Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

Expressionless as ever, Boros calmly raised his arm and caught the Thunder Bagua strike with his bare hand.

The ground around them cracked and shattered under the impact. Though Hiyori had hidden behind Boros, she was still blown away by the shockwave.

"Wha… You've got to be kidding me! He blocked it with his arm?!"

"That was Kaido's Thunder Bagua!"

"This guy... is he even human?!"

Gasps of disbelief spread among the Beasts Pirates. Even the All-Stars—who had already fought Boros—could hardly believe their eyes.

No one had expected this mysterious outsider to be so monstrously strong.

"Impressive. So Kizaru didn't lie to me after all."

A satisfied smile finally appeared on Boros' face. Even compared to the top-tier fighters he had before, Kaido's strength was by no means inferior.

Especially since Kaido's greatest asset was said to be his physical toughness—making him a perfect warm-up opponent without having to worry about accidentally killing him.

"Kizaru?! What's your relationship with that bastard Kizaru?!"

Kaido hadn't expected to hear that name—the very name that once made him grit his teeth in fury—coming from Boros' mouth.

Thinking about Kizaru's usual maddening behavior, Kaido suddenly had a bad feeling. Could it be that Kizaru had set him up again?

"That's none of your business. If you surrender now, my previous offer still stands," Boros said flatly.

He felt he was being generous enough. If it weren't for the current shortage of top-tier fighters, someone like Kaido—who had dared to reject his offer—would've already been eliminated, no matter how strong.

"Same goes for me! Surrender now and I'll still reserve you a spot as one of my Calamities!"

Kaido growled through gritted teeth, continuously putting pressure on Boros' arm, trying to force it down.

Aside from Big Mom, that "Iron Balloon," Kaido had never encountered a monster who could challenge his raw power head-on.

Yet Boros was using just one arm to block his Thunder Bagua. That level of strength was even more outrageous than Linlin's.

"…So annoying…"

Boros gave Kaido an impatient glance, and slowly began lifting the arm that was blocking the kanabo, completely unfazed by Kaido's brute force.

"Roar!"

Feeling provoked, Kaido instantly transformed into his hybrid beast form. In his half-dragon, half-human state, his power surged tremendously. Even Boros' lifting speed was forced to slow slightly under the increased pressure.

The clash of these two monsters caused the ground beneath them to collapse again. Seizing the moment, Kaido leapt into the air, spinning his kanabo before swinging it down with a powerful overhead strike.

"Three Worlds • Ragnarok!"

His kanabo, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki and crackling with black lightning, came crashing down toward Boros.

Given how even the All-Stars had stood no chance against the "one-eyed freak," Kaido didn't hold back at all.

Boros, unfazed, raised his fist to meet the blow. He didn't need a weapon—his body was his greatest weapon.

'Boom!'

The moment Kaido's kanabo collided with Boros' fist, countless streaks of black lightning exploded outward from the center of impact.

Like a nest of black serpents, the chaotic lightning tore the plaza in front of the palace to shreds. Yet, despite the devastating energy capable of pulverizing rock and even steel, Boros didn't so much as flinch—his expression remained unchanged.

"Wahh! That's insane!"

"Get back! Don't get caught in the fight!"

"He's a total monster… Just who the hell is this guy?!"

…

The Beasts Pirates scrambled to retreat in panic. Even the All-Stars and Tobi Roppo weren't exceptions.

They originally thought Kaido would easily defeat Boros, but now it seemed it was going to take a lot more effort.

As it turned out, the Beasts Pirates had underestimated Boros. The battle between the two "monsters" quickly reached a stalemate—or rather, Kaido was at a massive disadvantage.

Since becoming a pirate, Kaido had never faced an opponent like Boros. No matter how he attacked, he couldn't truly threaten him.

This one-eyed freak's strength and physique even seemed to slightly surpass his own, though for some reason, he still hadn't used any of the three types of Haki.

Kaido refused to believe that someone this powerful didn't know how to use Haki. The only explanation left was that this one-eyed freak was toying with him!

"Roar! Drunken Thunder Bagua: Naraka Drop!"

Kaido spun his kanabo at high speed, a torrent of Conqueror's Haki raging around it as he fiercely slammed it down toward Boros! Enraged, Kaido began abandoning his own defense, throwing everything he had into taking down the one-eyed monster before him.

