CHAPTER 128

"???"

Three question marks practically floated above Carl's head like comic bubbles.

Kozuki Oden?!

Didn't that guy already boil alive in the oil pot over twenty years ago during Orochi and Kaido's purge of the Kozuki clan?

Also—what the hell is that in your hand?! That's a kanabō, not a sword!

And you're obviously not a man!

Wearing a sleeveless white yukata styled like Oden's, with a red hakama tied at the waist, the person's feet were clad in iron geta. More strikingly, a pair of crimson oni horns jutted from the head, wrapped in ceremonial ropes.

Carl's eye twitched. He had figured it out.

Yamato.

"My idiotic son," Kaido growled, the veins around his forehead twitching. "You dare turn your weapon against your father?!"

His pupils flared with scarlet rage, but Carl caught it—a flicker of hesitation. That earlier blow had rattled him, even if only a little.

"I'm upholding Oden's will!" Yamato stood tall. Her gray-touched white hair whipped in the wind, and from beneath the demonic Hannya mask, her gaze burned with unwavering resolve.

"…Really now." Kaido's voice was gravel grinding through fury. "Then I guess I'll beat it out of you myself!"

CRACK—!

As his anger erupted, a tide of Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) burst from Kaido like a thunderclap.

But Yamato didn't flinch. Her own Conqueror's erupted in response, and—

BOOM!!

It was as if two dragons clashed in the sky—blasting apart the clouds with their presence. Black lightning crackled, searing the space between them.

"So," Carl muttered, as the [Hell Path] flared in his right Rinnegan eye, shielding him from the pressure, "turns out everyone here does have Conqueror's…"

The Haoshoku collision sent waves of energy pulsing through the air. Carl's crimson eye locked on to Yamato, who suddenly turned toward him.

"You there!" Yamato called out. "Will you help me cut through Wanokuni's darkness?!"

"Uh…" Carl blinked. "Are you sure?"

He glanced toward Kaido, then back to Yamato. "That's your dad, isn't it?"

"I'm sure," Yamato said with firm conviction. "This land's been in darkness too long."

"As Kozuki Oden, I'll put an end to it!"

Despite the terrifying demon mask, Carl could feel her sincerity.

"…Alright then," he said dryly. "What a dutiful son you are. Let's give your 'dad' a beating together."

BOOM!

The moment the words left his mouth, Kaido lunged like a berserk dragon—his massive frame exploding toward Yamato.

THUD—!!

Two kanabō collided in midair, thunder ringing in the void.

Kaido's face contorted in anger, and Yamato gritted her teeth under the weight of the impact.

But—

"You forgot someone."

Carl's voice whispered into Kaido's ear like death itself.

SLASH!

A black-gold arc sliced across Kaido's torso—blasting scales and smoke into the air.

"Not bad!" Yamato's masked face turned to him with admiration. "I felt it earlier—both you and that blind swordsman are insanely strong!"

That's why she'd made up her mind.

Brave as she was, Yamato understood Kaido's monstrous strength. Alone, she couldn't win.

If not for the presence of Carl and the man called "Issho," she might've escaped Wanokuni with a permanent Vivre Card already.

"But we'll worry about that later," Carl said, stepping forward. His sword, Sakura Ten, gleamed with Haki.

SHING!

A wind slash cleaved the air.

"Yeah! Let's win this!" Yamato raised her kanabō high. "I am Kozuki Oden!"

"The man who endured boiling oil for an hour—and smiled!"

Lightning crackled around her as she rushed Kaido, swinging with ferocious power.

"Thunder Bagua!!"

The exact same technique as Kaido's—though lacking the same raw devastation.

Kaido stared silently as the blow neared. At the last second, his kanabō whipped around with crushing force.

BOOM!!

A second clash rang out—and Yamato was blasted backward.

SLAM!

Carl caught her midair with one hand, barely flinching.

"Yeah, maybe you sit this one out."

With the way her "Four Trigrams Thunder Bagua" was performing, if she kept brawling with Kaido like this, it was going to turn into a family-style abuse case.

Yamato was strong—no doubt.

But Kaido was Kaido. And matching him blow-for-blow was a whole different league.

It can only be said that your father… is still your father.

Yamato stared at Carl, her gaze flickering beneath the Hannya mask she wore. "Fine, I'll help you from the side."

"Well, just behave," Carl nodded with a satisfied smirk, tapping her shoulder as he raised the black-gold blade 'Sakura Ten'.

"Slash Wave: Change!"

A crescent-shaped slash of black and gold energy exploded from the ground beneath his feet, howling toward Kaido's massive form standing not far away.

