I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

One morning, Nagasawa suddenly said, ”Tina, let’s go subjugate some pirates today.”

”Have you decided on the target?” Tina nodded, put down the documents in her hand, and asked.

”Yeah, the Beasts Pirates,” Nagasawa answered calmly.

”Huh?” Tina looked at Nagasawa in confusion. What was that? Had she heard wrong? Subjugate the Beasts Pirates? That was one of the Four Emperors’ pirate crews.

”Admiral Nagasawa, are you talking about the Beasts Pirates led by one of the Four Emperors, Kaido?” Tina asked.

”That’s right, Kaido’s pirate crew.” Nagasawa nodded in confirmation and took a sip from the teacup on the table.

Tina fell silent as she watched Nagasawa calmly drinking tea. Anyone who didn’t know better would think they were chatting about what they had for dinner last night. That was one of the Four Emperors—the ruler of the New World.

After thinking for a moment, Tina felt that it was probably because Nagasawa had not been in the Marines before and didn’t have a clear understanding of the strength of the Four Emperors.

So Tina searched through the files, placed the records of the Paramount War in front of Nagasawa, and said, ”Admiral Nagasawa, Tina thinks it’s necessary to explain the strength of a Four Emperor’s pirate crew.”

”Even though Marine Headquarters had prepared in advance, the Whitebeard Pirates still caused tremendous destruction to Marine Headquarters. Admiral Akainu was severely injured...” Tina spoke at length, but her main point was simple: the strength of a Four Emperor’s pirate crew was on an entirely different level from ordinary pirate crews.

”Everything you said is correct. However, I think the reason the Marines lost the Paramount War was because I wasn’t an Admiral back then. I wasn’t in the Marines at that time,” Nagasawa said.

Tina rubbed her forehead. Even she didn’t know how to respond to Nagasawa for a moment.

There was no questioning Nagasawa’s strength. The final slash he unleashed during his battle against Mihawk was unquestionably the strongest attack Tina had ever seen.

But because of the limits of her own strength, she only felt that Nagasawa was stronger than the other Admirals, not overwhelmingly stronger.

Nagasawa laughed loudly before saying, ”Tina, have you ever seen me boast? It’s just the Beasts Pirates. Don’t underestimate me.”

”Tina is confused. If even the Beasts Pirates are ’just that,’ then what in this world would make Admiral Nagasawa think it’s strong?” Tina complained.

Nagasawa thought seriously for a moment before answering, ”There doesn’t seem to be anything in this world.”

Tina was stunned by Nagasawa’s answer. But after thinking about it, she realized she had indeed never seen Nagasawa suffer any setbacks in battle. Even during his duel with Mihawk, it had always been Mihawk who was suppressed.

If someone had always been invincible, it was understandable for them to develop such a mindset.

”Fine then. May I ask what your battle plan is, Admiral Nagasawa?”

”The plan? Cut our way through,” Nagasawa answered.

Tina placed her right hand on her forehead, feeling utterly exhausted.

”Fleet Admiral Sakazuki won’t approve your operation,” Tina thought for a moment before saying.

”Approve? He’d have to know about it first. I’m not reporting it,” Nagasawa replied.

Tina felt even more exhausted. At this moment, she had the urge to simply give up. Fine, whatever. If they were going to fight Kaido, then so be it. With the few people they had, even if Nagasawa couldn’t win, he could still get them out safely.

Thus, Tina led Nagasawa’s small number of direct subordinates onto the warship, including Ain and Binz.

”Which pirate are we going to subjugate?” Binz asked curiously.

”Kaido, along with his Beasts Pirates,” Tina replied calmly.

”Oh, the Beasts Pirates... Wait, what? The Beasts Pirates!” Binz suddenly realized that the Beasts Pirates were one of the Four Emperors’ crews. Just the few of them were going to subjugate a Four Emperor? Even with an Admiral, that wasn’t enough.

After hearing Tina’s words, Ain also looked at her with a puzzled expression.

”That’s right, Kaido of the Four Emperors.” Looking at Ain and Binz now, Tina felt as though she was seeing herself from two hours earlier.

”Set sail! A tremendous achievement is waiting for us!” Nagasawa laughed loudly.

Although it made no difference whether Tina and the others came or not, Nagasawa intended to train them. The more high-level battles they experienced, the better it would be for their future development.

Tina said nothing and silently looked ahead.

Achievement? She just hoped she wouldn’t be demoted from Rear Admiral back to Commodore after this.

