Silence.
Then, pain.
A raw, overwhelming pain that coursed through every bone in his body.
Kaido opened his eyes to a world he didn't recognize.
The sky was gray. Not the gray of the sea before a storm… no. A dirty gray, laden with smoke and ashes. The air burned his lungs with each breath. He tried to move, but his body refused to obey immediately.
Tch…
He gritted his teeth.
— …Where… am I…?
His voice was hoarse. Too weak.
It immediately annoyed him.
Kaido forced himself to sit up. His body… was smaller. Much smaller. His arms were no longer pillars of muscle, his hands were no longer covered in old scars.
He looked down.
A child's body.
Small. Frail. Ridiculous.
His eyes widened.
— What…?
He brought a hand to his face. His skin was smooth. Too smooth. His torso no longer had the mass that once crushed the world beneath his feet.
This isn't possible.
Kaido jumped to his feet… and faltered.
— Tch.
He fell to his knees in the damp earth.
My body…
His mind, however, was intact. Clear. Sharp. Filled with memories of battles, blood, screams, skies torn by lightning.
But his body… had regressed.
Did I go back in time?
No.
Something was wrong.
He slowly raised his head.
Around him, a devastated forest. Charred trees. Craters. Broken weapons he didn't recognize: kunai, shuriken, burned scrolls.
Bodies.
Humans.
Strangely dressed.
This world…
Kaido frowned.
Then he felt something else.
An energy. Everywhere. In the air. In the ground. In the bodies around him.
Not Haki.
Something different.
…Interesting.
Voices.
— There! There's something over there!
Kaido turned his head.
Men were approaching. Fast. Silent. Their steps were too light. Their movements too controlled.
Soldiers?
No.
Trained warriors.
They wore headbands marked with a symbol he didn't recognize.
— It's a child…?
— Is he alive?
Kaido watched them calmly.
They were weak.
Ridiculously weak.
But in his current state… he knew it.
I can't face them head-on.
The thought irritated him deeply.
— He doesn't seem seriously injured…
— Where did he come from? He's not from any village.
Kaido felt a hand on his shoulder.
Instinctively, something awakened.
An invisible pressure.
The men froze.
— …What is…?
The ground vibrated slightly.
Kaido didn't yet understand what he had just done. But he felt their fear. Pure. Instinctive.
Hmph.
Even in this body…
Even without power…
His will still existed.
— We… we'll take him, one of them murmured, uncomfortably.
Kaido didn't resist.
He let them.
Because he had understood one essential thing.
I don't know this world.
And a king never acts without understanding the terrain.
As they walked away, Kaido looked up at the gray sky.
A slow, almost imperceptible smile stretched his child's lips.
Very well…
If this world has torn me from my throne…
Then I will climb everything from the bottom.
Again.