Kaido blinked slightly, startled by Marco's words, but then a gleam of excitement appeared in his eyes. Without hesitation, he flung his spiked club aside and laughed.
"Are you satisfied now?"
"You actually threw it away! I was just complaining—if you lose to me without your weapon, don't claim I won unfairly!" Marco said, surprised by Kaido's audacity. Kaido's spiked club was central to many of his ultimate techniques, yet here he was, discarding it to fight bare-handed.
"I don't care," Kaido replied with a mischievous grin. "I just want to enjoy this battle thoroughly." Taking a deep breath, he shouted, "Kami-e Battle Body: Release…"
Instantly, the exaggerated muscles on Kaido's body began to shrink. His inverted-triangle upper body and thick thighs slowly reshaped, his legs becoming leaner as they had been in his youth. His chest, arms, and abdominal muscles reduced significantly, though they remained larger than the average person's. In a matter of seconds, Kaido's body looked ten years younger, releasing the tension of a decade's worth of sustained training.
"This… Kaido, you're…" Marco said, shocked at the dramatic change.
"Worororo, this is my original body, Marco," Kaido said, grinning. "More than ten years ago, I fought a former Marine Admiral and secretly learned this technique from him. I think it's called Life Return: Kami-e Battle Body."
"Life Return: Kami-e Battle Body?" Marco frowned, recalling that Lucci had used a similar technique against Luffy in the past.
Kaido continued, "The Six Powers, or Marine Six Powers—you know of them, right? It's a body technique commonly used by the Marines."
Marco nodded, already familiar with the concept and capable of using it himself.
Kaido elaborated, "This technique is one of the Six Powers' ultimate moves. It allows control over muscle mass, increasing strength and defense. Conversely, you can reduce muscle mass to sacrifice strength for speed. Maintaining or reducing muscle mass consumes stamina, but less than the full-strength variant."
"Through the past three days of battling you, I've noticed that while your strength, speed, defense, recovery, and Haki are impressive, your instantaneous burst speed still has room for improvement."
Marco was taken aback. Among his six-dimensional attributes, only Speed had not exceeded ten thousand, while the rest had broken that threshold. He smirked.
"So, you plan to use Kami-e Battle Body to boost your speed next?"
"Worororo, no need," Kaido laughed. "Sacrificing strength for speed is only effective against slower, weaker opponents. With your recovery, it would be meaningless. I released Life Return simply to conserve stamina."
"Being an Oni, my stamina is immense. Maintaining a fully strengthened state consumes massive energy. Against an awakened Zoan like you, I must release it. We're in a battle of attrition, so there's no need to maintain muscle reinforcement—it was just a habit from training."
Marco shook his head in awe.
"You truly are a monster! Despite appearing to be a drunkard most of the time, you've been training all along."
"Worororo, come on!" Kaido said, clenching his fists as he charged at Marco.
Their clash lasted from dawn until nightfall, each battle testing the limits of their Zoan Devil Fruit powers. Where Kaido once held a slight advantage over Marco, it vanished entirely after Marco mastered Conqueror's Haki.
Meanwhile, the world continued to turn. On Maple Leaf Island, Blackbeard's schemes quietly brewed against the Phoenix Pirates.
The Kid Pirates had taken refuge on the island, and their captain, Kid, lay in the island's only clinic, bandaged and with his left arm missing. Killer approached, voice grave.
"Kid, how are you holding up?"
Kid's eyes flickered open, a fierce glint still shining through the pain. Challenging the Phoenix Pirates and Big Mom had left him battered, and an encounter with Benn Beckman had cost him an arm.
"I'm fine," he whispered, determined not to show weakness.
Killer's expression remained serious. "Although the Red Hair Pirates are few, they follow a path of elite warriors. Benn Beckman's strength rivals a Four Emperor. This time, we were too careless."
Kid clenched his teeth.
"I was careless, yes—but next time, I'll take them down."
Killer nodded. "Rest now. We'll plan once your injuries heal."
Suddenly, an explosion shook the clinic, startling both.
"Red Hair Pirates?" they muttered, rushing outside.
Kid forced himself from the bed, steeling his resolve. If their enemies had arrived, there would be no time to rest—they needed to act quickly. Outside, the scene was grim: members of the Kid Pirates lay defeated. Standing before them, commanding and terrifying, was Blackbeard, flanked by a dozen of his men.
Kid's eyes narrowed.
"It's you…"
_____
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