_________ POV Narration _________
A few minutes before Vista's last stand on the island on the island, a small rowboat was still advancing towards the island silently.
Ace and Francisco were so far away that they couldn't even see the island yet. But one thing they did see... A huge tsunami.
Thankfully, Francisco was strong enough to cut it apart before it swallowed them and dragged them to the bottom of the sea.
Ace imdiately realized that sothing was wrong, and did sothing unexpected...
Instead of continuing to row, he pointed both of his hands backwards and told Francisco to Brace himself as well.
He released a fla so concentrated that it beca yellow. The Whitebeard Pirate used that fla as propulsion for their little rowboat.
Francisco smiled as he felt the wind beating on his face. And it didn't take long for the island to co into view... As well as the Ships that surrounded it.
'It's a war huh... Is that Kaido's flag I spot in the distance?' Francisco scowled as he made a mock telescope with one hand.
He was stuck for a split second, wondering if he could even interfere in a war between Emperors without contacting his captain.
"I'll go help Whitebeard... You deal with the ships." Francisco ordered coldly as his eyes narrowed. He could feel the angry tremors that shook the island in the distance.
Whitebeard was still fighting, they weren't too late.
Unfortunately, he didn't have much ti to think about contacting Enel. Instead of waiting to reach the island, he dashed.
He dashed with so much force that the rowboat broke underneath him, Ace was thankfully able to fly, using his devil fruit's propulsion, so that wasn't an issue for him.
The legendary swordsman rushed towards the island, his speed far exceeding Ace as he beca a blur that the young pirate could barely follow using Observation Haki...
'Pops... Please be safe...'
Ace couldn't help but pray for a few seconds before reaching the first ship...
"HIKEN!(Fire Fist!)"
And while that was happening, Francisco had already finished dispatching all of the pirates near Vista, not bothering to spare any one of them.
He assud that Vista was a part of Whitebeard's crew, it wasn't that hard of an assumption to make.
Francsico was a bit disappointed though... He was unsure if he had made it in ti to save the flowery swordsman.
He also didn't have the ti to check on him. As he could fell Whitebeard's fight with Kaido raging on the other side of the island.
'It's sowhat fitting that the blade of Whitebeard's crewmate would help save Whitebeard...'
Francisco wasn't as confident in defeating Kaido using the elent of surprise this ti around.
The King of the Beasts was sure to be expecting it this ti around. Especially since Kaido's observation likely covered enough for him to feel his subordinates die off...
By the ti Francisco reached the two Emperors, Kaido had indeed realised that his two strongest subordinates had been killed.
But he wasn't all that perturbed by it... No, he was more perturbed by the man that had just rolled up on the battlefield.
Just as the Hybrid Dragon was about to land a finishing blow on Whitebeard, who was already injured and weakened enough to be killed off, said man appeared in front of him.
His Hassaikai was blocked by a red blade. Red and Purple lightning clashed for a few seconds before Kaido jumped backwards with a bit of confusion.
That confusion turned into hatred swiftly, as he recognized Francisco as soon as he laid his eyes on him.
"You... So Whitebeard was already with the Sky King, huh..." Kadio scowled as he gripped his Hassaikai tightly.
Francisco ignored him montarily, as he looked at Whitebeard's form...
Edward Newgate had seen better days, that was for sure. He seed to be half kneeling, his body riddled with injuries and bruises.
But his hand was still clutching onto his large Naginata, he was still 'standing' strong...
"You... Don't tell ..." Whitebeard's tired eyes widened when he looked at his side. A rush of emotions ran through him.
Previously he had felt sha and rage. Sha at being unable to help the people he had sworn to protect.
And Rage at Kaido, who seed hellbent on ruining the family he had worked so hard for his entire life...
All of those powerful emotions were replaced... Confusion, regret, guilt, fear... He didn't even know if he was dreaming or not...
Had Kaido killed him? Was he just looking at a ghost from his past? Most likely...
But he was still alive... He could still feel pain, his injuries, and more importantly... He could feel Francisco...
Even after all of those years, Whitebeard was able to recognize the man's aura at a mont's notice.
"We don't have much ti for chitchat, Newgate... I'll deal with this lizard, you can rest for now..." Francisco took the field from there, stepping forward as Whitebeard looked at his back for a few seconds.
'He hasn't changed one bit, huh...' Newgate smiled a bit as he looked at the back of the friend he had betrayed.
