Wanokuni — The Ruins of Onigashima
The uproar of the Beasts Pirates had fallen into stunned silence.
Everyone had believed that the strongest captain of their family would easily crush the intruders.
A mere Fairy Tail guild should have been no more than a minor inconvenience.
Yet no one expected this outcome.
The battle had barely begun, but the momentary clash already painted the whole picture.
The power of the so-called Fifth Emperor might truly rival that of their own captain.
For the survivors of the Beasts Pirates, this realization struck like another hammer blow.
At this moment, none understood the terror of Sugisawa Yuuto's thunder and flame more deeply than Kaido himself.
The massive blue dragon lifted his gaze toward the shattered heavens—
and for the first time, a cold bead of sweat traced down the forehead of one of the Four Emperors.
As a dragon, he had lost the duel.
Worse yet—he had been countered even while holding the upper hand.
But what made Kaido's scales crawl wasn't the defeat itself; it was what he'd seen in that fleeting glimpse of the future.
If he hadn't dodged when he did...
"Tch. As the rumors say, this kid's ability is strange."
Kaido's eyes—cold and ruthless—locked onto Yuuto with newfound gravity.
"What's the matter, Kaido?" Yuuto asked, his tone calm, his expression unreadable.
"You dodged early. Are you afraid?"
"Hmph! Don't get cocky, brat. The real battle's only beginning!"
A fierce light flashed through Kaido's draconic eyes.
"Bad Wind!!!"
He roared, unleashing a storm of compressed air blades from his mouth.
Each blade could easily tear through stone and earth alike.
Yuuto didn't move.
He stood still, letting the hurricane of slashing wind crash against his body.
The gusts that could rend the ground apart didn't so much as draw a scratch.
He hadn't even stepped back.
This was the body of the Dragon King.
With the Dragon King's power awakened, Yuuto's physique had already surpassed human limits—
his very being was transforming, evolving... becoming something far beyond man or beast.
"Nani!?" Kaido's pupils contracted.
"That strength... is this some kind of Zoan—an ancient or mythical beast fruit!?"
Then he snarled.
"So what if it is? I'm still the strongest creature on sea, land, or air!"
With a thunderous roar, Kaido coiled his immense body and soared into the sky.
The world itself seemed to tremble.
Several tornadoes spun into existence around the dragon's form,
as if he were the living embodiment of a natural disaster descending upon the earth.
"Ooooooh!"
"As expected of Kaido-sama!"
"The strongest creature alive!"
"Tremble before Captain Kaido's might!"
The surviving Beasts Pirates shouted with renewed hope.
But their joy lasted only a heartbeat.
BOOM! BOOM!
The ground trembled violently.
All of Onigashima quaked with every step Yuuto took.
Each footfall left a crater in the earth—
and within moments, Yuuto's body began to grow.
Step by step, he became a towering giant.
And with a single wave of his massive hand,
the tornadoes swirling around Kaido were scattered like mist.
"Wha—what the hell is that thing!?"
"A giant!? No—a super giant!"
"That's not human!"
"Even the ancient giants weren't that massive!"
The pirates' fleeting confidence shattered once more.
"Thunder, flames... and now this giant form! Could it be true? Does this man really defy the laws of Devil Fruits—and wield multiple powers!?"
Even Enma Jin, the masked second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates, could no longer remain composed.
Shock and disbelief twisted across his face.
Then—
Whoosh!
A blade of wind split the air.
The "Calamity of Flames," King, instinctively turned his head—
barely dodging the magic sword that shot past him.
"Fairy Queen Erza!" King's expression hardened.
"The greetings are over," Erza said coolly. "Let's not waste time."
"As you wish!"
Their battle erupted in fire and steel.
Meanwhile, at the center of the island—
the giant Yuuto and the azure dragon Kaido clashed once again.
Kaido hesitated for only a moment, startled by Yuuto's colossal size.
But Yuuto showed no such restraint.
A colossal fist wrapped in lightning and flame smashed straight into Kaido's skull,
burying the dragon's head into the ground with a deafening crack.
The shockwave rattled the island; Kaido's vision rang with thunder.
Then, to the horror of every Beast Pirate watching,
Yuuto grabbed Kaido by the neck with one hand—
and by the tail with the other.
"Fifth Gear? Nah... Giant Yuuto Jump Rope!!!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The island quaked as the mighty Emperor of the Sea was swung up and down like a toy.
"Ah—what the...!?"
"He's using Kaido as a skipping rope!?"
Sabo's jaw dropped.
"Father... that dragon-headed dad just got turned into a jump rope!?" Yamato gaped.
"As expected of Fairy Tail..." Ace murmured in awe.
"Uooh~ Master Yuuto!"
"That so-called 'strongest creature' is nothing before our guild leader!"
"Eighteen! Nineteen! Twenty!"
The Fairy Tail members cheered in disbelief and joy.
"ENOUGH!!!"
Kaido's enraged bellow split the sky.
To be humiliated like this—used as a skipping rope—was the greatest insult of his life.
He opened his jaws wide—
"Heat Breath!!!"
A torrent of blazing energy erupted from his mouth,
striking Yuuto square in the chest and forcing the giant back a single step.
Kaido seized the chance—
his tail whipped violently, tearing himself free from Yuuto's grip.
Man and dragon faced each other from across the shattered battlefield.
The air trembled between them.
And then—
In the blink of an eye, both of their forms began to shrink.
The towering giant and the azure dragon returned to their original human shapes.
Kaido grinned, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Heh... finally sober, are we? Then let's get serious."
Yuuto smirked back.
"Then as you wish."
Both vanished at once—
"Thunder—Raging Strike!"
"Flame—Dragon—Iron Fist!!!"
Their voices roared as the next clash shattered the heavens above Onigashima.