Thump—
A deep, thunderous crash echoed across the Flower Capital.
Kaido, in his colossal Azure Dragon form, had been slammed into the ground with overwhelming force. Entire blocks of buildings were leveled, streets shattered like glass under the weight of his impact. Towering clouds of dust and debris exploded into the air, blanketing the skyline of Wano's capital like a funeral shroud.
But before the smoke could fully settle, a crimson-black slash ripped down from the sky like divine punishment.
Boom!
A devastating explosion followed. Kaido's massive kanabo, coated in searing black and red Haoshoku Haki, met the descending slash in midair. A shockwave tore through the district. Air warped and screamed, rippling in violent rings from the point of impact.
Silence fell upon the city—an eerie calm after such raw power had been unleashed.
"That's… the 'Strongest Creature'—Kaido…"
In the upper floors of the Hanamigawa Teahouse, Kozuki Hiyori stood frozen by the window. Her fingertips clutched the paper walls tightly as she watched the monsters clash in the sky above. Her breath caught in her throat.
No—she was trembling all over.
"That monster… he can't be defeated," Hiyori whispered hoarsely, her lip trembling. "No one… no human can possibly win against him…"
Neither Kaido nor his two attackers looked anything like humans anymore.
The power they wielded belonged to gods or demons.
"The prophecy will be fulfilled," Denjiro said beside her, eyes locked on the battlefield, his voice steely with conviction. "Kaido will fall. No matter what he is… this country has waited twenty years for this moment!"
In the skies beyond the dust and wreckage, on a street near the battlefield:
Carl dropped lightly from the sky, landing beside Issho, a.k.a. Admiral Fujitora.
"That form just now—was it his full Zoan state?" Carl asked, brushing debris off his shoulder, his crimson eyes narrowed.
Fujitora gave a solemn nod, his gravity staff still smoking faintly with residual energy. "He's a nightmare to face… his strength and durability are beyond monstrous."
Opposite them, Kaido stood tall, his body now fully shifted from his Azure Dragon form into his hybrid Zoan form—the one he'd used against the Nine Red Scabbards and later against Luffy and Yamato. Black, shoulder-length hair swept across his back. Thick, scale-lined muscles rippled across his torso. Two prominent horns arched from his head, and an ornate X-shaped scar from his past battle with Oden still marked his right abdomen.
But the most jarring wound was new: a deep vertical slash from neck to abdomen, fresh from Carl's earlier attack. Though Kaido's formidable regeneration had already begun knitting it together, threads of black Haoshoku Haki still danced along the cut—corrosive like poison, refusing to dissipate. It wasn't healing right.
It had pierced even Kaido's legendary endurance.
"…Hnn," Kaido grunted, chin dipped, his expression hidden under his heavy brow—but the killing intent radiating from him was enough to crush the breath from the air.
Carl's own aura surged in response. Conqueror's Haki crackled invisibly around him like heat off a forge.
"Ready for round two, old man?" Carl muttered, rolling his neck, the edge of his cursed blade Sakura Ten gleaming.
"I won't let you hog the spotlight," Fujitora said with a tight smile, coating his shikomizue staff blade with pitch-black Haki. Gravity pulsed subtly underfoot.
Boom!
The two launched at once—ground splitting beneath their feet as twin black streaks shot forward, carving the battlefield in half.
Kaido stirred. His single visible eye opened, glaring straight at Carl.
"So you're the one they call… Solomon Carl," he growled, raising his kanabo.
Lightning licked the weapon's surface as Haki and raw power coursed through it.
Clang!!
Their weapons collided again.
Carl's Sakura Ten blocked the kanabo dead-on. Fujitora's gravity-infused staff lashed Kaido's other arm, staggering the Emperor slightly. The three titans were locked in a brutal, seismic stalemate. Wind howled and black lightning leapt from their clashing Haki.
Carl's eyes gleamed a deeper crimson. His left hand slowly drew the cursed blade Deadwood, its edge humming with barely restrained intent.
Fujitora, too, prepared to unleash more of his power—purple energy coiling up his weapon as the gravitational field intensified.
Kaido roared.
"DON'T THINK YOU CAN WIN!!"
The kanabo surged with power again.
"Draw the blade!"
"Gravity Hell Brigade!"
"Raimei Hakke!! (Thunder Bagua!)"
BOOM!!!
The impact tore up the street in a straight line, uprooting an entire cherry blossom tree and sending splinters flying like shrapnel. The ground cracked beneath them, forming spiderweb fissures stretching for blocks.
Carl and Fujitora's combined counterstrike sent Kaido stumbling backward—his arms momentarily thrown wide.
Crash!
The Dragon Emperor flew back, smashing through an abandoned house with a thunderous crash. The building crumbled around him.
"…He's not even scratched," Fujitora muttered, breathing heavily, sweat trickling down his brow.
"That's why I said…" Carl exhaled, releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth, "…he's not someone you can kill through normal means."
Carl's tone carried a rare note of frustration. Kaido was more than just tough—he was the embodiment of war. If Big Mom was the impenetrable wall, then Kaido was the unstoppable force.
After all, his top-tier Armament Haki was honed for dealing with high-defense opponents.
But Kaido was something else entirely.
