Kirk never encountered any bottleneck in his growth. Even when he occasionally went down to spar with Kaido, the result was the same, Kaido could not even touch him. The Space Fruit ability made Kirk nearly untouchable. His Armament Haki, enhanced with Ryuo, could barely force Kaido to spit blood out of respect, but once Space Slicing was layered on top, the difference became overwhelming.
Ash quickly realized that forcing Kirk to endure attacks for the sake of breakthroughs was pointless. With his spatial ability, Kirk would never stand still and take damage. Letting him join further battles would only add unnecessary pressure on Conis.
After thinking it through, Ash concluded that Kirk was a chef first. Unless it was a fight that truly interested him, there was no need for him to participate in combat at all.
In this world, if Kirk chose to leave, even Kizaru would struggle to touch him, let alone Ash. Whether he trained or not made little difference.
As for Wyper's rematch against Kaido, the reason was straightforward.
Not long ago, when Tsuki and the Skypiea trio fought Kaido, Jebao had taken the role of a shield and was beaten so badly he could barely stand. Although Conis treated him afterward, Wyper, as the leader of the Skypiean warriors, felt obligated to step forward. That led to this so called graduation rematch.
The explanation sounded noble, but Ash suspected something simpler. Wyper had been watching the fights and felt his own battle instincts flare up again.
Since there was no urgency, everyone spent half a day eating, drinking, and watching the fight unfold.
Now, the battle had reached its conclusion. Wyper stepped down, satisfied, his face swollen and bruised.
Kaido had already sensed something unusual over the past few days. The Dawn faction fighters had been testing their progress one by one, treating him like a measuring tool. From that, he understood that his journey was nearing its end.
Earlier, when Kaido discovered that King and the others had been defeated, he had flown into a rage. But by then, Sali and the rest had grown strong enough to suppress him. His fury could only last for a moment.
After that, Kaido accepted the truth.
With Ash, the monster who had instantly killed Jabba, standing at the center, and Sali and the others improving at a frightening pace, Kaido knew there was no path to victory.
As someone who had dominated his era, Kaido refused to accept such an ending easily. Half a month ago, when he realized Sali and the others were rapidly surpassing him, he had attempted to escape by transforming into his Azure Dragon form.
That decision only made things worse.
The moment Ash lifted the transformation restriction, more than a dozen people transformed into gigantic Demon God bodies, each towering like mountains. The sight nearly broke Kaido's composure.
Compared to them, his Azure Dragon form looked like a thin rope.
He was even used as a jumping rope by the group, forcing him to abandon the form and return to his half beast state to continue serving as their training opponent.
Now that their training was complete, Kaido understood his fate.
The battlefield fell silent.
Kaido rested his kanabo on his shoulder and looked at Ash.
"In the past, I despised the so called honor of Wano. All that talk about dying gloriously sounded ridiculous to me."
Ash remained quiet, already understanding what Kaido meant.
"But now, I finally see some meaning in those words. Seppuku still sounds foolish to me, but dying in battle… that is not a bad end."
Kaido's eyes sharpened.
"Heavenly Emperor Ash of the Dawn faction, if my path ends here, then I want you to be the one who finishes it."
"I once believed Rocks was the strongest in the world, until I met you. Show me your true strength."
Ash's gaze darkened slightly.
In his previous life, he had liked Kaido as a character. But that was fiction.
Reality was different.
No matter how interesting Kaido was in stories, here he was nothing more than a ruthless pirate emperor. His so called ideals of freedom and equality meant nothing when measured by his actions. He killed without hesitation.
Equality in death meant nothing.
Now that the Beast Pirates had served their purpose, there was no reason to keep them.
As for Kaido's final request, Ash decided to grant it. Whether Kaido could endure long enough to witness his true strength depended entirely on his own durability.
Ash stood up slowly.
Kaido's breathing grew heavier, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Ash tilted his head slightly and spoke with a faint smirk.
"Sali, you have rested enough. Deal with the small pests that just arrived."
Sali and the others smiled immediately.
"We thought you were saving them for later. Since that is not the case, we will clean them up."
As soon as the words fell, Sali, Pini, and Wyper flew off in different directions, their Observation Haki guiding them.
Ash stepped forward and landed in front of Kaido. To show a basic level of respect, he coated himself with Armament Haki.
Even so, Kaido's end came quickly.
He only endured three punches.
He never saw Ash's full strength.
The Emperor, Kaido, fell violently.
Ash had already learned from the incident where he nearly killed Sali. By using his personal panel, he could regulate his strength precisely through percentages.
Although constantly checking the panel was inconvenient and made him appear distracted, it allowed him perfect control over his power.
Against Kaido, Ash used thirty percent strength for the first punch.
For the second punch, he increased it to forty percent. Blood erupted from Kaido's body.
The third punch reached fifty percent.
Kaido's body exploded.
There was nothing peaceful about his end.
Fortunately, his head remained intact. After all, it was worth over four billion Berries.
Ash looked at his fist, though his attention was focused on the panel.
[Physique: 5974]
This was without activating any subordinate abilities.
"With this level of strength, sinking islands is nothing. A serious punch could shatter the Red Line."
After a while, Sali and the others returned.
Sali reported that they had encountered three CP0 agents dressed in white and wearing masks. None survived.
Pini, however, was holding a fat bird.
Wyper spoke with visible disdain. "We encountered reporters from the World Economic Journal. I killed mine."
Ash glanced at the bird and asked, "Why bring that back?"
Pini raised it casually. "I knocked it out and threw it into the sea to confirm it was not a Devil Fruit user. It is just a bird. We can have Kirk cook it later."
Ash rolled his eyes.
"Ridiculous."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Our business in Wano is nearly finished. Tonight, we rest at Onigashima. Tomorrow, we clean up what remains and return to Skypiea."
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