I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

The terrifying spectacle of two top-tier Conqueror’s Haki users clashing shocked everyone present. Their clash of willpower alone was enough to cause considerable destruction to the surrounding area.

Nagasawa didn’t merely withstand Kaido’s Conqueror’s Haki. Step by step, he suppressed it until the pirates of the Beasts Pirates were directly subjected to Nagasawa’s overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki, so powerful that it left them breathless.

Facing Nagasawa’s Conqueror’s Haki head-on, King instantly felt as though a massive mountain had suddenly been placed upon his shoulders, causing the pressure on him to multiply.

Ain and the others were equally stunned. They had never imagined that Nagasawa’s Conqueror’s Haki would actually surpass that of one of the Four Emperors. It was simply unbelievable.

Seeing that Nagasawa possessed such terrifying Conqueror’s Haki, Kaido was deeply shaken.

He never expected that even in Conqueror’s Haki he would lose to Nagasawa. Kaido simply couldn’t understand how a Marine could possess Conqueror’s Haki of such magnitude.

Logically speaking, as someone serving on the side of order, a Marine shouldn’t even awaken Conqueror’s Haki. Sengoku was already considered an exception.

Yet not only did Nagasawa possess Conqueror’s Haki, it was even stronger than Kaido’s. Kaido was dumbfounded. Which one of them was actually one of the Four Emperors?

With his confidence somewhat shaken, Kaido once again opened his enormous mouth and unleashed countless wind blades toward Nagasawa, as though dozens of swordsmen had attacked simultaneously.

Nagasawa calmly swung his sword once, effortlessly dispersing every wind blade.

Seeing even his wind blades easily neutralized, Kaido returned to his human-beast form, abandoning the enormous azure dragon form.

At this moment, Kaido no longer dared underestimate Nagasawa in the slightest. In his eyes, Nagasawa had become the Marines’ secret weapon, existing on a completely different level from ordinary Admirals.

Therefore, Kaido decided to use his true strength and fight Nagasawa with everything he had.

Kaido tightly gripped his massive kanabo with his right arm. His muscles bulged as every ounce of strength in his body poured into the weapon.

Next, Kaido activated his Devil Fruit ability, wrapping the kanabo in brilliant purple lightning, making the already ferocious weapon even more intimidating.

Finally, Kaido coated the kanabo with Conqueror’s Haki. The club, already dyed purple by the lightning, gained streaks of black and crimson as it smashed toward Nagasawa at astonishing speed.

In reality, all of these actions happened in an instant. To Tina and the others, Kaido had only just returned to his human form before immediately swinging his kanabo at Nagasawa.

This was Kaido’s signature technique—

Thunder Bagua!

Not only was this move incredibly powerful, but it was also unbelievably fast, completely lacking the sluggishness one would expect from such a massive club. Even Luffy, who had mastered Future Sight through Observation Haki, had been unable to evade it.

As Kaido swung his kanabo, the air itself seemed to shatter. Violent shockwaves erupted as the purple lightning surrounding the weapon blazed brilliantly, as though intending to devour everything.

”It’s Lord Kaido’s Thunder Bagua!”

The pirates present were all elites of the Beasts Pirates and immediately recognized Kaido’s signature technique.

”Let’s see how this Marine handles this! Lord Kaido’s Thunder Bagua isn’t on the same level as those previous attacks!”

The Beasts Pirates remained absolutely confident in their captain.

Unlike the others, however, the expression hidden beneath King’s mask remained solemn.

He wasn’t nearly as optimistic.

Thunder Bagua was so powerful because it combined Kaido’s monstrous physique, his Devil Fruit, and his overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki.

Yet judging from Nagasawa’s performance so far, he excelled in every single one of those areas and had repeatedly forced Kaido into disadvantage.

King refused to believe someone with such powerful Conqueror’s Haki wouldn’t know how to coat attacks with it. He wasn’t foolish enough to underestimate his opponent.

Just as King expected, the moment Kaido swung his club, Nagasawa also raised his sword to meet it.

Black-and-crimson Conqueror’s Haki wrapped around Ryujin Jakka, whose blade was already blazing with scarlet flames, and collided head-on with Kaido’s kanabo.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

A tremendous explosion erupted.

The instant their weapons collided, an overwhelming shockwave spread outward from the point of impact, forcing both Marines and pirates to retreat under its immense pressure.

The violent collision of energy rapidly shattered the ground beneath them, instantly creating an enormous crater.

Nagasawa had likewise coated his weapon with Conqueror’s Haki to confront Kaido’s Thunder Bagua.

Feeling the tremendous pressure coming from Nagasawa, Kaido’s face twisted.

Purple lightning burst from Kaido’s kanabo as he exerted even more force, trying to overwhelm Nagasawa.

In response, Ryujin Jakka erupted with even more brilliant flames.

