Hearing Kaido's suggestion to change locations, Ray didn't refuse.
The destructive power of the two of them was indeed excessive for this small island.
If their final decisive clash erupted here, then the entire Onigashima would undoubtedly vanish completely.
This was actually the case in the original story as well.
When two Yonko-tier fighters went all out, a mere conical island with a maximum diameter of only 10 kilometers simply couldn't withstand it.
In the original timeline, even Luffy's Gear Fifth "Bajrang Gun" was as large as Onigashima itself.
Previously, the battle between Ray and Big Mom had shattered Whole Cake Island, which had a diameter of at least 20 kilometers, into pieces.
And that was only because the decisive blow was jointly lifted into the air—otherwise, that island would have surely sunk into the sea.
Most importantly... Chouchou, Tama, Yamato, Cavendish, and others were all still on the island.
Ray had to consider their safety no matter what.
Thus, Ray and Kaido moved with perfect synchronization, leaping from the rooftop toward the desolate Red Clay Plains (Wasteland) below Onigashima.
...
As the two Yonko left the Onigashima platform, Black Maria also stretched her long spider legs and ran toward the edge to watch the battle below.
She had become completely captivated by the clash between the two powerhouses.
Like a modern person addicted to binge-watching a korean drama, just when she was getting into it, the episode ended—of course she had to chase the next one.
Not seeing it through would leave her utterly restless.
But Who's-Who didn't follow her immediately.
Black Maria might not care about who the final victor would be—whoever won, this woman would probably just choose to follow the strongest.
But he cared deeply.
Who's-Who already recognized Ray and knew that Ray was a member of the Straw Hat Pirates.
And that captain of his, Luffy, had gained his abilities from the Gomu Gomu no Mi that Who's-Who had once escorted as a CP9 agent.
It was precisely because the Gomu Gomu no Mi was stolen that this genius, once equal to Rob Lucci, had to leave CP9 in disgrace, losing all his promising future prospects and ultimately ending up living as a pirate under Kaido.
From Who's-Who's perspective, Ray belonged to the enemy camp that ruined his life!
He certainly didn't want Ray to win.
No matter what, he had to increase Kaido's chances of victory.
So, he turned his sinister eyes toward the battle between the All-Stars and Yamato.
His strength wasn't enough to assist Kaido directly in that monster fight below, but these two All-Stars were qualified to help.
And with his own power and speed, helping the two All-Stars achieve victory sooner would free them up to aid Kaido.
Thus, Who's-Who turned toward Yamato's direction, preparing to ambush her.
...
Meanwhile, in the battle between Yamato and King.
After multiple attempts, Yamato had somewhat grasped King's characteristics.
When King launched a powerful attack or moved at high speed, the flames on his back would extinguish.
At all other times, those flames remained active, granting him near-invulnerability.
As long as the flames were still burning, her attacks couldn't harm King at all.
Did this mean that the moment the flames went out was when Yamato's attacks would finally take effect?
From this, one could also see how little time Yamato had spent with her father.
Even at 26 years old, Yamato didn't even understand the traits of her own father's right-hand man.
If Kaido had raised Yamato as his child, as his only offspring and successor, Yamato would certainly have known all the weaknesses of the Beast Pirates' officers.
But the current situation proved that Yamato was completely unaware, once again confirming that Kaido had never intended to raise her as his child.
He raised her as a prisoner.
Thinking of this, Yamato let out a cold sigh.
Indeed, from the very beginning, Kaido had never intended to give her any paternal love.
He locked her within the borders of Wano Country with lethal bombs.
He strictly guarded against her, never sharing any information about his trusted subordinates.
He even insisted on calling her his "son," to the point where she once struggled to distinguish her own identity.
Even now, though Yamato tells everyone she is male, she occasionally experiences strange feelings of disconnect.
As the battle continued, Yamato's emotions toward Kaido grew increasingly indifferent.
The deep-seated longing for paternal love slowly faded away.
