CHAPTER 129

If the mastery stages of Armament Haki include: hardening, external emission, and internal destruction,

Then Conqueror's Haki can be broken into three definitive levels: intimidation, coercive suppression, and advanced infusion (entanglement).

Conqueror's Haki is a rare and innate trait—only one in several million possess it.

But to elevate this innate Haki to the point of coating attacks—Haoshoku Imbuement, a feat only achieved by legends like Roger, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Luffy—it demands monstrous will and understanding.

So even in the New World, where Conqueror's users like Doflamingo, Big Mom, and Shanks exist, very few truly wield it in its ultimate form.

In canon, Yamato fought evenly with Kaido at Onigashima only because she awakened Conqueror's infusion, allowing her to clash with him blow for blow without physical contact.

BOOM!

A shockwave blasted outward as Yamato's kanabo, coated in Haoshoku, struck Kaido with terrifying might.

The massive dragon-man was hurled several meters, crashing into the rocky plaza and forming a crater.

Carl smirked faintly.

He originally assumed Yamato was just a cosplayer—riding on the name Kozuki Oden for pride.

He hadn't expected her to deal real damage to Kaido.

"I'm Kozuki Oden!" Yamato called cheerfully beneath her Hannya mask, confidence blazing in her eyes.

"If I couldn't manage at least this much, how could I ever live up to his name?!"

Carl gave a nod of approval, though inwardly he dismissed the theatrics.

She could cosplay all she wanted—as long as she could hold her own.

His focus turned fully toward Kaido, who now stirred within the crater, pushing himself back to his feet with a pained growl.

Zheng!

The sword at Carl's hip—Sakura Ten—slid back into its sheath with a chime.

Around him, the atmosphere suddenly shifted. A suffocating pressure radiated outward.

Physical stamina surged through him, burning like wildfire.

His pupils glowed crimson with killing intent.

"Extreme Sword Intent."

Bass! Bass! Bass! Bass! Bass!

Five spectral swords materialized around him—each forged from pure killing intent and spiritual focus.

Short blades. Twin sabers. A massive greatsword. A jagged executioner's blade. And one blunt, unsharpened behemoth.

The condensed sword aura was so heavy, the air itself trembled.

Kaido's eyes narrowed as he recognized the feeling.

"…You… That technique… reminds me of that man."

Carl's aura overlapped with Kozuki Oden's from two decades ago.

Kaido's instincts screamed again—a true mortal threat.

It was a feeling he hadn't tasted since the day Oden nearly killed him.

Yamato inhaled sharply. Her grip tightened on her kanabo, and her breath caught under the porcelain mask.

"This… What kind of swordsmanship is this…?"

As someone who idolized Oden and studied his every move, Yamato prided herself on her kendo insight.

Yet what she witnessed now… it didn't belong to any known school of swordsmanship. Not the Kozuki Style, not the Ittoryu, not even the legendary Shinsoken.

"This is the final realm," Carl whispered, not even looking at her.

"The summit of swordsmanship. What comes after the peak."

"To cross the peak…" Yamato muttered, awestruck.

She instinctively raised a hand to touch the swirling Extreme Sword Intent.

Warning bells blared in her mind.

Her Kenbunshoku screamed: Danger! Step back!

Carl didn't wait.

All emotion drained from his eyes—only raw killing intent remained.

Kaido, now standing fully, sneered.

"Come, brat! Let's see if you can kill me!"

Thunder cracked around him as his Hassaikai sparked with black lightning.

But before he could raise it—

Carl burst into the sky like a meteor.

He grasped the blunt phantom sword from the orbiting blades and swung it downward with god-like force.

BOOM!!!

The atmosphere shattered. The shockwave cracked stone, splintered tiles, and carved through the Flower Capital's foundation.

Kaido dropped, crushed under the weight of the strike. His body cratered deeper into the battlefield.

"I… won't… lose!"

DOOOOM!

Kaido roared with rage, thunderclaps surrounding him as he lunged upward.

The ground cracked as he met Carl head-on.

The terrain shifted violently. Entire streets broke apart as the two monstrous auras collided.

Carl descended, eyes focused, and with a heavy swing, slashed with the real Sakura Ten in his grasp.

Ka-ka-ka—

Space cracked like glass. The air warped.

SPLASH!

A deep, arcing wound bloomed across Kaido's body—shoulder to hip. Blood exploded into the air.

"LITTLE BRAT!!"

Kaido roared, his Hassaikai raised above his head.

"RAIMEI HAKKE—THUNDER BAGUA!!"

A torrent of black lightning surged from the iron club as he swung it down with his full power.

Carl didn't flinch.

He summoned the twin spectral daggers again—his hands moved like a dancer.

As Kaido's club descended, Carl blurred into motion—

Sa!

He vanished. Passed through the gap between the electrified bars like a ghost.

Kaido's pupils shrank in disbelief. His swing missed!

Carl was already standing before him, a smirk curling his lips.

He moved with grace—each slash delicate and precise. His daggers carved through Kaido's massive torso like calligraphy.

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

Lines of blood. Dozens of them. The battlefield turned into a red canvas.

"Hah—"

Carl exhaled calmly. His body didn't tremble. His mind didn't waver.

The aura around him bloomed again.

