kaido's pupils contracted, and his body recoiled some distance.
That brief exchange made him realize that, although the enemy before him was old, his fighting strength remained terrifying.