It wasn't that Kaido was being arrogant.
It was just that Tengetsu Ares's strength had already taught him a simple truth: on this sea, there were only a handful of people qualified to challenge Ares.
And every single one of them stood at the very peak of the world.
Just hearing their names was enough to make ordinary pirates break out in a cold sweat.
Kaido's words made Chinjao's face turn ugly.
He was, after all, a pirate worth 400,000,000 berries, a man who possessed Conqueror's Haki. Wherever the Happo Navy went, other pirates gave way on instinct.
When had his challenge ever been treated as something so… beneath notice?
Chinjao's gaze slid past Kaido, his sharp eyes locking onto Tengetsu Ares, who sat upon the stone chair like a war god. He raised his voice in open provocation.
"Hey, Blood-Hand Tengetsu Ares. What's wrong? Afraid you'll lose to me and see your precious reputation shattered across the seas?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Silver Axe snorted with laughter.
"This Happo Navy boss really doesn't know what the word 'death' looks like. If Ares actually takes the field, this guy won't even have room to fight back."
Put in more modern terms, the man had no self-awareness.
Then again…
If Chinjao had any sense of proportion, he wouldn't have gone headfirst against Garp and gotten his proud drill head smashed flat, only to stay that way for thirty whole years.
The river flowed east for thirty years, west for thirty years.
For Chinjao's head, it went east once and never came back.
Wang Zhi chuckled. "If they don't see it with their own eyes, there will always be people who think Ares's reputation is just hype."
"But once they do see it, they'll understand just how massive the gap really is."
Ares lifted his eyes.
That oppressive, beast-like gaze locked onto Chinjao, and he spoke calmly.
"Your strength isn't enough…"
"To interest me."
The words were simple, but in Chinjao's ears they were razor sharp.
What did he mean, not enough to interest him?
That was just saying he was too weak.
Unbearable.
"I am the leader of the Happo Navy, Chinjao!" he roared, shouting his name the way so many pirates did before a fight.
Kaido's brows drew together. Murderous intent surged around him like a living thing.
"I don't care what Happo Navy you lead. On Hachinosu…"
"You follow the rules of the Rocks Pirates."
"If you want to challenge my big brother Ares, then you pass through me, Kaido, first!"
Blood pounded through his veins, making the cords on his arms stand out like braided steel cables, running from his shoulders all the way to the backs of his hands.
His muscles bulged, packed with brutal power.
"Thunder… Bagua!"
With a roar, Kaido swung his spiked club in a savage horizontal arc.
The air screamed as the blow came down.
In the instant the club descended, Chinjao's forearms turned pitch-black, Armament Haki hardening his flesh like iron.
"Hasshoken…"
"EIGHT-IMPACT FIST!"
His fist crashed forward, and the air around it rippled outward in rings.
These weren't normal air ripples. Each ring was a spreading shockwave, brimming with destructive force.
Boom.
His punch slammed squarely into Kaido's club.
The stone slabs beneath their feet shattered on impact.
Kaido's face darkened, a flicker of surprise flashing in those bestial eyes.
"He blocked it?"
"Because of that weird fist technique…"
He was confident in his blow.
After eating his Mythical Zoan, even in his base form Kaido's physique had been drastically strengthened. His Thunder Bagua was not something just anyone could withstand.
Yet Chinjao had taken it head-on.
That was not something Kaido had expected.
Through that one exchange, Chinjao had also tasted the terrifying raw strength behind the club. His gaze grew heavier.
"This guy is strong. His strength is the greatest I've seen on these seas."
"If it weren't for the defensive power of Hasshoken, I might not have been able to take that."
He dropped his earlier carelessness. His expression turned serious, eyes flashing with a vicious light.
Hummm
With a harsh metallic ring, his pointed drill head turned jet-black with Armament Haki, like the tip of a lance.
This was no useless ornament.
This was Chinjao's greatest weapon and the source of his fame.
"Hasshoken…"
"HEAD DRILL!"
Chinjao lowered his head, the sharpened drill aimed straight at Kaido as he charged like a raging rhino.
"I'll smash your head in!"
Kaido answered with a snarl, hefting his club high overhead.
He brought it crashing down.
Steel met steel with a ringing clang.
The moment the drill head and club collided, shockwaves exploded outward in every direction, visible to the naked eye.
Stone bricks all around them split and flew apart, turned into fragments that shot out like bullets.
The watching pirates scattered in terror, scrambling to get further away.
Seeing this, Ares's eyes lit up. Genuine interest flickered in them.
"Hm. That Hasshoken of his really is different."
At his side, Katakuri quickly explained.
"That's the Happo Navy's secret technique, passed down for a hundred years. When they strike, they send powerful shockwaves into the target while also spreading them outward."
"Even solid shields can't withstand it. And the technique itself has incredible defensive properties. Even sword storms or bullet showers won't easily break through."
"That's why Chinjao's body itself is his weapon. Even clashing directly with Kaido's club, he doesn't fall behind."
