Chapter 300: Wano - 34
The rhythm echoed across the summit.
Kneeling on the shattered stone floorboards, the exhausted pirate captain continued to tap his chest. His closed eyes rested peacefully, a wide, delirious smile stretching across his bruised face.
Doom. Dut. Da da.
Standing a few dozen paces away, Kaido lowered his massive, spiked kanabo. The King of the Beasts frowned, staring at the defeated boy. The battle had seemingly ended minutes ago, with the pirate collapsing from exhaustion. Yet, a strange, undeniable energy now pulsed from the fallen captain, defying all logic and common sense.
The rhythm accelerated.
Doom dut da da.
Doom dut da da.
The sound of drums filled the quiet sky. The noise bounced off the heavy storm clouds, rolling across the dark ocean waves surrounding the grounded island of Onigashima.
A shift began to manifest across the captain’s body.
The dark, unruly hair framing his face lost its color, shifting into a brilliant, glowing white. The red fabric of his torn shirt and the dark material of his cape faded, turning a stark, pristine white that contrasted against the dark night. A thick ring of white, swirling steam materialized out of thin air, wrapping around his neck and shoulders like a soft, floating cloud.
The rubber composing his flesh lost its rigid, muscular tension. It softened, taking on a strange, fluid consistency.
Pushing himself up from the stone, the captain did not simply stand. He bounced.
The very air around him seemed to warp and flex, accommodating the joyful rhythm echoing from his chest. Throwing his head back, the pirate let out a loud, ringing laugh. The sound carried pure, uninhibited merriment, devoid of the tension and hostility of the brutal war.
Watching the transformation, Kaido tightened his grip on his weapon. The Emperor recognized an awakening when he saw one, but this particular manifestation felt wrong. Paramecia awakenings affected the environment. Zoan awakenings altered the body. The pirate standing before him seemed to be doing both simultaneously, breaking the fundamental rules of Devil Fruit powers.
"What is this?" Kaido muttered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Far away from the chaotic fortress, thick fog rolled across the surface of the New World ocean.
Wading slowly through the deep, churning waters, a massive shadow moved toward the borders of Wano. Zunesha, the giant, ancient elephant carrying the civilization of Zou upon its back, raised its long trunk into the freezing night air.
For centuries, the giant creature had walked the oceans in silence, burdened by punishment.
Suddenly, the massive elephant paused.
The enormous, tattered ears twitched slightly. Through the dense fog and the crashing waves, a faint, rhythmic sound traveled across the sea. It was a sound the ancient creature had not heard in eight hundred years.
Deep within the hidden corridors of Onigashima, a young boy clutched his head.
Momonosuke stumbled against a stone wall, overwhelmed by a sudden, booming voice echoing into his mind. The telepathic connection to the giant elephant flared to life, carrying a wave of nostalgic emotion.
"I hear them," Zunesha’s deep, rumbling voice spoke, vibrating through the young lord’s consciousness. "I can hear the drums of liberation."
Rubbing his temples, Momonosuke blinked in confusion. "Drums? Zunesha, what are you talking about? Who is playing drums?"
Tears, massive and heavy as waterfalls, gathered in the ancient elephant’s giant eyes. The sorrow of eight centuries washed away, replaced by an overwhelming sense of joy.
"He has returned," Zunesha declared, the telepathic voice trembling with reverence.
Standing in the quiet corridor, Momonosuke exchanged a bewildered look with Yamato, who stood nearby guarding the passage. The young lord focused his mind, projecting his thoughts back across the ocean to the giant creature.
"Who has returned?" Momonosuke asked for clarity.
A sigh of relief echoed from the sea.
"Joy Boy," Zunesha answered simply, resuming its slow, steady march through the ocean waves.
Back inside the skull dome, the sounds of battle raged on the lower floors.
Having successfully vanquished an Emperor of the Sea, two exhausted pirates rested near a crumbling archway. The dust from the catastrophic clash with Big Mom continued to settle over the ruined masonry.
