Seeing a trace of confusion flash in Kaido's eyes, Doflamingo knew he was probably overthinking it.
For someone who could wield lightning, Doflamingo could only say that, compared to him, everyone present was trash.
Daring to show off in front of a true master was like waving a saber in front of Guan Gong. If Kaido could so much as freely use lightning, Doflamingo would count it as his loss.
Besides, not every Devil Fruit was the Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit).
Take Big Mom, for example. By using the powers of the Soru Soru no Mi (Soul-Soul Fruit), she gave life to a thundercloud and created the homie Zeus.
Unfortunately, no matter how Zeus changed form, the amount and voltage of its lightning were on the level of ordinary natural thunder and lightning. It was fine for dealing with normal people, but still far from enough when striking true powerhouses.
The Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit) was different. Since Kaido dared to look down on it, Doflamingo decided to let Kaido experience what real lightning power was.
Seeing Doflamingo gathering his strength, Kaido did not interrupt him, allowing Doflamingo to finish the prelude to his technique.
Doflamingo did not keep Kaido waiting for long. After calling out a brief reminder to Kaido, he slashed his five fingers downward and bellowed, "Banrai (Ten Thousand Thunders)!"
The mass of black thunderclouds overhead began to collide and churn, and under Doflamingo's hand gestures they gained direction, all converging in an attack toward Kaido.
At first, Kaido didn't care about this "little bit of lightning." But the instant the bolts landed on his body, alarms screamed in his heart.
"Something's off. Way off! That brat Doffy is screwing me over!"
He immediately unleashed Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), and only then did his heart ease a little. While relying on his body to tank the lightning's bombardment, he used the gaps between impacts to launch counterattacks at Doflamingo.
"Boro Buresu (Bolo Breath)!"
The attack that could bore straight through Bird Island roared toward Doflamingo. He neither dodged nor evaded, even though he clearly sensed the Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) being projected within Kaido's strike.
"Tch."
Still full of disdain, Doflamingo stood his ground and let Kaido's attack hit him head-on.
It wasn't for any other reason. He simply wanted to show off his "muscles" and let Kaido understand what true physical toughness meant.
That kind of behavior left Kaido slightly perplexed, his dragon eyes full of surprise.
But beyond his expectations, Doflamingo not only tanked Kaido's blow by brute force, he remained standing there completely unscathed.
Doflamingo was not someone who took a beating without retaliating. Just because he had blocked Kaido's attack didn't mean he wasn't winding up something bigger. He immediately increased the amount of Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) infused into his lightning, and ramped up the number of bolts raining down.
Kaido, who had been somewhat distracted, was caught off guard by the sudden escalation of Doflamingo's technique and cursed,
"Tch, Doffy, you bastard, you're not fighting with any honor at all."
He took three bolts head-on. The dragon scales on the surface of his body where they hit were charred black. If not for his ridiculously tough hide, Kaido suspected his body might not have been able to endure it.
Yet despite that, Kaido grew more and more excited, more and more fired up.
In his azure dragon form he unleashed his power to the fullest: tail whips, dragon claws, body slams, every movement of Kaido's massive body wreathed in lightning at all times.
The battle dragged on for another two days. The two of them still could not decide a victor, and neither's stamina had bottomed out, but the prolonged fighting in the sky undeniably consumed a great deal of their strength.
Kaido was no fool. The stamina his azure dragon form spent in the air was actually less than what Doflamingo consumed staying aloft.
Moreover, the sky made it easier for Doflamingo to draw on natural lightning, so the toll on Doflamingo's own stamina wasn't that large either.
As a result, Kaido intentionally drew closer and closer to the ground throughout the fight.
While tanking Doflamingo's "Gosenman Boruto: Kuro Kirin (Fifty Million Volts: Black Kirin)" attack, he let himself crash into the uninhabited island below. By the time he crawled out of the crater in the ground, he had shifted from azure dragon form into his hybrid man-beast form.
Doflamingo didn't care what Kaido was plotting and kept attacking. The battlefield shifted from the sky down to the ground.
In hybrid form, Kaido was even larger than in his human form, much faster, and retained the abilities of his dragon form, so his combat power spiked by a whole level.
When Doflamingo saw most of his attacks missing against Kaido in this form, he simply activated his "Susanoo (Thunder War Avatar)" form.
A gigantic black-and-blue thunder giant appeared, towering a fair bit higher than Kaido, leaving Kaido somewhat speechless.
Still, Kaido thought that the larger the body, the slower the movements would have to be. Yet once again, things defied his expectations.
Even though Doflamingo's Susanoo (Thunder War Avatar) was enormous, its speed was actually even sharper. With every blow that landed, Kaido felt a burning pain sear through his flesh.
It hurt so much that at some point Kaido once again reached for his kanabō, and every now and then he would unleash a strike wrapped in Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating.
Doflamingo didn't care about Kaido's little maneuvers. He quietly wrapped Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) around Susanoo's right arm, then swiftly punched toward every direction Kaido could possibly move.
By sheer speed he created an absolute zone with no blind spots, one that could not be evaded.
Kaido wanted to dodge, but there was nowhere to go. He was hammered by an unknown number of Doflamingo's "ordinary" punches infused with Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki), his body involuntarily driven back and buried into the ground.
Kaido was ruthless, to his enemies and even more to himself.
In order to stop his retreating body, he twisted into a strange posture and swung his kanabō in a Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki)–coated strike. The effect was obvious.
Kaido jerked to a halt, his body finally stopping, but he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Yet instead of feeling discouraged, Kaido only grew more excited.
Why? Because looking at Doflamingo in that posture, Kaido felt it resembled some kind of divine technique, and in that instant a new Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating ultimate bloomed in his mind.
"Heheheh, Doffy, watch closely. This is my new technique: Gundari Ryūseigun (Gundari: Dragon War Host)!"
"Hah, copying me? You didn't look like you could pull it off just now."
Doflamingo was not afraid. He swung his right fist in rapid succession, producing the same kind of omnidirectional Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating barrage as before.
It collided with the omnidirectional Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating unleashed from Kaido's swinging kanabō.
For a brief moment the two clashed evenly. The next instant, Kaido's kanabō was knocked aside and sent flying from his grip, and the impact slammed straight into Kaido's body.
In one smooth sequence, Kaido was sent flying once again.
Kaido spat blood once more and looked at Doflamingo in speechless exasperation. This guy's Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating hadn't been that strong at the start, and yet in such a short time he was using it better than Kaido himself.
Moreover, it felt like Doflamingo had no real weaknesses. His only "flaw" had been his initial lack of proficiency with Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating. Now that he could wield it freely, Kaido was completely on the back foot.
Doflamingo could even weave Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) coating into his "ordinary" strikes, making it impossible to tell which blow was normal and which carried Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki).
Although he wasn't sure whether Doflamingo had even gone all out yet, Kaido felt that if this kept up he might really end up losing to him.
So, in order to prevent that outcome, Kaido began fighting back with his mouth while trading blows with Doflamingo, hurling verbal jabs of his own.
(End of Chapter)
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