Ares's eyes gleamed brighter at that.
"So it's a special fist that can tank Kaido's club head-on without getting hurt."
"In pure strength, Chinjao is below Kaido. And Kaido has a weapon on top of that."
"Chinjao's Armament Haki is strong, but this fist itself is very interesting."
He focused intently on the fight, mind working.
To him, Hasshoken was a revelation.
The technique showed him a way to disperse and redirect force he had never seen before, while still delivering devastating impact.
Not only defense, but tremendous offensive power.
Ares was captivated.
Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, Slardar and the others were just watching the show.
"This Chinjao is stronger than I thought. Kaido can't put him down quickly," Wang Zhi admitted, surprised.
Right now, Kaido counted as high-ranking officer level.
His power was second only to monsters like Ares, Newgate, Shiki and Linlin.
Silver Axe nodded. "Chinjao's reputation wasn't exaggerated after all. But Kaido still hasn't used his Devil Fruit."
"I heard he had several heavy clubs custom-made to go with his Zoan form."
"Tsk tsk…"
"He's already a monster."
Slardar watched, eyes shining. "The outside world is really something. Not only all these strange races on Hachinosu, but so many powerful fighters battling right in front of us."
Having never left the Sea Demon Kingdom in his life, he had seen more bizarre races in the past few days than in a century fishmen, Longarm folk, snake-headed races and more.
It made him realize he was far from unique.
Kaido and Chinjao traded blows again and again, neither gaining a clear upper hand for the moment.
But wherever their battle went, the destruction was enormous.
Within a radius of more than a dozen meters, the stone paving had been pulverized, the ground criss-crossed with cracks.
Wang Zhi finally said, "Ares, you're going to have to step in. If Kaido and Chinjao keep going like this, the whole pier will be rubble."
His voice pulled Ares out of his immersion.
In just a minute or two, he had already grasped quite a bit about Hasshoken, gaining no small insight.
A broad grin tugged at Ares's sharply cut features. Excitement flickered in his eyes as he rose to his feet.
"You're right. We can't let them wreck the dock."
"There are still a lot of pirates coming in the next few days."
He strode forward, each step echoing like a great bell, voice booming across the pier.
"Kaido, move. Let me test this Hasshoken of Chinjao's myself."
The moment he heard Ares's voice, Kaido immediately leapt back, baring his teeth in a mocking grin at Chinjao.
"Chinjao, your strength is impressive. I'd love a proper fight with you."
"Too bad my big brother Ares is taking over. You're out of luck."
As Ares approached, his frame loomed larger and larger in Chinjao's vision.
He was even more imposing than Kaido, with muscle lines so exaggerated they looked almost demonic.
Chinjao's face grew grim, but he did not back down.
"Blood-Hand Tengetsu Ares," he growled, "I want to see whether your fists are stronger, or my drill head is!"
Ares closed the distance until only a few meters separated them.
For men like them, that was a single step.
His bronze-bell eyes shone with a predatory light as he smiled.
"My fist is definitely stronger."
"Your Hasshoken is interesting… but…"
"I think I've already learned quite a bit."
He wasn't boasting.
Hasshoken had some overlap with the shockwave-style punches Ares had dabbled in before. After replaying Chinjao's movements over and over in his mind, Ares had already picked up part of the knack.
Now he wanted to feel it head-on.
"Don't talk nonsense. Hasshoken is the Happo Navy's secret art. Without our methods, outsiders can't learn it," Chinjao snapped, frowning.
He and Kaido had only traded a handful of blows.
How could Ares possibly have learned his Hasshoken from just watching?
Besides, to bring Hasshoken to true heights, one had to awaken the hidden power slumbering within the body.
In the entire Happo Navy, only he Chinjao had done that.
Well, and in the future, someone named Sai would do it too, surpassing Chinjao and becoming the next leader of the Happo Navy.
Back to the present.
Chinjao didn't believe a word Ares said. He took it as pure mockery and provocation.
The pirates of the Happo Navy were even less willing to accept it.
"He says he learned Hasshoken just by watching? No way."
"Hasshoken is insanely hard. I've trained for two and a half years and still haven't mastered it. Only a few in the entire Happo Navy have."
"That guy thinks he's understood Hasshoken, but he probably hasn't even scratched the surface."
…
Their reactions were fierce.
Hasshoken was their most treasured legacy, the fist that had made the Happo Navy famous across the seas. Only a select few could truly master it.
They could not accept that some outsider had "just learned it" in a few minutes.
Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, Slardar and Katakuri, who knew Ares well, believed it instantly.
Wang Zhi swallowed, half laughing and half crying.
"Ares…"
"He's doing it again. We watched Kaido and Chinjao and thought, 'Wow, that guy is strong and his technique is impressive.'"
"Ares watches the same fight and just goes, 'Oh, I learned it.'"
Not human.
Monster.
Little Katakuri stared at the demonic contours of Ares's back muscles with burning eyes, full of longing.
"If only I had Captain Ares's learning ability…"
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