Chapter 5: Facing Beast Kaido
"Kaido, are you sure you want to be my opponent?"
"A guy like you shouldn't have to worry about passing the assessment anyway."
Lotte narrowed his eyes and said calmly.
After a month of interaction, he had a rough estimate of Kaido's strength.
While Kaido's power was undoubtedly top-tier on this pirate island,
With his current Wood Release,
He wasn't without a chance of winning.
Kaido gripped his spiked club, looked at Lotte, and burst into loud laughter.
"Jie hahaha! Those other guys were just way too weak!"
"But you, Lotte—you actually had a Devil Fruit ability hidden away."
"Come on, let's see what you've got."
Kaido targeting Lotte wasn't random.
He needed to showcase his potential as quickly as possible in this selection.
Only then could he earn Rocks' attention
And avoid being treated as mere cannon fodder.
While massacring the other small fries had already drawn some notice,
It still wasn't enough to make him stand out on the ship.
The standoff between the two
Also drew the eyes of everyone on the Rocks Pirates' ship.
Golden Lion Shiki grinned widely.
"Jie hahaha! Now things are getting interesting!"
"These two are in a league of their own among this batch of newbies."
"How about we bet on who wins?"
In his view,
Both Lotte and Kaido had tremendous potential.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, becoming major powerhouses in the future was no issue.
The other cadres who had been watching the battle couldn't help but nod.
Charlotte Linlin narrowed her eyes, sizing up the pair.
"That kid has Devil Fruit help, but his hand-to-hand combat isn't strong."
"The other one, Kaido, overwhelms the rest of the newbies in both physique and fighting ability."
"If nothing goes wrong, Kaido wins."
Clearly,
Compared to Lotte, she favored the burly Kaido more.
Golden Lion raised an eyebrow.
"I'm betting on the kid. His ability development is already solid—just needs to awaken Haki to take it to the next level."
"And that kid clearly knows how to avoid his weaknesses."
"What about you, Newgate?"
He turned to Whitebeard, who had just arrived beside him.
Whitebeard, gripping his naginata Murakumogiri, yawned and casually glanced at the standoff.
Right now,
Kaido could no longer hold back and struck first.
He charged straight at Lotte with his spiked club raised.
Hiding his strength any longer was pointless—he had to display his value in this extremely bloody assessment
To successfully join the Rocks Pirates!
So he needed a quick and decisive victory!
Only then could Rocks and the cadres on the ship see his potential and worth!
The other newbies, seeing Kaido clash with Lotte, all quickly backed away to create distance from the fight.
After all, neither Kaido nor Lotte
Was someone they could afford to mess with!
Watching the aggressively charging Kaido, Lotte's lips curved upward.
Since the other wanted to use him as a stepping stone,
He'd make sure Kaido learned just how extraordinary his Wood Release development had become!
Lotte stood calmly in place, showing no sign of resisting.
Instead, he seemed to be fiddling with something in his hand.
The other newbies who saw this secretly rejoiced in their hearts.
They never expected Lotte to freeze up in fear. If Kaido took him out, there'd be one more spot for them!
Boom!
Kaido swung his spiked club without the slightest hesitation.
With a crisp cracking sound,
Lotte's body shattered into pieces under the blow, causing a smug grin to spread across Kaido's face.
He hadn't expected it to be this easy.
Looked like this kid was nothing special after all...
Suddenly,
The smile vanished from his face.
Because the shattered "Lotte" showed no trace of blood.
Instead, only broken wooden fragments scattered to the ground.
"Kaido, is that all you've got?"
The voice coming from behind made Kaido's pupils contract sharply.
He whipped around.
And saw Lotte standing calmly on a stone slab.
Kaido hadn't reacted at all to how the other got behind him.
It was as if everything happened in an instant!
Shock surged through his heart.
Impossible?!
When did this kid swap himself with a wooden clone?!
What the hell just happened?!
The faces of the other cadres on the Rocks Pirates' ship also changed.
Because even they
Hadn't noticed how Lotte pulled it off.
Rocks at the forefront narrowed his eyes.
"This kid's Devil Fruit ability doesn't seem to be just simple plant manipulation."
Rocks had originally thought Lotte's Fruit was only about creating and controlling plants,
But what just happened in the clash
Completely overturned that idea!
Lotte had clearly swapped positions with a nearby piece of wood.
Though the exact mechanism of the Fruit wasn't clear,
With an ability like that,
This kid's potential looked even more terrifying than he imagined!
Golden Lion Shiki, Whitebeard, Silver Axe, John, and the others all showed grave expressions.
Though Lotte's current strength clearly couldn't threaten them,
An ability involving spatial displacement like this
Was absolutely terrifying from any angle!
Fruits that involved teleportation or swapping positions
Had extremely high potential!
As long as he grew,
Becoming a major sea pirate was only a matter of time.
"Gurararara! That kid's ability doesn't look simple at all."
"The other guy's in trouble now."
Whitebeard tightened his grip on Murakumogiri slightly, narrowing his eyes at the harbor plaza.
At this moment, Kaido's expression had become extremely ugly.
The opponent's Fruit could swap positions.
Didn't that mean his attacks couldn't even land?!
For a moment, retreat flickered in Kaido's heart.
If he couldn't even hit the guy,
What was the point of fighting?!
But Lotte clearly had no intention of letting it end so easily.
A cold smile appeared on his lips.
Kaido thought he could target him and just walk away? No such luck.
Without giving the other any breathing room,
Lotte swung his hand fiercely.
Dozens of thick brown branches shot out like whips, lashing toward Kaido.
Bang!