Although they hadn't allowed Kaido to cause much destruction in Marinford, watching him escape right out from under their noses was still incredibly frustrating!
It was like swallowing a bitter pill and having no way to complain about it!
Kairo didn't care much about any of this. Kaido's appearance had been unexpected, but his escape had been well within Kairo's expectations.
Of course, in Kairo's opinion, Kaido escaping wasn't necessarily a bad thing for the Marines. After all, the Marines currently had no way to kill Kaido. If they kept him imprisoned or sent him to Impel Down, all kinds of trouble would inevitably arise!
While the Marines were busy cleaning up the battlefield, Kairo took Tashigi and headed back toward Garp's residence.
"Mr. Kairo."
Tashigi took the initiative to walk over and grab Kairo's hand. Although she had been frightened earlier, after seeing Kairo casually block Kaido's attack, she was no longer panicked.
Instead, she raised her little head and looked at Kairo with admiration.
"The way you drew your sword just now was so cool!"
"Aha!"
Hearing Tashigi's praise, Kairo blinked.
Then he leaned down toward her ear and whispered mischievously,
"Do you think your aunt would freak out if she found out there was a crack in the blade of her sword?"
"Huh?"
Tashigi froze in confusion.
"What crack?"
"Oh~~~ I know!"
"It's fine, it's fine. Aunt Gion won't get angry!"
Meanwhile.
Momousagi was standing atop a section of ruins, directing the soldiers as they cleaned up the battlefield.
She looked somewhat absent-mindedly into the distance, her mind filled with the image of Kairo drawing his sword and blocking Kaido's attack.
At the time, the situation had been extremely urgent, and she had been in a state of heightened alert.
So, let alone Kairo silently taking Kimpira from her before she could react—even if someone had merely approached her, she would have noticed immediately!
Yet Kairo had just taken Kimpira from her without her noticing in the slightest.
That speed and strength sent chills down her spine!
If Kairo had been an enemy, she would probably already have been lying dead on the ground!
However, what shocked her even more than Kairo taking Kimpira without her noticing was the fact that he had actually blocked Kaido's attack under such desperate circumstances!
Most importantly, Kaido hadn't launched another attack against Kairo afterward.
Instead, he had obediently followed Kairo's directions and successfully escaped from Marinford!
Thinking of this, Momousagi suddenly had a realization.
She quickly drew Kimpira from its sheath.
When she saw the crack that had appeared along the blade, she couldn't help shaking her head with a smile.
She finally understood why Kairo had pointed Kaido in the direction he should flee.
If Kairo had said nothing at the time, given Kaido's temperament, he would definitely have launched another attack.
And with the crack already present in Kimpira, the sword would certainly have been destroyed!
At that moment, however, Kaido only wanted to escape.
Having received Kairo's directions, he naturally had no intention of wasting any time.
Because Kaido had suddenly dropped into Marine Headquarters, Garp, Tsuru, and Momousagi all had their own matters to deal with.
So Kairo didn't want to disturb them.
After making plans with Tashigi to meet again the next day, he found a hotel in town and settled in for the night.
Meanwhile.
Marine Headquarters building, Fleet Admiral's office.
Sengoku sat solemnly behind his desk, while Garp sat casually before the tea table, constantly stuffing rice crackers into his mouth!
After eating and drinking his fill, Garp let out a satisfied burp.
He leaned back against the sofa, narrowed his eyes at Sengoku, and couldn't help laughing heartily at his gloomy expression.
"Sengoku, stop brooding! Let's talk about something happy!"
Sengoku was already in a foul mood because Kaido had suddenly appeared and then escaped right under his nose.
Hearing Garp's laughter, he immediately widened his eyes and roared,
"Garp, I'm in no mood right now! Just go home!"
"Hahaha! There's no point worrying!"
"Even if you caught Kaido right now, what would you do with him?"
"Send him to Impel Down? Or execute him on the spot?"
"Neither would accomplish anything."
"Until we figure out a way to kill Kaido, capturing him would actually be more trouble than it's worth."
As he spoke, Garp stood up and walked over to Sengoku.
Seeing that Sengoku was still frowning, he suddenly dropped his usual carefree attitude and spoke seriously.
"What do you think of that brat Kairo's strength?"
"The way he took Kaido's attack—wasn't that pretty reminiscent of how I used to fight?!"
"He's indeed very strong."
Hearing Kairo mentioned, Sengoku also raised his head with considerable interest.
"Although I've heard his name so many times that I'm practically sick of it, actually witnessing his strength in person still shocked me!"
"It's difficult to imagine that someone so young could actually withstand Kaido's attack head-on!"
"Hahaha! That's all you noticed?"
Garp laughed and shook his head.
"When Kairo drew his sword, Kaido's iron club had already come crashing down!"
"Under those circumstances, even the sword-wielding Vice Admirals at Marine Headquarters might not have had time to draw their swords, let alone dodge!"
"More importantly, Gion was standing right beside him at the time, and the sword he took was none other than Gion's own Kimpira!"
"Stealing a sword from a Vice Admiral and using it to block Kaido's attack can't be explained by powerful swordsmanship alone!"
Hearing Garp's analysis, Sengoku suddenly understood.
He nodded.
"Observation Haki!"
"Truly incredible..."
As a former Marine Headquarters Admiral who had once sailed the seas himself, Sengoku naturally understood just how terrifying Kairo's Observation Haki was after hearing Garp's analysis.
"By the way."
After a moment of silence, Sengoku suddenly changed the subject.
"Garp, why didn't Kairo simply stop Kaido?"
"At the time, Sakazuki and Borsalino had already caught up to him. If Kairo had stepped in, Kaido wouldn't have been able to escape!"
Hearing this, Garp blinked slowly, as though only just realizing it himself.
"Now that you mention it, that's true..."
"But he's not a Marine. He has absolutely no obligation to keep fighting Kaido."
Sengoku immediately went crazy.
"That's exactly why we have to find a way to make him join the Marines!"
"Alright, alright!"
"There's nothing I can do about it."
"He's already here at Marine Headquarters, so whether you can convince him to join the Marines is entirely up to you!"
As he spoke, Garp suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed urgently,
"Ah! I forgot there's nobody at home!"
"That's it, I'm going back. I need to find that brat and have a drink tonight!"
Before Sengoku could react, Garp hurriedly left the office!
Seeing this, Sengoku didn't stop him.
He simply shook his head and smiled bitterly to himself.
Now he finally understood why Garp kept refusing promotions and remained happily stuck at the rank of Vice Admiral.
The major matters and troublesome affairs were all left for the Admirals and the Fleet Admiral to handle.
Right now, although Kaido hadn't caused much damage to Marinford, as Fleet Admiral, Sengoku couldn't simply run home to drink with Garp at a time like this!
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