As Souta Kiryuu strode forward, the crushing weight of his presence bore down like a storm. Under the immense spiritual pressure, Drake of the Red Flag instantly transformed into his massive Allosaurus form. Panic seized him; he spun around and bolted, shattering a wall with a thunderous crash as he fled in terror.
Drake's desperate escape told Kaido and the others all they needed to know—Souta hadn't been lying. The man was an undercover Marine traitor.
But Queen the Plague, ever the schemer, quickly realized something else—Souta didn't seem intent on handing Drake back to the Beasts Pirates at all. He meant to take him down himself.
Boom!
In a flash, Souta vanished from sight. The next instant, he slammed one clawed hand onto the Allosaurus's massive skull, crushing it against the ground and carving a crater into the rocky floor.
Black and crimson lightning crackled in every direction as the giant dinosaur's snout split and bled. Its huge, bronze eyes rolled white as consciousness fled. Within seconds, the creature reverted to its human form—Drake lay unconscious, utterly defeated.
It was faster and cleaner than the moment Kaido had flattened Luffy with a single Thunder Bagua.
Without a word, Souta dragged Drake's limp body back to his side and tossed the spoils of battle to Capone Bege.
Bege didn't waste a second. He barked an order, and his Mafia underlings snapped seastone cuffs onto Drake's wrists before hauling him into Bege's castle-body, locking him up tight.
The entire process happened so fast that the Beasts Pirates didn't even have time to react.
"Hey, Captain Souta, that's not right!" Queen growled, clearly displeased. "Even if Drake was a Marine spy, shouldn't he be handed over to us?!"
A Zoan user, especially an Ancient-type, was a valuable asset. If they sold him to Souta's crew, they could at least earn a hefty sum—or trade him for artificial Devil Fruits. Handing him over for free? Absolutely not.
"Tsk tsk, now that's no way to talk," Souta said with an easy smile, lifting a glass of sake and drinking deeply. "I just saved your crew from a dangerous spy, spared you plenty of losses. Taking a little 'compensation' seems fair, don't you think? What's wrong, fat man—want your prize back after refusing to pay up?"
Queen's face reddened with anger, but the mocking glint in Souta's eyes killed his nerve. Picking a fight with this crew was the last thing the Beasts Pirates wanted.
"Worororo! Forget it, Queen," Kaido's booming laughter cut through the tension. "Drake hadn't been with us long anyway." He waved a massive hand dismissively. Losing one Ancient Zoan wasn't a big deal—especially not when they could keep producing more with the artificial fruits.
"Just make sure you send over another Ancient-type—say, an Allosaurus model—for trade next time."
Kaido's tone softened into a demand. He was willing to let Souta keep Drake, but he expected something valuable in return. Kaido's obsession with Zoan abilities—especially Ancient and Mythical types—was well known.
"No problem at all." Souta's grin sharpened. If Kaido wanted to trade, so be it.
With Drake captured, it would be far easier to bring the rest of the SWORD members—Gion, the "Peach Rabbit," and Major General Peacock—to heel. And if persuasion failed… there were always other ways to make them submit.
After all, the SWORD unit was now his prize.
More importantly, these Marines were valuable hostages—key pieces to manipulate Vice Admiral Tsuru. Gion was Tsuru's adopted younger sister, Peacock her granddaughter, and Drake her foster son—rescued and raised after the "Ope Ope no Mi" deal years ago. Their bond was deep, almost familial.
The SWORD unit as a whole was made up of protégés of Sengoku, Tsuru, and Garp—the old guard of Marine legends.
Even Garp's two students, Coby and Helmeppo, had been earmarked to join the unit someday. But now, Garp had retired to Windmill Village, Drake and the others were prisoners, and SWORD's future was uncertain.
Perhaps, under Souta Kiryuu's banner, it would reemerge… in a new form.
The day after the Fire Festival, the Souta Pirates departed from Onigashima without further action.
The warship Pluton, the so-called "Underworld King," still slept beneath Wano's inland sea. Its time had not yet come, and Souta saw no reason to awaken it—or to reveal that he even knew of its existence.
Let Kaido think his little secret was still safe.
As Souta's airborne fleet vanished into the clouds, the Beasts Pirates resumed their expansion—recruiting, training, and hunting for another Zoan powerhouse to fill the vacant spot among the Flying Six.
Aboard the Ark Oracle.
Souta leaned casually against the railing, looking down at the youthful, indignant Yamato. She glared up at him, puffing her cheeks in frustration.
"Say what you will," Souta murmured with a faint smile, taking her small hand in his. "Your father keeps his word. There really was a bomb inside those seastone cuffs."
As his draconic claws shimmered with Armament Haki, black waves of power flowed outward—dense, compressed, and deadly. This was true externalized Haki, a skill only the world's strongest could wield.
In Wano, they called it Ryuo, the Flowing Sakura technique. Easier to learn, but ancient in tradition.
"I don't believe he'd really try to blow up his own daughter!" Yamato shouted, cheeks flushed with anger. Kaido had claimed her cuffs were rigged to explode if she tried to escape, but she'd thought it was just his way of keeping her prisoner.
She had sworn to defeat the Beasts Pirates herself—to open Wano's borders and fulfill Oden's dream. How could she just walk away?
"Is that so?" Souta replied, smiling faintly. "You should know—he values your talent greatly."
Yamato froze.
Souta continued, his voice calm but edged with amusement. "You awakened Conqueror's Haki at just eight years old. Even Kaido was impressed. At that age, he was already fighting in wars—but he didn't awaken it until years later."
Kaido's path had been brutal. At eight, he joined the army. At fifteen, he joined the Rocks Pirates. At twenty-one, he was still just an apprentice when the God Valley incident erupted. It wasn't until he obtained the Azure Dragon fruit and went solo that he finally awakened his Conqueror's Haki, proving himself a true king.
If he'd awakened it earlier, he might have stood alongside Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Shiki back then—instead of serving under them. Every officer in the Rocks crew, from Whitebeard to Big Mom, had possessed Conqueror's Haki. It was a den of monsters.
Oppression by such titans had tempered his fury—and birthed his ambition. Only after breaking free did Kaido's potential explode.
By contrast, prodigies like Katakuri, Doflamingo, and Ace had all awakened their Haki around the age of ten, driven by crisis and emotion.
Katakuri's came when his sister Brûlée was scarred.
Doflamingo's, when he was nearly executed by a mob.
Ace's, when Luffy was about to be killed before his eyes.
Yamato's awakening was no different.
She had watched Oden's execution with her own eyes. She had picked up his journal, clutching his dreams as her own. At eight, rebellious and fearless, she called herself "Kozuki Oden"—and, by accident, ate one of Kaido's most prized treasures: a Mythical Zoan, the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Great White Wolf Deity.
Kaido had punished her brutally, yet it was through that pain that her Conqueror's Haki had awakened.
Her talent had shaken even Kaido himself.
From that moment on, he had chosen her—the "Child of the Oni"—as Wano's future ruler.