"What!? What nonsense are you spouting!?"
Big Mom's eyes widened as she stared at Kaido. She couldn't believe this was the same fearless Kaido who never bowed to anyone. His words just now sounded far too much like he was overestimating the enemy.
Kaido downed several large gulps of sake and said indifferently,
"You've never fought him, so you don't know how terrifying he really is. Honestly, I can't think of anyone who could stand against him."
"That Shikiryū's strength has reached that level?"
"If anything, it's worse than I described. I went to Marineford this time just to see for myself what exactly he's planning."
"So you're still refusing an alliance?"
"Tch. It's meaningless either way, but I owe you one. If you want an alliance, fine—let's do it."
Big Mom raised her sake jug and clinked it against Kaido's. But instead of looking pleased about the successful alliance, her expression carried a trace of concern.
...
Elsewhere, aboard the Moby Dick—
Whitebeard and Shanks were sitting together in one of the ship's cabins, discussing the war that was fast approaching. Outside on the deck stood the commanders of the Red-Haired and Whitebeard crews.
Shanks had brought with him a detailed intel sheet about Kaito. It listed out his many powers in clear detail.
Whitebeard scanned the names of the abilities one by one. Even though he'd long known Kaito wielded multiple powers, seeing them listed like this still left him deeply shocked.
"Door-Door, Gravity, Nekomata, Asura, Pop-Pop, Rumble-Rumble, More-More, Clank-Clank, Darkness..."
Just the known Devil Fruit abilities numbered nine. And judging by the eleven tomoe in Kaito's Rinnegan, there were still two more unknown abilities he hadn't revealed!
What made Kaito even more terrifying, however, was those Rinnegan eyes. Their power surpassed even that of Devil Fruits—no one could say for sure where their limits lay.
Adding to that, Kaito's Haki was even stronger than Shanks'. Even Whitebeard, who'd seen countless monsters in his lifetime, couldn't help but marvel.
"This guy's a straight-up monster."
Shanks nodded in agreement and subconsciously reached for his missing arm. He knew far better than Whitebeard just how powerful Kaito truly was.
Still, Shanks wasn't nearly as pessimistic as Kaido. In his view, this was a rare gathering of the Four Emperors—a force strong enough to shake the world itself. No matter how powerful Kaito was, he couldn't possibly decide the outcome of this war alone… right?
But if Shanks had ever seen Uchiha Madara's appearance in Naruto, he'd know that sometimes, even a single man could completely rout tens of thousands.
Staring down at Kaito's photo on the intel sheet, Shanks murmured,
"Let's see if you really have the power to end this era."
Whitebeard glanced at him and asked,
"You ever thought about eating a Devil Fruit? Finding one that suits you shouldn't be too hard."
At the mention of Devil Fruits, Shanks' expression turned grim with disgust. He said hatefully,
"I'll never eat its fruit."
"Its?"
"Don't worry about it. I've got other plans this time. Something no worse than a Devil Fruit."
Whitebeard blinked in surprise, wondering what sort of preparation Shanks had made. But seeing his sour expression, he didn't press further. After all, they were on the same side now—Shanks having a plan was a good thing.
Once everything was settled, Shanks rose to leave. Before walking out, he said to Whitebeard,
"Don't drink these next few days. Rest up. We can't afford any slip-ups."
...
Whitebeard frowned and barked,
"Brat, don't you think you're getting a bit full of yourself? Now you're trying to tell me what to do?"
But today, Shanks was acting very unlike himself. Suddenly, dark rings of shadow appeared around his left eye. He turned his head slightly and said coldly,
"You're the one being arrogant. You don't understand the kind of enemy we're about to face."
A strange pressure burst from Shanks—not Conqueror's Haki, just sheer overwhelming force.
Even Whitebeard felt its suffocating weight and couldn't help the flash of shock in his eyes. He stared at Shanks, unfamiliar and unfamiliar, and roared,
"Who the hell are you!?"
"Me...? Who... am I?"
Shanks' expression suddenly went blank.
Whitebeard immediately unleashed his own Conqueror's Haki. The shockwave hit Shanks hard. Slowly, Shanks began to return to normal—the dark shadow around his eye gradually fading.
A wave of weakness washed over him, and he nearly collapsed.
Whitebeard rushed forward, grabbing him around the waist and steadying him.
Shanks took a few heavy breaths and muttered,
"Thanks."
Whitebeard frowned deeply.
"What the hell just happened? You were like a different person."
"You're overthinking it. I'm still me. Just stressed lately. Bit of a mental lapse."
"Then what was that pattern in your left eye?"
"Just Armament Haki. You can't even recognize that anymore?"
"..."
Whitebeard obviously didn't buy that lame excuse. Anyone could tell something was seriously wrong with Shanks. Something had clearly happened to him.
But since Shanks clearly didn't want to explain, Whitebeard wasn't going to force it. The room sank into an awkward silence.
Only when Shanks had recovered a bit did he gently push Whitebeard's hand away and say,
"Don't overthink it. If things go badly in the coming war... this could be our key to turning the tide."
Without waiting for a response, Shanks turned and walked out of the cabin. Outside, Beckman immediately approached and draped a black cloak over his clearly weakened captain.
Beckman's expression was tense.
"Did you fight with Whitebeard? We felt a massive surge of power just now. Was that you?"
Shanks waved him off.
"Nothing happened. Let's head back."
...
In the Room of Flowers—
Seated on the Empty Throne, Imu suddenly opened his eyes. Blood-red irises with two black concentric rings stared into the dark.
He seemed to be smiling, murmuring to himself,
"Can't hold it back anymore, huh? Enjoy this power while you can. You claim to hate it, yet in the end, you're still forced to depend on it. How ironic! Hahahahahaha!"
At that moment, the voice he loathed echoed in his mind.
"Aren't you afraid he'll use that power to defeat Uchiha Kaito? Wouldn't that ruin all your plans?"
Imu scoffed, replying coldly,
"Kaito isn't so easily defeated. This will only push him to evolve faster. You worthless pest—stay out of my way."
With that, Imu's figure melted into the shadows once more.
And the grand hall once again returned to a deathly silence.