Without much dialogue, as soon as the two met, they immediately clashed. The wolf fang club and the large blade collided in the most primitive way. There was no technique, only a brute force clash.
Both Hassaikai and Murakumogiri are heavy weapons, and their brutal collision became a way for them to outdo each other.
Murakumogiri is ranked among the Twelve Supreme Great Blades, a rare treasure, and Kaidou's Hassaikai, though not as historically rich as Yamato's Arakan, has undergone multiple reforgings with plenty of rare metals. In terms of weapon quality, there's little to distinguish between them.
"Hmm-ha-ha-ha, Newgate, the warm-up is about over, right? Let's skip these childish probes."
"Gurararara, brat, confidence is a good thing, but arrogance isn't."
Although he said so, Whitebeard did not get careless. His hands changed their grip on the blade, and a white light orb appeared on Murakumogiri's blade.
He is a master of the Quake-Quake Fruit, able to create terrifying earthquakes with every gesture. Over the years, he has developed the Quake-Quake Fruit's power to perfection, able to unleash its might even when using weapons.
The white light orb seemed unremarkable, yet everything around it appeared to distort.
"That's it, this is the fight I want!"
Blue scale armor appeared on Kaidou's body, a massive dragon tail appeared behind him. Seeing Whitebeard use the Quake-Quake Fruit, Kaidou naturally wouldn't hold back. For a strong opponent, using his full power is a form of respect.
In human-beast form, Kaidou's muscles bulged as Hassaikai began to exude Haki and Thunderbolt.
"Daiitoku Thundering Hakken!"
Most of Kaidou's moves are extensions of Thundering Hakken, and Daiitoku Thundering Hakken is no exception. With stronger Supreme King Haki and faster attack speed, he can only achieve the full form of this move in human-beast form with the Azure Dragon Fruit's enhancement.
Boom!
Boom!
Their attacks collided in mid-air. Though they were cold weapons, the sounds they made could rival cannon fire.
The lightning on Hassaikai began to spill over, while the light orb formed by the Quake-Quake Fruit exploded. A massive shockwave spread across the entire island, with the two at its center like the eye of a storm, causing gusts to sweep around them.
People in the sky quickly retreated to higher altitudes, lest they be unable to maintain their balance in the attack's aftermath.
Yamato held onto Genesect's body with one hand and Rotom with the other, or else Rotom might have been swept away.
The powerful airflow nearly forced Morgans to keep his eyes shut, but he still managed to fasten a pair of goggles and frantically press the shutter.
As soon as he opened his mouth, the fierce wind filled it, but that didn't stop him from forming a slightly twitchy smile, already envisioning the impact this epic duel would have.
The rocks beneath Kaidou and Whitebeard's feet began to crack, with massive fissures spreading rapidly from them. Their attacks seemed to reach their limits, causing a plume of dust to rise and temporarily separate them with a deafening roar.
Their sight was blocked, but for two beings with top-notch Observation Haki, the dust posed a minimal hindrance, although predicting each other's moves became nearly impossible.
Their Observation Haki almost counterbalanced each other, primarily helping to ignore some vision-blocking obstacles.
Through the dust, Whitebeard leaped high, once again swinging Murakumogiri with tremendous force towards Kaidou.
Though Kaidou managed to block it, Whitebeard's attack didn't stop there. He had sensed Kaidou's evolution; no longer the intern on the Rocks Pirates, he had become a formidable monster.
From the little brother he once was, he now towers over even him, Kaidou visible growing continually.
This is a peer-level opponent, not one to be defeated easily.
Using the contact point between blade and wolf fang club as a pivot, Whitebeard's body agilely flipped, spinning like a lever almost transforming himself into a new blade of Murakumogiri.
The same light orb previously seen on the blade attached to his heel, taking advantage of the momentum, he crashed a kick into Kaidou's back.
The initial slash was a feint; this kick was the real kill move.
"Newgate, you're just as terrifying as ever."
Back on the Rocks' ship, many mistook Whitebeard for a mere brute due to his size and abilities, but that was an illusion. Most of his opponents only needed brute force to be defeated.
Now, he isn't living with a knife stabbed into his heart by his son, not old and frail needing constant IVs and oxygen, nor has Borsalino made a hole in his chest; Whitebeard, in peak condition, offers far more than sheer strength.
Nevertheless, Kaidou's voice showed no panic; an indestructible barrier had already formed behind him.
The absolute protection offered by Protect is relative. Depending on the user's level, the upper limit of Protect varies. A regular person using Protect might not withstand Whitebeard's attack, but as a peer, Kaidou could.
It's his favorite ability: the opponent's surprise at the ineffectiveness of their attack often provides him with an opportunity.
Even though Kaidou's Protect blocked Whitebeard's attack, the shock waves still had a significant impact on the environment.
Unlike the prior clash, this attack targeted downward forcefully, and Kaidou blocked it with Protect instead of countering with a strike, causing the shockwaves to bypass him and strike the island.
The land began to crack, and even the surrounding seawater surged wildly in every direction. After a moment of silence, it was as if the sea collapsed, the surging waves converging into tsunamis radiating outward.
The normally ocean-bound Namur now clung to Marco's foot, suspended in the air, as even the deep sea was no longer safe from the aftershocks of Whitebeard and Kaidou's battle.
They now understood why Whitebeard had the Moby Dick stop at such a distant range.
Morgans continued to press the shutter, having already replaced the film with a fresh roll, and Yamato accidentally glanced toward the sky, eyes widening.
The sky was falling!
Kaidou and Whitebeard's fight generated massive shockwaves, with the surrounding wind swirling back towards them. Air moved rapidly outwards from the center of the battle due to their strikes, but now it's rapidly flowing back in.
The prior clash split the clouds, and with atmospheric pressure effects, the returning airflow pulled in the clouds. To human eyes, this phenomenon appeared as if the "sky was falling."