"...Horns on the head?"
Hearing those words, Yamato instinctively touched her forehead.
She had horns too.
But thanks to their long-standing friendship, Yamato didn't misunderstand Esdeath's comment. Instead, she gripped her spiked club tightly, her eyes scanning the crowd with eager anticipation, ready to jump in and help at any moment.
—If it came to fighting Kaido or Jin, Yamato wasn't too confident. Those two were undeniably stronger than her.
But anyone else?
Yamato felt she could take on ten of them.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Esdeath and Jin lunged forward at the same time. Two figures—one large, one small—tore through the air with a piercing whistle, charging toward each other before throwing their fists in a head-on clash!
BOOM!!
Their fists collided!
This wasn't just a test strike.
Jin unleashed his Armament Haki, while Esdeath tapped into the "Ki" she'd mastered in the Dragon Ball world. Two incredible forces erupted simultaneously, blasting the surrounding air and creating a milky-white shockwave that rippled outward.
From a bystander's perspective, it looked like a massive spherical dome formed in midair, enveloping both Esdeath and Jin.
Then...
WHOOSH!!
A gust like a level seven or eight storm surged outward, stirring the chilly air and instantly condensing it into a flurry of snowflakes and ice crystals.
Amid the swirling snow...
A dark figure was sent flying backward, crashing through several candelabras and smashing half a rock wall, hurtling like a cannonball into the other side of the chamber. It vanished momentarily in a cloud of gray dust.
Meanwhile, a slimmer figure staggered back a few steps, military boots digging into the ground, kicking up shattered stones before steadying herself.
In the dust...
Her ice-blue hair whipped up and then settled, cracks spiderwebbing from her heels, leaving two shallow craters in the ground. Yet the woman's face remained calm, a playful smirk curling her lips.
"...That's it?"
No surprise there.
The one who spoke was clearly Esdeath, not Jin.
Even without seeing her face, the silhouette made it obvious. Jin stood just over six meters tall, slightly shorter than Kaido, while Esdeath was a mere 1.7 meters. The size difference was like an adult versus a child—and the outcome of their clash was just as one-sided.
The big guy was the child.
The air fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, all hell broke loose.
"!!"
"No way!"
"Lord 'Flame Calamity'... Who is this woman?!"
"..."
Compared to the shocked Beasts Pirates, Uchiha Hikari wasn't surprised at all.
After all, Esdeath's strength was only slightly below her own. Though she'd never been to the One Piece world before, using Yamato as a benchmark, Hikari could roughly gauge Esdeath's power level here. Unless Kaido himself stepped in, no one else in the room stood a chance against her, even if they all ganged up.
Well, maybe even with Kaido, it wouldn't make much difference—just drag the fight out a bit longer.
That said...
The physical resilience of the One Piece world's powerhouses was something else, built like tanks with high defense and stamina.
Especially Jin, a descendant of the Lunarian race who'd eaten an Animal-type Devil Fruit.
Before the dust and debris fully settled, his towering six-meter figure reappeared at the far end of the hall. Emerging from the rubble, his gaze locked onto Esdeath.
"Troublesome woman..."
"But I won't let you harm Lord Kaido!"
At that moment, Jin had shifted into his half-man, half-beast form, the orange flames on his back flickering wildly. The wounds he'd just sustained healed rapidly in moments.
—That was the Lunarian trait. Those flames granted them incredible defense and recovery, rivaling the dragons of the Dragon Ball world.
After a brief moment to gather himself...
Jin spread his massive black wings, launching forward like a ferocious pterodactyl, crossing dozens of meters in an instant to charge at Esdeath!
Animal-type Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Zoan: Pteranodon Form!
In that moment, Jin's speed and strength more than doubled.
Esdeath dodged to the side, but their size difference was stark, and the indoor space was limited. Jin's charge caught her, sending them both tumbling outward, snapping a pillar as thick as a tree trunk and crashing through the opposite rock wall!
CRASH!!
