Chapter 586: Immortal Body
Next, Ian finally witnessed what Ace meant by an ironclad body.
Even Kizaru's laser, which could easily pierce through a human body, when it struck Kaido, exploded the moment it touched his skin. After the explosion, it only left a bit of scorched soot on Kaido's skin, unable to harm him at all.
The Ama no Murakumo Sword and the Ice Saber—Kizaru and Aokiji took turns attacking, slashing at Kaido with blades imbued with Haki, yet they could only leave shallow scratches on him.
Kaido, however, laughed wildly in excitement, continuously striking back at the two with his spiked club or fists. He seemed quite satisfied to have two Marine Admirals as his opponents.
Akainu's arms were severely injured, and at this point, he could only watch helplessly, unable to join the fight.
Seeing this, Garp also stepped in. He leaped up and punched Kaido directly in the face with a straight blow. However, he only managed to dent Kaido's face slightly, making him twist his head. Kaido wiped his face with a hand and immediately recovered.
"Hahahaha! You're here too, Garp!" Kaido laughed loudly, throwing a punch at Garp. Garp gritted his teeth and met it head-on with his own fist. The two fists collided, releasing a powerful burst of energy that blew away the surrounding dust.
But the result of this clash was Garp being sent flying, crashing like a cannonball into the nearby ice layer with a thunderous boom!
"Grandpa!!" Ace and Luffy, seeing Garp knocked away, cried out in alarm. They quickly ran out of the crowd and rushed toward where Garp had landed, and Ian couldn't even stop them.
The two brothers reached Garp's side. Luffy stretched out his arm and pulled him out of the bottomless pit. Garp coughed and struggled to his feet. Though he was unharmed, his right hand, which had clashed with Kaido, trembled uncontrollably.
"Damn it, this guy's strength seems stronger than before..." Garp muttered, looking at his shaking right hand.
Iron Fist Garp, unable to win even in a fistfight against Kaido—this scene, witnessed by many Marine soldiers, only deepened their terror.
By now, most of the pirates and Marine soldiers had retreated far away, not daring to get close. Whitebeard and Sengoku stood nearby. Seeing Garp's condition, Whitebeard turned to Sengoku and said, "This madman is here to seek death again. How about we join forces and drive him away!?"
"..." Sengoku glanced at Whitebeard, then at Kaido, who was fiercely battling Kizaru and Aokiji. Recalling the news from the World Government, he couldn't help but sigh.
He understood now. After the Blackbeard Pirates' attack on Mary Geoise and Kaido's sudden appearance, this war had completely deviated from his expectations. Continuing to fight the Whitebeard Pirates was pointless.
Though he didn't want to admit it, he knew the Marines had already lost. When Whitebeard was severely injured, they couldn't kill him. Now that Whitebeard had recovered, no one could kill him. The Marines' strategic goal had utterly failed...
Whitebeard likely realized this too, which was why he proposed joining forces to deal with Kaido—to give the Marines a dignified way to end this...
The Marines couldn't defeat the Whitebeard Pirates, and likewise, the Whitebeard Pirates couldn't defeat the Marines. Both sides had suffered heavy casualties. Ending the battle and quietly licking their wounds was the right course of action.
With that thought, Sengoku finally nodded...
Then, Whitebeard and Sengoku moved simultaneously. Sengoku thrust his palm toward Kaido, unleashing a powerful shockwave from his hand that slammed into Kaido's massive body.
Whitebeard swung his arm and threw a punch through the air at Kaido!
A cracking sound echoed. Where Whitebeard's punch landed, the atmosphere suddenly shattered, creating spiderweb-like cracks. Then, a powerful tremor struck Kaido from a distance!
The combined attack of Whitebeard and Sengoku finally worked! Kaido's body bent under Sengoku's shockwave, and then Whitebeard's tremor followed, penetrating his ironclad defense and directly affecting his internal organs.
Pfft! Kaido spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backward!
With a thunderous crash, the ground shook as his massive, heavy body hit it.
Seeing Kaido fall, both the pirates and the Marines couldn't help but cheer!
However, Whitebeard and Sengoku, who had launched the attack, wore grim expressions. They took no joy in Kaido's injury and fall. Both had fought Kaido many times before and knew well that such blows could wound him but could never kill him...
Sure enough, before the cheers of the pirates and Marines could fade, Kaido's body moved, and he got up as if nothing had happened.