The reason Tina agreed to accompany Nagasawa was because they had previously spent time traveling around together, and she trusted Nagasawa’s strength.

If any other Admiral had proposed the insane idea of leading a handful of people to fight one of the Four Emperors, Tina would have ignored them completely.

The Beasts Pirates’ headquarters was Onigashima, near Wano Country.

As one of the Four Emperor pirate crews capable of dominating the New World and making the Marines wary, they were naturally very different from ordinary pirates.

As Nagasawa’s warship approached the waters around Wano Country, it was spotted by the Beasts Pirates.

”Lord Kaido, a Marine warship is heading this way. According to our observations, the White Horse Admiral who captured Doflamingo recently is aboard,” a Beasts Pirates member reported.

Kaido, who had been gulping down alcohol, stopped drinking upon hearing that a Marine Admiral had arrived.

”Besides that Admiral, who else is there?” Kaido asked as he set down his enormous sake gourd.

”Apart from White Horse Admiral, no other Admirals or Vice Admirals have been spotted for the time being,” the Beasts Pirates member answered.

Hearing that only Nagasawa had come, Kaido suddenly grabbed his huge sake gourd, gulped down several mouthfuls, and laughed.

”White Horse? He won’t be leaving here alive!”

If even an aging Whitebeard could rescue Ace while surrounded by three Admirals, then a single Admiral coming here was simply delivering himself to death.

”Let me handle him,” King suddenly said.

Kaido shook his head.

”This time, I’ll do it myself. That bastard destroyed my dream. I’ll crush him with my own hands.”

After all, he was an Admiral. Kaido decided to show him some respect by personally dealing with him.

As for Nagasawa, Kaido had almost no intelligence on him, because every pirate who had witnessed Nagasawa’s strength had either died or been imprisoned.

Kaido didn’t send his men to attack Nagasawa’s ship. Instead, he led his subordinates to appear before Nagasawa only after he had landed on Onigashima. He wanted to defeat Nagasawa personally in front of his crew.

The moment they landed, they saw Kaido. Tina, Ain, and the others immediately became vigilant.

Kaido looked like someone who was impossible to mess with. His physique was incredibly robust, and he stood over seven meters tall. Even in the world of One Piece, that height was extraordinary, especially since Kaido wasn’t a giant.

With such a massive body and the enormous kanabo in his hand, Kaido looked like the kind of person no one wanted to provoke.

”Marines, are you declaring war on me?” Kaido said rudely. His ferocious expression made Tina feel as though he would attack at any moment.

However, Tina’s mentality remained relatively calm because her superior, White Horse Admiral Fujiwara Nagasawa, was standing in front of them.

”That’s right. So, are you surrendering? I’ll consider whether to accept it,” Nagasawa replied just as bluntly.

Kaido said nothing further. He simply raised his enormous kanabo, far larger than Nagasawa himself, and smashed it toward him.

Driven by Kaido’s monstrous strength, that seemingly simple swing unleashed terrifying power. The shockwave alone left Tina and the others momentarily dazed.

Nagasawa, however, remained completely calm. He drew Ryujin Jakka and swung it upward, blocking Kaido’s kanabo.

Boom! Boom!!!

A deafening explosion erupted from the point where the two clashed. The shockwave generated by their collision forced many ordinary Marines and pirates to retreat.

”Hm?” Feeling the pressure coming from the other side, surprise appeared on Kaido’s face. Nagasawa’s strength was actually far greater than his.

Nagasawa exploded with power, instantly sending Kaido flying backward. Kaido slid dozens of meters across the ground before finally stopping.

”Admiral Nagasawa!”

The Marines became ecstatic when they saw Nagasawa send Kaido flying. This wasn’t some ordinary pirate—it was Kaido of the Beasts, one of the Four Emperors ruling the New World!

”Lord Kaido!”

The Beasts Pirates stared in shock as Kaido was blown away by Nagasawa, a man less than two meters tall.

However, they weren’t too worried. Compared to his strength, Kaido was most famous for his overwhelming durability and vitality.

Kaido had been sentenced to execution dozens of times, but every attempt had failed. Kaido himself remained largely unharmed, while the execution equipment was destroyed instead. Because of this, Kaido had earned the reputation of an immortal monster.

Just as expected, Kaido stood back up as though nothing had happened and charged toward Nagasawa once again.