The sound of falling rocks echoed endlessly.
In less than half a minute, an entire wall—tens of meters wide and over a dozen meters tall—collapsed completely. Sunlight poured in, casting dazzling patches of light across the hall. From the gaping hole, faint bursts of flame and ice crystals clashed, accompanied by sharp sonic booms.
Uchiha Hikari glanced over briefly before looking away, unfazed.
She wasn't worried about Esdeath.
The gap in their strength was clear—Jin's transformation couldn't close it. Even with his Lunarian abilities and Devil Fruit, he might cause Esdeath some trouble, but he couldn't change the outcome.
And honestly, this was probably what Esdeath wanted. Winning too easily would bore her.
For now...
Hikari rolled her shoulders and neck, turning her gaze back to Kaido.
"Alright, the distractions are gone. Shall we get started, Mr. Kaido?"
"...Hmph, cocky brat!"
Though he said that, Kaido's expression had turned deadly serious.
He knew Jin's strength better than anyone.
As the top officer of the Beasts Pirates and leader of the "Three Calamities," Jin's power was among the best in the One Piece world. Only a handful of top-tier fighters could match him, and defeating him was no easy feat. Yet this random woman had that kind of strength...
If Kaido hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.
More importantly...
Before the fight, that woman had said, "King against king, soldier against soldier."
If he understood her correctly...
This petite, black-haired girl in front of him might be even stronger?
That was... almost unthinkable.
"Hey, Uchiha kid," Kaido suddenly spoke up. "We may be enemies right now, but... how about joining the Beasts Pirates? With your strength and that blue-haired woman's, if you teamed up with me, we could turn this world upside down."
"Hm?"
Hikari raised an eyebrow, catching a hint of sincerity in the Yonko's voice.
This guy... was seriously trying to recruit her?
To be fair, Kaido reminded her a bit of Esdeath back in the day. Both were war maniacs, bored with the world and seeking to prove their worth through violence and conquest.
Unfortunately...
"Your offer sounds interesting, but... sorry, I'll pass.
I'm already part of the 'Dimension Pirates,' and I'm the vice-captain, no less. Oh, and Yamato's one of our crew too. For her sake, I could let you join us. What do you say? Our crew's pretty strong, you know."
"...Guess there's no deal then."
Kaido, of course, would never abandon his Beasts Pirates.
Hikari knew his answer before she even asked, letting out a small sigh as she subtly adjusted her stance.
Suddenly!
An invisible aura erupted from Kaido, sweeping through the hall like a shockwave. Everyone, including Hikari, felt a jolt in their chest, an instinctive tremor rising within—
Conqueror's Haki!!
Kaido's Conqueror's Haki was far stronger than Yamato's. Weaker fighters like Runti collapsed on the spot, overwhelmed by the oppressive aura, unable to move.
Kaido himself grabbed his spiked club, leaping forward as he swung it with a howling gust of wind!
"If you won't join... then die!"
"Thunder Bagua!"
Facing the roaring wind, Hikari formed a hand sign, her spiritual weapon "Fire Thunder God" materializing as a fiery veil that wrapped around her right hand, shaping into a short, palm-sized blade. It clashed with Kaido's club!
No...
They didn't quite collide, stopping about twenty centimeters apart.
Kaido had infused his Conqueror's Haki into the club—known as "Haki infusion"—allowing him to strike without direct contact. Blocking with her "Fire Thunder God"-clad hand, Hikari felt a tingling numbness as Kaido's force shook her palm.
Then...
Kaido opened his massive jaws and roared, "Bad Wind!!"
A barrage of wind blades shot from his mouth, like kamaitachi slashes, tearing through the air and aiming to rip apart the fiery veil around Hikari!
Facing the wind blades, Hikari formed another hand sign, took a breath, and exhaled softly, "Fire Style... Majestic Flame Destroyer!"
Her chakra surged.
Amplified by "Fire Thunder God," the fireball she unleashed was larger and hotter than ever before!
BOOM!!