Boom!
The fight was incredibly straightforward, a pure confrontation of fists against fists.
Despite neither of them relying on Devil Fruit abilities, the clash unleashed a chilling storm of wind that caused the hair of onlookers to whip backward and nearly broke the surrounding trees.
"Sensei!"
Ain shrieked, utterly astonished. The last time she saw Zephyr was three years ago, during a Heavenly Tribute escort mission. Given Zephyr's age, he should be getting weaker. How was it that he seemed to have grown even stronger since she last saw him?
"The old man's got some moves!"
Though he had clashed with Alucard countless times, this was Kaido's first fight against Zephyr. He offered a compliment before launching another punch.
Zephyr's body became a blur, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Kaido. Ain and the others mentally noted, "Soru?"
Zephyr delivered a vicious kick to Kaido's lower back, momentarily contorting the muscle. Kaido's face didn't change at all. He twisted his waist and counter-attacked with a palm strike, sending Zephyr flying. Zephyr crashed through several trees before finally managing to stop.
Gugu... Gugu...
Following the strange sounds, they saw that the muscles in Kaido's lower back, where Zephyr had kicked him, were healing automatically. In less than two seconds, they were completely back to normal.
"Monster." Ain and Binz, who had never seen Kaido's true power, shared the same thought.
Whoosh...
Suddenly, a disturbance came from the nearby forest. They turned to see Zephyr walking out step by step. A small piece of the lens on his right sunglass was shattered, exposing his eye. A gash had opened on Zephyr's forehead, from which blood flowed.
However, before Ain could cry out in alarm, the blood flowed back into the cut, and the wound healed instantly, another form of regenerative ability.
"Do you also have an ability similar to that Immortal bastard?" Kaido was slightly surprised. He had thought only Alucard possessed such power. But the surprise lasted less than five seconds before Kaido's arrogance returned. He swung his fist towards Zephyr. "But you're still no match for me!"
"Tekkai!"
Zephyr coldly spat out the two words, and his entire body turned pitch black with Armament Haki. Under Kaido's heavy blow, he only retreated half a step.
"Hmph!"
The shockwave from the punch stopped. Zephyr seized the chance, grabbed Kaido's enormous fist with both hands, twisted his body, and used an over-the-shoulder throw to toss Kaido's body, which was several times larger than his own, high into the air.
"Damn it!"
Kaido roared in anger, raising his free hand to deliver a hammer blow down towards Zephyr, who was standing below.
"Sensei, look out!"
Ain shouted in worry. A peach-colored flame condensed in her palm, and she threw it towards Kaido. "Return- Return!"
Kaido admitted he hadn't seen Ain's ability before, but he instinctively felt uncomfortable facing the rushing, eerie flame. He yelled, "Get lost!"
A violent gust of wind erupted from his mouth, extinguishing Ain's flame!
"Oh my God..."
Binz's jaw nearly dropped. Ain's signature move was extinguished by a simple breath. Was this the power of a Yonko?
Easily nullifying Ain's technique, Kaido continued to swing his other fist down towards Zephyr.
"Don't underestimate the old man!"
Zephyr's entire body turned black with Armament Haki once more.
BOOM!
The immense sound was actually the overlap of two separate impacts.
Kaido's body smashed into the ground, creating a bottomless fissure in the earth.
On the other side, Zephyr's legs, from the knees down, were completely embedded in the stone ground—the result of Kaido's punch.
Many of the Marines who had come to see Zephyr were directly swept away by the shockwave. Only those with some strength, like Ain, managed to remain standing.
As the residual shockwave gradually dissipated, Ain looked around and saw only a few Marines left standing beside her. The members of the Immortal Pirates who should have been observing were nowhere to be seen—they had already retreated over two miles away.
The Immortal Pirates were long accustomed to the protocol when Kaido and Alucard fought. Although the opponent was Zephyr this time, they were smart enough to retreat to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Ain and her group, unaware of this protocol, were simply stunned by the immense power displayed by the two men. By the time they regained their senses, they realized an unknown number of their personnel had been injured.
Zephyr noticed this as well. When Kaido got up to attack again, Zephyr dodged and moved in front of Ain and the others, shouting, "Have you forgotten what I taught you? When you cannot intervene in a battle of too high a caliber, you should conduct a strategic retreat and look for an opportunity to provide support!"
"Support your mother! You're all going to die!"
Kaido slammed his two fists together, transforming his entire body into an unparalleled thunder hammer, which he slammed viciously into the ground. A tremor stronger than any earthquake in the world erupted, sending a 360-degree shockwave attack in all directions.
Zephyr realized that normal methods could not stop Kaido's attack, but his students were behind him. Finally, he grit his teeth and used a similar move, concentrating Armament Haki onto his right arm and sweeping it across his front. The two powerful shockwaves collided violently, as Zephyr attempted to nullify the force with equal power.
"Can this mad dog stop bothering me?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out. When Kaido turned towards the sound, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Looking again, he saw a black dog, long and snake-like but with the appearance of a dog, clamped onto his shoulder.
In the next moment, the dog ruthlessly swung upward, throwing Kaido high into the air. After being spun several times nearly twenty meters in the air, he was brutally slammed down right into the center of the ongoing shockwave. Even Diamond Jozu of the Whitebeard Pirates would likely not escape this without injury.
"Ugh... Mmmph..."
Kaido covered his head with one hand. That last attack had clearly hurt him. He looked forward, his eyes fierce. "Damn it, you finally came out, Alucard the Immortal."
"You've caused quite a mess this time, Mad Dog Kaido."
Alucard pulled out Jackal and Casull. "It won't be as simple as before."
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