Kaidou hadn't expected that the man who suddenly appeared would strike with such overwhelming power. One swing of that massive war hamr had sent him hurtling through the air for hundreds of ters before he crashed into the ground, carving out a massive crater with him at its center.
Lying dazed in the pit, Kaidou was montarily stunned.
Ortoren was born with monstrous strength, and against Kaidou he hadn't held back in the slightest—that blow was full power. Coupled with the incredible weight of his war hamr, it was a strike few in the world could take head-on.
Kaidou, on the other hand, had only reacted on instinct, raising his arm to block. If you had to asure how much force he used, it was just his standard strength. Even so, the shock left his arm numb, and for a mont he almost lost his grip on Hassaikai.
After knocking Kaidou flying, Ortoren turned to Borsalino. "I'll keep this guy busy. You handle Dr. Vegapunk."
Borsalino didn't believe Ortoren could actually defeat Kaidou—in truth, he didn't think he could either—but he knew Ortoren's raw strength and iron body made him even more troubleso to fight than himself. Winning might be out of reach, but stalling Kaidou? That was another matter.
"Alright, I'll leave him to you," Borsalino replied without hesitation.
anwhile, Kaidou shook off his daze. Excitent lit his eyes as he hauled himself out of the pit, landing in front of Ortoren. "What's your na?"
"Benn Ortoren, Commodore of Marine Headquarters," Ortoren answered with a broad grin.
Since setting sail, Ortoren's sparring partners—aside from Shanks and his fellow Marines—had all been top-tier opponents: his monstrous mother, Roger, Rayleigh… the kind of people who left him battered and struggling to show his full strength.
Kaidou was strong—strong enough to be considered among the elite—but compared to Rayleigh or Roger, he still had a ways to go, and he didn't even match Ortoren's mother. Which made him perfect as an opponent.
Ortoren's blood was pumping.
"Never heard of you. A new face in the Marines?" Kaidou's cruel grin widened as he rolled his shoulders. "You've got power. Let's hope the rest of you doesn't disappoint."
The mont the words left his mouth, Kaidou stomped down hard, turning the already cracked ground beneath him into powder. His massive fra surged forward with shocking speed, Hassaikai wrapped in dense Armant Haki as he swung it down toward Ortoren.
Ortoren could have dodged—his Goro Goro no Mi granted him speed enough to avoid it with ease—but he had no intention of doing so. Excitent glead in his eyes as he tightened his grip and swung his hamr straight into Kaidou's attack.
With a heavy, resonant thud, the two weapons collided. The clash of heavy arms was as brutal as it was exhilarating.
The shock of impact visibly rippled through their arms. Muscles bunched and bulged, air pressure whipping their hair back in the violent gust.
In sheer power, Ortoren had the edge, but in Haki, Kaidou was clearly stronger—leaving their contest locked in a strange, balanced stalemate.
After only a few seconds of deadlock, they broke into a flurry of blows. What should have been slow, cumberso weapons moved with fluid precision in their hands, exchanging strike after strike with the ease of seasoned masters.
Despite wielding massive weapons, they fought like two top-class swordsn, their clashes sparking dozens of tis in the span of a heartbeat.
Neither seed interested in using their Devil Fruits. Ortoren ignored the lightning of the Goro Goro no Mi, and Kaidou made no move to call upon his azure dragon form.
This was pure, unrestrained violence.
In one fierce pass, they seed to reach the sa decision at the sa ti. Abandoning defense, they aid straight for each other with bone-crushing intent.
In the next instant, Kaidou's Hassaikai smashed into Ortoren's neck, the sharp barbs tearing through his Haki and stabbing into his flesh. With Kaidou's strength, he could break through even Ortoren's steel-like body.
But that was as far as it went—he couldn't drive it any deeper.
At the sa mont, Ortoren's war hamr slamd into Kaidou's arm, the impact visibly denting those rock-solid muscles.
