In the prison mines of Udon, Queen was in the middle of inspecting a new batch of labor weapons when the sky split.
The laughter from Onigashima reached even this far, rolling like a storm over the land. When he stepped outside and looked toward the distant island, sweat began forming on his forehead despite the heat of the furnaces around him.
"Don't tell me…" he muttered, adjusting his glasses as the heavens cracked open again.
Just then, a subordinate came screaming down the wooden walkway, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Lord Queen! Lord King has sent a message to immediately return to Onigashima! It's urgent!"
Queen wiped his sweat with the back of his hand, though more replaced it instantly. "Urgent? The sky splitting isn't urgent enough for you idiots?!"
He turned and began running with surprising speed for his size. "What are you looking at, you bastards?! Go and prepare the ship for Onigashima! Now!"
The Beast Pirates scrambled in panic.
By the time Queen was nearing the dock, the distant silhouettes became clear. A massive azure dragon twisted through the torn heavens, and opposite it stood a towering Golden Great Ape, glowing against the clouds like a living sun.
Queen's legs nearly gave out.
"Th-that's not a hallucination, right?" he whispered.
He recovered immediately, rage masking fear. "What are you waiting for?! Move the damn ship to Onigashima, you bastards! Once those monsters start fighting seriously, the sea will tremble! Move at full speed!"
Cannons were secured. Sails unfurled. The ship cut through the waters toward inevitable chaos.
Above Onigashima's rooftop, Yamato was preparing to launch herself into the sky when her Observation Haki flickered violently.
A blade of compressed air sliced past where her neck had been a fraction of a second earlier.
She twisted mid-air and landed in a crouch.
King stood ahead of her, black wings spread wide, sword lowered but ready. Behind him arrived Who's Who and Jack, both bruised from the earlier Conqueror's storm but fully conscious.
King spoke calmly. "Young Master, go back. Kaido-sama will never lose."
They surrounded her without hesitation.
From the sky above, Ren's massive golden form noticed instantly. Even while trading continent-shaking blows with Kaido, his perception did not waver.
A tiny fragment of golden fur separated from his arm.
It shrank.
It condensed.
A bug-sized clone streaked downward toward Yamato at high speed.
Yamato was about to launch a Conqueror's infusion strike when she sensed a familiar presence approaching. She hesitated for half a second.
The tiny Ren clone landed lightly on her shoulder and crossed its miniature arms. "No Conqueror's infusion. Only Armament and Observation."
She blinked. "What?"
"I will tell you about Future Sight and Internal Destruction," the clone continued calmly. "Try to learn in this battle."
King didn't wait for her confusion to settle.
He attacked.
Yamato blocked with her kanabo, sparks flying as Armament clashed against Armament. Jack charged from the side while Who's Who lunged low, claws extended.
She dodged backward, barely avoiding being boxed in.
"Don't worry about the main body," the clone added near her ear. "That fight won't be ending soon. You can take your time. I will help you refine your Haki. Just trust me."
She grit her teeth.
"And it's best for us that you are receiving constant energy through the link," the clone continued. "It will speed up your Haki and physique growth."
She felt it now—subtle but undeniable. A steady current flowing through her body, strengthening her core, sharpening her mind.
"Look," the clone pointed upward, "he is also refining his Haki and Devil Fruit using Kaido."
Yamato glanced at the sky.
The Golden Great Ape and Dragon collided again, black lightning cracking across miles of cloud cover. Even Kaido was being forced to evolve mid-fight.
Yamato laughed suddenly.
"Fine. You win."
She launched forward in human form.
King moved first, sword coated in flames. "You're making a mistake."
Yamato blocked, sliding backward across broken tiles. Jack's trunk slammed down, shattering the rooftop. Who's Who darted in from behind, Rokushiki speed slicing toward her ribs.
"Observation first," the clone instructed. "Don't react to motion. React to intent."
She closed her eyes for a fraction of a second.
The world slowed.
She sensed hostility before movement. She twisted, letting Who's Who's claws graze only air.
"Good," the clone murmured. "Now listen carefully. Future Sight is not about seeing images. It is about sensing inevitability."
King's blade came down again, faster than before.
Yamato coated her kanabo in Armament and met him head-on. The impact forced King to take a step back.
Even he felt it.
Her Haki was stabilizing.
Below them, the island trembled from the sky battle. Above them, Kaido and Ren tore at each other like primordial gods.
Yamato knew using Conqueror's infusion against three top commanders would drain her too fast. Other than King, none of them could defeat her alone—but together, they were relentless.
Even King would need to go all out.
So they attacked together.
The rooftop battle had begun in earnest.
—
In the Flower Capital, inside the Shogun Castle, Orochi trembled violently.
The sight of the Dragon and Golden Great Ape clashing had sent waves of terror through his bones. Even within thick walls and guarded halls, he felt like prey in a forest fire.
He had called all samurai and ninjas loyal to him into the castle. Guards lined every corridor, every gate, every balcony.
Yet he still felt fear.
Toki's prophecy rang in his mind like Death's whisper.
Twenty years.
The moonlit night.
The fall of the tyrant.
Just then, the castle gates were cut open by a flying slash.
Denjiro and Ashura Doji stood at the entrance, blades still humming with power. Behind them followed Kozuki loyal samurai, charging toward the inner courtyard with war cries that echoed through the capital.
Between them stood a young girl of thirteen or fourteen.
When Orochi saw her, he saw Toki's shadow behind her.
He screamed and fell backward.
His body was soaked in sweat. His breathing turned ragged and uneven as memory and prophecy fused into hallucination.
Toki's prophecy echoed through his ears.
Again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.
Until he screamed and began destroying everything inside the room.
He smashed tables. He overturned chairs. He flung scrolls and shattered porcelain as rage and fear blended into madness.
Outside, steel clashed against steel.
The loyal samurai had already entered the castle. Ninjas and Orochi's forces engaged them in brutal combat across corridors and gardens.
Orochi was trapped.
He could only wait and hope his men would kill them before they reached him.
—
Near the coast of Onigashima, Morgans was certain he could die from excitement.
"Kaahahhahahhahahha!"
His camera clicked nonstop as he captured Ren and Kaido fighting in the sky. Every collision was headline material.
Then he zoomed toward the rooftop.
"And what's this?!"
A girl with Oni horns was fighting King, Jack, and Who's Who alone. She moved with ferocity and growing precision, black lightning occasionally sparking from her weapon.
"She's definitely on Ren's side," Morgans muttered. "But she has Oni horns… so she must be Kaido's daughter."
His grin stretched unnaturally wide.
"Kahahahhahahaha! Kaido's daughter fighting Beast Pirates' top combatants for Ren?!" He flapped his wings in manic delight. "Kaido vs Ren—a battle for love?! Or Ren and Kaido's daughter fighting the Beast Pirates to be together?! Kahahahhah!"
He paused.
The wind shifted.
For some reason, every time he imagined printing those headlines, his reporter's instinct screamed at him like a warning bell.
It wasn't logic.
It was survival.
He trusted that sense more than any information network in the world.
"Hmm," he muttered, adjusting his glasses. "Maybe… I'll keep that angle subtle."
His camera snapped another picture as the Golden Great Ape slammed Kaido's dragon form into the clouds.
Below, Yamato narrowly avoided King's flaming dive.
Three battlefields burned simultaneously.
Sky.
Rooftop.
Capital.
And this was still only the beginning.