"Crack—"
The sickening sound of bone fracture shattered the silence.
Kaido was sent flying backward, vomiting blood, his body tracing a miserable arc through the air.
He smashed through three rocky peaks of Onigashima before barely coming to a stop, each peak disintegrating into a shower of rubble under the impact.
"Cough... Cough!!!"
Struggling to rise, he was horrified to discover his left arm twisted at an unnatural angle, blood continuously gushing from the wound and staining his clothes.
On the distant sea, Whitebeard slowly sheathed his blade. "Now, it's my turn to teach you... what it means to get serious!"
As his words fell, the heavens and earth abruptly transformed!
The once azure sky was shrouded in gloom, dark clouds churning like raging ink waves, pressing heavily toward the earth.
Howling winds rose like thousands of furious beasts roaring, making everything around tremble and shudder.
Whitebeard stood proudly in the void, resembling an immortal war god.
The white Halo behind him erupted with brilliant holy light, blazing like the sun breaking through clouds, so intense and dazzling that wherever it reached, the horrifying wounds covering his body began healing at a visible pace under its radiance.
Those wounds, like imprints carved by time and battle, were now gradually smoothing out in the light, even the wrinkles left by years slowly receding under the influence of this mysterious power.
His already colossal body grew even taller amid this strange transformation.
Every inch of his muscles seemed infused with endless power, their bulging contours appearing increasingly majestic within the divine light.
His broad chest resembled an indestructible mountain range, emanating an awe-inspiring presence.
"Boom—"
Countless thunderbolts materialized out of thin air, thick arcs of lightning intertwining around Whitebeard like furious silver serpents, forming a magnificent lightning web.
These raging lightning bolts, which should've possessed world-destroying power, became exceptionally docile before Whitebeard, wrapping around his arms like obedient pets to form a second brilliant halo of thunderous light.
Electric currents coursed through his knotted muscles, every inch of his skin shimmering with heart-palpitating blue-white electrical sparks—light that seemed capable of piercing through souls, making one dare not look directly.
"Thunder God Form, activate."
Whitebeard's voice rumbled like thunder as he looked down upon Kaido from above, his gaze terrifyingly calm like deep lake waters.
That look resembled a deity examining ants beneath his feet, filled with disdain and contempt.
"Now, I'm just getting serious." Whitebeard slowly raised his right arm wrapped in dual-colored divine halos, exuding absolute confidence in his control.
"While you... have already given your all."
His words were plain yet filled with oppressive force, merely stating an indisputable fact.
Kaido's dragon pupils contracted violently, a flicker of panic now visible in his originally fierce eyes, veins bulging on his ferocious face like twisted earthworms.
"Stop with your mystical nonsense!" he roared, raising his spiked club as purple-black Armament Haki surged wildly around him like a dark torrent.
"It's nothing but flashy tricks—" he attempted to mask his inner unease with bravado.
"Boom!!!"
A deafening explosion cut off Kaido's roar.
Whitebeard's figure had vanished without a trace, leaving only a ring of sonic boom clouds in his wake.
The sonic boom cloud resembled a giant mushroom, rapidly expanding through the air as the surrounding atmosphere twisted under its immense force.
By the time Kaido registered what had happened, a fist wreathed in lightning and dual-colored Haki had already sunk deep into his abdomen!
This single punch carried the weight of the entire world, instantly robbing Kaido of control over his body.
"Pfft—!"
Blood sprayed from Kaido's mouth, tracing a tragically beautiful arc through the air as his body flew backward like a severed kite string.
He smashed through over a dozen rocky peaks of Onigashima before finally skidding to a halt.
The tremendous impact shook the entire island, sending clouds of dust billowing into the sky.
Kaido struggled to rise, his eyes burning with resentment and fury, only to discover his internal organs had been displaced by the blow.
Even the slightest movement sent waves of agony through his body.
Whitebeard slowly retracted his fist, the thunderous Halo rotating gently behind him like ripples across water, its radiance continuously spreading outward.
Gazing at the disheveled Kaido amidst the distant dust clouds, he shook his head slightly.
"See? This... is the true gap between us."
Kaido's pupils trembled violently, veins bulging like dragon scales beneath his skin.
His coarse fingers wiped the blood from his lips, his eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at the crimson stain on his palm.
He never imagined his full-powered strike would prove so utterly insignificant before Whitebeard.
This overwhelming disparity filled his heart with despair.
"What kind of joke is this..." His voice rasped like sandpaper grinding against stone. "My Haki was tempered through countless life-and-death battles, honed through endless refinement!"
"What storms of blood and rain have I weathered? I've waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood! Every breath carried the threat of death, every punch bore the weight of life and death—that's how I forged this fearsome Haki!"
"And you, an old man halfway into the grave—how? How can your Haki be so powerful, so far beyond my reach that I can't even hope to match it?"
Kaido breathed heavily, unable to accept this brutal reality.
In that fleeting instant, he had clearly sensed the Conqueror's Haki radiating from Whitebeard—like a raging tsunami, overwhelming and far surpassing his own with irresistible force!
That Haki felt tangible, so heavy it nearly suffocated him, as if an invisible mountain were crushing his heart.
Whitebeard suddenly erupted into booming laughter, the sound echoing through the desolate landscape like great bells tolling.
"Gurararara... Kaido, have you ever truly experienced death?" He gazed calmly at Kaido, speaking slowly.
"Not merely brushing against death's edge, feeling the fear of dying—but truly stepping into the underworld itself."
Kaido remained silent, bewildered by Whitebeard's cryptic words.
Whitebeard continued: "If you had truly died, you would've felt that endless darkness and silence. And if you were fortunate enough to return to life, you'd understand what it means to be violently dragged back from that cycle of life and death."
His tone remained even, yet each word carried immense weight, hammering against Kaido's heart.