Chapter 25: Kaidos invincible defense

Countless eyes were fixed on the house where Mihawk had crashed.

Amidst the dust, it was just a collapsed structure.

It couldn't have killed Mihawk, right?

It couldn't have... could it?

But no one could be sure.

Kaido's strike had been so fast, no one had seen it clearly.

Yet, it had been powerful enough to knock Mihawk out, leaving him unable to resist.

The power behind that blow must have been tremendous. It wasn't impossible that Mihawk had been killed outright.

"Gulu——"

Many people gulped, staring at the collapsed house.

Marineford fell into silence.

Everyone waited to see if Mihawk would emerge or show any signs of life.

Even Kaido kept his eyes on the ruins.

Suddenly—

"Hm?"

Kaido's Observation Haki kicked in.

He sensed Mihawk rising, unleashing an immensely terrifying sword technique.

Having foreseen this with his Haki, Kaido instantly coated his body with Armament Haki.

In the next second, whoosh—the dust cloud in the wreckage vanished, as if swept away by a strong wind.

In a blink, the dust was gone.

And there stood Mihawk, revealed before everyone.

His clothes were in shreds. His hat had fallen off.

He had endured Kaido's full strike.

Clearly, Mihawk wasn't in good shape.

At that moment, without saying anything extra, Mihawk gripped the black blade, Yoru, tightly and swung it with force.

His voice, calm yet carrying a hint of cold indifference, rang out:

"Sanzu River."

As Mihawk's words echoed, this time, unlike his usual techniques, the damage didn't come from the blade's direction.

In his previous techniques, the damage had been directional, or the sword energy had been visible.

But this move, "Sanzu River," was different.

When Mihawk swung his sword, the first noticeable change was the area it affected—a radius of several hundred meters, encompassing an enormous expanse.

Boom!!!

Flames erupted from the ground instantly.

At the same time, the sky within the area darkened, turning red as thick clouds formed, raining down flames.

This was the Fire Road of the Sanzu River.

Mihawk's ultimate move.

Even during his battles with Red-Haired Shanks, Mihawk had never resorted to this technique.

Because the side effects were too severe.

Without the power of a Devil Fruit, who could unleash such a hell of flames with a single slash? It was clear Mihawk had paid a significant price for this move—likely a steep one.

But its power was undeniable.

As the flames roared to life, the unfortunate elite marines caught within the inferno were killed instantly.

Mihawk, however, didn't care about them. As long as he could injure Kaido, nothing else mattered.

The marines screamed, scrambling to escape.

"Fall back!!! Keep retreating!!! Stay away from Mihawk and Kaido!!! Their battle zone is growing wider and wider!!!"

"Is this swordsmanship? What kind of swordsmanship can create a hell of fire like this?"

"Aaahhh!"

"A fight on this level... just watching it once will injure you. Watch any longer, and you might explode."

"This technique... Mihawk alone could wipe out tens of thousands of pirates. What are we even doing here?"

"One hundred thousand elite marines are just here as cannon fodder."

"Run, run!"

The marines fled.

But only those outside the range of Mihawk's attack could escape.

Those trapped inside...

None survived.

Not even the brigadiers or rear admirals of Marine Headquarters could escape.

On the battlefield, Kaido didn't want to face this head-on.

So he retreated, stepping out of the attack's range.

With his strength, it was easy for him to retreat.

However, Mihawk's hellfire wasn't stationary.

It followed Kaido's movements.

Where Kaido went, the inferno followed, keeping him within its reach.

"Seems I'll have to endure this."

Kaido's expression remained calm.

It wasn't that he couldn't avoid it.

He could easily escape by transforming into his hybrid or full dragon form, or even counter it with his Heat Breath and see whose flames were more hellish.

But Kaido didn't.

He wanted to test his defense.

Kaido already had king-level defense.

His abilities had since been enhanced to a second level of king-level defense.

Along with his immense vitality.

He wanted to see if he could withstand Mihawk's full power.

At that moment, Kaido stood within the hellfire, letting the flames engulf him.

But—

It was pointless.

To Kaido, it felt like a normal person blowing hot air onto their hands in winter. The heat was nearly insignificant.

In fact, it was somewhat comforting.

"Seems my defense is too high."

Kaido mused, "The other marine officers melted almost instantly before these flames. Mihawk's strength is real, no doubt about that, and I can't underestimate him."

But this sight crushed the marines' hopes.

What kind of monster was Kaido?

These terrifying flames... and to him, they were like taking a warm bath. He wasn't suffering—he seemed to be using this as an opportunity to clean himself!

Many marines' legs gave way beneath them.

Their fear of Kaido grew boundless.

This guy wasn't human at all.

He was a pure monster.

The world's strongest creature, without question.

And Mihawk.

His eyes narrowed.

Not afraid of flames?

With a sudden motion, Mihawk swung his sword again.

Within the inferno, all the flames converged at that moment, merging into a colossal flame dragon, several hundred meters long, now coiling in the sky.

The flame dragon let out a silent roar at the heavens before diving straight down toward Kaido.

Kaido, wielding his kanabo, the Eight Precepts, now wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, met the flame dragon head-on.

In an instant, the two forces collided.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then a deafening roar erupted.

The flame dragon shattered, scattering into countless fiery fragments that rained down in all directions.

This caused further harm to the marines and pirates below.

Many looked up, helpless, at the falling firestorm.

Unfortunately, they couldn't escape, and those struck were incinerated upon contact.

Even a seasoned vice admiral barely managed to escape the aftermath with only minor injuries.

Though not fatal, the impact was unmistakable.

The vice admiral looked toward the battlefield in disbelief.

If just the aftermath could wound him...

What kind of monsters were these two?

The gap between a vice admiral and an admiral—or one of the Four Emperors—was enormous.

"Kaido…"

Mihawk's eyes widened as he watched the flame dragon disintegrate.

That had been his strongest attack.

And yet, it seemed futile against Kaido.

"Hah!"

With another swing, Mihawk unleashed the next path of the Sanzu River—this time, the Blood Path.

The original hell of flames transformed into a sea of blood, and anything touched by this blood would be corroded instantly.

This attack inflicted even greater harm than the previous flames.

Entering this sea of blood was like plunging into a cauldron of boiling oil.

However—

Kaido stood calmly amidst the highly corrosive blood, as though enjoying a hot spring.

Nothing happened to him.

Eventually, the sea of blood dissipated.

The splattering blood corroded countless marines and pirates, snuffing out their lives.

Even those who had tried to flee were not spared; the reach of the attack was too vast.

The battlefield was filled with screams.

Yet Mihawk pressed on.

Once more, he swung his sword—the Sword Path of the Sanzu River.

Each strike was more powerful than the last, with countless blades slicing toward Kaido. This combined force was far greater than both the flames and the blood sea.

Still, it was useless.

Not even a scratch appeared on Kaido's skin.

Finally, with a low, frustrated roar, Mihawk poured everything into one final strike.

His black blade, Yoru, became wreathed in flames, blood, and blades—all the power concentrated into one ultimate swing.

"Kaido!!!"

Mihawk had lost his composure. Screaming Kaido's name, he threw everything into this final blow, hoping to decide the battle once and for all.

Seeing this, Kaido responded by leaping into the air.

"Falling Third, Induce Naraku!"

Kaido spun his iron kanabo, infused with Conqueror's Haki, and brought it crashing down to meet Mihawk's strongest attack.

In the next second, the two collided with a thunderous impact.