Flame Bagua

With a thunderous crash, Yota was smashed down from the sky, nearly driving his entire body dozens of meters into the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Yota tried to climb back up, but Kaido viciously brought his club down on his chest.

"Urgh!" A mouthful of blood burst from his lips. Yet despite his grievous injuries and the blood he had coughed up, Yota refused to be outdone. Under the Munch-Munch Fruit’s modification ability, his right hand transformed into a metal spear gleaming with metallic luster. From below, he viciously thrust it at Kaido’s crotch.

Kaido’s face darkened. He slightly twisted aside, and the metal bone spear, formed from the Munch-Munch Fruit’s modification ability and Yota’s Armament Haki, only left a deep scar across Kaido’s lower abdomen.

"Haha, I thought you wouldn’t dodge even that one." Yota slowly climbed to his feet and said to Kaido with a grin.

Kaido frowned deeply, though it was not because of Yota’s mockery. Any man who saw that move would feel a chill between his legs and take a few steps back.

What truly shocked him was Yota’s unbelievably vigorous vitality.

Over the past few hours of battle, Yota had never retreated in the slightest. He had fought Kaido with reckless offense, trading wound for wound. Kaido now bore more than a dozen wounds of varying sizes, and Yota’s injuries were even worse.

He had vomited enough blood to equal three to five times that of an ordinary person. The major bones in his body had broken at least dozens of times, and in several exchanges, even his internal organs had been grievously damaged, causing him to cough up tiny fragments of organs.

Yet even now, Yota remained full of energy, showing no signs of being near death. Even his stamina did not seem particularly depleted.

—Of course. The thing Yota consumed to recover was not stamina, but the Chakra within his body. Though exhausting one’s Chakra would also cause a drastic decline in physical strength, the Chakra within Yota was now as vast as a sea. After recovering from so many grievous injuries just now, the consumption of his Chakra… well, there had been no consumption at all. It had already fully replenished itself.

Under such circumstances, even Kaido began to wonder, What Devil Fruit did this brat eat? He seems even more spirited after all this fighting. Even his strength has improved quite a bit!

It was normal for one’s strength to improve. Kaido had experienced it himself. Haki was a collection of presence, killing intent, and fighting spirit. When one controlled those invisible sensations, willpower could become a weapon. This powerful force was collectively known as Haki.

It could be gained through training and continuously strengthened through further training. But after reaching a certain limit, one could only rise to another level by pushing oneself to the extreme in actual combat.

Especially when fighting a Haki user stronger than oneself, as long as one’s mentality was not crushed, confidence, fighting spirit, and presence would naturally soar. It was the fastest way to improve—and also the easiest way to get beaten to death.

The problem was that Yota truly lagged far behind Kaido in Haki. In particular, his lack of Conqueror’s Haki was a fatal flaw. Yet this fellow was like an indestructible lump of metal; no matter how Kaido hammered him, he simply would not die.

This frustrating, troublesome feeling had once only ever appeared in Kaido’s opponents. He himself had relied on his tenacious vitality and unbelievably resilient physique to temper such powerful Haki through battles against countless strong foes.

Yet now, Kaido found himself facing a monster even more immortal than he was.

In truth, Yota was also somewhat surprised. He had not even used the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit’s ability yet!

It could only be said that physique abilities like the Sage Body and Shikotsumyaku meshed incredibly well with the Pirate World’s combat system.

If his bones broke, they would regrow within seconds. If his internal organs were grievously damaged, two deep breaths would completely heal them. Unless his head was cut off or he was directly beaten into a pulp, Yota felt that he was practically immortal.

One only had to look at Kaido’s toothache-like expression to know just how absurdly tough Yota was now.

At this moment, the entire battlefield had descended into chaos. Kaido’s Beasts Pirates had finally arrived at the battlefield two hours earlier, and fierce fighting had broken out afterward.

But judging from the situation now, the Beasts Pirates were instead at a disadvantage. Queen, one of the three All-Stars, had long since been taken down by Wano Country’s forces. King, meanwhile, had been besieged by everyone at the very start of the battle. The Beasts Pirates’ reinforcements had only arrived after he held out for two hours.

But after facing so many powerful enemies alone for two hours, King’s injuries could not have been light. His combat strength had also dropped considerably.

Of the Three Disasters, the only one whose fighting strength remained intact was actually the weakest, Jack. At this moment, Ace was beating him senseless—everyone knew mammoths were weak against fire.

The remaining Tobi Roppo were locked in battle with Wano Country’s experts. Asura Doji held back the weakened King, while Yamato alone stopped Maria and her younger brother Page One.

Denjiro and Kawamatsu faced the other two Tobi Roppo. As for the Allosaurus Fruit user, he presumably had yet to join the Beasts Pirates.

As for the artificial Devil Fruit users the Beasts Pirates had amassed, they had all switched sides under Tama’s Millet-Millet Fruit ability. Kozuki Hiyori, beside Tama, used the Barrier Fruit’s ability to protect the two of them. Two hulking, brainless giants from the Beasts Pirates were continuously pounding on the barrier like fools.

The Barrier Fruit’s defensive power was astonishing. Even if Kaido personally attacked it head-on, there was an eighty percent chance he would return empty-handed, much less these artificial giants.

Because so many artificial Devil Fruit users from the Beasts Pirates had defected, the battle, which should originally have been evenly matched, had now shifted in Wano Country’s favor.

Seeing this, Kaido’s expression finally turned completely solemn. He was already preparing to end the fight quickly. "I never imagined I would be forced this far by a junior like you… This was originally a move I prepared for Whitebeard."

Kaido’s voice grew louder and louder, eventually becoming thunderous roars. His entire body transformed into a giant dragon in the sky.

Flames quickly coiled around his entire body and continued expanding. The dragon Kaido had transformed into was already a colossal creature, at least several hundred meters long, but now Kaido became a massive fire dragon thousands of meters in length. For a moment, he blanketed the entire sky as terrifying flames blazed fiercely. Even while flying high in the air, far from the ground, people felt as though they were being roasted alive.

"Brat, be honored! This is the strongest move I developed after my Devil Fruit awakened!"

"You and Wano Country’s rebels will turn to ashes together!"

"Rising Dragon—Flame Bagua!"