Although he had suffered in their first exchange, Kaido didn’t think much of it. So what if Nagasawa was physically stronger? Battles weren’t decided by strength alone. Haki, Devil Fruit mastery, and physical durability all mattered.

So Kaido continued fighting him in close combat.

This time, Kaido coated his kanabo with Armament Haki. The powerful Haki flowed over the iron club as it violently tore through the air and smashed toward Nagasawa.

Since Kaido was using Armament Haki, Nagasawa naturally did the same. Chakra surged through his body, and in an instant, the edge of Ryujin Jakka was coated in jet-black Armament Haki.

Clang!

The two Haki-coated weapons collided. The tremendous force of the impact produced devastating shockwaves, causing explosions to erupt throughout the surrounding ground as the terrain became riddled with destruction.

Something astonished Kaido.

Even in terms of Armament Haki, he was still inferior to Nagasawa!

Ryujin Jakka, coated in Armament Haki, effortlessly sliced through Kaido’s Haki-covered body, leaving behind two bloody wounds.

Kaido’s expression grew serious.

Great strength could be natural talent, but possessing Armament Haki this powerful was enough to make Kaido treat him with genuine caution.

Seeing Nagasawa so easily break through Kaido’s defense, King frowned, a bad feeling arising in his heart.

As Nagasawa repeatedly forced Kaido into disadvantage, Tina couldn’t help but entertain a bold thought.

Could Admiral Nagasawa really defeat the Beasts Pirates?

Even someone as rational as Tina couldn’t help feeling excited.

If Nagasawa truly succeeded, it would be tremendous news for the Marines. Nagasawa would become the new Hero of the Marines.

The failure of the Paramount War had dealt an enormous blow to Marine morale. Under such circumstances, if Nagasawa managed to defeat one of the Four Emperors’ pirate crews while bringing along only a Rear Admiral and a handful of officers, the entire Marine organization would be inspired. It would be an unimaginable victory.

Marine Headquarters, with all its meticulous preparations, had failed during the Paramount War, yet Nagasawa, with only a tiny force, would have succeeded. His personal prestige would soar to an entirely new level.

Not only Nagasawa—even Marines like Tina would benefit from it. As the second-in-command aboard this warship, regardless of how much she actually contributed to defeating the Beasts Pirates, she would inevitably receive considerable credit.

Judging from Tina’s understanding of the World Government, they would certainly publicize their accomplishments extensively.

Of course, that was assuming Nagasawa truly defeated the Beasts Pirates.

Having lost in strength and again in Armament Haki, Kaido refused to believe it. His body transformed into a gigantic azure dragon that floated high in the sky.

Kaido then opened his enormous dragon jaws, unleashing a torrent of blazing crimson-gold flames toward Nagasawa.

”Playing with fire against me?” Nagasawa smiled.

”Reduce All Creation to Ashes, Ryujin Jakka!”

Brilliant crimson flames erupted from Ryujin Jakka’s blade, instantly transforming it into a flaming sword.

Nagasawa immediately swung at the incoming blazing breath, sending out a flame slash over thirty meters long toward Kaido.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Both attacks appeared incredibly ferocious and overwhelmingly aggressive, making even King the Wildfire feel ashamed by comparison.

But when the flaming slash collided with Kaido’s Breath Blast, Kaido’s attack was instantly overwhelmed. The flame slash rapidly advanced toward Kaido, and no matter how much additional fire he spewed, it was useless. In the end, it carved a massive charred wound across the dragon’s body.

At this moment, Kaido was furious.

He had lost in strength, lost in Armament Haki, and now even lost in fire.

Just what kind of Admiral was this?!

Kaido unleashed his terrifying Conqueror’s Haki. The overwhelming pressure crashed toward Nagasawa and the others like a tidal wave.

Tina and the others instantly felt their minds go blank, overwhelmed by the terrifying pressure. Some of the weaker Marines fainted on the spot.

But in the very next instant, they realized they were fine.

Nagasawa’s Conqueror’s Haki had met Kaido’s head-on. The two were now engaged in a direct clash of wills.

The collision between the two monstrously powerful Conqueror’s Haki created an enormous blast of wind, causing Nagasawa’s Justice Coat to flap violently while many of the Beasts Pirates instinctively narrowed their eyes.

Black-and-red lightning continuously flashed through the air. When someone looked up, they discovered that even the sky had been split open by a deep scar, as though heaven itself had been torn apart.

The earth cracked, the heavens split, and after only a few minutes of exchanging blows, it seemed as though the end of the world had arrived.