Leaning against a broken pillar, Sanji struck a match. Bringing the small flame to the end of a fresh cigarette, the cook inhaled deeply, letting the nicotine soothe his frayed nerves. His dark suit hung in ruins, and a nasty bruise colored his jawline.
Sitting cross-legged on a pile of rubble nearby, Zoro rested his arms on his knees. The swordsman breathed in slow, measured counts, regulating the fatigue burning through his muscles. Wado Ichimonji rested safely in its scabbard across his lap.
"You really need to work on your awareness, curly-brows," Zoro grunted, breaking the silence. "You nearly kicked me off the cliff twice during that fight."
Exhaling a cloud of gray smoke, Sanji rolled his eyes.
"My kicks were perfectly placed," the cook retorted smoothly. "It is not my fault you kept wandering into my line of fire like a blind, lost sheep. I told you to stick to the left side."
"I was on the left side," the swordsman argued, a familiar vein popping on his forehead. "You just don’t know the difference between left and right!"
"I am a chef," Sanji scoffed, tapping ash onto the floorboards. "My precision is flawless. You are the one who gets lost walking down a straight hallway."
Before the bickering could escalate into another brawl, a strange sensation washed over the ruined corridor.
Zoro stopped talking abruptly. The swordsman closed his single eye, raising his head toward the cracked stone ceiling.
Noticing the sudden shift in demeanor, Sanji paused, holding the cigarette away from his lips. The cook focused his own Observation Haki, stretching his spiritual perception upward through the thick layers of the fortress toward the summit.
"Oi," Zoro spoke quietly, keeping his gaze fixed on the ceiling. "Do you feel the same thing I am feeling up there?"
Taking another slow drag from his cigarette, Sanji exhaled a thick plume of smoke into the cold air.
"You mean the another presence on the rooftop?" the cook clarified, his tone serious.
Nodding slowly, the swordsman gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Yeah," Zoro confirmed, a slight frown creasing his face. "And now... that other presence is gone."
Sanji tapped the ash from his cigarette one final time.
"Leave it," the cook decided, turning away from the ceiling and looking down the dark hallway leading toward the Live Stage.
Zoro opened his eye, raising an eyebrow at the cook. "You aren’t worried?"
"Luffy will take care of Kaido," Sanji stated confidently, adjusting his ruined suit jacket. "Whatever that presence is, Luffy will take care of it. We have our own jobs to finish. We need to go down and take care of the rest of their underlings before the samurai get overwhelmed."
Pushing himself up from the rubble, Zoro stretched his aching shoulders. The logic was sound. Trusting the captain to handle the strongest enemy was the fundamental rule of their crew.
"Fine," the swordsman grunted, falling into step beside the cook. "Let’s go clear the trash."
Leaving the ruined archway behind, the two battered pirates walked side-by-side down the stairs, heading back into the heart of the warzone.
High above, the rooftop had transformed into a theater of the absurd.
Laughing hysterically, the towering, white-haired pirate bounced lightly on the stone floorboards. The ground beneath his feet did not crack or shatter. Instead, it warped and stretched like a trampoline, absorbing his weight and launching him back into the air with every step.
Watching the display, Kaido swung his heavy iron club.
"Stop laughing!" the Emperor roared.
The kanabo descended, aimed at the bouncing pirate’s head.
Instead of dodging or raising his Haki-coated arms to block, the captain simply stood still, maintaining his wide, cheerful grin.
The spiked iron club struck the pirate on top of his skull.
The impact did not crush his bones or send him flying across the roof. The ridiculous nature of the newly awakened Devil Fruit engaged instantly.
The pirate’s head flattened upon contact, conforming to the shape of the spiked club like a piece of soft dough. His eyes popped massively out of their sockets, extending a full foot past his face in a comically exaggerated display of shock.
Boi-oi-oing!
A cartoonish, springing sound echoed across the summit.
The flattened rubber head snapped back into its original shape, sending the heavy iron club rebounding upward. The return knocked the massive weapon out of the Emperor’s hands, launching the kanabo high into the night sky.
Standing weaponless, Kaido blinked in profound confusion. The interaction made no sense.
"What kind of power is that?" the King of the Beasts demanded, watching his club disappear into the clouds.
Grabbing his own stomach, the pirate laughed even harder, tears streaming from his eyes.
"This is my peak!" the captain cheered, bouncing from foot to foot. "This is Gear Five!"
Refusing to be mocked, the dragon Emperor shifted strategies. Opening his massive, scaly jaws, Kaido inhaled deeply, gathering a swirling vortex of intense heat deep within his throat.
Bolo Breath!
A superheated column of fire erupted across the roof, threatening to incinerate the bouncing pirate instantly.
Noticing the incoming flames, the captain did not panic. Reaching down, he dug his white-coated fingers into the solid stone floorboards of the roof.
Pulling upward, the pirate lifted a massive section of the masonry. The awakened power transferred his rubber properties to the environment. The solid stone stretched and flexed like a thick sheet of elastic rubber.
Holding the rubberized stone wall in front of him like a giant shield, the captain waited.
The superheated column of fire struck the makeshift shield. Instead of melting through the stone, the rubberized masonry stretched backward under the pressure, catching the flames like a baseball in a mitt.
Rebounding with elastic force, the wall snapped forward.
The column of fire reflected perfectly, shooting straight back toward the Emperor.
Caught off guard by his own returning attack, Kaido took the full force of the Bolo Breath to the chest. The massive explosion engulfed the ancient Zoan, scorching his azure scales and sending him tumbling backward across the roof.
Dropping the rubberized stone, the pirate laughed uproariously, slapping his knee in amusement.
Pushing himself up from the smoking rubble, frustration finally cracked the Emperor’s composed demeanor. The battle had devolved from a clash of kings into a farce.
Shifting into his colossal dragon form, Kaido lunged forward.
Snapping his giant jaws shut, the dragon Emperor swallowed the bouncing pirate, intending to end the nonsense by simply digesting the boy alive.
Darkness consumed the captain as he slid down the massive throat.
Landing in the stomach of the dragon, the pirate did not feel fear. A mischievous grin crossed his face. Biting his thumb, he blew a massive amount of air into his own muscles.
However, unlike Gear Fourth, the expansion did not stop at a reasonable size.
The awakened rubber stretched infinitely. The captain inflated like a massive, white balloon, growing larger and larger within the tight confines of the dragon’s stomach.
Outside on the roof, Kaido suddenly felt a pressure building in his midsection.
The dragon’s stomach expanded rapidly, bulging outward in a spherical shape. The volume of the inflated pirate forced the Emperor’s body to stretch into absurd proportions, making the beast resemble a bloated, floating parade balloon.
"What are you doing in there?!" Kaido roared, his voice muffled by his distorted throat.
Reaching out from inside the stomach, the pirate captain grabbed the walls of the dragon’s interior. Finding the esophagus, he launched himself upward like a compressed spring.
Shooting out of the dragon’s open mouth, the inflated pirate deflated rapidly, shrinking back to his normal size.
Landing lightly on the snout of the massive dragon, the captain reached down and grabbed the two long, flowing whiskers extending from Kaido’s face.
Leaping off the snout, the pirate pulled the whiskers with him.
The strength of the awakened form allowed the captain to swing the colossal dragon off the ground. Holding the whiskers tightly, the pirate began to spin his arms like a windmill, using the most terrifying creature in the world as a makeshift jump rope.
The azure body of the Emperor slapped repeatedly against the stone roof.
Wham! Wham! Wham!
Dust and pulverized rock flew in every direction as the dragon was battered senselessly against the ground. The absurdity of the maneuver left Kaido disoriented, his eyes swirling in dizzy, cartoonish spirals.
Releasing the whiskers, the captain launched the dizzy dragon across the summit.
