It's not just Sengoku who is worried.
No one in the Navy is without concern.
The three admirals exchanged glances.
Garp, too, fixed his eyes on Kaido.
Kaido had already sent away the other pirates.
He was preparing to break through the encirclement wall head-on.
Is he truly that confident?
That special encirclement wall is capable of withstanding even Whitebeard's might.
Where does Kaido draw his confidence from?
You know.
Neither Garp nor Akainu have the confidence to break through this wall.
…
The pirates, on edge, watched expectantly.
Emotionally, they wanted Kaido to succeed—to break the wall and open a path for them to the square.
But logically, they knew Whitebeard had failed. He hadn't even left a mark, not a single crack.
So, could Kaido really succeed where Whitebeard had not?
Whitebeard himself remained silent, observing.
As someone who had faced the wall directly, Whitebeard knew better than anyone just how formidable it was.
The material used to construct the wall wasn't ordinary by any means.
The production process had been unique, and even with his power, it had held firm.
Whitebeard had believed that the wall's resilience came from Vegapunk's genius.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, which could shatter the seas and split the heavens, had been absorbed and nullified the instant it hit the wall.
Even Whitebeard didn't have the confidence to break it.
After all, he was no longer in his prime.
And for decades, the Navy had studied him.
When someone is that familiar with your abilities, they will develop counters. This was inevitable.
At the bow of the White Whale, Kaido transformed.
He took his beast form—his legendary blue dragon.
As a mythical creature, his presence alone was oppressive.
Then—
Flames began to gather in Kaido's mouth.
It wasn't a surprise that Whitebeard couldn't break through the encirclement wall.
Even at his peak, Whitebeard's full-power attack might have been the equivalent of King-level strength multiplied four or five times.
It was incredibly powerful, but not invincible.
And as long as something isn't invincible, there will always be a way to counter it.
The World Government has remarkable scientists like Vegapunk, after all.
Whitebeard's failure in front of the encirclement wall wasn't unexpected.
But Kaido was different.
Having received the system's reward, Kaido's attack power had reached an invincible level.
Invincible.
That word carries a weight beyond just being spoken casually.
When someone is crowned with the title of "invincible," there is no force that can oppose them unless it is equally invincible.
And this encirclement wall—was its defense truly invincible?
Impossible.
Whitebeard is the strongest man in the world, and his attacks were not invincible. How could this wall be?
If the encirclement wall had truly been invincible, the Navy would have wiped out all the pirates long ago.
But they hadn't.
That means reaching such a level isn't so simple.
This encirclement wall—
Before Kaido, it was not an obstacle.
"Hot Breath."
Flames condensed in Kaido's mouth, and he unleashed them in a straight line.
All the ice along the path melted instantly.
The seawater boiled, evaporating in massive quantities.
The surrounding temperature surged.
People in the distance began to sweat profusely, as though they had been thrown into a sauna.
The weaker ones suffered severe injuries from the residual heat of Kaido's flames.
Despite the warnings to evacuate, some were still hurt—unavoidable, given the intensity of the attack.
Some individuals jumped into the sea, hoping to escape the heat, only to find it like diving into boiling water.
Even at the execution platform, Sengoku felt the temperature shift.
Sweat gathered on his forehead.
How intense was this heat?
Since when had Kaido's Hot Breath become so much stronger?
The already tense atmosphere became even more fraught with anxiety. The fear that Kaido might actually breach the wall began to settle in.
In an instant, Kaido's flames struck the encirclement wall.
First, there was a thunderous crash, and a wave of heat surged across the inner bay and the square.
Then, under the shocked and nervous gaze of those present, the encirclement wall began to melt—bit by bit.
Like ice being slowly eaten away by a flamethrower, the wall gradually wore down, shorter and thinner.
On the Navy's side, chaos erupted.
"The encirclement wall is melting!!!"
"Kaido's attack is working!!!!!"
Screams of terror filled the square.
Of course, they were terrified!
Such an impenetrable wall was melting right before their eyes.
