Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece.

The two forces intertwined, forming a strange black-gold light.

Kaido made a move.

His dragon body transformed into a streak of blood-red lightning, hurtling straight toward Bai Yu.

The speed was so fast that even Bai Yu's Mangekyou Sharingan could only catch a fleeting afterimage.

"Eight Trigrams - Fire Dragon Torch -!!!"

Kaido clenched his dragon claws into a fist, and the crimson Haki on his fist condensed into a huge energy ball, which he smashed down towards Bai Yu.

Bai Yu did not dodge.

His Mangekyou Sharingan caught the trajectory of the punch.

He raised his long sword, and the black and gold light on the blade surged.

"cut!!!"

The knife clashed with the fist.

No sound.

There was no shockwave.

All the force was concentrated at the point of impact, forming a small sphere with a diameter of less than one meter.

Inside the small ball, two forces are tearing, colliding, and annihilating each other.

The outer wall of the ball trembled, and fine cracks spread across its surface.

Then, the ball exploded.

It didn't explode outwards, but collapsed inwards.

A black hole-like energy sphere appeared in mid-air, sucking everything around it in; light, sound, air, and even time seemed to stand still.

Bai Yu's Mangekyou Sharingan stared at Kaido's dragon eyes.

Kaido's dragon eyes stared into Bai Yu's eyes.

Kaido's dragon scales were mostly shattered, and blood gushed from dozens of wounds. Cracks appeared on his dragon horns.

"Uchiha Hakuha..."

Kaido's voice was very soft, so soft that only Shiraha could hear it.

"You are the strongest opponent I have ever faced."

A smile curved Bai Yu's lips.

"Is that so? It seems you haven't dared to make a move against other powerful opponents, Kaido!"

Then, his Mangekyou Sharingan started spinning again.

Kaido subconsciously looked away and noticed that Uchiha Shiraha had drawn his sword again after closing it at some point.

"Shatter, you illusion, you mirage."

Kaido's dragon eyes suddenly narrowed.

He saw Bai Yu draw his sword. The long sword should have already slashed out and collided with his fist, causing the energy sphere between the two to collapse inward.

But now, the knife is back in its sheath?

No, why do we need to do this repetitive action?

A sense of confusion flashed through Kaido's mind.

But he didn't have time to think.

Bai Yu's figure disappeared before his eyes.

It wasn't a teleportation technique, nor was it due to excessive speed; it was a true disappearance, as if it had never existed.

Kaido's dragon tail instinctively swept behind him; this was a muscle memory he had developed over decades of fighting, and any enemy that disappeared from his sight would reappear behind him.

Where the dragon's tail swept, the air was torn apart, and a trail of blood-red domineering aura was left in the air.

But there was nothing there.

Kaido suddenly turned around.

Bai Yu stood ten meters to his left, the long sword still not drawn, simply watching him quietly.

Where are you looking?

Bai Yu's voice was soft, but every word clearly reached Kaido's ears.

A flash of anger crossed Kaido's dragon eyes.

His dragon claw clenched into a fist, once again condensing a blood-red energy ball, which he then smashed towards Bai Yu.

He used all his strength in that punch.

The fist passed through Bai Yu's body—no, not through, but Bai Yu's body twisted and dissipated the instant the fist touched him, like a reflection in water.

phantom.

Kaido's pupils contracted sharply.

The real attack came from his right side.

A black blade of light precisely struck the most vulnerable part of Kaido's dragon body, at the joint of his left forelimb, where a scale had been cracked by the previous battle.

A flash of light, and blood gushed out.

Kaido's left forelimb was almost severed by a single strike, leaving only skin and flesh connecting it.

"Roar--!!!"

Kaido let out a painful dragon roar.

His dragon tail swung wildly, his dragon claws lashed out haphazardly, and his Conqueror's Haki was unleashed in all directions without reservation.

But Bai Yu's figure disappeared again.

No, it's not that it disappeared; it's that everything Kaido saw, heard, and sensed lost its meaning at this moment.

Kaido was panting heavily, and dragon blood gushed from dozens of wounds.

He looked down at his body, wondering when those wounds had appeared.

He remembered that he had clashed with Bai Yu seven times, each time with a sword and a fist, and each time the two were evenly matched.

But he had seventeen knife wounds on his body.

Each cut was deep enough to see the bone, each cut precisely into the gaps in the scales, and each cut avoided the area of ​​his strongest defense.

"No...no!"

Kaido growled in a low voice.

He remembered dodging Bai Yu's longsword seven times.

However, he had seventeen wounds on his body.

He remembered hitting Bai Yu three times, and each time he heard the sound of bones breaking.

But Bai Yu was now standing in front of him unharmed, without any injuries.

"What did you do?!"

Kaido's dragon eyes were fixed on Bai Yu, a rare hint of doubt appearing in his pupils.

Bai Yu calmly met Kaido's gaze.

"You never met me from the very beginning."

Kaido's breath hitched.

Every scene from the battle just now flashed through his mind. After Bai Yu drew his sword, he struck Bai Yu three times. The first time was when the dragon claw struck Bai Yu's chest, the second time was when the dragon tail swept Bai Yu's waist, and the third time was when the heat breath grazed Bai Yu's left arm.

The sensations felt so real.

He could even clearly remember Bai Yu's expression when he was hit: pain, gritted teeth, and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"impossible."

Kaido said in a low voice.

"Those feelings..."

"It's fake."

Bai Yu interrupted him.

"Everything you feel, everything you see, everything you hear is fake."

Kaido's dragon eyes widened suddenly.

He remembered.

I remembered that moment, the instant when Uchiha Hakuha drew his sword and then closed it again.

I remembered those eyes.

"What kind of ability is that? A Devil Fruit?"

Kaido's voice was deep, but the previous brutality was gone, replaced by a calm scrutiny.

Bai Yu did not answer.

His fingers tapped lightly on the scabbard of the longsword, producing a crisp sound.

"Ding--"

Kaido felt his vision begin to distort.

The sky became the earth, and the earth became the sky.

His dragon body was clearly coiled in the air, but the direction of gravity he perceived was completely reversed.

Kaido abruptly closed his eyes.

He tried to use Observation Haki to perceive everything around him. This was his last resort. Observation Haki is not misled by sight or hearing. It perceives "aura" and "will".

He unleashed his Observation Haki.