Crashing heavily into a ruined watchtower, Kaido shifted back into his hybrid form, shaking his head to clear the dizziness. Breathing heavily, the Emperor glared across the roof at the laughing pirate.
Igniting the peak of his latent power, Kaido channeled his flames.
The fire did not merely coat his weapon or his scales. The flames erupted from his entire body, growing exponentially in size and intensity. The heat melted the stone roof instantly, turning the summit of the grounded island into a pool of glowing, bubbling magma.
Shifting into his final, most devastating form, the Emperor transformed into a colossal dragon composed of searing, superheated fire.
Flaming Drum Dragon!
The blazing construct towered over the fortress. The heat radiated outward, vaporizing the falling snow before it could even reach the roof. The ambient temperature spiked to apocalyptic levels, threatening to incinerate the entire island of Onigashima.
"I will melt you until nothing remains!" Kaido roared, his voice echoing from the fiery maw of the magma dragon.
Looking up at the colossal, burning threat, the captain stopped laughing.
The heat dried the sweat from his skin instantly.
Taking a deep breath, the pirate bit down on his thumb one final time.
Blowing an impossible amount of air into his arm, the awakened rubber expanded beyond any logical limitation.
The fist grew rapidly, dwarfing the size of the skull dome itself. The massive, inflated limb blotted out the starry sky above, casting a gigantic shadow over the island.
Coating the island-sized fist in advanced Armament Haki, the rubber turned a deep, gleaming black. Red and black lightning sparked across the knuckles, indicating infusion of Supreme King Haki.
Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun!
Floating high in the air above the flaming dragon, the captain aimed the colossal fist downward. He needed to strike the Emperor, driving the beast into the earth without destroying the island of Onigashima in the process.
"You think a big fist can stop me?!" Kaido bellowed, launching the Flaming Drum Dragon upward to meet the descending attack.
"I will smash you into the ground!" the captain yelled back, his voice carrying the will of a conqueror.
The two ultimate techniques collided in the sky above the fortress.
The island-sized fist met the flaming magma dragon head-on.
For an agonizing moment, neither attack gave way. The intense heat of the Emperor’s flames clashed against the impenetrable barrier of the pirate’s advanced Conqueror’s Haki. The invisible clash of spiritual pressure created a sphere of dark energy, blowing the heavy storm clouds away from the region.
Sparks of black lightning rained down upon the ocean below. Onigashima trembled violently, the bedrock cracking under the pressure of the collision overhead.
"I am the King of the Beasts!" Kaido roared, pushing his flames hotter, desperate to melt the descending fist.
"And I am the man who will become Pirate King!" Luffy roared back, pouring every final ounce of his soul into the downward strike.
The balance broke.
The overwhelming force of the Bajrang Gun proved too massive. The Haki barrier crushed the flaming dragon, extinguishing the superheated flames.
The colossal fist bypassed the fire, striking Kaido squarely on the snout.
The impact defied description.
The ancient Zoan durability shattered instantly under the weight of the island-sized punch. Kaido’s eyes rolled backward into his skull as consciousness fled his body.
The downward momentum carried the defeated Emperor plummeting back toward the island.
Crashing directly through the ruined summit of the skull dome, the King of the Beasts did not stop. The force drove his massive body through the top floors, tearing through the banquet hall, and smashing straight through the deep armories in the basement.
Hitting the solid foundation of the island, the impact pulverized the stone. Kaido’s unconscious body was driven hundreds of feet deep into the solid bedrock of Wano, burying the tyrant within the earth he had terrorized for two decades.
The massive, black fist slowly deflated in the sky.
Hovering in the cold night air, the white-haired captain breathed heavily. The joyful, bouncing energy faded rapidly. The toll of the awakened form finally caught up to his battered body. The brilliant white color drained from his hair and clothes, returning him to his normal appearance.
Closing his eyes, a small, satisfied smile rested on his bruised face.
Losing his grip on the air, the exhausted pirate fell silently toward the ruined roof of the grounded fortress, secure in the knowledge that the tyrant of Wano had finally been brought down.