Diarmuid's strike, which he called "Mountain Cleaver," naturally had the power to split mountains and even cleave seas. Its might was immense. But Kaido, with the hasty use of his Conqueror's Haki coating, was able to block Diarmuid's strike. In an instant, a powerful clash of Haki erupted, a collision of Conqueror's and Armament.
The entire Sky Island of Ballon trembled, and the distant White-White Sea surged and roared. Where the two clashed, space itself shattered, releasing numerous flashes of black and purple lightning.
"Coating Conqueror's Haki?!" Sakazuki exclaimed, a hint of surprise in his eyes. This was a power that hadn't appeared in any of Kaido's intelligence reports!
Conqueror's Haki was rare, but many top-tier fighters possessed it. However, few could actually coat it. Uncoated Conqueror's Haki was useless in a high-level duel. That's why Sakazuki, who hadn't awakened it yet, didn't care much about it. But now, Kaido had mastered this power?
"That guy was a crew member on Rocks' ship. With his experience, it's not too surprising that he has mastered this technique," Garp said calmly.
Gion looked at Garp and asked, "Garp-chan, can you do it too?"
Garp smiled. "What do you think?" I'm the Marine Hero who chased after Roger for so many years and took down the Rocks Pirates. What do you think?
Before coming to Headquarters, Diarmuid always thought that only a few top-tier Marines possessed Conqueror's Haki. On the surface, it seemed like only Fleet Admiral Sengoku had it. But after getting to know them better, he realized he was wrong.
For example, Garp also had Conqueror's Haki, he just didn't use it much. Perhaps it had something to do with the Marines' coordinated combat system? Diarmuid wasn't sure of the exact reason, or maybe they just didn't like to use it.
Diarmuid was feeling helpless. What the hell? We were just seamlessly attacking, and now that it's my turn, you guys are just chatting? What kind of teamwork is this?
Sakazuki and the others were probably surprised that Kaido could use Conqueror's Haki coating, but Diarmuid wasn't. Although he didn't know if Kaido could do it now, he knew he would be able to in the future, as he would use it to beat up Luffy. So from the very beginning, Diarmuid had assumed Kaido possessed this power, so he wasn't surprised. He was only surprised by how unreliable his teammates were!
"Haaah!" Kaido roared. In the end, his hasty Conqueror's Haki coating couldn't fully withstand Diarmuid's all-out attack. His feet gave out, and he staggered back a few steps. Each step left a deep footprint in the ground, showing how much force he had endured.
But just then, Gion moved. Gion, who was shining with lightning, suddenly teleported behind Kaido. Compared to Kaido, the "tiny" Gion grabbed his waist. Lightning burst from her hands, but it couldn't break through the intricate dragon scales on Kaido's body.
Kaido quickly reacted and raised his hand to grab Gion, as if to crush her. But as soon as he reached out, Garp was already in front of him. He grabbed Kaido's arm and laughed loudly, "Wanna have an arm-wrestling match?"
It was surprising. Kaido was the so-called Strongest Creature, a Mythical Zoan user who had turned into a dragon from a fish. But after Garp grabbed his arm, he couldn't break free for a moment. Sakazuki also grabbed Kaido's other hand from behind, almost snatching his club.
Just then, the lightning on Gion's body became even more volatile. She grabbed Kaido's waist and lifted him up!
"Lightning Explosion!!!" Gion roared. The blinding lightning instantly enveloped Kaido, Garp, and Sakazuki. At that moment, Garp moved out of the range. Sakazuki didn't care at all; he was a Logia user, so Gion's lightning wouldn't do much to him as long as he elementalized quickly.
Then, in the midst of the blinding white light, Gion slammed Kaido into the ground. The ground was torn open by the thunderous impact, and the massive explosion blew the land away. Countless bolts of lightning scattered, and the ground became scorched as if it had been burned by the high temperature of the lightning.
Not far away, Diarmuid raised his hand to disperse the scattered lightning and muttered angrily, "So when you three attack, you have perfect synergy, but when I attack, you all just watch?"
But he was also very surprised. Wasn't Gion a swordswoman? When did she develop her physical fighting skills to combine with her devil fruit power? This move… It was very similar to the "Liger Bomb" used by the Fourth Raikage in Naruto, but even more powerful!
While Diarmuid was thinking about this, a dragon's cry echoed, and a ferocious dragon emerged from the center of the lightning, flying toward the sky. This dragon was so huge it was even bigger than a Sea King. This was the first time Diarmuid had ever seen Kaido's full Mythical Zoan form in person!
"Is that the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Form?" Diarmuid asked, a hint of shock in his eyes.
He had known about Kaido's ability for a long time, but he was still shocked.
The shock didn't come from Kaido's strength. After all, he had just been beaten so badly. His strength was… okay. Or rather, he was very strong, but he couldn't fight against three angry men and one angry woman.
The shock was from the kind of transcendence that a mythical creature possessed. At the same time, while Admiral Sengoku was also a Mythical Zoan user who could turn into a golden Buddha, Diarmuid wasn't shocked by him. Only Kaido truly made him feel something.
