Chapter 189

Kaido and Ken rushed towards each other, and they both swung their weapons at each others' left side. The moment they hit each other, powerful shockwaves appeared around them, which sent everyone who was unconscious and conscious flying, but before they could fly far away, all of them disappeared into a shadow portal. Kaido however, didn't seem to care and only focused on Ken. Both of them jumped back without a visible injury.

'Tsk. My attack was just as strong as the one that gave him the scar, but now he tanked it without a visible injury. He has truly become a monster now. But luckily for me, he isn't the only one that has become stronger,' thought Ken as a smirk appeared on his face.

He ran towards Kaido and jumped into the air. He swung his sword with both hands at Kaido's head, who quickly swung his club at the incoming attack. Their weapons collided, creating sparks of Haoshoku Haki. But even though Ken was in the air, he didn't have a disadvantage since he was using Geppo to put more force behind his blade and try to push Kaido back.

Kaido suddenly used his left hand to hit Ken with an uppercut, which sent him flying into the air. The giant Kaido immediately jumped after him. He put his club over his head, which was covered with Haoshoku Haki, and swung it down, hitting Ken before he could put his guard up and sent him flying towards the ground.

But Ken used Geppo to slow his fall and gently landed on the ground. He pointed his palm at Kaido, who is falling back down.

"Advanced Busoshoku Haki: Emission!"

A blue light beam left Ken's palm and hit Kaido in his chest, sending him flying into a mountain. Kaido tried to stand up, but he received a punch in the chest before he could stand up. Ken hit him on the chest at least a hundred times in a second before Kaido suddenly grabbed both of his wrists and slammed him against the mountain.

Ken tried to get loose from his grip, but it was no use. Kaido slammed him into the ground and jumped on top of him, sending Ken deeper into the ground and creating a giant crater. Kaido was standing over Ken and was about to punch him in the face when he suddenly received a kick to his leg, which made him lose balance and almost fall over. Ken quickly jumped back, creating distance between the two.

Ken swung his sword towards Kaido, sending a giant azure sword slash that cut the ground like it was tofu. Kaido pointed his palm at the oncoming slash. The slash collided with his palm, but instead of going through, it shattered. Ken however, had already anticipated this as he had sent 10 more swords slashed towards Kaido. However, no matter how many he sent, Kaido easily blocked all of them.

Ken sheathed Shusui in its sheath and rushed towards Kaido. Kaido tried to punch Ken with his right fist, but he redirected the punch to his left, leaving Kaido's right area exposed. Ken's fists which were already hardened with Haki, got surrounded by an azure glow. Ken punched Kaido's right rib. Looking at Kaido's pained expression, it definitely hurt. Ken tried to punch him again, but Kaido blocked the attack with his right hand.

He grasped onto Ken's fist, making him unable to get away. Kaido punched out with his left hand, only to be met by a kick from Ken which sent his fist into the air, this time leaving his left side exposed. However, Kaido's left hand was back in an instant to protect his left side before Ken had the chance to attack. And Ken's left fist was still being grasped by Kaido, which left him with only a few ways to attack.

"Don't tell me that this all you got! I was expecting a legendary fight, but if this is all you can do, I might as well kill you right now!" screamed Kaido.

"Shut up; your breath stinks. You're talking as if you have the upper hand or something. Except for some dust, you didn't manage to even put a scratch on me. You have no right to talk about me not meeting your expectations if you can't even hurt me." Ken managed to free his left hand from Kaido, and he immediately appeared above Kaido.

"Casual Kick: Skull Splitter."

Ken kicked Kaido's head with his heel. The impact was so strong that it created a crater and almost made Kaido kneel down. Ken spun around and kicked the back of Kaido's head, which sent him into the ground head first. Ken landed on the back of his head. Kaido is currently in his hybrid form, which gives him six horns. Ken held onto the middle two horns of Kaido.

"You probably really treasure these horns of yours. It would be a shame if someone would take them out."

Kaido immediately pushed himself off the ground and smashed the back of his head onto the ground. But Ken didn't let go of the horns and started pulling on them as hard as he could.

"YOU BASTARD! DON'T YOU DARE! ARGH!"

Kaido had a pained expression as Ken put all of his power behind trying to pull off his horns. Kaido smashed his head on the ground repeatedly, trying to get Ken off of him, but Ken wasn't letting go. He also tried to use Haoshoku Haki, but Ken resisted. And he also couldn't use his hands since Ken kicked them away.

"AAAHHH!" Kaido screamed out in pain as Ken pulled out two of his horns. Blood started spurting out of his head.

"Oops, my bad, I didn't think they would actually come off. Here, you can have them back." Ken turned the horns around so that the pointy part was facing down and stabbed them back into his head. "As good as new."

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Kaido screamed even louder this time. Ken was about to go for the other horns, but Kaido finally managed to grab Ken off his head before he could grab the others. "You will pay!" Kaido started squeezing Ken with both hands, which started to hurt Ken. His head started turning red as all the air in his body was being squeezed out. He was trying to get out of Kaido's hand but to no avail. His head started slowly going from red to blue to purple.

However, Kaido's hand started slowly being forced back by an invisible force, which gave Ken the chance to breathe again.

"Haoshoku Haki: Expulsion!"

Kaido's hands got blown away, and Ken immediately jumped back.

"Huff, huff, huff, huff. Damn, that was kinda dangerous. You really almost squeezed the life out of me."

"Worororo!" Kaido suddenly burst out in laughter.

"What are you laughing about? Just a second ago, your anger could be felt from the other side of the planet."

"This is more like it! I have waited years for a fight like this, but no one could do it, until today. Azure Ken! Don't you dare hold back anymore! Grab your sword, and let's get serious! I can't wait to kill you!"

"Sigh, crazy and straightforward people like you really are such a handful. But I guess it's better than calm and collected scheming people. Not like anyone can stay calm after they stand in front of me but whatever. Putting Shusui away to tear off your horns was just because I was curious if I could do it. But I guess this isn't the time to satisfy my curiosity."

Ken unsheathed Shisui and hardened it with Haki.

"Ultimate technique…"

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(That's not really a hero thing to do, Ken. You might need to visit a Psychiatrist.)

Quotes:

"Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about."

- Marilyn Monroe

"Smiling is definitely one of the best beauty remedies. If you have a good sense of humor and a good approach to life, that's beautiful."

- Rashida Jones

"A smile is a facelift that's in everyone's price range!"

- Tom Wilson

"When I saw you I fell in love and you smiled because you knew."

- William Shakespeare

"Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart."

- Anthony J. D'Angelo