Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece.

He didn't speak.

But the corners of his eyes curved slightly upwards.

"Kaido."

Bai Yu's voice was very calm, as calm as a stagnant pool.

But it is precisely this calm that is more oppressive than any roar.

"You are the strongest opponent I have ever encountered in this world."

He held his longsword horizontally in front of him, the Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki on the blade intertwined, forming a unique black pattern that flowed across the blade as if it were alive.

"Therefore, I won't hold back."

Kaido grinned.

It was a wild laugh, a bloodthirsty laugh, a laugh that longed to be satisfied.

"Exactly what I want!"

His body disappeared from the spot.

It wasn't teleportation, but rather an extreme speed.

In his human-beast form, Kaido achieves a perfect balance between strength and speed.

His dragon claws shattered the ground, each step leaving deep footprints in the rocks and causing the earth to tremble.

The Eight Precepts, enveloped in black lightning, crashed down towards Bai Yu's head.

Bai Yu did not retreat.

His Mangekyou Sharingan captured the entire trajectory of the attack and anticipated every possible change.

Then, he raised his knife and charged forward.

"clang--!!!"

The knife and the stick collided.

This time, it's not a test, not an evasion, but a real head-on collision.

The two bursts of Conqueror's Haki exploded at the point of impact, and black lightning spread outwards, forming a shockwave visible to the naked eye. Wherever the shockwave passed, everything was crushed; the ground, ruins, rocks, and even the air trembled.

Bai Yu's feet sank into the ground, his knees bent slightly, but he held on.

The muscles in his arms were taut.

A hint of surprise flashed in Kaido's dragon eyes.

"You're going to take my eight precepts head-on?"

His grin widened even further.

"it is good!"

He withdrew the eight precepts and then smashed them down again.

This strike was more powerful than the previous one.

Bai Yu raised his sword again to parry.

"clang--!!!"

Kaido gave Bai Yu no chance to catch his breath.

The third strike.

The fourth strike.

The fifth strike.

Each strike was heavier than the last, each strike carrying the full force of Conqueror's Haki.

Bai Yu parried each of Ba Zhaijie's attacks with precision, blocking their trajectory with every strike.

The sound of swords clashing against clubs echoed across the battlefield like a death knell.

Each collision generates a shockwave that spreads outwards.

The cracks in the ground are becoming more numerous and deeper.

The air was filled with the smells of blood, burnt food, and ozone produced by the clash of Conqueror's Haki.

"That felt great! That felt great! That felt great!"

Kaido laughed wildly, his dragon whiskers dancing wildly in the wind, his dragon eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit.

"I haven't had such a satisfying battle in a long time. I haven't seen Lingling in ages!"

He raised his eight precepts again, this time with black lightning on the staff reaching an extreme density.

Bai Yu's Mangekyou Sharingan spun wildly.

He saw it.

He saw the entire attack.

That wasn't a simple physical attack; it was a devastating blow that combined Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and all of Kaido's power into a single point and released in an instant.

The force of this strike was enough to level a mountain.

Bai Yu took a deep breath.

Instead of enveloping the body with Susanoo, the power of Susanoo is compressed into the sword, so that every strike carries the destructive power of Susanoo.

Kaido's Eight Precepts slammed down.

Bai Yu slashed out with his longsword.

The knife and the stick clashed once more.

But this time, there was no sound.

It's not that there's no sound, but rather that the sound is too loud, exceeding the limits of what the human ear can hear.

A white light exploded from the point of impact, illuminating the entire night sky.

Then came the shockwave.

A devastating shockwave spread outwards, engulfing everything in its path.

Rocks on the ground were vaporized, ruins were crushed into powder, and even distant building remains were blown into the air.

The shockwave spread for a full kilometer before gradually dissipating.

When the white light dissipated and the dust settled, a huge crater hundreds of meters in diameter appeared on the battlefield.

In the center of the pit, Bai Yu and Kaido were still facing off.

Kaido's dragon claws gripped the Eight Precepts tightly, but his hands were trembling.

His dragon eyes stared at Bai Yu, and for the first time, a hint of seriousness appeared in his pupils.

Kaido looked down at his chest.

There was a shallow knife mark there.

The knife wound wasn't deep; it only grazed his scales, causing a trickle of blood to seep out.

But that knife mark was made by Bai Yu with the tip of his knife during a gap in the parry.

In that level of collision, under that overwhelming force, Bai Yu still had the strength to fight back.

Kaido remained silent for a moment.

Then he smiled.

It wasn't a wild laugh, but a calm laugh, a laugh of approval.

"Uchiha Hakuha".

"You are very strong."

"Better than most people I've ever met."

He paused.

"but……"

A cold glint flashed in his dragon eyes.

"You think this is all I've got?"

Kaido's body began to change.

His muscles swelled, his scales became denser, and the lightning coiled around his horns turned blood red.

His aura rose again.

Bai Yu's Mangekyou Sharingan detected this change.

Kaido had been holding back his strength all along.

He was enjoying the fight.

He was testing Bai Yu's limits.

Now, he's getting serious.

"Come on, Uchiha Hakuha."

Kaido's voice turned low, like a whisper from hell.

"Let me see if you can actually handle what I'm about to do..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because Bai Yu smiled.

It was a very faint smile, so faint that it was almost invisible.

But Kaido saw it.

His Observation Haki suddenly emitted a sharp alarm.

wrong.