"So, can we end the probing here?"
Michael let out a sigh as he looked at Kaido, who was still in his human form.
"Are you trying to stall for time until your people get into position?"
"If that's really all you're thinking… then my opinion of you is about to drop, Kaido."
Kaido didn't answer, because…
He really was thinking a little along those lines.
He was born destined to be the strongest creature… yet his mind still wandered in this battle that was destined to become a clash at the summit.
Because…
His biggest goal wasn't killing Michael—it was Wano.
First, he wasn't certain he could kill someone as strong as Michael…
Second…
Even if he could kill him, killing Michael now, and provoking both the Marines and the Revolutionary Army…
He had zero interest in doing something that stupid.
But once this tiny scheme of his was exposed directly by Michael…
It became completely useless.
And just as Kaido shook his head and prepared to truly begin fighting, he heard Michael let out a genuine "What the hell."
Michael's eyes were fixed on the distant sky.
Kaido followed his gaze—and his own eyes widened.
That towering robot reaching into the clouds was unmistakably created by Douglas Bullet's Clank-Clank Fruit fusion!
But Bullet had never told Kaido…
That it was this big.
"Looks like your cooperation with Bullet and the others isn't all that tight," Michael sneered as he looked at the giant fusion robot that had clearly exceeded normal limits.
"A combination of the Clank-Clank Fruit and the More-More Fruit?"
"Does that matter? Even when pirates cooperate, there's always suspicion between them… That's the shared understanding for survival out on the seas!"
After a brief moment of shock, joy surged in Kaido's heart.
This overwhelming force might be outside the plan, but it would make conquering Wano far easier.
At the very least, before this massive fusion robot, even the natural barriers of Wano's outer region would be completely destroyed…
He wouldn't even need to use Dyna Stones.
"Your smile… is really irritating." Michael snorted at Kaido, then suddenly swung Kogarashi and Oto in his hands.
Countless slashes even more savage and majestic than the Golden Lion's erupted from Michael's twin blades.
The sudden assault left Kaido struggling to defend for a moment.
Several gashes opened across his body.
But…
As expected of the strongest creature.
His unreasonable physique and monstrous vitality, stacked with the power of a Mythical Zoan…
These wounds began healing almost the moment they appeared.
This also showed how, back then, the two blades of Kozuki Oden—overflowing with Conqueror's Haki—had left indelible scars on Kaido. It was truly proof of strength.
However…
Today's Oden likely couldn't recreate that miracle on Kaido.
Talent and power… always differed.
"How dangerous… Using an old friend's technique without warning really caught me off guard."
Kaido reached out and touched the nearly healed wounds, and a trace of…
Nostalgia appeared between his brows.
"Although the Golden Lion was an arrogant bastard… I have to admit, back on Rocks' ship, aside from Linlin, he was the one who suited me the most." Kaido said, pulling from his waist the red sake gourd marked with "Heaven."
"Want a drink?"
Michael said nothing.
He silently used Holy Light to form a softly glowing sake dish in midair.
Kaido froze for a moment and muttered, "Your ability can be used like this too? Really beyond common sense."
But he only froze for an instant before opening the gourd and filling the dish.
Michael extended his hand, and the dish of Holy Light floated back into his palm.
Staring at the clear and potent liquor, Michael lifted his head again.
Kaido had already taken a sip and continued speaking.
"The Golden Lion… really did die by your hand."
"That's right. Before his life reached its natural end on its own… I personally took his head."
"That's quite an honor." Kaido nodded. "Not dying of sickness or old age, but falling to the blade of your strongest rival… The Golden Lion must've been happy when he died, right?"
"A bit regretful… but happy." Michael's voice seemed tinged with remembrance. "That old man died at his peak."
"I see… To the Golden Lion."
Kaido nodded and lifted his sake gourd toward Michael in a distant toast.
Michael didn't hesitate.
He raised the oversized dish and downed it in one gulp.
The burning liquor slid down his throat.
Then the Holy Light dish dissolved into sparks of light.
"Well then… Are you prepared to meet the same end as the Golden Lion, Kaido?"
"Yeah… I'm ready to greet the grandest war!"
Kaido lowered his head as he spoke.
The next moment, his body swelled in size.
New horns sprouted around the pair of demon horns on his head—identical to those of his dragon form.
Human-beast form, the Mythical Zoan's most balanced combat form.
It also meant…
Kaido had fully entered battle mode.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A sudden, unrestrained burst of laughter rang out as Kaido leapt into the air!
Kaido spun his kanabo and smashed downward.
The kanabo was wrapped in Kaido's own Conqueror's Haki.
Unlike the Golden Lion's wild and frenzied Haki…
Kaido's held a faint edge of battle intent.
It also showed that Kaido knew further probing was useless.
So he immediately raised the fight to the level of Conqueror's Haki Infusion.
Michael watched Kaido descend toward him—Oto and Kogarashi returned to his waist in an instant.
The next moment, Myōjō left its sheath.
Meeting Kaido's attack, Michael felt pressure he hadn't felt in a long time.
Pressure was good.
At the very least…
It wouldn't be a one-sided fight.
"Well then… I won't hold back either."
Purple-black Armament Haki instantly crawled across Myōjō as Michael raised it…
Armament Haki application—
Ryou.
Though Kaido began with a Conqueror's Haki–infused technique, Michael had no intention of immediately entering a direct clash of Conqueror's Haki.
But this strike… would in no way be weaker than Kaido's.
Using Ryou to meet Conqueror's Haki Infusion head-on!
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Fanfic is finished. 583 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg