Flames rose beneath Ace's feet and spread outward until the platform was wide enough for two people.
He hung the Supreme Grade Blade Ace at his waist, tightened his grip on Murakumogiri with his right hand, then extended his left toward Yamato.
"Come on, Yamato!"
Yamato didn't ask questions. She grabbed his hand and stepped steadily onto the flames.
The heat beneath her feet wasn't painful at all.
"Huh? It's not hot."
"Of course it isn't."
Bell's face emerged from the flames, his voice overflowing with pride.
"This is my complete form. As long as I'm here, this old bastard's flames won't singe even a single hair on Mama's head."
"Hey! Stop talking like you own my flames!"
Ace shouted helplessly.
Under Bell's control, however, the flames beneath them immediately surged higher and carried the pair straight toward Onigashima.
"Bolo Breath!!"
There was no chance Kaido would miss such a bright mass of fire approaching in the middle of the night.
The enormous dragon coiled above the skull dome, his eyes narrowing before he unleashed a torrent of blazing breath directly toward the incoming light.
Whoever it was—
burn them first, ask questions later.
"This attack…"
Ace watched the enormous stream of dragon fire bearing down on him and grinned.
"It always reminds me of that brat Cain trying to imitate my Fire Fist and doing such a terrible job of it."
He clenched his right fist.
"Watch closely."
"This is what the original looks like."
"Fire Fist: Bone!"
Ace punched forward.
Fist Bone and Conqueror's Coating layered together as his fist smashed directly into the center of Kaido's Bolo Breath.
BOOM!!
The two forces exploded in midair.
Countless sparks scattered across the darkness like an absurdly timed fireworks display, illuminating the entire night sky.
After the brief clash, Kaido curled his enormous dragon body and swept closer.
His eyes locked onto the two figures standing on the flames.
"Yamato."
His voice rumbled from deep within his throat, low enough to make the air itself tremble.
"What are you doing here?"
"The decisive battle isn't supposed to happen yet."
King had already reported plenty.
Kaido trusted that King wouldn't lie to him.
But he wanted to hear it from Yamato herself.
Standing beside Ace, Yamato felt his hand tighten around hers.
She drew a deep breath and met Kaido's crushing gaze directly.
"The timing of the decisive battle doesn't matter."
"Today, I didn't come here as Wano's shogun."
She hesitated for the briefest instant.
"I came as your…"
Yamato corrected herself.
"…daughter."
"Yamato."
"I came to challenge you."
"…Daughter?"
Kaido's dragon eyes widened.
Everything King had told him suddenly exploded through his mind.
His gaze immediately shifted toward Ace.
"That's right. I—"
Ace had barely opened his mouth when Yamato stepped forward and raised her voice.
"That's right!"
"Ace came here today to defeat you and declare that I'm his now!"
Ace's face went rigid.
"Even though I don't think he needs to do this, Ace said he has to earn your acknowledgment first."
"So I came with him!"
Ace mechanically turned his head toward Yamato.
His lips twitched.
No sound came out.
He had indeed said something like that.
But he had said it in private.
Yamato had just repeated it word for word to Kaido.
And she still wasn't finished.
She clenched her fist.
"Ace already let me experience what it feels like to be a mother!"
"Bell hasn't been with us very long yet, but I'm sure we'll become great parents someday!"
"And we'll definitely never become parents like you!"
Kaido stopped moving.
Completely.
Before now, he had only been suspicious, and he could still barely keep his anger under control.
But Yamato had just said it herself.
Out loud.
The fury inside him immediately overflowed.
No matter how much Yamato had rambled about being Kozuki Oden, no matter how much she had opposed Kaido—
she had still been part of Wano.
Part of the Beasts Pirates.
How the hell had this brat—
one of Newgate's people—
managed to steal her away?
Kaido's gaze dropped toward Murakumogiri in Ace's hand.
The way Ace held it did carry a faint resemblance to Whitebeard.
Then Kaido noticed the chain attached to the end of the weapon.
His eyes followed it.
At the other end was another sword.
A sword Kaido had seen in his dreams.
Roger had been wielding it while repeatedly attacking his coat.
Kaido's breathing suddenly became heavier.
Flames began leaking uncontrollably between his teeth.
"Y-Yamato…"
Ace desperately avoided Kaido's eyes and hissed under his breath,
"You're saying way too much!"
"And what do you mean by 'experience being a mother'? That was obviously—"
"Huh?"
Yamato blinked.
"Ace, weren't you talking about Bell?"