In an instant, the blazing sword once again suppressed Kaido’s kanabo, forcing him downward with overwhelming strength.

The ground beneath Kaido collapsed even faster.

Standing over seven meters tall, Kaido was now forced so deeply into the earth that he could only look upward at Nagasawa, as though he were about to be buried alive.

With no other choice, Kaido clenched his left fist, coated it in Armament Haki, and punched toward Nagasawa, hoping to break the unfavorable deadlock.

However, Nagasawa casually caught Kaido’s punch with his left hand, gripping it tightly and completely immobilizing Kaido’s arm.

At this point, Kaido genuinely suspected Nagasawa was some kind of monster disguised as a human.

How could anyone possess such monstrous strength?

Even giants weren’t this powerful.

”Admiral Nagasawa, watch out!” Tina suddenly shouted.

King, who had been observing the battle from the side, had somehow appeared directly above Nagasawa.

Holding his enormous katana overhead, flames engulfed the blade.

Whoosh!!

King swung downward with all his might.

A gigantic flaming dragon burst forth, roaring toward Nagasawa with its jaws wide open, seemingly intent on burning him into nothingness.

Tina immediately activated her Devil Fruit ability, creating an iron rod and launching it toward King.

But it was already too late.

The flaming dragon had already been released.

Tina’s attack only managed to leave a minor wound on King.

At this moment, Tina’s heart was filled with anxiety.

For the first time, the usually confident Marine felt just how weak she truly was.

King had already launched his attack before she even noticed, and she lacked the strength to stop it for Nagasawa.

In truth, as a Rear Admiral, Tina was already exceptionally capable.

But the opponent before her was King, the strongest member of the Beasts Pirates besides Kaido—the leader of the Three All-Stars.

Not to mention Tina—even many capable Vice Admirals from Headquarters would struggle against him. This was the second strongest fighter of a Four Emperor’s crew.

”Admiral Nagasawa!”

Ain and Binz also looked at Nagasawa with worried expressions.

Binz activated his Devil Fruit ability, hoping to shield Nagasawa with vines.

But the difference in strength was simply too great.

His vines could stop ordinary cannon fire and flames, yet they couldn’t withstand King’s magma-like inferno.

They were burned to ashes almost instantly.

Ain could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded.

Seeing this scene, the Beasts Pirates, who had been worried after watching Kaido get suppressed, immediately erupted into cheers.

”Lord King! Burn that Marine to death!”

None of them thought there was anything dishonorable about King’s sneak attack.

They were pirates.

Being foolish enough to insist on a fair one-on-one fight against the Marines would be the real stupidity.

”So you’re resorting to sneak attacks now?”

What happened next stunned everyone.

Nagasawa suddenly became even stronger.

With one tremendous slash, he blasted Kaido away, carving an enormous bloody wound across his body.

Immediately afterward, Nagasawa shot toward the incoming flaming dragon at incredible speed.

His powerful sword energy split the flaming dragon apart before continuing onward and severing one of King’s wings.

King, who had been flying through the air, crashed heavily onto the ground.

The sudden turn of events left everyone present frozen.

Tina stared blankly at the completely unharmed Nagasawa before quickly breaking into a smile.

She had no idea how things had suddenly turned out this way.

But the result was what mattered.

Nagasawa was safe.

”Impossible... How did this happen?”

The Beasts Pirates stared in disbelief.

Wasn’t King supposed to have successfully landed his sneak attack?

How had things suddenly become like this?

It made no sense.

Kaido also looked at Nagasawa in shock.

Just moments ago, he had clearly felt Nagasawa’s strength suddenly increase for no apparent reason, to the point where Kaido couldn’t even resist.

”I originally wanted to fight you using roughly equal strength.”

”But all I got in return was a dishonorable sneak attack.”

”So I’m done pretending.”

”I’m going to fight seriously now.”

That was what Nagasawa said.

Originally, Nagasawa had deliberately held back because he wanted to enjoy the fight.

He hadn’t expected King to resort to such a shameless sneak attack.

Since that was the case, he no longer intended to hold back.

”You... weren’t even using your full strength?” Kaido stared at Nagasawa in disbelief.

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible!

Someone capable of suppressing Kaido so thoroughly wasn’t even fighting at full power?

Was his full strength enough to destroy the entire world?

Having already been shocked by Nagasawa countless times, Tina had become the calmest person present.

She felt that unless Nagasawa defected from the Marines, nothing else could truly shock her anymore.

Of course, that was impossible.

Although Nagasawa often slacked off, openly defied the Fleet Admiral, and constantly cursed the Celestial Dragons, he genuinely possessed a strong sense of justice.

He was a righteous Marine.

Those very qualities were why Tina continued following him.

Otherwise, with Nagasawa’s constant insubordination and unauthorized actions, she would have left long ago.

