That's right.
In order to end the battle as quickly as possible, Kaido had been the one taking the initiative throughout his fight with Renji.
Although Renji's slightly inferior strength forced him into a defensive style that relied on counterattacks, that wasn't how it looked to outsiders.
To everyone watching it seemed as though Kaido was the one challenging Renji.
"Now this is getting interesting."
After thinking for a moment, Sengoku looked toward the battlefield where Renji and Kaido were fighting and couldn't help but smile.
"Kaido's being played."
On the Big Mom Pirates' ship, Big Mom stared at Kaido and Renji with disbelief.
"What exactly are you doing?"
Even she couldn't understand it.
Renji had clearly been the one to forcibly interfere in the captain's battle between Kaido and Whitebeard.
Yet now it looked as though Kaido had taken the initiative to seek trouble with Renji.
Aboard the Red Hair Pirates' ship, Shanks and Mihawk fell silent.
Neither said a word.
"Perhaps..."
At that moment, Mihawk suddenly spoke.
When he remained silent, no one noticed him.
But when he opened his mouth, his words immediately drew attention.
"Renji might actually win this."
Shanks looked at Mihawk in confusion.
"And why do you think that?"
"Kaido may be stronger, but he's too impatient."
Mihawk didn't hide his thoughts.
He calmly explained his reasoning.
"Based on what we've seen so far, Kaido is indeed somewhat stronger than Renji."
"But the gap isn't large."
"In that case, pure strength is no longer the deciding factor."
"Mental state and external influences will determine the outcome of this battle."
"Come on!"
Feeling Kaido's growing urgency, Renji found it somewhat amusing.
At the same time, he saw an opportunity.
An opportunity to win.
"Glint-Glint..."
"Eight-Directional Han Sword."
He spoke calmly.
The power of the Glint-Glint Fruit activated.
A sword of light was drawn from his hand.
[You picked up a Devil Fruit Growth Experience!]
[You picked up an Armament Haki Insight!]
CLANG!
Sword and kanabo collided once more.
The battle between Renji and Kaido entered another stalemate.
"Tch..."
Kaido frowned slightly.
"You little brat..."
His face showed traces of anger.
But deep down, he was utterly shocked.
It wasn't as if Kaido didn't understand that one had to remain calm when fighting an opponent of the same level.
The problem was that Renji's strength was simply too unbelievable.
He had attempted suicide countless times.
Over the years, he had encountered many people capable of forcing him to fight seriously.
Yet never not even once had he imagined that a man in his twenties could push him this far.
"Die!"
The lightning surrounding Kaido gradually faded.
In its place, blazing flames wrapped around his body.
"Again!"
[You picked up Strength!]
[You picked up a Conqueror's Haki Insight!]
Renji happily collected the attributes.
At the same time, his attacks never stopped.
Slashes.
Thrusts.
Sweeping sword strikes.
Every technique a swordsman could employ flowed endlessly from Renji's hands.
Again and again, they collided with Kaido.
[You picked up a Devil Fruit Growth Experience!]
[You picked up an Armament Haki Insight!]
"Flaming Dragon Torch: Rising Dragon, Flame Bagua!"
At that moment, a colossal flaming dragon began taking shape around Kaido's body.
His Conqueror's Haki was pushed to its absolute limit.
As he swung his kanabo, the fire dragon erupted from his body and charged directly toward Renji.
"Tremor: Shatter!"
Renji refused to back down.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit condensed around his body before gathering entirely within his sword.
Countless cracks spread across the blade.
With a single swing he actually severed the flaming dragon's head.
[You picked up Strength!]
[You picked up a Conqueror's Haki Insight!]
The two figures collided once more in the sky.
The shockwaves from their clash alone were enough to tear apart the ocean below.
A stray bolt of lightning.
A fragment of flame.
Either one was enough to alter the sea itself.
The cracks created by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit raised towering waves that reached toward the heavens.
At this moment, everyone finally witnessed what true top-tier power looked like.
The highest level of strength in the world.
"Impossible!"
Kaido exploded with fury.
As he stared at Renji, genuine anger erupted from within him.
Rage?
Of course Kaido was furious.
First, Renji was only in his twenties. Kaido was one of the legends of the previous era, yet he was fighting a youngster to a standstill. How could that not infuriate him?
Second, Whitebeard had somehow found a successor of this caliber.
Once the Whitebeard Pirates fully recovered, what future would there be for him?
As these thoughts piled up, the irritation and anger he had originally displayed on purpose gradually became genuine.
Gripping his kanabo tightly, Kaido finally began to lose his composure.
"Great Mighty Virtue: Thunder Bagua!"
The flames around his body instantly vanished.
Lightning once again surged across his form.
This time, however, his attack did not draw thunder from the heavens.
At first glance, it looked like a calmer, weaker version of Thunder Bagua.
The reality was the exact opposite.
This was the purest form of Thunder Bagua.
It could even be considered an evolved version of the technique.
Kaido compressed every ounce of lightning within his body into a single strike.
Its power surpassed the ordinary Thunder Bagua by an entire level.
"So much pressure..."
Renji stared at Kaido.
Although the visual spectacle was far less impressive than before, the aura and danger emanating from Kaido were several times greater.
A trace of seriousness appeared on Renji's face.
The awakened state of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit activated.
Resonance Mode.
At that moment, Renji absorbed every vibration in the surrounding area into his body.
Like drawing silk from a cocoon, he gathered all those vibrations and concentrated them at the tip of his sword.
"Combined Technique."
"Electromagnetic Vibration."
Light was a manifestation of electromagnetic energy.
Electromagnetism itself existed on a level as small as atoms.
Ever since obtaining the Glint-Glint Fruit, Renji had wondered how to maximize its potential.
Surely it couldn't be reduced to nothing more than a transportation ability.
That line of thinking had eventually led to the technique before him.
Using electromagnetic forces to generate vibrations.
Using those vibrations to trigger electromagnetic explosions.
Combining the penetrating power of lasers with the widespread destructive force of tremors.
That was the combined technique of the Glint-Glint Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Electromagnetic Vibration.
Unfortunately, Renji hadn't been able to achieve it before.
The reason was simple.
His understanding of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit hadn't been deep enough.
He couldn't make fundamental particles like photons and atoms vibrate.
The awakening of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit had completely solved that problem.
Resonance.
That was the key that transformed the impossible into reality.
As Renji spoke the name of the technique, a beam of light extended from his Eight-Directional Han Sword.
Faintly, jagged patterns could even be seen running along the laser itself.
BOOM!
Kaido's kanabo collided directly with Renji's Eight-Directional Han Sword.
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