If determination alone could get things done in this world, there would never have been so many tragedies.
King was different from King Luffy. He was not the protagonist, nor could he possess an inexhaustible reserve of power to unleash in a crisis. Even though this was already his strongest attack, before Kuta...
Kuta extended his right hand and pointed his index finger forward.
Bang
—!
The searing flames were blocked by a transparent layer of Haki.
The torrent of fire split apart on its own, rushing past either side of Kuta toward the ground behind him and leaving two long, black streaks.
A moment later, the fire dragon vanished, revealing King gripping his sword with both hands, trying to thrust it forward. But Kuta's index finger blocked the tip, preventing it from advancing at all.
"That angry, are you?"
Kuta gazed at the eyes beneath King's mask, which burned like volcanic craters, and spoke calmly.
"The winner rules, and the loser falls."
"Wasn't this how you crushed Wano Country seventeen years ago?"
As though something had occurred to him, Kuta curled his lips into a mocking smile. "Oh! My mistake. It wasn't quite like this. I'm overwhelming you. You used schemes as well as strength."
At that, he shook his head in amusement. "Different. Different. Not the same at all."
King said nothing.
Throughout this exchange, he had exerted all his strength, yet he could not advance even an inch against that Haki-coated finger.
Only by facing Kuta himself could he feel how truly powerful this brat was.
The gap between them was a chasm, an abyss he could never cross.
He turned his head to glance at Kaido lying on the ground. Seeing those eyes still glaring even in death, a trace of sorrow surfaced in King's gaze,