Half an hour later.
Ace and Yamato had already left the sea region near Onigashima. The waves were calmer here, but the silence felt heavy — almost expectant.
Ace sat at the edge of the small boat, hands resting lightly on its wooden frame. He had been using the wind to guide their escape, keeping the Mera Mera no Mi's flames completely suppressed.
Yamato finally asked the question that had been buzzing in her head for minutes:
"Why don't you use your fire?"
She tilted her head, curious. "You can boost the boat's speed by ten times. We'd be miles away already."
Ace shook his head.
"If I use my flames, they'll see us instantly. A bright fire trail in the middle of the night?"
He exhaled slowly. "Kaido will chase us. Not 'maybe.' Definitely."
Yamato went silent. She knew Ace was right — Kaido wouldn't let two people slip away easily, especially her.
Even so, a small spark of excitement flickered in her eyes.
"If we escape…" she whispered, almost like she was afraid of breaking the moment. "If we really leave Onigashima… then I can finally go see the world. Do adventures like Oden did. Find the Whitebeard Pirates… find the Roger Pirates… and finally…"
She clutched the logbook at her waist.
"…see everything Oden wrote."
Her voice trembled between thrill and desperation.
Ace didn't judge her. He knew Yamato's obsession with Oden wasn't simple admiration — it was survival. A trauma-born identity. Years under Kaido's shadow, years locked away, punished, lonely… anyone would cling to a symbol of freedom.
Ace had read all kinds of fanfictions about Kaido — some showing him as a kind father whose daughter admired his enemy. Some painting him as a ruthless tyrant. But here, in reality, Ace couldn't judge Oden nor Kaido with fanfiction logic.
Oden was a fool.
But he was also a man who died for his people.
So Ace felt… he had no right to criticize him.
Minutes passed.
The wind pushed their boat quietly through the dark sea.
And then—
Ace suddenly stiffened.
His eyes narrowed.
"Yamato."
Yamato had already turned around, instincts screaming.
They both stared into the night sky.
There — far behind them, beyond the drifting clouds, something was moving.
A presence.
Heavy. Ancient. Beast-like.
And it was getting closer.
The air itself trembled as if a dragon was waking.
---
A few moments later—
The clouds above them twisted.
A deep, rumbling growl—like thunder rolling through bone—echoed across the open sea.
Then the beast revealed itself.
A massive eastern-style dragon slid out from the thick night clouds, its body coiling like a living storm. Its scales were light blue, shimmering faintly with an eerie glow. Each movement made the very air ripple. The creature didn't soar through the sky… it commanded it, riding the clouds as though they were solid ground.
Ace's breath caught for a moment.
Yamato's heart stopped.
There was no confusion this time.
No uncertainty.
No possibility of mistake.
Kaido.
Their pursuer.
Her father.
The boat rocked violently as Kaido descended a little, enough to show he wasn't hiding. His enormous serpentine form stretched across the sky, like a bridge carved of scales and rage.
Yamato stepped back involuntarily.
Ace stood firm, but even he felt the weight of Kaido's presence pressing against his lungs.
A booming voice cracked through the night:
"YAMATO—!!"
The dragon's massive head lowered, golden eyes burning with fury.
"You ran away like a coward."
Yamato clenched her fists.
She had expected anger… rage… threats…
But hearing it—like this—still hit her harder than she imagined.
Her entire body shook.
For a second, Ace wasn't sure whether she was trembling from fear… or from the pain of finally hearing the words she had dreaded since childhood.
Kaido's voice thundered again, deeper, angrier, echoing off the ocean surface:
"After everything I gave you… after everything I allowed you… THIS is what you choose? Running away on a little boat?"
His coils tightened in the air, the sky around him crackling.
Yamato forced herself to match his stare, but her voice barely held.
"I'm not running away…!"
Kaido's eyes narrowed.
And Ace feared — truly feared — what Kaido would say next.
Because this was no ordinary anger.
This was the wrath of a father who believed betrayal was worse than death.
---
Ace knew one thing for certain:
He could not let Yamato and Kaido continue talking.
Not here.
Not now.
The longer they spoke, the deeper Yamato's spirit would crack. And more importantly—every second wasted meant Beast Pirates would be closing in from all four directions. Ace still had a small, fragile window to escape with her…
…but once the entire crew arrived?
Impossible.
So Ace made his decision instantly.
"Yamato—hold on!"
He turned sharply, grabbed the edge of the boat, and raised his hand.
A pulse of heat exploded from his palm.
At first, only sparks.
Then a swirling flare.
And within a heartbeat—
A dense, scorching fire spear formed in his hand, so bright that the black sea around them glowed orange.
He threw it straight toward the dragon in the sky.
Kaido's eyes widened for the smallest moment—but then fury overtook surprise.
"YOU DARE—?!"
He opened his massive jaw, flames gathering deep in his throat.
"Bolo Breath!"
A torrent of dragon fire blasted downward.
Ace fire spear and Kaido's breath collided mid-air.
BOOOOOM!!!
A blinding explosion erupted, rattling the entire sea. The shockwave tossed the small boat violently—both Ace and Yamato had to cling to the edges to avoid being thrown off.
Yamato recovered instantly.
Her eyes sharpened.
She inhaled deeply—frost gathering around her body.
"Namuji Hyōga — Gale Shear Fang!"
She leapt forward, transforming partially—human beast form, but with divine ice swirling from her jaw. A slash of freezing wind shot upward, cutting through the explosion toward Kaido.
The triple collision—
🔥 Ace's fire sphere
🔥 Kaido's dragon breath
❄️ Yamato's frost technique
—detonated into a massive eruption above the sea.
WHOOOOOOOM!!!
