"Ugh... where... am I?"
The black-haired, freckled boy was woken up by the constant cold wind. He sat up from the wreckage of the broken pirate ship, shivered, and rubbed his arms.
The last thing he remembered was being hit in the head by the kanabo of a smiling monster, and then he lost all consciousness.
"Oh right, my sword!" The boy looked left and right, and only when his gaze fell upon the hilt of his famous blade did his expression relax.
The commotion caused by the boy attracted his other companions hiding in the ruins. They all gathered around him with concern.
Among them, the man wearing an eye patch bravely stepped forward and poked his face. "A... Ace, are you still alive?"
"What kind of stupid question is that, Deuce!" Ace raised his fist and shook it at him. "So, what's the situation now? How long was I out?"
"You've been unconscious for ten hours. As for the situation..."
Deuce and the others made complicated expressions and stepped aside, giving Ace room to see outside through the broken opening in the ship's cabin.
"W-what is this!"
The boy's dark eyes reflected a chaotic world.
The atmosphere was moaning and shaking. Flames and light danced wildly between the broken sky and sea.
The tide of destruction was still spreading.
Swallowing everything.
Ocean, glacier, rubble... from the sky above to the seabed below, it was as if the world was about to perish.
"Hey, you guys!" Sato Sakura and Yamato, healed by Katsuyu, crawled in through the gaps in the pirate ship's wreckage. "Get ready to run. This ice floe can't withstand those two's fight!"
Even though Yamato, with Sakura's help, had extended the ice surface to nearby islands, using their foundations as support points-
Even so, it still couldn't bear the desperate, life-or-death battle of the two Emperors. Sato Sakura had already confirmed with her ability that the seabed around them was cracking.
So as soon as they recovered, they ran into the ship's wreckage to find the other crew members.
"But where can we run to now?" Ace sheathed his sword and looked at the pirate ship that had been smashed to pieces.
There was no escape.
Not to mention the state of the ice field outside, even without a ship, how far could they get with only Yamato's ability to freeze the sea?
"Wherever we go, we can't stay here!" Sato Sakura glanced at the red-hot sky outside and decisively made the call.
"That's the only choice. Let's go!" Yamato nodded, hoisting her kanabo onto her shoulder.
As the group evacuated the ship's wreckage, Ace couldn't help but glance back at the sky behind him.
Then they heard two voices erupt from above.
"Rising Dragon - Flame Bagua!" / "Sakura Blossom Impact - Crimson Lotus!"
On the barren, frozen earth, only two figures remained standing in the wind, charging toward each other amidst the turmoil, teetering on the edge.
Kaido had never been as keenly aware as he was today that he was burning, even after gaining his abilities.
The Haki fully combined with his Devil Fruit ability, the flame dragon cloak constructed outside his body opened its giant maw toward the girl before him, moving in sync with his actions.
Even the thunder behind him trembled beneath the dragon's flames that could burn everything away. Then, carrying his will that craved violence and domination over all, his jaws snapped shut.
Before him, the girl's bone mask completely shattered, revealing beneath it a delicate face with a bold smile.
Amidst the dragon flames that nearly reduced the world to ashes, natural energy and Chakra mixed to form Senjutsu Chakra, boosting Sakura's physical abilities and fruit abilities in every way.
Tearing through the storm, trampling the earth, flames rose from her fists like rings. Together with the Haki condensed from her pure will to fight, that ferocious fist swung bravely toward the biting dragon.
The dragon's phantom collided with the fist's shadow.
In the next moment, destruction descended.
The sky, the ocean, the hurricane, the flames, the glacier... even the imperceptible mist particles floating in the air, all froze.
Then, the world lost its color.
All creation trembled under the pure wills of these two dominant kings. The clash of Haki and abilities nearly destroyed everything in sight.
Crack!
In the terrified eyes of the young pirates who had fled to the edge of the glacier, the overloaded island foundations completely disintegrated. The entire glacier, along with several surrounding uninhabited islands and reefs, began to collapse.
"Haruno Sakura! What kind of world are you trying to create?"
Perhaps having glimpsed part of the girl's true nature amidst this pure contest of spirits.
In a hellish vision of will, Kaido stood on a plain burning with unquenchable war flames, questioning the girl who was charging against the tide.
"The world?" A clear voice echoed.
A terrifying gravity burst from the girl's body, pulling the hellish images within that vision of will inward, collapsing and sinking, stirring up turbulent, swirling waves with even greater darkness.
"To be honest, I don't really want to create any particular world. But as a repayment for this world accepting me, I will give everyone a reason. A reason to lay down their conflicts and cooperate sincerely to explore a wider world!"
"Don't be ridiculous! How could something like that ever be possible?!" Kaido's mind flashed through his experiences, from childhood to now.
Betrayed by the king, escaping the government's ship, joining the Rocks Pirates, God Valley, building his own forces, conquering Wano... It was the accumulation of countless battles that had forged him as he was now.
As the crystallization of war, plunder, and domination, Kaido understood this desire rooted in human nature. That was why he wanted to tear down those hypocritical shackles and establish a world truly ruled by violence!
"Whether it's possible or not, use your own eyes to witness it!" Amidst the turbulent and shattered sea and sky, the girl who had become an immortal looked down upon all creation and smiled.
A sharp and violent force operated, making her body expand little by little, gradually revealing the outline of a demon.
Her fist, burning with blazing Haki, defeated Kaido's Haki. The ability to bring all things to decay advanced, tearing through his flame cloak to reveal the azure dragon's true body.
"Ugh! Not good!"
Enveloped by the power of decay, Kaido convulsed violently. His scarlet dragon eyes trembled intensely. He tried to gather Haki to stop it, but it was already too late.
That not-so-large pink fist broke through the thunder and storm with ease, carrying a high-pitched cry that shook everything, and smashed onto the azure dragon's head!
Bang—!
Like a tidal wave, the demon's terrifying force, capable of moving islands, poured into the azure dragon's body. The impact of Haki scattered his consciousness, squeezed ripples into the air, and sent him flying backward.
His remaining momentum carried him down into the glacier below, shattering the entire earth.
Then, along with countless floating ice shards, he was swallowed by the vortex created by the collapsing islands and disappeared!!!