Clang!

But the next moment, Boros caught Kaido's kanabo with his bare hand. The resulting shockwave ripped up the ground behind him, as if hundreds or even thousands of oxen had plowed through it.

Even so, Boros's body merely swayed slightly. In terms of pure physical strength, this might be the area where the gap between Kaido and Boros was the smallest.

"Armament Haki... Were you looking down on me this whole time?!"

Kaido's half-dragon face twitched, and his golden dragon pupils trembled slightly in their sockets—he was clearly furious beyond reason.

If that one-eyed freak hadn't suddenly started using Armament Haki, he wouldn't have even noticed it. That meant the opponent had been taking his ferocious attacks bare-handed without using Haki at all until now.

Not even the former Whitebeard or that Navy monster Kizaru would have dared to humiliate him like this!

"I just discovered something kind of interesting… Hm, and as for the other one… maybe it's like this?"

Boros completely ignored Kaido's furious, oppressive aura. After a brief moment of thought, he seemed to figure it out.

Boom!

It was as if thunder suddenly exploded in the air. A massive surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted skyward. Though invisible, it roared up like a colossal ocean current shooting into the sky.

It blasted a huge, visible hole through the clouds over Wano, and then this immense Conqueror's Haki spread out like a vortex, sweeping across the entire country in the blink of an eye.

Aside from Kaido, his daughter, and the three All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates, barely anyone in all of Wano could remain conscious under the pressure of that overwhelming Conqueror's Haki.

Even Kaido himself was momentarily shaken by such a terrifying aura. Conqueror's Haki could be simply understood as the willpower of the strong.

The more powerful and confident a person was, the more intense their Conqueror's Haki would be.

As someone who was once the ruler of the universe, Boros clearly possessed both overwhelming strength and absolute confidence. In fact, if he hadn't been defeated by Kizaru before, his Conqueror's Haki might have been even more fearsome.

Feeling both Armament and Conqueror's Haki coiling around his hands, Boros couldn't help but let a faint smile curl at the corner of his lips.

"So that's how it works... interesting."

Boros didn't dwell on his newly awakened Haki. For a true powerhouse, mastering Haki was simply a matter of course.

With his level of strength, Boros didn't even need to trade blows with Kaido for long—just a glance was enough to grasp 70–80% of the concept, and a bit of testing was all it took to master it.

"...No one... has ever dared act so arrogant in front of me!"

Stunned by Boros's Conqueror's Haki, Kaido came back to his senses in just the blink of an eye.

Realizing what had just happened, Kaido erupted like a raging volcano. His own burst of Conqueror's Haki violently clashed against Boros's and even forced it back through sheer intensity.

While mastering Haki came easily to Boros, reaching or surpassing Kaido's level of usage would still take time and training.

Until then, Boros's Haki was mostly superficial—more than enough to deal with fodder, but not yet a true threat to someone of Kaido's caliber.

Realizing this, Kaido went all out, determined to defeat Boros at any cost.

Gripping his kanabo, now crackling with black lightning, Kaido hurled it down on Boros with the weight of a mountain behind it.

Known as the "strongest creature on land, sea, and air," Kaido was undoubtedly the strongest in terms of raw physical power among the Pirate Emperors.

"Then I guess I'll get a little serious… and play with you a bit."

Even Boros had to admit that this guy—worthy of being called a top-level combatant—didn't disappoint in the strength department.

The only pity was that Kaido's power still fell short of Boros's expectations. Still, based on what he'd heard, Kaido's body was extremely tough, so maybe he could afford to cut loose a little.

The armor covering Boros's body gradually fell away—one of several limiters he'd prepared to restrain his power.

He wore them precisely so he could enjoy a good fight if he encountered a strong opponent. But considering he still had a mission from Kizaru to complete, Boros didn't intend to keep wasting time on Kaido.

"Great Might: Thunder Bagua!"

Enraged, Kaido unleashed more than everything he had. The force of his strike was like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting—truly worthy of a Pirate Emperor feared across the New World!

"Energy Burst!"

The moment his armor was fully removed, Boros unleashed a staggering surge of power that sent Kaido flying with overwhelming force.

°°°

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