Momonosuke squinted his eyes and let out a series of strange, eerie laughs, his voice dripping with sarcasm:
"I'm just walking down a path to my own death, so what?"
He grinned wickedly and continued,
"With you and that fat old hag's remaining energy, what are you gonna do to me?"
"You still don't get it, do you? My current form, this Illusionary Dragon, is derived from your Azure Dragon form!"
"But my defense is at least twice as strong as yours! You old, fat bastard!"
"Right now, even if I stand still, can you break through my defenses? Fatso!"
Momonosuke flicked his tail and swiftly appeared atop Kaido's massive body.
It was like walking on a cloud as he trotted around Kaido's bloated, flesh-filled form.
It was no surprise that Momonosuke was so smug. Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were both in no condition to retaliate for quite some time.
They were powerless against this tiny pink dragon, barely a meter long, hopping around on top of Kaido's mountainous frame.
Witnessing Kaido's humiliation, the Beasts Pirates' top officials, including the Three Calamities and the Flying Six, gathered their last bit of strength and rushed toward Momonosuke.
However, Momonosuke casually yawned and exhaled a burst of Sakura Poison breath, sending them all flying back.
The poison swiftly invaded their bodies, paralyzing their limbs and corroding their minds.
"Look there. Do you see it?"
Momonosuke's tiny front claws gripped Kaido's eye, twisting it towards the direction of Wano Country's main island.
Under the night sky, Wano was ablaze—a massive inferno consuming everything.
Especially the Flower Capital, where nearly the entire city was engulfed in flames, and the sky above glowed a deep orange as the flames reached for the heavens.
"Burn, kill, flow enough blood to nourish me and I can return to full strength!" Momonosuke cackled.
"For all these years, you've eaten so many of my cherry blossoms. Your blood and flesh are already infused with me. With just a bit of refinement, I can absorb it and rebuild my true form!"
"Samurai who slay dragons? What a joke!"
"You think you can kill me with a broken sword? A huge joke!"
As Momonosuke spoke, all the resentment he had been suppressing for so long was released onto Kaido's head.
He scratched, clawed, and tore at Kaido's bloated face, turning it into a mess of carnage.
Terrifyingly, every wound left behind tiny pink electric sparks.
Even with Kaido's incredible vitality and the regenerative power of his sugar-induced fat, he couldn't resist the pink electricity.
The wounds showed no signs of healing or regenerating.
Finally, Momonosuke raised his short legs and urinated on Kaido's wounds.
Kaido, aside from growling in anger and frustration, was utterly powerless.
Momonosuke sighed deeply, silencing Kaido's roars with a heavy heart. He muttered,
"Truly boring. You foolish mortals."
But then, a voice that should have long since disappeared suddenly spoke up.
"You must have taken over Momonosuke's body the moment he traveled through time, didn't you, Sakura Dragon?"
The tiny pink dragon shuddered, its paws stumbling in panic as it stepped right into its own urine puddle.
It gazed at the white light that was about to fade, its voice trembling:
"Impossible! A shockwave of this intensity—even at my peak, I couldn't have endured it! This is impossible!"
The dazzling white light suddenly disappeared. Not only did Roya and Kozuki Oden reappear, but even the group who had previously used the Sakura Poison Ten Strike, including Kin'emon and others, were back in full view.
None of them were harmed!
"Hahahahaha!"
In the silence that followed, Kaido suddenly erupted in a long laugh.
He loudly proclaimed,
"Roya, the new emperor, is truly formidable!"
"Even the combined Conqueror's Sea Strike from me and Linlin couldn't touch you. This battle, you've won!"
"Don't forget our agreement before the fight!"
Roya, utterly uninterested in Kaido's dramatic flair, simply narrowed his eyes and focused on the tiny pink dragon version of Momonosuke.
"You spent hundreds of years teaching the people of Wano to consume cherry blossoms. This move was very patient, and quite clever."
"You didn't think I'd notice the slight traces of Sakura Poison hidden in the petals, did you?"
"Don't forget, all the experiments on Punk Hazard, especially the giants' transformation toxins on those children, had traces of Sakura Poison as well!"
Roya raised his hand and pointed toward Wano's main island, continuing,
"You think I didn't realize your true purpose in returning to Wano wasn't about this land at all? It was about harvesting the flesh you've been nurturing for centuries!"
Every word Roya spoke felt like a heavy hammer striking Momonosuke's chest, shattering his arrogance and self-confidence, leaving him short of breath.
Momonosuke's hind legs kept stepping around in his own urine puddle, unaware of the mess he was making.
With a voice lacking its former conviction, he shouted,
"So what if you know? Soon, my samurai will kill everyone here and offer their flesh as sacrifices to my true form!"
"How will you stop me? You can't stop me!"
Roya sneered, dismissing him with disdain:
"You think I came to this feast alone for no reason?"
"The sacrifices you can offer are only those who have committed heinous crimes in Wano over the last sixteen years—the ones who are beyond redemption!"
"And you should realize, even they are just my offering to you!"
"Summon your true form. You should be able to feel it. Your true form can no longer absorb any more Sakura Poison-fueled flesh!"
Momonosuke hurriedly tried to sense the state of his true form and, as Roya said, the growth of his true body's flesh had completely stagnated.
He angrily let out a childish roar, shouting,
"Roya! You won't die easily!"
With a loud bang, his body exploded into a cloud of pink smoke as he attempted to escape.
But he found himself caught in an invisible net of traps, and no matter how much he tried to flee, he was stopped at every turn.
Momonosuke immediately realized that Roya had completely figured out his situation.
The flesh he had sacrificed earlier was only enough to activate his true form's recovery and restore some vitality.
Without merging with his true form, these small traces of vitality would quickly decay, and his true form would revert back into a cherry tree, a mere plant, with no chance of becoming the Sakura Dragon again.
But if he merged with his true form, it would fall into Roya's hands, almost like walking right into his death.
No matter what he chose, it was a death sentence!
Kaido, still laughing, added,
"Hahaha, Roya, you're really something else! From top to bottom, you've us all figured out in Wano!"
"I'm impressed! I, Kaido, fully admit it!"
"I can't outfight you, and I can't even outscheme you! I yield!"
"Just give me a merciful end! Let me, Kaido, once the strongest creature in the world, become the final stepping stone for your rise to Pirate King!"