"The Strongest Creature of the Land, Sea, and Air." Sakazuki climbed out of the magma on the ground. "The Azure Dragon…"
Kaido, having transformed into a giant azure dragon, stomped on a cloud of fire and spiraled into the sky. His ferocious dragon eyes stared at Diarmuid and the others from above, looking incredibly menacing. However, just as Diarmuid was getting ready for one of Kaido's big moves, Garp suddenly said, "That guy's trying to run! Diarmuid, pull him down! We need to keep beating him up!"
Diarmuid: What?
But in terms of combat experience, the seasoned Garp was far more perceptive. Kaido was putting on a show, acting like he was about to unleash a big move. But after Garp's shout, Kaido didn't even argue. He threw all dignity out the window and stomped on his flame clouds, trying to escape by rolling up into the sky.
Sakazuki cursed, "Kaido, do you even consider yourself a great pirate of the New World?!"
Kaido couldn't be bothered with Sakazuki. If I don't run, you guys are going to use me as a punching bag. What the hell? If you had just suggested a one-on-one fight, I would have accepted without a second thought. But you just had to gang up on me! Who wouldn't run from a lineup like this? I haven't caused any trouble for years, so why are you guys so aggressive? Go and bother that old man Whitebeard! My career has just started; I can't be held back by you. I can't win, so I'm out of here!
Garp couldn't fly; at most, he could use Soru to chase after Kaido for a bit. Sakazuki also couldn't truly fly, but he could use his magma to propel himself, giving him some limited air mobility. But he was still no match for Kaido. So if they gave Kaido some space, he might actually escape!
But just as Kaido was about to disappear into the sky, Diarmuid swung his cursed sword, Kokorowatari, and said in a low voice, "Jigoku Tabi."
An invisible gravitational force instantly enveloped Kaido. Kaido roared like a dragon, his movements slowing considerably. Diarmuid was surprised. Under normal circumstances, this level of gravity would have been enough to pull the flying Kaido back down. But now, Kaido was actually able to resist it? It felt even easier for him than it was for Shiki with his Float-Float Fruit? What's going on?
But Diarmuid soon found the reason. Kaido looked like he was flying, but in reality, he wasn't. He was stomping on clouds of fire to ascend. The clouds of fire were created by his ability. Every time he stomped, he could create this power, and when he stepped on the clouds, it was no different from stepping on the ground! So he had a solid footing in the air, allowing him to resist Diarmuid's gravity by stomping on his flame clouds!
"You're not getting away!" Diarmuid roared. He swung Kokorowatari again, and an invisible force shot into the sky. Soon after, three meteors fell from the sky, aiming for Kaido's huge dragon head, eyes, and tail.
"Tengai Shinsei," Diarmuid said grimly. At the same time, the sky was filled with thunder and lightning. Gion had once again entered the Thunder God state that she used to fight Mihawk. She floated in the air, and a massive amount of lightning gathered from her body, then struck Kaido's giant dragon body.
Kaido didn't just sit and wait. For some reason, he seemed to have a high resistance to lightning. Gion couldn't do much to him for a while. So Kaido didn't bother with Gion. He exhaled a gust of wind with his Bolo Breath, which directly destroyed one of Diarmuid's meteors in the air. At the same time, three powerful tornadoes began to form around him.
On the warship floating on the White-White Sea, many Marine soldiers were watching the scene on Ballon in stunned silence. A giant dragon rolled in the sky, meteors fell, thunder filled the air, dragon's breath shattered meteors, magma surged on the ground, occasionally erupting like a volcano, and tornadoes howled... This was a sight straight out of the apocalypse!!!
At that moment, with the meteors as "material," Diarmuid extended an arm and aimed it at Kaido's giant dragon body.
"Planetary Devastation!"
The two remaining giant meteors, along with the one that Kaido had destroyed, were all guided by Diarmuid's Planetary Devastation and slammed into Kaido's body. Not only that, but Sakazuki's meteor-like magma explosions also continuously erupted into the sky. The searing magma, after hitting Kaido, didn't fall. Instead, it was guided by the force of the Planetary Devastation and "stuck" to Kaido's body.
Soon, the entire dragon was covered. He struggled and roared, constantly releasing Bolo Breath, lightning, and wind, but his situation was constantly slipping into the abyss!
Just as Kaido was about to be balled up and suppressed by the Planetary Devastation, his giant figure suddenly disappeared. Then, a human-dragon hybrid form of Kaido, holding his club, descended from the sky. He immediately closed in on Gion, who was floating in the air, and swung his club.
"Go to hell!!!" Kaido roared. In that instant, by changing his form, he seized the opportunity to break free from the constraints of the Planetary Devastation and quickly moved to Gion. The sudden change caught everyone off guard. Gion's eyes widened in surprise, and lightning flashed as she tried to teleport away, but even with the speed of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, it was a little too late.
With a loud crash, Gion was slammed into the ground from the sky by Kaido's club, creating a crater. After knocking Gion down with one blow, Kaido stomped on the ground to create a flame cloud and shot toward Sakazuki. But because of the delay, Sakazuki and the others had already reacted.
As a prime example of a Marine tough guy, retreat was not in Sakazuki's vocabulary. Facing the aggressive Kaido, Sakazuki roared, and magma shot from his body, colliding with Kaido head-on. If it's a head-on fight, let's have a head-on fight!
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