Francisco narrowed his eyes as he stepped towards the Dragon Emperor.
"Seems you have developed so sort of obsession for my captain... Or is it fear? Just like it was with Xebec..."
His tone seed to be mocking, and it seed to work quite well, as plenty of veins appeared on Kaido's forehead.
But the Dragon took a deep breath and seed to calm himself down.
"Tsk... Don't think this is going to go the sa as last ti..." His voice, although calm, still contained enough hate to shock a lesser man.
Francisco either didn't notice or didn't care. Instead, he continued to stare down the Emperor as twirled Vista's Sword on his wrist with a calm smile on his face.
The Legendary Swordsman's smile seed to beco larger as he took a better look at Kaido's body.
It seed that Whitebeard hadn't let him off easy... One of his arms seed to have bones sticking out in so places, and his body seed to be filled with bruises.
'I can safely assu that Newgate gave this brat plenty of internal injuries... That's his speciality after all...'
In front of Whitebeard's tremors, Kaido's defence didn't an squat at the end of the day.
Although Kaido had an advantage thanks to Whitebeard's old age and sickness, he was still injured quite a lot. Especially since Whitebeard fought with enough determination and rage to kill just about anyone...
And just about anyone would've died if they had faced Whitebeard as Kaido had. The Dragon Emperor's endurance had carried him throughout the fight.
The thickness of Kaido's skin may have failed him against Whitebeard... But Francisco knew that he wasn't going to be able to ignore it as easily...
'I can always just keep targeting that injured arm... He's either going to not bother defending it, or put a lot of effort in covering his blind spots...'
Kaido's injuries could still provide Francisco with a few blind spots... But there was a silence that had descended upon the battlefield, as each fighter seed to wait for the other to make the first move.
The one that made the first move was always at a disadvantage, and Francisco wasn't going to put himself in that situation. He had no reason to...
He wasn't the one attacking the island, he wasn't under any ti constraint.
anwhile, Whitebeard was slowly recuperating, as so doctors from his crew rushed to his side to aid him.
Kaido scowled as he realized that the second Whitebeard recovered enough to join the fight again, he, the King of Beasts, would just be forced to flee.
'It's all or nothing, huh... All because of him... I'll make him pay! Both for interfering with my battle, and for the scar he gave !'
The Dragon Emperor roared as he dashed towards the swordsman, his imposing figure appearing in front of Francisco in a fraction of a second, his tail swinging behind him as he raised his spiked kanabo over his head.
"Kosanze Ragnaraku!(Conquerer of Three Worlds Ragnaraku!)" Kaido shouted as black lightning rolled around his weapon. In that sa instance, he brought down his Kanabo on top of Francisco's head with fury.
The Swordsman smiled widely as he stepped backwards swiftly, just out of the range of the attack as Kaido's tallic kanabo smashed into the ground and created a shockwave large enough to shake the entire island.
Francisco flew backwards a bit, allowing himself to be carried by the wind as he spun in the air and raised his blade.
"Sever!"
The Swordsman uttered as his blade turned red and ca down, cutting the air and forming a large flying slash that rushed towards Kaido's chest.
The Dragon Emperor seed to be already expecting it, he managed to raise his weapon in ti to clash with the flying slash.
Sparks flew as Kaido scowled under the pressure of the attack. Shockwaves spread out all around him as their conqueror's haki clashed.
Kaido seed to win that particular clash, smiling as he deflected the flying slash towards the sea, causing it to split open the sea behind him.
Just as he was about to bloat about his small victory, he felt soone arriving behind him and imdiately struck out with his tail.
Francsico's red blade ca in contact with the Armant clad tail, as Kaido turned around completely and swung his tallic club towards his opponent.
Francisco seed to be able to read his movents, as he jumped over the attack and slashed at the Dragon's head.
Kaido was forced to raise his broken arm to block the sword swipe. He didn't even react as he felt the blade cut into his skin.
He then brought his Hassaikai back and swiped at the swordsman once more, seemingly trying to gain so distance.
But that didn't happen. Instead, Francsico planted his feet into the ground and grasped his blade with both hands, clashing with Kaido's tallic club directly.
Red clashed with Black, as the two of them sent more and more shockwaves around, completely changing the tide of the seas around Sphinx Island.
Whitebeard was forced to stand in front of his n as they struggled to treat his wounds and bandage him up.