”Great Prestige: Thunder Bagua!”

Unwilling to accept defeat, Kaido gripped his kanabo with both hands, poured every ounce of strength into it once more, and smashed it toward Nagasawa.

This was the enhanced version of Thunder Bagua.

Kaido refused to believe even this wouldn’t be enough.

Unfortunately, Nagasawa no longer had any interest in continuing the game.

Nagasawa released Ryujin Jakka’s Bankai.

The blazing flames surrounding the blade instantly disappeared, all of them compressed into the sword itself.

The flames were compressed to such an unimaginable degree that Ryujin Jakka now looked like a charred black blade.

”Zanka no Tachi, East: Rising Sun Blade!”

Breathing Style and Chakra erupted simultaneously.

Nagasawa’s speed surged.

Whoosh!

He instantly appeared before Kaido and swung his Bankai blade.

Before Kaido’s kanabo could even complete its swing, he suddenly felt his upper and lower body lose contact.

Unable to move, Kaido lowered his gaze.

He realized that Nagasawa had cut him cleanly in half at the waist.

Bang!

The enormous kanabo crashed onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

Immediately afterward, Kaido’s gigantic body collapsed as well, striking the earth with a deafening crash.

Kaido was dead.

His death was only natural.

Just now, Nagasawa had unleashed the full eighty percent power of the Captain-Commander template while simultaneously using Chakra and Breathing Style.

There was no way Kaido could have survived.

”Lord Kaido!”

The Beasts Pirates stared in disbelief.

The Kaido who had always seemed like an immortal god of war had fallen beneath his enemy’s blade.

From beginning to end, the battle had lasted barely ten minutes.

Perhaps to civilians and the Marines, Kaido was an unforgivable villain.

But to his own subordinates, he had treated them well.

Thus, many members of the Beasts Pirates charged furiously toward Nagasawa, including the heavily wounded King.

Unfortunately, they weren’t protagonists.

No matter how furious they were, they couldn’t continuously rise stronger after every defeat.

Each time Nagasawa swung his sword, large numbers of pirates fell.

After only three swings, not a single pirate remained standing.

Looking at Kaido’s fallen body and the defeated Beasts Pirates, Tina felt dazed.

They had really succeeded.

With Nagasawa alone, they had annihilated the Beasts Pirates.

Tina didn’t believe she, Ain, or the others had played any significant role.

Their greatest contribution had probably been sailing Nagasawa here.

After all, Nagasawa couldn’t pilot a warship himself.

Even though she had considered the possibility beforehand, witnessing it with her own eyes still felt like a dream.

This was one of the Four Emperors’ pirate crews.

Back then, Whitebeard’s crew alone had forced Marine Headquarters into an extremely difficult battle, ultimately leaving the Marines utterly humiliated.

Yet today...

Nagasawa had practically defeated an entire Four Emperor’s crew by himself.

Just how strong are you, Admiral Nagasawa...?

Tina sighed inwardly.

Even Tina, who had followed Nagasawa all this time, reacted this way.

The others were even more speechless from shock.

Ain opened her mouth, wanting to say something, yet no words came out.

She had never expected her first official pirate subjugation under Nagasawa to be this unbelievable.

They had actually killed Kaido of the Four Emperors.

It was simply too overwhelming.

It was Tina who finally snapped everyone out of their daze.

”Bring Kaido’s body onto the ship.”

”Check for survivors.”

”If anyone is still alive, bring them aboard as well.”

If it had been ordinary pirates, killing them would have been the end of it.

But Kaido was one of the Four Emperors.

He was also the first Four Emperor ever killed by the Marines.

That alone gave his death extraordinary significance.

Even if he was dead, his body had to be brought back.

As for survivors, Tina noticed that Nagasawa hadn’t struck too ruthlessly at the end.

Perhaps some had managed to survive.

Following Tina’s orders, the Marines immediately began cleaning up the battlefield.

The Beasts Pirates truly lived up to being Zoan users.

Their vitality was astonishing.

Even King hadn’t died.

Many others had also survived, though they were gravely injured.

Of course, that was also because Nagasawa had shown mercy at the end.

If he had continued using Bankai, every one of them would have been reduced to black ash.

There would have been no survivors.

Finally, Nagasawa and the others left Onigashima with Kaido’s corpse and several surviving members of the Beasts Pirates, returning to Marine Headquarters.

When Nagasawa’s group arrived at Marine Headquarters carrying Kaido’s body along with the captured members of the Beasts Pirates, the entire Headquarters erupted into chaos.

The news that Kaido had been killed, and that King along with a large number of Beasts Pirates members had been captured, spread rapidly throughout Marine Headquarters—

and then across the entire world.

Happy National Day, everyone. I originally planned to finish the bonus Chapter today, but there were too many things to do after returning to my hometown, so I was too busy to write it.