His defense wasn't just physical—it was monstrous endurance, vitality that defied all natural limits. The man known as the Strongest Creature in the World had built a reputation on being unkillable, whether by torture, execution, or even his own hand. Carl had faced tough enemies before—Katakuri, Cracker, even Big Mom's officers—but Kaido was beyond all that. He wasn't just a tank. He was an engine of destruction fueled by sheer will to live.
Yet, Issho—known to the world as Fujitora—stood firm. "I'm still willing to give it a try."
"If we never try, how will we know if he can be cut down?"
Now was the best opportunity they'd get. Kaido was separated from his elite forces—King, Queen, and Jack were scattered—and with a monstrous ally like Carl at his side, Fujitora couldn't turn back.
If it were just him, trying to kill Kaido would've been nearly impossible.
"Anyway, we move forward," Carl's eyes faintly glowed red as he spoke. He was already committed—he'd made his move, and there was no room for retreat. Besides, he hadn't completed his sign-in mission yet. With Fujitora joining in, retreat wasn't even a consideration.
[Killing Intent Battlefield] activated.
Hum—
The street transformed. The air thickened with malice, soaked in ancient blood. It was as if they'd been transported to a legendary battlefield, where generations of warriors had died in agony. Even the sky itself seemed to bleed.
"This is…" Fujitora narrowed his senses, surprised.
He could feel it. The entire space was flooded with a chilling killing intent—so heavy, so dense it seemed to freeze the very void.
Crack—
Pebbles cracked beneath pressure as Kaido slowly rose from the rubble, bloodied but grinning like a beast.
"You think you can kill me?" he growled, voice hoarse.
"I've wanted to die for a long time! Roaaaar!"
Kaido's pained wail echoed through the sky.
Carl's eyebrow twitched. If you're so eager to die, then why not just fly up to Mariejois and slaughter the Celestial Dragons? See if their hands can end your miserable life. Don't act like this is noble.
In Carl's eyes, Kaido's endless suicide attempts were just his way of advertising strength to the world—a performance, not true despair. That's why he didn't waste breath talking to the dragon.
"Let's go, brother!" Carl's Haki surged, forming a gleaming, full-body blackened armor—advanced Busoshoku hardening at its finest.
"I'll give it everything under the sun," Fujitora responded calmly, opening his blind eyes to reveal pure whites glowing faintly with power.
Kaido's face shifted—his grin faded. In a blink, his mighty kanabo rose overhead.
Boom!
The clash shook the entire Flower Capital.
It was as if the heavens themselves had cracked open. Buildings trembled, streets split apart, and civilians scattered in fear. The earth quaked beneath them—this wasn't a battle between men, but monsters.
"Princess, this way! I'll protect you!" Denjiro roared, blades slashing through falling timber and shattered stone.
Even with all his years of training, Denjiro knew: that battlefield was beyond him. The force of their clashing Haki alone was exhausting him. The very prophecy he once clung to now felt brittle.
"No!" Kozuki Hiyori raised a hand, her voice resolute. Her gaze remained locked on the chaotic heart of the battle.
"I want to see it. I have to witness the end of this!"
"If Kaido—the monster who turned Wano into hell—can be defeated…"
"Then it'll be by monsters like them. If even those two… can't win…"
She didn't finish the thought. But she didn't have to.
Kaido—an Emperor of the Sea, the apex predator of the New World. Land, sea, and sky—no creature alive had a reputation like his. And today, that power was laid bare before her.
For the first time, she truly understood: the Red Scabbards were never enough.
Only monsters could slay monsters.
"If they fail…" Her voice trembled. "Then Wano may truly be lost."
Denjiro froze. Her words echoed through his heart. "Maybe… maybe you're right."
This battle… might be Wano's last hope.
"In that case, I'll guard you with my life!" Denjiro raised his sword, face resolute. "If I can't even block the aftershocks of their clash… I'm not worthy of being a Scabbard!"
Boom!
The battlefield raged.
Kaido was no longer fighting back—he was being beaten like a ragdoll. At first, he swung his kanabo wildly, matching them blow for blow. But the more Carl and Fujitora synchronized, the more he slipped into a purely defensive stance.
That's the reality of facing two top-tier powerhouses at once—two Yonko-level threats working in tandem.
Even Kaido—Emperor, Mythical Zoan, battle maniac—was now struggling to keep up.
Carl's relentless barrage of abilities disrupted his rhythm:
[Killing Intent Field] dulled his senses and sapped his spirit.
His advanced Armament chipped at Kaido's mythical scales, breaking through what should've been impenetrable flesh.
"Slash Wave!"
"Gravity Blade!"
Another clean combo.
Boom!
Kaido's body cratered the earth, ground pulverizing beneath his back.
"I'm still the strongest!" he roared defiantly.
An eruption of Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) burst from his frame—crackling like thunder.
The number 1 flashed faintly in Carl's pupils as his instincts kicked in.
[Hell Path]—deployed.
It was automatic now. A conditioned reflex. Whenever someone unleashed their Conqueror's will, Carl's spiritual counterstrike answered immediately.
The sky split. Invisible mental waves collided midair—waves of willpower wrapped in black lightning.
Huff—huff—
The clouds above Wano scattered from the blast pressure.
"Cover me, brother!" Carl shouted, arm extended. Sword intent shimmered like an invisible blade, focused and honed.
Without hesitation, Fujitora lifted his shikomizue and swung.
Clang!
Kaido burst forth from the crater with fury in his eyes.
And the battle resumed—with heaven-shaking force.
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