Wano Country, Flower Capital.
Fukurokuju led eleven members of the Orochi Oniwabanshu Secret Force. They ran out of the south gate of the Flower Capital, following the blue stone stairs toward Ebisu Village. They had just received an order from Kurozumi Orochi to eliminate Miyamoto Musashi, the Marine spy.
As Orochi Oniwabanshu ninjas, they only needed to carry out orders without questioning the reasons. As soon as they got Miyamoto Musashi's location, they immediately set off!
Swoosh!
As the Secret Force jumped down from the stairs and were about to rush to Ebisu Village, an orange-red sword energy slash more than a hundred meters long shot down from the sky. The slash targeted all eleven of them. The ninjas were terrified, and they immediately scattered, trying to avoid the attack.
BOOOM!
The burning sword energy hit the ground, creating a huge explosion. The ground shook, gravel scattered, and thick smoke billowed. When the smoke disappeared, in front of them, a large hole with a diameter of more than a hundred meters appeared. The surrounding ground was scorched, and the heat made the air twist.
"Tch! I didn't expect you guys to be so fast."
In the air, Sephiroth flew with his pair of black wings spread, holding two swords. He looked at the eleven Orochi Oniwabanshu ninjas below him with a little surprise.
'They're here. Maybe other ninjas and samurai will follow soon, or even members of the Beast Pirates. I have to stall for time.'
Because the ninjas did not have a good relationship with Sephiroth, they did not waste words and attacked immediately.
"Ninpo: Hell Biwa!"
"Ninpo: Shuriken!"
"Ninpo: Kuwu!"
Sephiroth looked at the coming sword-qi slashes, kunai, shuriken, and bullets. Quickly, he swung the Hades Flame Sword with his left hand that had been smeared with fire.
"Flame Dragon Roll!"
An orange-red fire vortex, shrouded in a billowing Busoshoku Haki, shot out from his sword. In an instant, the vortex widened from half a meter to more than fifty meters. Instantly, all the attacks coming at him were swallowed by the fire tornado.
When the fire tornado fell to the ground, it didn't disappear, but instead swept toward the ninjas, leaving a scorched trail on the ground. The fire tornado was very hot and fast, forcing the ninjas to flee everywhere, without having time to fight back.
The butcher knife in Sephiroth's right hand, which kept the space portal open, had reached its limit. He didn't dare to use the portal for close-range attacks, worried that it would affect the stability of the other two portals.
These Orochi Oniwabanshu ninjas had one or two unique abilities, some even had Devil Fruit powers and weapons from Sea Stone. To be on the safe side and not lose a single person, Sephiroth chose a 'kite' tactic, attacking from a distance.
He released fire tornadoes and sword slashes from the sky, forcing the eleven ninjas away from Ebisu Village.
Meanwhile, feeling the movement from the outskirts of the village, the crowd in the middle of the village quickened their pace, afraid that if they were late, they would be trapped in Wano Country forever.
GRRRRUMBLEEEE—!
The wind blew hard, and the sky suddenly became dark. Thunder rumbled and zigzag lightning flashed in the dark clouds.
A green dragon a thousand meters long appeared in the dark clouds. It looked at Ebisu Village with its cold eyes. When its gaze met Sephiroth in the air, the corner of its mouth lifted slightly.
The dragon swooped down sharply, toward the edge of Ebisu Village.
"Ohh, oh, oh, oh…! Marine spy… Die!"
When the distance between them was less than a thousand meters, Kaido opened his dragon's mouth and gathered energy inside his body.
"Bolo Breath!"
A large pillar of orange-red fire spurted from Kaido's dragon mouth and shot toward Sephiroth.
This attack cannot be avoided!
Sephiroth's Kenbunshoku Haki predicted that if he dodged, the thousands of people who had not yet evacuated behind him would be incinerated and vaporized by the fire!
"Explosive Flame Dragon!"
Sephiroth shouted. The Hades Flame Sword in his left hand, which was originally in a physical form, instantly transformed into a sword-shaped fireball. He coated it with a billowing Busoshoku Haki and swung it upward.
With a loud dragon roar, a giant fire dragon shrouded in Busoshoku Haki shot from his sword. The fire dragon collided with Kaido's fire breath, and slowly pushed it back!
Kaido: "!?"
He only fired the Bolo Breath casually, without using his full power. Unexpectedly, Sephiroth also had a fire dragon attack, which caught him off guard!
BOOOM!
As Kaido started to run out of breath, Sephiroth's fire dragon suddenly swept, hitting the head of Kaido's dragon, causing a huge explosion. His head was pushed back.
The towering fire light pierced the dark clouds, making the sky clear again.