There was no prolonged struggle this ti. Ortoren was blasted backward by the hit, and Kaidou was also sent flying, unable to keep his footing.
Two n cut from the sa iron, they skidded back more than ten ters before digging deep furrows into the ground with their feet, finally halting the montum.
Ortoren wiped the blood from the wound on his neck with one hand. He felt no pain—only a surge of wild, violent excitent.
Yes. This was it. This was the raw brutality and thrill he had been chasing all along.
An even match. Bone-shaking blows. A fight steeped in violence. It sent a rush through him like nothing else.
In that mont, the lingering haze and aimlessness in Ortoren's heart burned away.
He wasn't here to beco so "king" of anything. On this sea where heroes clashed and legends fought for supremacy, he wanted to challenge the champions of this era one by one, to defeat them, to conquer them.
He wanted to beco the strongest of this age.
"I'll fight you for ten days straight!" Ortoren bellowed at Kaidou, eyes blazing.
Kaidou had originally co to see Queen and that scientist's work, but now all of that was gone from his mind. Right now, the only thing in his vision was Ortoren.
"Worororororo!" Kaidou clutched the bruised muscle on his arm and let out a booming laugh. "Among all those soft, spineless Marines, finally there's one worth sothing. I like you!"
After a pause, he didn't bother with the situation at hand and went straight to it. "A man like you… staying stuck in that cesspool is a waste. Co aboard my ship. Be my partner."
When Kaidou had spoken to King about Queen earlier, he'd only called him a "subordinate" candidate. But for Ortoren, after just one clash, he used the word "partner." That alone showed how much Kaidou recognized him.
"I refuse," Ortoren said without a mont's hesitation.
If he were going to be a pirate, he might as well rejoin the Big Mom Pirates. Why hole up in Wano with this guy? There was no appeal in that.
"Why? I can see it in your eyes—you crave violence. It's in your blood. We're the sa kind of man. We live for battle. The Marines aren't where you belong!" Kaidou pressed, still unwilling to let it go.
"That's exactly why I'm refusing. If I joined you, how could we keep enjoying this pure violence as opponents— as enemies—like we are now?" Ortoren said, a grin curling his lips.
Kaidou froze for a beat, then his eyes lit up. "You're right. Damn right!"
He cut the talk short, his tone dropping low. "When I face a man I admire, I fight with everything I've got!"
Haki surged from him, but this ti it wasn't Armant—his aura spiked with the overwhelming pressure of Conqueror's Haki. Black lightning wrapped itself around Hassaikai.
Ortoren rolled his neck, bones cracking, eyes sharpening. "Then I won't hold back either."
His aura exploded as well. Conqueror's Haki.
One in a million, a king by birthright—Ortoren's Conqueror's Haki was far from weak. Over the past year in the Marines, he had even learned to coat his strikes with it. His teacher: Admiral Sengoku himself.
"As expected… a man like you could never be without Conqueror's Haki!" Kaidou wasn't surprised—only more thrilled.
Ortoren didn't reply. His foot twisted against the ground, shattering it beneath him. Without touching his Devil Fruit power, he exploded forward with blinding speed, closing the distance in a blink.
No fancy technique na—just a raw, brutal swing of the hamr.
Kaidou was the sa. No Raii Hakke, no exotic attacks—just all his power poured into the strike.
Their weapons never touched. Between them was an invisible, unbreakable wall of air—the collision of two Conqueror's Hakis.
The clash erupted in black lightning and space-tearing cracks, each man feeling the other's pure, unfiltered battle intent.
The collision darkened the sky and tore the clouds apart. Air currents roared outward in a ring-shaped shockwave, lifting the ground in a wave more than three feet high. It shredded everything nearby, raced out to the sea, and churned the waters into towering waves.
In Ortoren's heart, there were only two words—pure bliss.
He even felt… healthier.
Violence really was the best dicine.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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