This time, it wasn't just killing intent. It was something even subtler.

Swords. Dust. Mustard seeds. Breath. Movement.

Sword Intent, compressed to the smallest possible unit, stretched out into infinity.

The ultimate realm:

Micro-Spirit. Heaven's Sword.

The battlefield trembled again.

Buzz—

His hands clasped tightly—the final lightsaber condensed in his grip—and then, a radiant burst of light erupted!

A beam of sword light pierced the heavens!

Even the remote Bianli Village, nestled deep within the northern mountains of Wano, could clearly see the sky-splitting phenomenon.

"That's…" Tenrōgazan Feicheng froze where he stood, eyes wide in disbelief as the beam illuminated the sky like a second dawn.

"A sword…?" He muttered. "Is that really…a sword?"

Even if his mind rejected it, the overwhelming sword intent climbing to the clouds had already given the answer.

On the shattered battlefield, Kaido roared in fury, his face twisted into a grimace. "Not enough! If you want to kill me, that's not nearly enough!"

His Haoshoku Haki erupted and intertwined with Busoshoku, bolts of thunder crackling around his form, wind howling like a tempest. The might of the Azure Dragon surged, talons crackling with thunder and a cold gleam flashing across his scaled claws.

A dreadful, soul-chilling power erupted from his body—the same monstrous energy that once crushed Oden and clashed with Big Mom.

"Bring it on!!"

Carl's face didn't change. Calmly, he raised his lightsaber and swung it downward in one clean stroke. "Slash—!"

"Enlightened Will: Heaven Transformation Sword!"

BOOM—! BOOM—!

The blade of light cut across the sky in a single sweeping arc.

Kaido, teeth gritted, crossed his thunder-infused Hassaikai in front of him and bellowed, "KAIDO—!!!"

Ka ka ka ka—!!!

The ground cracked and collapsed beneath his feet as an invisible force hammered down upon him. He was pushed back step by step, like a mountain being moved.

Not just Kaido—even Jhin, Yamato, and others around the battlefield were flung backward by the shockwave.

Air, ground, trees, towers—everything in the strike's path—

Cleared.

It was like someone had pressed a reset button on the world.

Before Carl, everything had been erased.

"Haah—" Carl exhaled a long breath. "Still used it…"

Beyond the limits of traditional swordsmanship, once the Sword God's Domain was surpassed, one entered a terrifying transcendental realm.

This was where all sword techniques converged into a single concept—a unity of body, will, and blade.

Compared to the earlier technique, the Supreme Sword Intent [Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin], this technique—

[Enlightened Spiritual Intent – Heaven Transformation Sword]—

Had clearly surpassed it.

For a moment, all of Wano's Flower Capital fell into utter silence.

Even Fujitora, Jhin, and the remaining members of the Beasts Pirates had frozen, eyes locked on the aftermath of the godlike slash.

"Is… is he dead?" Yamato, still clutching her kanabo, looked toward the fallen Kaido with uncertainty in her eyes.

That overwhelming power…

Even someone as monstrous as her father shouldn't have survived that, right?

But Carl stood motionless, frowning.

His [Killing Intent Battlefield] still enveloped the area like a dome, and within its range—

Kaido's presence had not disappeared.

It had simply… destabilized.

The flame-like aura was flickering, unstable and chaotic, as if suspended in a transitional state.

"Grrmmm…"

A low, guttural rumble like a primordial beast echoed faintly in the distance.

Boom— Boom— Boom—

The sound of a heartbeat followed.

It wasn't loud, yet it spread across the entire battlefield with unnatural clarity.

Carl's eyes narrowed. "Tch… As expected. If monsters like him could be killed so easily, someone else would've done it already."

This was the Strongest Creature in the World.

The so-called King of the Beasts—Kaido of the Hundred Beasts.

His body—so durable that not even the Execution Pike of Wano could pierce it. His endurance—enough to survive a head-on clash with Big Mom, and enough to fall from Sky Island with no injury.

Even the massive Sea Kings of the Calm Belt were frail in comparison.

How could such a monstrosity fall so quickly?

If it were truly possible, Carl thought, then he'd already be sipping tea beneath the red clouds of Mariejois.

Of course—

The colossal body ahead began to stir once more.

Everyone's pupils shrank.

"He's… not dead?!"

At the ruins of Hualou, what remained of the once-glorious pleasure hall now lay in complete ruin, reduced to timber and ash by the battle's aftermath.

Kozuki Hiyori clasped her hands over her mouth, trembling as she looked upon the standing silhouette.

"So… there's no hope after all?"

Immortality. That was what it felt like.

If an attack like that couldn't kill Kaido…

Could anyone?

Her faint hope began to slip away.

Beside her, Denjiro stood dazed, eyes bloodshot as he stared into the distance.

That mountain-like figure, bathed in blood and steam, loomed like a god.

Unmovable. Unshakable.

"Kid… you really gave me one hell of a surprise…"

Kaido's deep voice echoed across the battlefield.

Now, with blood pouring down his wounds, body etched with slashes, beard wild and hair matted, he looked every bit like a demon god reborn.

Even one of his dragon claws appeared to have been partially destroyed.

But his gaze—his burning, insatiable fighting spirit—remained unchanged.

"What a lunatic…" Carl sighed, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

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