Although the green dragon was hit by the fire dragon, it was not injured in the slightest. Even its green scales were not burned. Kaido had extremely high fire resistance, especially since he also had the ability to create fire dragons from his own body. If it weren't for the Busoshoku Haki that enveloped Sephiroth's fire dragon, Kaido would not have felt anything.
While waiting for the fire in the sky to subside, Kaido again opened his mouth and took a deep breath.
"Blast Breath!"
Hundreds of massive blue wind slashes spewed from Kaido's mouth, tearing the air, and shooting toward Sephiroth. Sephiroth could only counter the attack by striking his sword energy back-to-back.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fierce wind slashes destroyed houses and buildings, carving deep ravines in the ground, and splashing gravel and dust everywhere.
The Orochi Oniwabanshu ninjas saw Kaido's attack as a natural disaster. They were afraid of getting hurt, so they had already run and watched the battle between one man and one dragon from a distance.
Sephiroth turned his head and saw that everyone had been evacuated to Sky Island. He decided to stop. Fighting Kaido directly in his base was not a wise choice.
He immediately flapped his black wings, swooped down from the sky, and entered the mansion. With a 'swish', he passed through the space door, arrived at Sky Island, and immediately closed the portal.
Kaido, who was a thousand meters tall, saw Sephiroth hiding inside the house. He again took a long breath, until his chest bulged.
"Bolo Breath!"
A ray of fire, thicker and more terrifying than before, spurted from Kaido's mouth and shot toward the mansion in the distance.
BOOOM!
After a shock that felt like an earthquake, the mansion that was Kaido's target completely evaporated and vanished. In its place, only a gigantic hole with a diameter of hundreds of meters and a bottomless depth was left. There was no trace of Sephiroth left.
"Hiccup!"
In the sky, Kaido burped loudly. He controlled his Flame Clouds and hovered above the hole.
"Hmm?… Burned to death?"
Kaido looked into the hole. He activated his Kenbunshoku Haki, but he didn't feel any signs of life.
"Hmm… He must be dead. Boring. I'm going back to drink!"
After saying that, Kaido's thousand-meter-long dragon body began to fly, piercing through the clouds, and shooting back to Onigashima Island.
Wano Country, Onigashima Island.
In a dense forest, Yamato sat cross-legged on the grass. His eyes were closed, and his chest rose and fell regularly. Lately, when he concentrated, he could feel the life signatures of other creatures around him. According to Miyamoto Musashi, this power was called Kenbunshoku Haki. By mastering it, he could better avoid attacks.
Fast!
A bloody bat flew toward him, finally perching on a large tree. Yamato opened his eyes and stood up.
Swoosh!
A spatial ripple appeared, and a folded space door opened. Sephiroth, with a butcher knife in his hand, stepped out and stood in front of Yamato.
"Yamato, come with me."
Yamato tilted his head. "Where to?"
"To the outside world."
"But I have this pair of handcuffs…"
"I can open them for you."
Sephiroth put the Hades Flame Sword into its scabbard, then pressed his hands on Yamato's handcuffs. Suddenly, his hands began to gather a large amount of Busoshoku Haki.
"Although I don't think it will explode, when you throw it, throw the handcuffs far away," Yamato quickly reminded.
Click~!
Accompanied by the sound of a violent collision of Busoshoku Haki on the handcuffs, the handcuffs made of Sea Stone instantly crumbled. Sephiroth immediately threw the two handcuffs behind him, far into the dense forest hundreds of meters away.
BAAANG—!
There was a deafening explosion. Flames shot up into the sky, and a strong air wave hit, making the surrounding trees bend. When the smoke and dust disappeared, a semi-circular hole with a diameter of more than sixty meters appeared on the ground.
Yamato: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ
At that moment, in Yamato's heart, between shock and awe, the man named Kaido was completely cut off from the word 'father'.
"Damn it!!! That orangutan really wants to kill me!!!"
After a moment of shock, Yamato wiped the grass and mud from his head that was blown by the air wave. He then picked up the club he had placed on the grass and shouted angrily with tears in the corner of his eyes.
"Damn Kaido! I'll kill you, you bastard!"
Seeing him, Sephiroth quickly grabbed Yamato's wrist. "Let's get out of here first! With your current strength, you won't be able to defeat Kaido. It's better to train honestly for a few years and then come back to take revenge on him."
"Okay!"
After his initial anger subsided, Yamato regained his senses. He reluctantly obeyed. Sephiroth nodded with satisfaction.
"Let's go! I'll take you to Sky Island."
Hearing that, Yamato's face immediately brightened. "Sky Island!? Really?"
"Of course."
Sephiroth again drew the Hades Flame Sword from his waist and slapped it into the empty space. A space portal opened, and the white beach of Angel Island immediately appeared in Yamato's eyes.
"Oh! Sky Island!"
Seeing the sight, Yamato cheered. Without thinking twice, he immediately rushed in.
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