Amid the deafening roar of explosions, boundless fiery red currents erupted, transforming into raging fire dragons that swept across the hall in all directions.
For an ordinary person, this would've been enough to burn them to a crisp in an instant.
But Kaido, the "Strongest Creature" in the pirate world, let out a furious roar and charged forward through the flames. His spiked club swung wildly, unleashing waves of Conqueror's Haki-infused energy blasts that shot out like a violent storm toward Uchiha Hikari. As she dodged with a flip, the attacks collided mid-air, releasing bursts of light and heat!
"…Narukabura!!"
At that moment, Hikari's body moved as lightly as a leaf, weaving through the chaos. Her right hand opened slightly, and the Dragonbone Blade materialized in her grip.
"I'm just saying…" she began, her voice calm but sharp, "have you had enough yet?"
As she uttered the word "I," Hikari was already suspended in mid-air, taking a deep breath. By the time she said "you," a vibrant green chakra aura flared around her, and her spiky black hair rose as if caught in an invisible wind.
Ten Days Breathing Technique, activate!
Eight Gates, Fourth Gate of Pain, open!
And then—
BOOM!!
In an instant, Hikari's body shot forward like lightning. The Dragonbone Blade extended and swelled in her hands, morphing into a menacing four-meter-long form. With a ferocity surpassing even Kaido's, she slashed repeatedly.
"Starburst… Air Slash!!"
Okay, so she came up with that move name in about a second, and no, it had nothing to do with Sword Art Online. But with her absolute power and speed, the name didn't matter.
In mere seconds, Hikari's Dragonbone Blade clashed with Kaido's spiked club hundreds of times. Razor-sharp blade energy radiated from their exchanges, carving deep and shallow gashes into the floor, walls, and ceiling. The hall's pillars, already damaged by Ember and Esdeath's earlier fight, were now teetering on the brink of collapse.
Finally, with one last clash of blade and club, a conical wave of blade energy mixed with shattered metal fragments shot diagonally upward. It tore through the ceiling in an instant and kept going, slicing a cloud in the sky above Onigashima clean in half!
Splitting the clouds, tearing the sky!
"This place is too cramped. Let's take it outside!" Hikari called out casually before launching into the air with her Sky Dance technique.
Kaido, half a second behind, stomped the ground hard and soared after her. Chunks of rock and debris rained down into the hall below, causing chaos among the Beast Pirates. The stronger ones like Yamato and Black Maria scrambled to rescue Runti and Drake, who were immobilized, while the rest fled in a panic.
"Yamato! You've really betrayed Lord Kaido, teaming up with outsiders to attack Onigashima!" Black Maria shouted, glaring at Yamato a few meters away.
"…Miss Hikari was trying to reason with him! He's the one who refused!" Yamato protested, trying to explain.
"Still making excuses!"
With Runti and her brother freed, Black Maria transformed into her wolf-spider form, lunging to subdue Yamato. Naturally, Yamato wasn't one to back down. She pulled out her own spiked club, and the two clashed, plunging the scene into even greater chaos.
---
Meanwhile, outside, Hikari took a moment to catch her breath and scanned her surroundings.
"…So this is Onigashima?"
Having been indoors when she arrived, this was her first real look at the island. It was smaller than she'd imagined but still impressive. At its center, where they'd just been fighting, stood a massive skull—dozens of meters tall and nearly a hundred meters long. The skull's interior had been fashioned into a castle-like structure.
She couldn't help but wonder what kind of colossal creature could've left behind such a massive skeleton.
"Brat!" Kaido's voice boomed as he caught his breath. "I'll admit, you're strong. Strength like that—it'd be a waste not to use it to shake up the world. Sure you don't want to team up with me?"
Hikari sighed. "Well…" she replied, addressing his offer once again. "I do plan to shake up this world, but not in the way you're thinking. Enough chit-chat. Show me what you've really got, and depending on how you perform, I'll give you a proper send-off."
"…Heh." Kaido grinned.
In the span of a single breath, the Yonko's body began to transform, taking on draconic features. Flames, wind blades, thunder, and lightning swirled around him. The increasingly intense presence of his tri-colored Haki formed an almost tangible pressure that bore down on Hikari.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, the ruby-red glow of her Sharingan flickering faintly. She'd activated it long ago but hadn't used any genjutsu on Kaido. Instead, she was carefully observing his every move.
Not to copy his physical techniques—Kaido's skills were impressive, sure, but they weren't useful to her. Their size difference and fighting styles were just too incompatible for her to adapt his moves.
No, Hikari was studying Kaido's tri-colored Haki, especially his Conqueror's Haki, trying to figure out how to awaken it herself. So far, though, she was coming up empty.
"Surely I don't have to let Teacher Kaido smack me with that club to awaken it…" she muttered to herself.
In theory, she could try that. Her current physique was far from ordinary, and with her chakra and "Fire Thunder God" technique shielding her vital points, plus her recovery abilities as a fallback, even Kaido couldn't one-shot her. But…
She wasn't exactly a masochist, and deliberately taking a hit just to try awakening Haki sounded pretty dumb.
"Forget it," she said, shaking her head and abandoning the idea for now. "Let's just go with the flow."
Gripping her Dragonbone Blade tightly, she raised it slowly with a deep breath.
Across from her, Kaido clutched his spiked club with both hands, swinging it with a rapid motion.
"Gundari… Ryuseigun!!"
A barrage of lightning-charged club energy blasted out, sealing off every direction around Hikari—above, below, left, and right. Kaido himself leaped into the fray, delivering a condensed, devastating strike:
"Daibutsu… Thunderous Bagua!!!"