When the father-daughter bond vanished, Yamato suddenly saw her goal with clarity.
She no longer felt the slightest hesitation about killing Kaido.
WHOOSH.
The growth in her state of mind made the white ring-shaped flame cloud behind her more condensed.
Her Devil Fruit's freezing ability improved further.
"King... I'm coming."
"Divine Speed: White Snake... Ice Slash!"
ZOOM!
Yamato suddenly displayed near-teleportation speed.
The moment she closed in on King, her kanabo was coated in extreme cold as she aimed a strike at his face.
Naturally, it failed to harm King, who was still engulfed in his Lunarian defensive flames.
Seizing the momentum of Yamato's continued forward charge, King immediately switched to his Human form, extinguishing his defensive flames to maximize his attack speed.
He swung his greatsword.
"KARYUDON!"
A massive flame dragon surged from King's greatsword, on the verge of engulfing and annihilating Yamato.
BOOM!
But at that moment, a white figure suddenly appeared behind King.
"THUNDER BAGUA!"
CRACK!
King's occiput was struck by a heavy, Haki-infused blow. His eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.
His mind went completely blank, leaving only an intense sensation of pain.
Instinctively stumbling backward, King managed to create some distance.
For the moment, he couldn't understand why Yamato had appeared behind him when his Fire Dragon Emperor had clearly hit her directly in front of him.
Moreover, King felt it clearly—his Fire Dragon Emperor had definitely burned someone. It couldn't have been an illusion.
After shattering King's skull mask with a single blow, Yamato landed smoothly on the ground.
During her battle with King, she had created numerous ice surfaces and mirrors.
And just now, she had somehow awakened an ability to project Mirror Illusions using the ice surfaces.
So she acted out the skill for real, except only the first half of the charge toward King was genuine—the latter half was entirely an ice reflection.
Meanwhile, she used the ice surfaces to conceal herself, leaping out suddenly while King attacked her illusion to deliver a heavy blow from behind.
Yamato cleverly exploited King's eagerness to finish her off quickly.
Knowing he would likely attack with full force when she revealed an opening, the flames on the back of his head would extinguish.
And indeed, the facts proved that once King extinguished his flames, his defense returned to normal levels.
If Yamato had had time to build up more power earlier, she might have smashed King's head like a watermelon.
As for King's feeling that he had hit someone—that was also true.
His head was still reeling, and his Observation Haki was temporarily unusable.
As the fire from his attack dissipated, a pitch-black charred Saber-Toothed Tiger appeared within their line of sight.
Who's-Who exhaled a plume of black smoke, his charcoal-like face revealing an expression of utter bewilderment!
"Why...?" he wheezed. "I clearly saw Yamato..."
Like King, Who's-Who also seized the moment when Yamato appeared to be sliding backward due to momentum.
So, he transformed into his Saber-Toothed Tiger form, intending to intercept Yamato head-on and create a better opening for King to attack.
However, the instant he pounced on "Yamato," the white figure vanished like an illusion.
As a result, he was forced to take the full brunt of King's ultimate attack, Karyudon.
In the end, Who's-Who collapsed, heavily injured by friendly fire, having failed to be of any help.
Before losing consciousness, Who's-Who pleaded to the gods with tears in his eyes.
"Gods... please let Kaido win... Ugh... I'm out."
THUD.
...
Meanwhile.
The moment Who's-Who passed out, Black Maria, who was still free-falling through the air to reach the ground, witnessed a breathtaking scene.
ROAAAAR!
A colossal fire dragon, nearly a thousand meters long, appeared in the distance on the wasteland.
The dragon was wreathed in blinding flames, and wherever it passed, even the red soil mountains melted instantly into magma.
"Wow..."
Black Maria's eyes widened.
"Kaido-sama is getting serious."
She was certain that her Kaido-sama had unleashed his strongest technique against Ray, seemingly aiming to decide the battle with a single move!
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