"Up!"

A sonic boom followed. Carl's afterimage lingered for a moment, but his body had vanished—his movement speed eclipsed the range of naked-eye perception.

"So fast!" Yamato's pupils shrank. A flicker of awe danced in her eyes. "He really is a monster… just like my father."

But she didn't stay stunned for long.

"Right! I can't fall behind either!"

Crackling lightning surged around her kanabo. With a brief pause to gather strength, Yamato swung, releasing a powerful burst of 'Haō-shoku-infused' Conqueror's Haki shaped like a blade of willpower—an imitation of sword intent—hurtling toward Kaido.

Clang!

The clash of Carl and Kaido's weapons sent a deafening shockwave across the field.

The earth beneath their feet spiderwebbed and split open from the raw pressure.

Boom!

A concussive blast from Yamato's long-range strike smashed into Kaido's head—not damaging, but enough to tilt his massive skull to the side.

For a moment, silence.

Then a tremble rippled through Kaido's thick neck.

Carl's lip twitched. He nearly laughed out loud.

That strike didn't cause real harm—but it sure did humiliate.

Kaido's breath rasped heavily through his nostrils. Thunder crackled across his draconic frame. In the next second, he lunged forward, coated in full Advanced Armament Haki, swinging his colossal Hassaikai straight for Carl's face.

"I'm going—!" Carl cursed, swinging up Sakura Ten to parry.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Kaido descended like a merciless juggernaut. Each blow he rained down was an all-out attack, his weapon shrieking through the air like a falling meteor.

He was treating Carl like a training dummy.

"I…" Carl gritted his teeth, parrying while the ground beneath him crumbled under the sheer pressure.

Boom!

Suddenly, a heavy mace smashed into Kaido's back.

But Kaido remained unmoved.

He stood rooted like a mountain, his body encased in near-absolute defense—Awakened Mythical Zoan regeneration, Haki mastery, and a dragon's divine physique.

Even Yamato's charged-up strike couldn't pierce his scales.

Kaido simply chose to ignore her—because Carl was the true threat.

It wasn't just Carl's internal destruction Haki, but his ability to unleash mental shockwaves infused with killing intent—attacks that assaulted both body and will.

That was what Kaido feared.

As powerful as Yamato was, she had not yet reached their league. At best, she was around the strength of the Calamities—King, Queen, or Jack.

But Carl? Carl was dueling on equal footing with the apex predator of the New World.

And battles between the true monsters of the sea were never short.

However, Carl's skills and stamina were lethal in drawn-out fights.

Even if Kaido had abnormal regeneration, the physical toll would accumulate.

And in a clash of titans like this, exhaustion often decided the victor.

"You brat… If you think you can kill me—go ahead and try! Gwa-ha-ha-ha!"

Kaido's maniacal laughter boomed through the sky.

He paid Yamato no mind—his crushing blows continued raining down on Carl.

"Thunder Bagua!"

"Lion: Thousand Slice Valley: Change!"

Their attacks collided again. The airspace itself cracked like shattered glass from the burst of force.

Neither combatant backed down.

They rushed in once more, exchanging slashes with pure, explosive violence.

Boom!

The resulting impact blasted a shockwave in all directions, sweeping the entire battlefield.

Yamato stumbled back from the intensity—she was like a lone sailboat caught in a typhoon.

"This… this is a battle of the top-tier monsters!" Her heart pounded.

She watched with wide eyes. In this moment, Carl and Kaido looked more like deities of war than human beings.

The Flower Capital trembled.

Buildings shook, windows shattered, and tiles cracked as the power clashed overhead.

Even Fujitora (Issho), King the Wildfire, and other top fighters on the outskirts instinctively backed away.

Far in the distance, Kozuki Hiyori, hiding with Denjiro, clutched the wooden railing of the teahouse balcony.

If not for Denjiro shielding her with his body, she would've been blown away by the aftershock.

This was no ordinary battle.

This was a war between gods—a clash so devastating it could reshape the world itself.

And even as Kaido and Carl went blow-for-blow—

Yamato stepped back into the fray.

Only this time, Carl's eyes widened in surprise.

The lightning around her mace had changed.

It wasn't just raw power—it was radiating with Conqueror's Haki, wrapping the weapon in an invisible black lightning.

Carl's pupils shrank slightly.

"She's using… Conqueror's entanglement?!"

Boom!

"Thunder Bagua!"

Yamato's voice rang with determination.

Her kanabo surged forward—and though it hadn't yet connected—

Kaido's massive body felt the pressure coming.

The moment of impact was inevitable.

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