Waves rose like beasts, crashing violently around them. The boat shook so hard it nearly flipped.
Ace grabbed the mast.
Yamato grabbed the railing.
Kaido roared through the explosion cloud, spiraling and stabilizing himself in midair.
The next moment—
Yamato slammed her palms down toward the water.
"Kagamiyama—Ice Wall!"
A layer of frost burst outward from her hands, instantly freezing the sea. Thin at first—then expanding farther and farther until an entire kilometer around the boat turned into a shimmering ice field.
Not as strong as Aokiji's, no…
But strong enough to give them footing.
The boat skidded to a stop on the ice, scraping but remaining intact.
Ace steadied himself.
Yamato panted lightly, cold breath escaping her mouth—but her eyes stayed fierce.
Above them, Kaido landed heavily on the ice, steam rising from his scales.
Then the dragon's massive form began to shrink.
Bones rearranged.
Muscles twisted.
Scales folded into skin.
He shifted…
from full dragon form into his human-beast hybrid.
The ice cracked under his weight.
Kaido glared at both of them, kanabo in hand, lightning crawling along its spikes.
"It seems," he growled, "you two have chosen a fight."
---
Kaido's fury was boiling over.
Lightning crackled around his kanabo as his muscles tightened and his Conqueror's Haki surged outward like a storm.
"THUNDER… BAGUA!!!"
He lunged forward at terrifying speed, the ice beneath him splitting with each step.
Yamato didn't hesitate.
Her eyes sharpened, breath frosting instantly as she pulled her kanabo back.
"Raimei Hakke!!"
Father and daughter clashed head-on, their black and red lightning tearing through the air.
The shockwave alone shattered the top layer of ice.
Ace saw the impact, and in that split-second, he knew something:
If he didn't join now, Kaido would overpower Yamato in seconds.
He bent his knees.
Combustion Kick — IGNITION.
His legs exploded with flame, propelling him forward in a blur, faster than before. He coated both his arms in perfectly controlled Advanced Armament — Internal Destruction — and tightened his fists.
And then—
FLAME FIST: IMPACT!!
He slammed his fire-infused punch into Kaido's left side just as Yamato locked weapons with him.
The column of fire erupted skyward, engulfing Kaido's flank.
But Kaido took the full clash head-on.
He roared, more annoyed than hurt.
The attacks hadn't done real damage.
Ace grit his teeth. He knew Kaido's durability was legendary… a monster among monsters.
So he pushed harder.
Flames burst along both his arms, twisting into shape—
Blazing Whip — DUAL STRANDS.
But this time, Ace infused them with Internal Destruction Haki, letting the fire whips vibrate violently with explosive, concussive force.
He lashed Kaido's arms.
Left arm.
Right arm.
Left again.
Right again.
Every strike dug deeper than the last.
Yamato saw the opening.
Her kanabo glowed a faint gold—basic Conqueror Haki, raw but potent.
"RAIMEI HAKKE!!"
She struck Kaido again, this time with all the momentum Ace had created.
Kaido's expression sharpened.
He was being forced back.
By Ace.
By Yamato.
By his own child and a stranger with terrifying flame mastery.
"Don't get arrogant!"
Kaido inhaled—deep and scorching.
"BOLO BREATH — MONSTER WHIP!!"
A spiraling stream of flame shot from his mouth, twisting like a whip, clashing directly with Yamato's strike.
BOOM!!!
Another sky-splitting explosion, shockwaves rolling across the frozen ocean.
Kaido didn't waste a second.
His body expanded—
Scales burst out—
Fangs grew—
Lightning crackled—
He transformed back into a full dragon.
"DRAGON TWISTER!!!"
His massive body spun, creating a colossal tornado with him as the center. The ice shattered. The sea roared. And Ace's boat—
CRAAAAAACK—!!
—was ripped apart instantly, torn into splinters by Kaido's winds.
Ace froze for a fraction of a moment.
That boat had been with him for years.
Through storms, battles, escapes, islands…
Kaido had destroyed it without a thought.
Heat surged in Ace's chest.
He clenched his jaw.
"Kaido…"
Flames erupted around him.
"…that was MY boat."
Fire spiraled around ace, forming a blazing tornado with himself as the center.
His Haki wrapped around it—Armament, Conqueror's, everything he could muster.
"INFERNO TORNADO!!!"
The two tornadoes collided—
A flame vortex vs. a dragon whirlwind.
At the moment of impact—
Kaido tried to combine his tornado with enhanced wind blades.
Dragon Twister: Demolition Gust.
But Ace's Haki-infused Inferno Tornado overwhelmed it and dragged Kaido's attack inward, destabilizing the center.
Kaido was forced out of the spin, slammed across the ice, and shifted sharply back into human-beast form.
And then—
His kanabo crackled with a deadly aura.
His strongest hybrid attack.
"DESTROYER OF DEATH — THUNDER BAGUA!!!"
He swung with full force.
Ace braced.
Internal Destruction Haki.
Armament Hardening.
Conqueror's coating.
Every ounce of fire he could control.
His punch met the kanabo.
The first blow—he parried.
CRACK—BOOOOM!!!
But the second strike came instantly.
Ace was blasted back over a hundred meters, carving a trench through the ice.
"ACE!!" Yamato shouted.
Seeing Kaido focused on Ace, Yamato launched with her fastest technique.
Ice streamed along her body as she vanished in a blur.
"SHINSOKU HAKUJAKU—
DIVINE SWIFTNESS WHITE SERPENT!!"
Speed.
Frost.
Raw will.
She brought the attack down on Kaido—
—who couldn't fully react in time.
The blow crashed into Kaido's right rib, sending him sliding backward, ice shattering beneath him.
For the second time tonight—
Kaido was forced back by his own child.
---