On the walls of the Flower Capital, Orochi stood amidst trembling civilians, a ferocious grin on his face.
His voice, amplified, echoed across the entire battlefield. "Chiaki Setsuna! Take one more step forward, and these lowly commoners will fall from the walls one by one!"
He triumphantly grabbed a child by the collar, dangling him over the wall's edge. "See? Like this! Gufufufu~"
On the battlefield below the walls, Setsuna watched his performance with a look of utter speechlessness. "This fool... thinks I'm an idiot like Kozuki Oden?"
Seeing Setsuna 'remain silent', Orochi grew even more excited, waving his arms and shouting. "If you want these people to live, strip naked and dance before everyone!"
"He's truly dancing on a knife," Setsuna's voice was calm yet filled with authority. "All forces, advance."
The moment the order was given, Orochi's grin froze on his face. He couldn't believe his ears. "Wh-what?"
The next second, earth-shattering battle cries pierced the sky.
The warriors under Setsuna's command surged towards the city walls like a tide, completely ignoring the threat to the hostages.
Orochi panicked, screaming, "Wait! You don't have to strip and dance! Just leave now, and I'll spare these commoners..."
Before he could finish, Ace had already blasted a gap in the wall with a scorching wave of fire.
Orochi's army was routed. Soldiers threw down their weapons and armor, scattering in all directions.
"How can this be?" Orochi slumped to the ground, his face ashen. "They really don't care about these commoners' lives..."
A flash of madness appeared in his eyes. He shrieked, "Push all these commoners down!"
Just as his subordinates raised their blades, a clear shout came from the wall. "Kawamatsu! Go save them!"
A samurai with a blue topknot swiftly moved. Blades flashed, and several guard soldiers fell, clutching their throats.
"Kyoshiro! You dare betray me..." Orochi glared at the newcomer, then suddenly realized. "Wait... Kawamatsu? You're one of Kozuki Oden's men?"
"Kurozumi Orochi, your doom has come!" A magnificently dressed woman appeared beside Kawamatsu.
"Komurasaki!" Orochi stared in disbelief.
"Not Komurasaki. It's Hiyori-sama!" Kawamatsu said respectfully.
"You're Kozuki Hiyori? Kozuki Oden's daughter?" Orochi felt a chill. He had searched for Kozuki remnants for so many years, and the enemy had been hiding right under his nose all along.
"You have reaped what you sowed with your tyranny!" Hiyori declared.
At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened.
A massive dark cloud drifted swiftly from the horizon, accompanied by deafening thunder.
"It's Kaido-sama! Kaido-sama has come to save me!" Orochi instantly puffed up with arrogance, glaring viciously at Kawamatsu and Hiyori. "Once Kaido-sama defeats the enemy, I'll kill you all!"
Seeing Kaido's enormous Azure Dragon form, intense hatred and fear filled Hiyori's eyes. "Kawamatsu, can that samurai named Chiaki Setsuna really defeat Kaido?"
"He must!" Kawamatsu's tone was firm, bolstering Hiyori's spirit while seemingly encouraging himself. "I heard that lord is far younger than Kaido. The future doesn't stand with Kaido!"
A blue dragon crashed onto the ground, raising clouds of dust.
Kaido's hybrid form radiated a terrifying pressure, silencing the entire battlefield.
"Setsuna brat," Kaido's voice rumbled like thunder. "You dare..."
Before his words finished, Setsuna's figure had already appeared before Kaido.
Golden Ki flames burned around his body. His right fist, carrying destructive power, blasted towards Kaido's abdomen.
Boom!
Kaido's massive frame was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing through half the city wall.
As the dust settled, Kaido struggled to get up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Impossible! You weren't this strong a few days ago!"
Setsuna slowly retracted his fist, smiling lightly. "Of course, because I broke through again."
"Bastard!" Kaido roared. His muscles bulged, pitch-black Conqueror's Haki wrapping around his kanabo like a tangible substance. "Don't think you're the only one growing stronger!"
However, the ensuing battle was a one-sided crushing defeat.
Kaido swung his kanabo, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki. Each strike could easily destroy a small hill, yet he couldn't even touch the hem of Setsuna's clothes.
Setsuna's counterattacks, however, always struck Kaido's vital points from the most tricky angles. Each punch made the [Strongest Creature] cough up mouthfuls of blood.
The Beasts Pirates watched in horror. Their invincible captain was being toyed with like a child by the enemy.
"So strong!" Hiyori stared blankly. In her memory, her incredibly powerful father was killed by Kaido. And now, Kaido was being defeated by an even stronger opponent.
"The outside world is truly vast. No wonder Oden-sama always wanted to open the borders!" Kawamatsu was equally stunned. The powerful martial prowess Wano prided itself on seemed utterly useless before these foreign powerhouses.
"Hurry! Support Kaido!" Ochoku shouted.
He and the three Disasters of Kaido's crew charged towards the battlefield, while warily keeping an eye on Setsuna's subordinates.
Yet Zephyr and the others merely watched with folded arms, showing no intention of intervening.
"Don't get in the way," Setsuna didn't even look back, casually waving a hand. A wave of golden Ki energy swept out.
The three Disasters and Ochoku had no time to react before being blasted away, crashing heavily into distant ruins.
"Damn it! What terrifying power is this?!" Ochoku's eyes were filled with horror. Even Rocks from back in the day couldn't have possessed such dominance.
Kaido's pupils contracted sharply. An unprecedented sense of crisis engulfed him.
He had never imagined being pushed to the brink in a head-on battle.
"Conquered Three Worlds, Attracting Hell!"
The enormous kanabo, carrying destructive power, smashed down. The air was compressed, creating terrifying sonic booms. The ground cracked and crumbled under the pressure.
Mysterious patterns appeared on Setsuna's face as he entered Sage Mode. He merely raised a single hand, catching the heavy blow steadily.
"This war... is over," Setsuna's voice was frighteningly calm.
His right hand firmly grasped Kaido's kanabo. His left fist, wrapped in black-and-red intertwined Haki, blasted fiercely into Kaido's abdomen.
The terrifying force pierced directly through Kaido's body. A visible shockwave even exploded from his back.
Kaido's eyes instantly rolled back. A fountain of blood gushed from his mouth.
His legs could no longer support his weight. He crashed heavily to his knees, then fell unconscious.
The entire battlefield fell silent. The Beasts Pirates were ashen-faced, unable to believe the scene before them… their captain, Kaido, known as the World's Strongest Creature, had been defeated just like that!
Despair filled Orochi's eyes. He realized that Setsuna definitely wasn't from the Kozuki Family. He could have simply changed masters, but now he had thoroughly offended the man.
"Damn that Fukurokuju! That fool misled me!" Orochi, enraged, spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.
In the distant ruins, CP0's Stussy lowered her telescope, sighing softly. "The era of the Four Emperors has ended..."
Gazing at that invincible figure in the center of the battlefield, she murmured, "The era to come... is named Chiaki Setsuna!"