Kaido the Undying!

Kaido stood still and took a moment to recover. Although he still looked a wreck, he was already much better.

He stomped out of the enormous crater he had smashed into the ground himself and looked at the expressionless Su Yu before him, his face grave and his gaze serious.

Never. He had never encountered anyone as powerful as Su Yu. Kaido had met the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and fought Whitebeard before, but even Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit hadn't hit as hard as that last blow. More importantly, Su Yu hadn't seemed to exert himself at all. He had merely raised a hand, almost casually, and left Kaido badly injured.

Kaido considered himself one of the strongest people in the world, and this was all he amounted to?!

Yet witnessing Su Yu's absurdly powerful strength hadn't frightened Kaido. Instead, it filled him with excitement. Or rather, the man simply didn't know the meaning of fear. He was a complete lunatic-and a battle-crazed lunatic at that!

Honestly, he had never been able to find a suitable opponent. The only people who could fight him were Whitebeard, BIG MOM, and Red-Haired, but none of those fights had been satisfying. Fighting Whitebeard left his brain rattling and his head spinning. Miserable! That old hag Charlotte's fruit was far too disgusting. Even more miserable! And that brat Red-Haired fought in a completely different style. Kaido liked battles where every punch struck flesh, whereas Red-Haired followed the swordsman's path. So that was miserable too!

Perhaps you might say, wasn't there still Garp, who relied on physical strength just like him? Well, he was a Marine! They weren't going to fight him one-on-one. If Kaido went looking for a fight with Garp, he would absolutely get the deluxe Marine family combo: Sengoku, Garp, and the Three Admirals! Better not to fight at all. How frustrating!

But today, Su Yu's appearance had utterly thrilled him. Although failing to withstand even a single move was rather embarrassing, it had been exhilarating! Besides, his strength really was inferior to Su Yu's. There was no arguing with that.

"Hahahaha! That felt great! Again!"

Kaido threw back his head and laughed, his savage Conqueror's Haki spilling out unconsciously. Every resident of Red Tree Island No. 13 rolled their eyes back and fainted. Some of the weaker pirates also lost consciousness outright, while the remaining pirates were affected too, reeling with dizziness for a moment. Once they recovered, they hurried back, putting even more distance between themselves and the two combatants.

Then Kaido actually charged at Su Yu of his own accord.

His strides looked lumbering but were remarkably fast. Clutching a spiked club that had appeared from who knew where, tiny arcs of lightning flickering across it, he brought it crashing down at Su Yu's head.

"Thunder Bagua!"

This was Kaido's signature move, Thunder Bagua. He coated his spiked club with both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki, delivering a strike of incredible speed and ferocious power!

Yet that immensely forceful blow was stopped by a single slender finger!

Su Yu leisurely raised his finger above his head and effortlessly caught Kaido's crushing spiked club without budging an inch.

"Since you want to fight, I'll play with you for a while!"

Su Yu suddenly smiled. His interest had been piqued, and he decided to beat Kaido up using nothing but physical strength, without drawing on any other power. Kaido ought to make an excellent punching bag... though he would still have to hold back...

At the sight of Su Yu's smile, even Kaido, who feared no death, suddenly felt his heart tighten and his hair stand on end. He sensed malice!

Kaido hurriedly tried to withdraw his attack and retreat, but it was already too late. Su Yu opened the hand blocking the spiked club, caught it, and squeezed gently. Hassaikai, the spiked club forged entirely from refined iron and tempered by Kaido's Armament Haki over countless years, proved as fragile as a model made of crumbling tofu, breaking apart inch by inch.

(Here, you can picture the scene where Hela crushed Thor's little hammer...)

Seeing his beloved weapon leave him just like that gave Kaido a pang of heartache, but he also seized the chance to retreat and put some distance between himself and Su Yu.

Yet when he focused his gaze, he found no one in front of him. Where Su Yu had just stood, only air and dust remained. Alarm surged through Kaido, and he hurriedly turned his head.

But he was clearly too late. At some point, Su Yu had already appeared behind Kaido. With a stylish side kick, he struck Kaido in the lower back and sent him flying.

Only after skidding face-first across the ground for well over ten meters did Kaido regain control of his balance. He tensed his entire body and pushed himself up.

But when he raised his head to look again, Su Yu had already vanished once more...

Kaido felt helpless, but he had given up trying to dodge. All he could do was protect himself with Armament Haki as best he could. Sure enough, just as he barely finished doing so, an irresistible force struck his lower back again, and he went flying once more.

And so he flew left, then right. Whatever the direction, Kaido kept flying. He couldn't even see Su Yu anymore. All he could do was take the beating.

The feeling reminded him of the time he had stormed Marine Headquarters alone, only for that old bastard Sengoku to bring Garp and the three Admirals along to gang up on him... no, this was far worse. Back then, he could at least fight back. Now, all he could do was get beaten, and he couldn't even see the person hitting him. It was maddening! Utterly humiliating! As for the damage... that was actually pretty severe too...

Meanwhile, the pirates watching from their distant hiding places looked like idiots, their minds completely blank as they stared at the battle before them. Their eyes unconsciously followed the two men's shifting positions. No, this could no longer be called a battle. It was nothing but play! Su Yu was playing, and Kaido was his plaything...

Kizaru and Rayleigh were somewhat dazed too. When had they ever seen anything like this in their lives?

No, this can't go on. Kaido flew through the air, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. At this rate, I might get beaten to death without ever getting a chance to fight back. He had to find a way out of his current predicament.

After Su Yu kicked him away yet again, Kaido instantly summoned the power of his Devil Fruit. His body grew larger and heavier, finally allowing him to regain his balance and break free of the endless cycle.

Dizzy and dazed, Kaido staggered backward several steps. At last, he could see Su Yu again. His white shirt was just as it had been at the start: spotless and perfectly neat, in stark contrast to Kaido's bedraggled state.

Only then did he realize something terrifying. When facing Su Yu, his Observation Haki seemed to have stopped working. As far as his Observation Haki could sense, there was simply no one before him, yet his own eyes clearly showed Su Yu standing there, perfectly at ease!

Su Yu was also studying Kaido's current appearance. Blue-green dragon scales now covered Kaido's arms, and his hands had become something resembling dragon claws. His formerly human head now had a protruding jaw and a dense covering of scales, while a pair of dragon horns sprouted from his forehead. He looked rather like a cross between a dragon and a human.

This was the third form of Kaido's Zoan fruit, his Dragon-Human Form!