Sage lay on the ground, clutching his chest, and spat out a mouthful of blood before staggering to his feet.
He gasped for breath, his body swaying, white steam almost like smoke rising from his chest, gradually restoring the sunken chest.
"Tsk..."
Despite this, Sage still clicked his tongue, "With such injuries, even my current state can't fully recover. I underestimated you... Kaido."
He looked ahead, where the massive figure stood up with the help of his Wolf Fang Club, also spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. The explosion-like scar on his chest blasted open a bigger wound, continuously bleeding.
"Oh ro ro ro ro, you talk as if you've surpassed me."
Kaido laughed loudly, "Sage, you can't beat me!"
"If it's the current situation, you're indeed right."
Sage took several deep breaths, straightened his body, and confronted him, "I originally thought that in a forty-fold state, I could win by risking severe injuries, but now it's a bit of a miscalculation. If we really fight it out, it's hard to say who will live or die."
He already regarded Kaido highly enough, but now it seems it wasn't enough.
This isn't a matter of relying on abilities or strong destructive power to boost combat strength; it's purely a hard struggle. Kaido, exerting his full strength, is equivalent to his forty-fold.
Also stronger than Big Mom.
In terms of combat strength, this ocean isn't just about who is stronger to immediately defeat the other. At the same level, even if there's a strength gap, wanting to eliminate an opponent without cost is simply wishful thinking.
Even if Sage has the perfect counter to someone like Big Mom, it's still very difficult when actually fighting.
For a full form forty times, if you have to calculate it as a value, with Sage using '1' as the base multiplier, a forty-fold form equals '40', then Big Mom is about 33 or 34.
This is excluding the restraint aspect.
As for Kaido, Sage previously estimated him at 37 to 38, the difference at the same level could be negligible, possibly winning at a cost of severe injury, or possibly being overturned.
Of course, this is an analogy; Sage's normal state isn't 1 either, but this enhancement multiplication thing isn't perfectly true to the multiples for oneself, after all, not a dead object.
But looking now, he needs to go up two more levels to continue fighting at this state; either they both die, or it ends with no conclusion.
However...
"Even though any preparation might not be enough, the ocean doesn't favor being well-prepared before action, but against you, I've still made certain preparations..."
Sage looked up at the sky and sighed, "It's great... this feeling of burning passion, just unclear if after finishing you, anyone on this ocean can make me feel this sense of passionate resonance again."
Kaido seemed to sense something, tightened his grip on the Wolf Fang Club, concentrating and waiting.
"You know, constantly multiplying, then compressing, when reaching a critical point, it can also transform from quantity to quality."
Sizzle!
Sage, originally with spiral-shaped eyebrows, now turned into a flame-cloud state like Kaido, the flame-cloud on his shoulders more solid, the blazing white hair with more intense black-red lightning covering his entire body.
Kaido widened his eyes.
This guy, the degree of Haki... strengthened!
"When I reached fifty times, my body underwent some kind of qualitative change..."
Sage slightly closed his eyes and thrust his hand out to grip tightly.
Boom!
In Kaido's original view, that rampant Supreme King completely converged, first bursting into a black-red flame, then quickly retracting, coiling around Sage, gradually merging into the body.
While the flame contracted, Sage's whole body was enclosed more intensely, black-red lightning coiled tightly around him, flickering like electrical discharge.
"This is..."
Kaido's eyes showed solemnity, "Extreme contraction?"
He could see that Sage, as opposed to previous external Haki, now became even more reserved, not even expanding the Supreme King, seemingly entirely concentrated within.
What externalized Haki, what Haki Shock, what object-adhered Haki...
Nothing is as useful as Sage's body techniques!
Along with Supreme King and Haki, both unified and compressed into the body, using only the purist Haki and flesh, it can become the strongest weapon!
In other words...
"Full Form·Fifty Times."
Sage opened his eyes, grinning as he raised his head to Kaido, "Or, you can call me Super Sage. Now, the true... Super Sage!"
"Oh ro ro ro ro! Increased by ten times? But it looks completely different!"
Kaido put the Wolf Fang Club over his shoulder, laughing loudly, "Come on! Sage! Let me see what's up with this body!"
Sage's knees bent slightly, "As you wish, then..."
Boom!!
The shock wave spread out from the front in a circle, rapidly expanding around, making the purple fur cloak behind Kaido quiver.
And as the cloak floated upward, a momentary figure already appeared in front of Kaido.
"Thunderous Hakke!!"
Almost instinctively, Kaido grasped the Wolf Fang Club with both hands, swinging it faster.
Clang!!
Yet just as the iron rod swung halfway, a foot stepped on the rod.
No interval conflict of externalized Haki, Sage's foot directly stomping on the iron rod, with such force transmitted that even Kaido's hands went somewhat numb.
Unmovable!
This guy...
"More invincible than you..."
Sage's body, borrowing the force from the iron rod, floated up, while his other leg bent, a knee directly struck Kaido's face.