Standing again, Kaido's maddening aura grew even stronger. He spread his arms and laughed heartily, roaring, "Well done! Well done! Whitebeard, Sengoku! Let's have a thrilling fight! Come on, kill me!!"
Ian could see that in just that short time, Kaido's internal injuries from earlier had already healed!
"Is this... the effect of an awakened Zoan ability user?" Ian said in disbelief. "But this recovery ability is way too insane, isn't it!?"
"Rumor has it that Kaido has an immortal body... I've finally seen it now!" Fujitora said admiringly.
"Captain, should we go in?" Enel asked Ian, licking his lips with excitement in his eyes. Clearly, Kaido had stirred his fighting spirit.
Ian thought for a moment and glanced at Marco and the others, who also looked eager. He nodded and said, "Alright, let's assist the Old Man and Sengoku!"
Fujitora understood Ian's intention. He thrust his staff sword into the ground, and a powerful wave of Observation Haki shot into the sky.
A massive meteor appeared in the sky, glowing with an eerie light, trailing a long fiery tail as it flew toward where Kaido stood.
At that moment, only Aokiji and Kizaru were within a few miles of Kaido's position, so Fujitora wasn't worried about friendly fire. He sent the meteor crashing down directly at Kaido.
The three fighters in the battle naturally noticed the meteor. Aokiji and Kizaru quickly jumped away, while Kaido laughed loudly and roared, "Interesting!" Then he punched the meteor head-on!
Damn it! Watching this, Ian cursed inwardly. This guy is truly insane! Punching a meteor!? Only he would think of that!
Boom! Kaido's fist collided with the meteor. At the point of impact, the meteor Fujitora summoned immediately cracked extensively, shattering under his punch. However, the meteor fragments continued their descent, engulfing Kaido's entire body!
The ground shook violently, like a massive bomb exploding. A fierce gale swept outward, and fragments of rock flew everywhere. A huge crater appeared at the impact site. Kaido was knocked down, buried at the bottom of the pit.
"Did it work?" Everyone stared intently at the meteor's landing point.
But at that moment, a rustling sound came. A tall figure stood up from the pile of rubble. Blood trickled from Kaido's mouth, but his expression remained as ferocious as ever. A large depression had formed on his shoulder blade, as if the bone had been crushed. Yet, even as he stood, the depression was slowly bulging and healing.
Fujitora's power could indeed break through his ironclad body and injure him, but such force wasn't enough to completely defeat him!
This was why the world recognized Kaido as the strongest in a one-on-one fight. Even if someone had the strength to harm Kaido, if they couldn't stop his recovery, no one could beat him!
When Ian was in Impel Down, he had seen those awakened Zoan jailer beasts with astonishing recovery abilities. But no matter how he compared, Ian felt that Kaido's recovery surpassed the scope of awakened Zoan abilities.
Since physical attacks were useless against Kaido, why not try energy attacks!
Ian placed his hand on Enel's shoulder and began absorbing his lightning power.
"You...!!" Enel felt his electricity being drained away by Ian continuously, shocked and confused. He started to say something, but Ian glared at him, and he immediately shut up.
As he absorbed more and more lightning power, Ian's Psychic Power rapidly replenished. With his other hand, he drew the Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade for its Final Release. The illusion of the Evil Eye Master appeared on his forehead again, and Ian began summoning thunderclouds above Kaido.
This time, the Final Thunderclap was even more powerful than the one Ian had summoned on Sabaody Archipelago. As Ian output his Psychic Power, he continuously drew from Enel for replenishment, nearly draining Enel dry of his lightning power!
The crackling thunderclouds, sparking with electrical discharges, drew everyone's attention. Kizaru and Aokiji realized what was happening and quickly retreated further.
When Enel was almost collapsing to the ground, Ian could no longer hold back. He swung his hand downward!
"Final Thunderclap!!!"
Perhaps due to the excess Psychic Power, the lightning underwent a qualitative change. A black bolt—a black lightning bolt—appeared abruptly in the sky. Its darkness seemed to absorb the surrounding light as it struck straight down at Kaido on the ground!
Boom! This thunderclap tore through the atmosphere, producing a deafening roar. Many weaker pirates and Marine soldiers fell to the ground in pain, clutching their ears, their eardrums seemingly ruptured!
Kaido, from the moment he stood up, had been subjected to Fujitora's powerful gravity, so he had nowhere to dodge this Final Thunderclap. He was struck directly...