Once the wall was gone, wouldn't the flames consume them all?
Anyone would be scared in the face of such a situation.
"..."
Whitebeard was astounded.
He stared at the wall as it slowly melted away, disbelief flooding his eyes.
That solid wall—so fragile in front of Kaido's flames?
Just how powerful was Kaido's fire?
Could Whitebeard himself even withstand such an attack?
The sheer destructive power was overwhelming—probably even greater than Rocks had ever wielded.
On the execution platform—
"Our understanding of him is outdated by decades," Garp muttered grimly.
"Kaido is far stronger than we ever thought."
Hearing this, Sengoku's face darkened as well.
They had long known about Kaido's abilities—what techniques he possessed, how strong he was.
The Navy had gathered plenty of intelligence on him.
Even CP0, with its more advanced information network, occasionally shared intelligence with the Navy regarding Kaido's strength.
Based on everything they knew, Kaido shouldn't have been able to break the wall.
But now the reality was far different from their intelligence.
Kaido's power was so exaggerated, it was as though they hadn't updated their information on him in decades.
He was far stronger than they had ever imagined.
No wonder Garp, the stalwart, had such a grave expression.
This situation was a stark indicator that the Navy's once formidable intelligence advantage over the pirates was eroding.
No—collapsing.
"Aokiji!!"
Sengoku called out to the admiral.
Hearing his name, Aokiji immediately sprang into action.
"Ice Age."
Cold air erupted from Aokiji, enveloping the surrounding wall in a frosty embrace.
He was countering Kaido's flames, freezing the encirclement wall.
The cold mist crept toward the blazing fire, seeking to extinguish the Hot Breath.
The temperature around them began to cool significantly.
"The admiral is making his move!"
"The encirclement wall is freezing..."
The Navy, who had been fleeing in all directions, paused to observe the shift in the battle.
Could Aokiji stop Kaido?
The answer came swiftly.
No.
The ice on the encirclement wall melted rapidly. The cold air that dared approach Kaido's flames evaporated before it even made contact.
But Aokiji pressed on, continuing to unleash his Devil Fruit powers, summoning more cold air to resist Kaido's Hot Breath.
The standoff dragged on for over ten seconds.
It felt like hours had passed, though only moments had gone by.
Aokiji's expression shifted drastically.
"Everyone, run!!"
For once, the usually calm admiral was serious, and he shouted to all the navy personnel with grave urgency.
Boom!
Barely two seconds after his warning, the encirclement wall was completely breached.
Flames surged across the square, turning the ground molten as they advanced. The intense heat scorched and even incinerated countless marines who had no time to escape.
And the onslaught didn't stop.
The flames surged toward the execution platform.
They shot straight toward Akainu, Kizaru—
And Garp and Sengoku.
"The encirclement wall has been breached!!"
"So hot, it's unbearable!!"
"I'm melting?!"
"Ahhh!!!"
"Someone save me!!"
The navy's screams echoed in every direction.
Those stationed farther away watched in shock as the wall melted before their eyes.
But that shock turned to horror when they saw—
Kaido's fiery breath engulfing the admirals, Garp, Sengoku, and the entire execution platform.
The flames continued to surge forward.
Behind the execution platform, the towering structure of Marineford's main building, with the word "Navy" emblazoned on it, was pierced through in an instant.
The flames consumed the headquarters.
In mere moments, the entire structure—marshal's office and all—collapsed, reduced to rubble.
Kaido's Hot Breath had penetrated the heart of Marineford!
But that wasn't the most terrifying part.
The real terror came from the fact that the admiral, marshal, and Garp had been caught in the flames along with the execution platform!
"Mr. Sengoku, Mr. Garp, Admiral Akainu, Admiral Kizaru…"
"Could they have been burned to death?"
"Is the Navy's top combat force completely wiped out?!"
Countless elite marines at Marineford stared at the sea of flames in utter despair.
The fire raged on.
There was no sign of life from within.
Could it really be that Kaido had taken them all out with just one move?