That was not a martial technique.
No stance.
No buildup.
No form.
KING simply drew back his right arm and, like a gamer venting rage after losing a rare save file, drove his fist forward toward the descending kanabo.
This was not combat skill.
This was pure grievance.
"Pay… me back…"
Thud!!!
Fist and kanabo collided midair.
No explosion.
No shockwave thunder.
Time slowed.
A white pressure ripple expanded outward from the point of impact.
The beach split apart.
Seawater recoiled as if repelled.
The entire island sank several feet under the force.
Kaido's grin froze.
The recoil surged up his arm like ten thousand rampaging beasts tearing through bone and muscle.
This strength…
was not Haki.
Not Devil Fruit power.
It was raw, condensed physical force.
Dense.
Heavy.
Unyielding.
It reminded him of only one man.
Monkey D. Garp.
"Heh… hehehe…"
Kaido's laugh rumbled low in his chest.
"Did that old monster teach you how to throw fists?"
"Good… very good!!"
But KING didn't pause.
His heart thundered.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP—!!!
The Emperor Engine roared like a war drum.
Blood surged.
Each beat fed more power into his fist.
The results of Garp's "Iron Fist Love Training" erupted from his muscles.
CRACK—
The tip of the kanabo shattered.
A small fracture.
But unmistakable.
Kaido's drunken haze vanished instantly.
He stared at KING from inches away.
Under the hood, KING's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion and fury.
To Kaido, it looked like killing intent stripped to its purest form.
"Hehehehe…"
Kaido leaned forward instead of retreating.
Their foreheads nearly touched.
"When did a monster like you appear on this sea?"
"I've been waiting for someone like you."
BOOM!!
Two auras erupted skyward.
Two supreme wills collided.
Conqueror's Haki.
Invisible forces clashed like primordial beasts tearing at each other across the heavens.
The sky split open.
Clouds parted violently.
A dark rift carved across the firmament.
Black lightning coiled and exploded like divine punishment.
The sea roared.
The island trembled.
Marineford
Before the alarm even sounded, the pressure arrived.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's pen snapped in his hand.
Ink splattered across the desk.
He rushed to the window.
"That direction…"
"That level of Conqueror's clash…"
"…Kaido?! Why is that lunatic in the first half of the Grand Line?!"
Cold sweat slid down his temple.
If this battle were near a civilian island…
catastrophe.
"GARP! Get up!"
On the sofa, Garp sat frozen, half a senbei in hand.
His carefree expression was gone.
"That direction…"
"…that brat's vacation route."
"Who?" Sengoku demanded.
"Nobody," Garp muttered, tossing the rice cracker aside and grabbing his coat.
"I'm going to see which idiot is wrecking my turf."
Sengoku followed, unease tightening in his chest.
To fight Kaido like that…
Who?
Marine Headquarters Plaza
Smoker's cigars burned down to the filters.
He didn't notice.
At his feet, Po dropped his bone.
The small black dog trembled.
Then whimpered toward the horizon.
"Po? Where are you going?!"
The leash snapped free.
The tiny figure shot forward like black lightning—
and dove straight into the sea.
Swimming toward the storm of Conqueror's Haki.
The Island
The battlefield had ceased to resemble land.
Trees uprooted.
Cliffs collapsed.
Crater lakes boiling with seawater.
KING had abandoned all thought.
This bastard ruined his vacation.
His fists became a storm.
Blows rained down faster than the eye could follow.
Each punch heavy enough to collapse terrain.
Each impact carrying the weight of continental force.
Any ordinary pirate would have been reduced to pulp.
But his opponent…
was the world's strongest creature.
"Ugh! That's it!!"
Kaido laughed wildly.
"So good! So good!!"
Pain thrilled him.
Bones shook.
Organs trembled.
He grinned through blood.
"But kid…"
He wiped his mouth.
His eyes cleared completely.
"Strength alone cannot kill me."
"You don't understand what true power is."
The air changed.
Black lightning gathered instead of scattering.
It wrapped around the kanabo.
Conqueror's Haki condensed.
Coating the weapon.
This was the pinnacle technique wielded by only the strongest:
Advanced Conqueror's Haki.
"Haki transcends everything."
"Thunder… Bagua."
The strike was silent.
Too fast for sound.
KING raised his arms.
He had blocked it before.
He expected the same.
But—
the kanabo never touched him.
Several centimeters of air remained.
Yet the force penetrated.
Bypassing his defense.
Crashing directly into his body.
"Cough—!!"
Blood erupted from KING's mouth.
Fragments of shattered tissue followed.
His Emperor Engine stopped.
Pain.
Pure.
Absolute.
His body rocketed backward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He blasted through a mountain ridge and embedded deep into the opposite rock face.
Dust filled the sky.
Silence followed.
Kaido exhaled sulfurous breath.
He flexed his wrist.
"Sigh… just a novice who doesn't understand Haki."
"What a waste of that strength."
He began walking toward the crater.
If alive, he would break him.
Then recruit him.
That was Kaido's law.
His footsteps echoed like a death knell.
Ten meters from the crater—
A dark shape burst from the sea.
Water sprayed.
A black streak cut through the air.
It landed between Kaido and the crater.
Thud.
Kaido stopped.
He looked down.
A tiny, soaked black dog stood before him.
Fur dripping.
Teeth bared.
A low growl rumbling from its chest.
"Woof! Woof!"
(Touch my human and see what happens.)
The Yonko of the Beasts stared down at the palm-sized creature.
For a moment—
the battlefield went silent.