Blut

"You came?"

"I came."

"She didn't want you to come, did she?"

"But I came anyway."

Atop the huge, conspicuous skull-shaped rock mountain in the center of Hachinosu, two figures stood facing each other, the fierce winds at that height whipping their clothes.

Beneath their wildly streaming hair, one was a huge, rough-featured little giant, while the other was a youth in his teens dressed in a white holy knight's uniform.

"I heard this rock mountain used to be shaped like a fish. Rocks blasted two big holes in it, turning it from a fish into a skull," Kaya said.

"He did that after taking over Hachinosu," Kaido agreed, his face expressionless.

Numerous bandages were wrapped around Kaido, and those on his abdomen were even tinged with blood. His wounds had most likely reopened.

Charlotte Linlin had treated them for him.

Even so, his own body was remarkably tough. An ordinary person would have been half-dead.

Once his injuries had been more or less treated, Kaido left Charlotte Linlin and came here to find Kaya instead.

But why had Kaido, who had only recently been injured by Kaya, insisted on coming to see him again, even disregarding Charlotte Linlin's attempts to stop him?

"Was what you said true?" Kaido asked bluntly.

"From the moment I arrived on this island until now, I haven't told a single lie." A faint smile touched Kaya's face.

"You can give me power... What did you mean by that?!" Kaido clenched his hand into a fist. His weapon was gone; the spiked club he carried had been reduced to scrap metal, so he had come to the meeting empty-handed.

That was right. At the very end of their fight, Kaya had told Kaido he could share his power with him.

Although Charlotte Linlin had arrived and immediately interrupted them, and Kaido had been gravely wounded by a sword strike, he had still remembered Kaya's words.

"First, let's make one thing clear. What is power?" Kaya spread his hands. "Power isn't will; it's a phenomenon caused by some kind of substance."

"Haki, for example, or... Spiritual Power."

He beckoned gently, as though calling a hawk he had raised. But he kept no hawk, and only pale blue specks of light came to him.

"See?" He held his palm up beneath them, and a small cluster of blue light formed a round bubble, ripples flowing across its surface.

Then it changed again.

It became a glowing blue longsword, then shifted once more into a Spirit Bow.

What looked like illusory, intangible energy had become a weapon that truly existed.

"That's your power?" Kaido's eyes flickered. "A Devil Fruit ability?"

"Don't lump everything you can't understand in with Devil Fruits." Kaya thought these people's preconceptions were awfully deeply ingrained.

He went on, "Reishi is a substance that floats freely in the air. It's hard to perceive, but it's there. It's always been there."

"I don't understand any of that. I just want to know what that move of yours was. Another way to use Armament Haki?" Kaido recalled the techniques Kaya had used in their fight.

"Oh, that..." Kaya waved a hand, and the Reishi naturally dispersed. He held out one hand, and greenish-blue, tree-like patterns appeared on his palm.

Kaido's gaze sharpened as he examined them closely.

That was it! No matter what he did, his attacks couldn't break through Kaya's defense! Yet Kaya's attacks had easily ignored his Haki and taken him down in a single blow.

If he hadn't spent years painstakingly training his Haki, he would have wondered whether he had trained it wrong.

"Blut." Kaya clenched both hands into fists.

Kaido sensed it again. He extended his Observation Haki to its maximum range, observing Kaya almost as if from another perspective.

He "saw" something flowing over the surface of Kaya's fists, like power given substance.

"Blut Vene. Reishi is injected directly into the blood vessels, greatly increasing the body's defensive strength." Kaya spoke softly.

Kaido's pupils trembled at those words. He actually injected that flowing energy directly into his blood vessels?

Armament Haki formed invisible armor over the surface of the body. Many powerful fighters refined their Armament Haki until it was so hard that even weapons couldn't break through it.

But... could Armament Haki be used that way?

"There's another type." The fluctuations coming from Kaya's hands changed. If they had been as calm as a windless sea before, now waves were rising.

"Blut Arterie. Reishi is likewise injected into the blood vessels, greatly increasing the destructive power the body can unleash."

Kaya clenched his fist hard. Nothing could be seen on its surface, but the violent power channeled from within his body had already gathered at a single point.

He lowered his hands, and the Blut faded from view.

"It combines offense and defense." Kaido was at a loss for words, unable to comprehend such power.

It wasn't a Devil Fruit ability. The way it combined offense and defense was a little like Armament Haki, but at its core, it was completely different.

Haki was a latent power possessed by every human in the world. It was an innate ability, like "presence" or "intimidation," and existed much like an instinct.

Most people were unaware of this power and needed to train diligently to bring it out.

As for Kaya's so-called Blut, no one knew about it.

"Why tell me all this?" Kaido had been silent for quite a while, seemingly taking in the information.

"The World Government has an armed force dedicated to serving the Celestial Dragons, called the Holy Knights." Kaya spoke unhurriedly. "I'm planning to form something similar. I'll call it... the Sternritter."

Kaido understood now, and his expression suddenly changed. "You want to recruit me as your subordinate?"

"Subordinate, partner, friend, ally... How you see it is up to you. You've heard enough. All you need to do is say yes or no," Kaya said.

Kaido quietly clenched his fists. Despite appearances, he had never intended to submit to anyone.

He stayed with the Rocks Pirates only to become stronger. Once he had the power to fight alone on the seas, he would leave without hesitation.

Rocks? Charlotte Linlin?

Those people didn't matter at all. In this world, the violence one possessed was everything!

But now, someone with even greater violence was extending him an invitation. If he accepted, he might fall into an unknown abyss; if he refused, he would be passing up that power.

If a powerful Devil Fruit were placed before him, he would eat it without hesitation. The inability to swim was a side effect not worth mentioning compared to the power he would gain.

But...

"So the rumors were true. You have the ability to share others' power." There was something strange in Kaido's voice. "Sorry, but I refuse!"

"Understandable." Kaya smiled faintly. "When humans first learned to use fire, when they first ate a Devil Fruit, when someone first mastered Haki... An entirely new power is always unknown and frightening."

"I just have no intention of risking my life for someone else." Kaido turned around without hesitation. "Besides, I don't trust you, or that so-called new power of yours."

"Is that so? What a shame." Kaya showed no sign of concern, his manner still as refreshing as a spring breeze. "If you hadn't come to this meeting, I might actually have believed you."

Kaido paused, then said nothing more and jumped straight down from the towering rock mountain.

Kaya stood alone in silence, admiring the view from above.

After a while, he suddenly spoke.

"Still not coming out?"