Are we all invisible here or what?
Everyone's faces darkened, looking extremely ugly.
Sukiyaki's heart leapt into his throat. He was so tense his insides knotted up.
"That idiot Oden... he is not seriously going to agree, is he?!"
"Even if I've severed ties with him as father and son, with this many people watching, surely he wouldn't..."
But things did not go the way he hoped.
Oden's chest rose and fell violently, his breathing rough as he said,
"Hey if you really do win this duel, then I'll join you."
If he joined them, then he would be able to challenge Ares and Kaido whenever he wanted, and even come into contact with more powerful fighters from overseas, letting him grow stronger.
"Worororo!" Kaido grinned. "Relax, we're not going to lose. We'll show you all our strength. As for Wano if anyone dares covet it, I'll smash them to pieces with my fists!"
"Oden-sama!"
"Oden-sama!"
Kin'emon, Raizo, Izou, and Kikunojo all hurried to Oden's side and helped him up.
Kaido then turned toward Sukiyaki and swaggered,
"We won the first round. Are you ready for what comes next when you lose?"
"Do not get ahead of yourself! You've only won one round. This isn't over yet!" Sukiyaki snapped back with a black expression.
He shifted his gaze to Shimotsuki Yasuie. Yasuie answered him with a firm look, then stepped onto the field.
When Sukiyaki saw Oden being supported by Kin'emon and Raizo, irritation surged through him again. He kept a straight face, but inwardly cursed,
"That idiot Oden... he really does not understand my feelings as his father at all."
"How did I end up with such a rebellious son!?"
Even though anger burned hot inside him and he wanted nothing more than to teach Oden a lesson, in a setting like this, he could only force it down and maintain the dignity and face of Wano's shogun.
Meanwhile, everyone beside Ares was cheering as if welcoming home a triumphant general.
Slarda laughed.
"Kaido, well done! You got us the first win!"
Ashura Doji's face lit up with excitement.
"As long as we win two more matches, the duel is ours!"
King looked on with envy.
"When I grow up, I'm going to bring honor and cheers to the War God Pirates too!"
Whitebeard laughed.
"Gurarara Kaido really is your capable right-hand man, Ares. If you win this duel, Oden will join you too. A powerful samurai like that joining your side... I'm honestly jealous."
That came straight from the heart.
Someone with the disposition of a king, immense strength, and still so young...
His future was limitless.
Oden was definitely going to become Ares's right-hand man in the future. How could Whitebeard not be envious?
Looking at a samurai with such enormous potential, he even found himself wanting to take the man in as one of his own "sons."
Kaido's eyes were full of admiration as he grinned.
"Worororo if Oden had been forged by the sea already, then maybe I really wouldn't have been his match."
"When he matures, he'll definitely become one of the greatest swordsmen on the seas."
At the mention of swordsmen, Ares could not help but think of the title of World's Strongest Swordsman.
With Oden's talent, becoming the strongest swordsman in the world was far from impossible.
Maybe later he should give him some special training.
Perhaps teach Oden the swordsmanship of Golden Lion Shiki?
They were both dual-sword great swordsmen, after all. It would surely give Oden some new insight.
Chinjao's expression sharpened.
"This round is mine. I won't give them any chance at all."
"Go on. We'll wait for you to win this one, and then we'll celebrate together afterward," Ares said with an easy smile.
He had absolute confidence in Chinjao's strength.
Without the Yamata no Orochi form, he might have had some concerns.
Whitebeard's eyes lit up.
"Gurarara Chinjao the Drill's name carries real weight on the sea. I'm sure he'll win."
In terms of age, Chinjao was even older than Whitebeard. He had roamed the seas for many years and made quite a name for himself.
Naturally, his strength was no joke.
Ivankov immediately swapped the name in the chant to Chinjao and began waving a flag and cheering for him.
On the field, Shimotsuki Yasuie was thin and wiry, with a wild blue pompadour-like hairstyle that looked as though he rarely ever trimmed it.
Otherwise, he probably would have worn the same close-cut style as Ushimaru and Zoro, making him look even more like a member of the Shimotsuki family.
His appearance was... very distinctive, on a level that could rival Kanjuro's.
"Shimotsuki Yasuie of the Shimotsuki family," he introduced himself.
Chinjao rolled his wrists, his joints cracking.
"Samurai, come at me. Let's end this quickly so we can start the celebration feast and drink our fill!"
Swish!
A flash of cold light.
A dazzling flying slash burst from Yasuie's blade and shot straight toward Chinjao.
"Hasshoken: Martial Head!"
The drill on top of Chinjao's head turned black in an instant. He thrust forward with it and shattered the incoming slash on the spot.
Right behind the shattered attack, Yasuie came in with both hands gripping his sword and brought it down in a leaping overhead strike.
Chinjao tipped his head up and blocked the glittering blade with the drill point, sparks bursting wildly at the point of impact.
"Samurai, have a taste of the power of the Happo Navy!!"
His thick arm turned black in an instant as he threw out a Hasshoken punch. The moment the fist landed, circles of ripples spread outward from the point of impact.
Yasuie sprang backward to evade it, then slashed out several flying cuts in succession, only for Chinjao to smash every single one apart with his fists.
"The people around Ares... every one of them has terrifying strength..." Yasuie thought grimly.
Then his body shot forward like an arrow straight for Chinjao's lower half.
Chinjao leapt high into the air, rising dozens of meters, then flipped upside down with his head pointed toward the ground.
"Hasshoken: Drill Dragon Nail!"
Lightning crackled from the drill atop his head as he plunged straight down from the sky.
Boom!
The earth shook violently, then split open like a canyon, tearing out a massive fissure in the ground.
The crowd instantly fell into chaos.
Dust exploded everywhere.
Yasuie flipped backward several times out of the cloud and stared grimly into its center.
"What a powerful move. That drill on his head is even more terrifying than a sword!"
The dust cleared quickly.
Chinjao was spinning like a high-speed top, his body almost impossible to see clearly.
He closed in from afar, stirring up violent gusts of wind.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yasuie hacked again and again at the "top" in front of him, yet was forced backward the entire time.
Watching the battle, Sukiyaki's face was grave.
"How can every one of Ares's subordinates be this strong? This man... he looks very troublesome."
Ushimaru said in a low voice,
"All we can do is trust that Yasuie has some way to deal with him."
There was no way to interfere in the battle. All they could do was silently root for Yasuie.
Standing beside Sukiyaki, the large yakuza boss Hyogoro broad-shouldered and tattooed across his neck and upper body said,
"If we can't take even this match, or at least force a draw, then we'll be standing right on the edge of the cliff."
Fūgetsu Omusubi wore a deep frown.
"I just hope things do not turn that bad."
But Amatsuki Tempura had a very bad feeling about all this.
As he watched Ares and the others, he saw that every single one of them looked completely relaxed.
As if victory was already in their hands.
It was as though they had absolute confidence in this man called Chinjao.
A deep worry filled his eyes as he said heavily,
"Ares is very prepared for this duel too. And that crescent-mustached man at his side... we had no intelligence on him at all."
"He only appeared in the last few days, and he looks like a very troublesome figure as well."
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