Next Bonus, 100!!
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In Wano, when had Kaido changed his tactics against Oden? It was when he had realized he might lose.
Oden's two sword strikes had terrified him.
And what had he done then?
Oden had used his "Togen Totsuka" to seriously injure Kaido. He had pressed his advantage, warning Kaido to never set foot in Wano again. And then, one of Kaido's subordinates had taken Momonosuke hostage, forcing Oden to stop.
Oden had hesitated.
And Kaido had attacked him from behind, striking him in the back of the head.
Oden had fallen.
Although Kaido had later apologized for his subordinate's trick, he had still chosen to kill Oden. Crocodile tears.
When it came down to it, Kaido's bottom line was flexible. As long as he won in the end, he would do whatever it took.
He could always just bow and apologize later.
It was the Wano way.
Meticulous in minor etiquette, but lacking in major righteousness. Obsessed with trivial details, but devoid of honor.
Didn't that perfectly describe Kaido, Oden, Yamato, and the other people of Wano?
And now, faced with an increasingly powerful Jin, Kaido had once again chosen to "gang up" on him, to use the power of Hachinosu.
Why not just have his own crew help him?
Because that would be different. If he ganged up on Jin with his own crew, his image would be shattered. Even if he won, it would be a hollow victory.
But if he came to Hachinosu, and a third party, the pirates of Hachinosu, attacked on their own initiative... that had nothing to do with him.
It was Kaido's own brand of cunning.
Jin had nothing to say.
He didn't care what Kaido's scheme was. He was looking for a strong opponent. The number of enemies didn't faze him.
The air was filled with the sound of bullets and cannonballs.
He used his Observation Haki to dodge them all.
"GET HIM! KILL HIM!" Ochoku hissed, his forked tongue flicking out. He was a combination of his two sons, Caribou and Coribou, ugly and sleazy. He commanded his men, feeling no shame at ganging up on Jin, a cold, sinister smile on his face.
"KILL!"
The pirates swarmed forward. The crew's officers also joined the fray. Three of them were Devil Fruit users.
The first was a burly man with the Paramecia Large-Large Fruit. He had incredible strength, and his weapon was a massive iron hammer. He swung it at Jin.
The second had the Paramecia Island-Island Fruit. He could merge with the island, controlling the ground itself. He was hidden underground, causing the earth to squeeze in on Jin.
And the third...
She was an old, unattractive woman, dressed in gaudy clothes, a sinister look in her eyes. She was the user of the Zoan-type, Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Nine-Tailed Fox. Her eyes seemed to glow, creating a colorful vortex that drew in the desires of the heart, creating a powerful illusion.
Jin was surrounded.
And then, Ochoku made his move. He moved with a light, silent step, appearing behind Jin. His weapon was a long sword. He brought it down in a vicious slash, aiming for Jin's back.
A merciless sneak attack.
He was going for the kill.
Jin's senses were sharp. He felt the power of the blow, kicked the giant hammer away, and moved several meters to the side. He dodged the blade and, as he landed, he stomped the ground, shattering it. A figure below let out a cry of pain.
An attack imbued with Conqueror's Haki... the destructive power was too great. Even one of Ochoku's top officers was killed in a single blow.
Ochoku charged after him, but Jin ignored him. He transformed into a bolt of lightning and appeared in front of the nine-tailed fox woman.
She was horrified. She tried to use her illusion on him, but she had underestimated his willpower.
Jin threw a punch.
The woman tried to block.
BOOM!
A spray of blood, and half of her body was blown apart.
"GAAAAAH!" she screamed, stumbling backward.
Jin didn't let her escape.
He unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning.
It spread out in an instant.
The entire area was filled with a brilliant, crackling light.
Blue chains of lightning shot out from Jin, striking every pirate.
Each bolt was as thick as an arm, the ground scorching where it struck.
"GAAAAAH!"
The pirates all screamed as they were electrocuted.
Ochoku's face changed. He coated his body in Armament Haki.
The lightning was terrifying. A single arc brushed past him, and his sleeve was turned to ash.
When the light subsided, he looked around. All of his men were on the ground, their bodies charred, smoke rising from their mouths and hair.
The three officers... they were gone. Turned to ash.
Ochoku was horrified.
This man... he was a monster.
He had no thought of avenging his men.
He turned and ran.
In that, Caribou was just like him.
Ochoku had once been a member of the Rocks Pirates, but he had been on the weaker side. His real strength was his cunning.
Jin didn't chase him.
Because Kaido had appeared.
"Ragnarok!"
Kaido had seized the opportunity. He closed the distance with incredible speed, his hands gripping Hassaikai, and he unleashed his full power.
He wasn't surprised that Ochoku and his men had been defeated.
All he had needed was a moment to catch his breath. It didn't seem like much, but it could change the tide of the battle.
He poured all of his strength, his Haki, his fruit, into the black kanabo.
Just like that time...
The sneak attack on Oden.
Forward, without hesitation.
A single blow to decide the battle.
His honor on the line.
The Hassaikai was now terrifyingly powerful. All of its power was focused inward, a dark light that seemed to tear a rift in the sky.
The immense Haki formed an invisible "domain," and it seemed as if all paths of retreat were cut off.
The fatal blow came crashing down.
Unavoidable.
The ultimate danger.
A desperate situation.
But in the face of this crisis, Jin's mind was incredibly calm. Only the adrenaline was pumping.
He could hear his own heart, pounding like a drum, like a boiler about to explode. His whole body was in a peak state.
Breaking the limit.
Overload.
The human body has a "limiter."
The limit that athletes strive for...
It was a momentary breakthrough, in the face of crisis and death, of one's existing physical constitution, speed, strength...
In an instant, the release of one's ultimate power.
In his early days, when he was still weak, Jin had often used this method to break through his limits, to squeeze out his potential, to become stronger.
But as he had grown stronger, this state had become rarer and rarer. It was difficult to enter this realm again.
After his evolutions, his stats had been greatly enhanced. Most of his enemies were defeated before they could even put up a real fight.
That's why Jin believed that even after his third evolution, his body still hadn't reached its peak state.
He had fought Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Loki, all in pursuit of this state, this state on the brink of death.
Jin's blood was pumping, his skin was red, steam was rising from his body, and a an endless wellspring of power was erupting from within him.
Hassaikai fell like a mountain. In Jin's eyes, time seemed to slow.
He threw a punch. It seemed slow, but it was incredibly fast.
It struck the tip of the kanabo.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The two forces, condensed to their absolute limit, exploded. It was like a nuclear bomb, a massive mushroom cloud rising into the sky.
The sky, the earth, the sea—they all trembled.
The shockwave from the explosion was a wave of destruction, destroying the town, shattering the skull mountain, pulverizing the trees and buildings.
Countless people were sent flying. Those who were close to the battle were instantly vaporized, not even a trace of them left behind.
Death spread across the island, and a thick cloud of dust enveloped everything.
"Terrifying...!" Ochoku and his men cried out in fear.
Through the dust...
Kaido's Hassaikai was torn from his grasp. His massive body was thrown backward, blood spraying from his nose and mouth.
His arms were broken, his skin torn, the red flesh and bone visible beneath.
An excruciating pain washed over him.
His face was contorted in agony.
But he didn't seem to notice.
"Impossible!" he roared at the sky, his voice filled with disbelief.
Even more difficult to accept than defeat... was that he had seen it in Jin. That state on the brink of death, that breakthrough of the limit, that explosion of power.
That "world of death" that Kaido had always been chasing... Jin had seen it.
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