He blocked the shockwaves with his body without any issues, putting his naginata in front of him and sticking it into the ground while gritting his teeth.
anwhile, the two fighters were still stuck in that clash. Kaido felt blood dripping from his wounds as he grew angrier and angrier.
'Shit! Future sight is useless against him, just like with that Red Haired brat... I hate that damned ability!'
Kaido scowled as he looked down and locked eyes with Francisco, who now seed to have a neutral expression.
"Maybe I was too quick to judge you as a disappointnt back on the Sky Islands..." Francisco said as his gaze beca serious and his Conquror's Haki flared up a bit more.
"We've barely just begun, you old freak!" Kaido scowled as he tried his best to overwhelm Francisco with his physical prowess...
And it seed to work, the swordsman was pushed back slightly. But it looked more like he had jumped backwards.
The swordsman then seed to grip his blade a bit tighter, as lightning started rolling around it more and more.
'Here it cos... He's going all out now...'
Kaido's eyes narrowed as he realized what was coming. Whitebeard had a similar reaction as he prepared to protect the people by his side the best he could.
"Surging Whirlwind!"
In that instant, Francisco's arm beca a blur, as he sent countless red flying slashes towards Kaido.
The Dragon Emperor scoffed as he covered his entire body in armant and put his weapon in front of him.
Sparks flew, and the Dragon was imdiately pushed backwards as ten or so slashes made direct contact with his tallic club.
He felt his legs hitting the sea, but he was still filled with strength, as the wind from the flying slashes seed to create too much turbulence for the water to be still.
Eventually, Kaido Roared and batted them away, before jumping towards the sky, to avoid getting pushed into the sea.
The Dragon soared into the sky as more and more flying slashes ca his way, he swung his blade, breaking a few of them and batting them away, but he was forced to put his guard back up as cuts started appearing all over his body.
The flying slashes seed to be pushing him further and further into the sky, straight into the clouds that had barely managed to recover from his previous clashes with Whitebeard.
When seeing that he was far up enough, Francisco stopped and smiled.
The slashes had landed all around, severing the ocean and shores, and turning them into a scarred ss. The ocean was recovering quickly, water rushing in and filling the gaps, but the shore wasn't so lucky...
Francisco's expression beca serious as he grasped his blade with both hands, taking a posture that was all too familiar to Whitebeard.
'Here it cos...' Whitebeard slowly stood up as he prepared for the worst. He slowly walked over and stood in between the village and Francisco.
"Sever!" The Swordsman grinned as he used the technique that had earned him his title... The Island Splitter.
The swordsman used both hands and swiped his blade with all of his strength. Pointing the edge directly at the ground.
He released a gigantic red flying slash that seed to strike everything at a 360-degree angle. The arc seed to expand more and more, cutting both the island and the clouds in half.
Kaido's eyes widened as he was faced with the gigantic slash, he quickly tried to deflect it, but that was unfortunately impossible.
The Dragon Emperor knew that he wouldn't be able to block the attack, so he instead decided to control his fire clouds to dodge to the side.
Unfortunately, he had moved far too late and was forced to sacrifice his broken arm in order to stop the Flying Slash for a split second.
Whitebeard scowled as he watched Francisco split his ho island in half.
'At least he aid properly this ti... He's always had a notoriously bad accuracy...'
Whitebeard sighed as he sat down and looked at the unhard village behind him. So buildings had collapsed from the severe shockwaves, but at least the villagers were mostly unhard...
Francisco swiped his forehead as he huffed a breath he seed to have been holding onto for a while.
'Been a while since I went all out like that... That Dragon Brat probably survived it though...'
The Swordsman then looked at the sky, a deep mark was left on the clouds that had gathered before.
He, as well as everyone that was paying attention, managed to see a rather thick arm covered in azure scales falling out of the sky.
Regardless of his injury, Kaido still seed to be hellbent on ending Whitebeard, as he crashlanded onto the island, his eyes shining red with anger.
Francisco sighed and prepared to clash with the Emperor once more. This ti, his sword arm trembling slightly...
Whitebeard smiled as he prepared to rejoin the fight.
'I'll make that Dragon brat pay a bit more than an arm...'
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Hope you like the chapter!
Yeaa, Kaido still doesn't get to face Francisco at full power, leaving that matchup a bit more ambiguous.
I just felt like it wouldn't make sense for him to not get injured fighting Whitebeard.
Fight still not over tho ;)
If u want to support look up VeganMaster(Vegan Cult) on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)
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