Then something seemed to occur to her.
A blush spread across her face.
"Oh."
"You mean those two nights when I pinned you down on the bed?"
Ace's eyes widened.
"WAIT! Don't—"
"Do we really need to tell him about that, Ace?"
Yamato continued innocently.
"That was mostly your fault anyway."
"Even if I was the one taking the lead, you were participating too."
As she spoke, Yamato covered her face with both hands.
It did nothing to hide how embarrassed she was.
"I was completely exhausted afterward."
"I was honestly surprised that the first time doing something like that would make me bleed."
"And next time we do those things again—"
If everything Yamato had said before was pouring fuel onto a fire—
that sentence was dropping a bomb directly into an oil depot.
Even the worst father in the world would have struggled to remain calm after hearing that.
And this was Kaido.
"STOP TALKING!"
Ace frantically waved both hands.
"STOP! SERIOUSLY, STOP TALKING!"
His neck slowly turned toward Kaido.
A blast of scorching breath was already blowing directly across his face.
"Brat."
Kaido's voice sounded as though it had crawled out of a crack in hell itself.
Every word carried the heat of molten rock.
"How…"
"…do you want to die?"
So that was why he had kept dreaming about Roger.
That was why he hadn't been sleeping properly.
Why he had been restless for days.
Now everything made perfect damn sense.
Kaido finally lost control of the rage boiling inside him.
Flames erupted beneath every scale across his enormous body until the entire dragon was wrapped in fire like a burning meteor.
"Great Torch of Fire and Thunder—"
"Rising Dragon: Flame Bagua!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
Ace's scream erupted alongside the flames.
The entire island of Onigashima lit up.
…
On a high mountain not far from Onigashima—
Cain and Uta were watching the distant battle through binoculars.
"That looks brutal."
Uta lowered hers and glanced toward Cain.
"You're really not worried?"
Cain was busy fiddling with something and didn't even look up.
"Relax."
"He trained with Grandpa for ages. His body is practically made of iron at this point."
"As long as he doesn't deliberately try to get himself killed, he'll probably be fine."
Cain shrugged.
"Besides, look at his mobility."
"If he can't win, he can still run."
Uta laughed.
"That reminds me of when Shanks used to chase you around trying to cut you."
Then her expression turned curious.
"But there's something I don't understand."
"How come you weren't surprised at all when you found out about Ace and Yamato?"
"Because of this."
Cain pulled something over from beside him.
It was a Den Den Mushi—
with a pair of binoculars strapped directly over its eyes.
The lenses were aimed toward Ace and Kaido's battle.
Uta stared.
"What is that?"
"What do you think?"
Cain grinned.
"It's a live broadcast for Grandpa."
"The moment I found out those two had gotten together, I pretty much figured out why Ace suddenly wanted to challenge Kaido."
"So I've been preparing for this the whole time."
Uta's mouth twitched.
"You're livestreaming this to Garp?"
"Of course."
Cain looked delighted with himself.
"I don't know whether he's asleep this late, but something this good obviously needs to be shown to him immediately."
"His oldest grandson finally has a girlfriend."
"As family, shouldn't we notify him?"
Uta slowly stared at him.
"…Cain."
"Did you think even once about what would happen after you did that?"
Cain paused.
Apparently—
he had not.
Because the moment Garp received Cain's live footage in the middle of the night—
he launched himself straight out of bed.
And immediately caused chaos across the entire island.
Marines desperately clung to his arms, legs, and torso.
Sengoku had both arms locked around Garp's head and neck, doing everything in his power to stop the old man from breaking free.
"LET GO OF ME!"
Garp's roar made the Den Den Mushi itself tremble.
"I'M GOING TO WANO RIGHT NOW!!"
Sengoku tightened his grip around Garp's neck while pointing furiously toward the Visual Den Den Mushi.
"CAIN, YOU BASTARD!"
"CAN'T YOU LET PEOPLE SLEEP FOR ONE DAMN NIGHT?!"
"If Garp manages to sneak off to Wano while we aren't looking, I swear I'm following him there myself—"
"And then I'm beating the hell out of YOU!"
"JUST YOU WAIT!"
Listening to the furious shouting coming through the Den Den Mushi, Cain felt a bead of cold sweat slide down his face.
Sengoku had actually started referring to himself that crudely.
He was genuinely furious.
Cain had been so focused on watching Ace's impending disaster that he had forgotten one extremely important fact.
His grandfather was absolutely incapable of sitting still.