A surge of fury rose in Kaido's heart, and he roared as he launched another attack.
This time, he drove both legs hard against the ground and leaped high into the air, sweeping a horizontal blow toward Senju Hashirama's neck.
Senju Hashirama turned his body to the side and easily dodged Kaido's attack, then rapidly raised his left arm and drove a punch squarely into Kaido's abdomen.
Kaido had no time to dodge and took the full force of the blow clean. "Pfft!"
Kaido spat a mouthful of blood from his mouth.
However, Kaido was after all a powerful existence who had awakened a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, and his regenerative ability was nothing short of terrifying.
In the instant he hit the ground, the Devil Fruit power within him rapidly activated, and his wounds healed at a visible pace.
He rose from the dust and stood up, his eyes blazing with wild light. "Senju Hashirama, don't think that's enough to beat me!"
Senju Hashirama let out a hearty laugh and charged at Kaido once more.
Under Senju Hashirama's assault, Kaido gradually fell into a passive state, barely holding on by relying on the fierce regenerative power of his Zoan-type Devil Fruit.
'This is actually a chance to try out some other techniques, and opponents like this are not easy to come by.' But Senju Hashirama, holding a complete upper hand, had other ideas.
"Wood Release: All Things of Nature!"
In an instant, with Senju Hashirama at its center, the ground heaved and churned violently like a boiling sea.
Countless thick vines bored wildly up from beneath the earth and quickly wove themselves into great surging torrents of green that swept toward Kaido with the force to overturn mountains and drain seas.
The torrents were threaded with sharp wooden spikes, and Kaido swung his kanabō against them.
Yet the moment the kanabō made contact with the vines, those vines seemed to be alive, coiling tightly around the kanabō and then wrenching hard, nearly tearing it from Kaido's grip.
"Boro Breath!" Kaido was completely enraged, and his Conqueror's Haki surged like a churning black tide, spreading outward in a wild frenzy.
His thick arms swung high.
The dense mass of vines surrounding Senju Hashirama was instantly shattered in great swaths by Kaido's all-out strike.
Countless vine fragments whirled through the air, yet the vines were simply too numerous.
Even Kaido's tremendous power could not clear them all in a short time.
This sight stoked the fury in Kaido's heart even hotter, dealing a heavy blow to his pride, and he hated that he could not easily break free of the predicament before him.
"Damn it!" He let out a furious roar, and his body transformed once more, instantly reverting to his great dragon form.
The enormous dragon body coiled in midair, blotting out the sky and blocking the sun.
"Flame Dragon King Torch!" Kaido opened his massive gaping maw and spewed forth a blazing torrent of flame.
The flames rapidly converged and shifted shape, forming a massive fire dragon that wrapped tightly around his body.
The flames covering the fire dragon burned fiercely, reaching astonishing temperatures, and everything they touched instantly melted into pools of scorching liquid.
The entirety of Onigashima was instantly engulfed by this terrifying flaming dragon tornado.
Raging fire swallowed everything on the island in a sea of flame.
Scorching waves of heat rolled outward, making even those watching from a distance feel suffocated.
'This power, even Uchiha Madara might not necessarily be able to win against it.' Senju Tobirama stood at a distance, watching the immense power Kaido displayed, and could not help but marvel at the abilities of this world.
However, Senju Hashirama broke into a hearty laugh.
In his eyes, only such a powerful opponent made this battle truly worthwhile.
"Come then, Kaido, show me everything you have!" He brought both hands together as Chakra surged through him at a furious pace.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
With Senju Hashirama's great shout, a force of suffocating power erupted from within him.
The ground began to tremble violently as a wooden Buddha of unimaginable size slowly rose up from beneath the earth.
The great Buddha stood over Onigashima like a towering mountain.
Each of its arms was immensely thick, shimmering with the light of Sage Art Chakra and radiating a sacred and mighty aura.
"Impossible!" Kaido looked at this great Buddha and his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.
His roar seemed so utterly insignificant beneath the overwhelming presence of the great Buddha.
"Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder!" Senju Hashirama drove the great Buddha as countless enormous arms swung toward Kaido.
Every swing of an arm stirred up a violent gale that tore through the heavens and earth.
The Buddha's attacks came down dense as raindrops and struck Kaido relentlessly.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A succession of tremendous crashes rang out as heaven and earth crumbled.
All of Onigashima shook violently under this terrifying assault, and massive fissures began splitting open across the ground.
The structures on the island collapsed one after another, and Kaido had no time to dodge at all, being driven directly into the earth by the Buddha's attacks.
The assault continued for an unknown length of time, and the entirety of Onigashima fell into dead silence.
When the dust finally settled, Kaido lay in a massive crater, his body covered in wounds, his scales shattered, and his blood soaking the surrounding earth.
Senju Hashirama stood at the top of the great Buddha and looked down at Kaido below.
Kaido struggled painfully to pull himself up from the crater, his powerful body now broken.
Even he, with his tremendous strength and terrifying regenerative ability, had truly reached his limit after such an intense and prolonged battle against Senju Hashirama.
In the distance, a dark figure came flying rapidly over, and it was Ulti.
She quickly landed at Kaido's side.
Ulti had just reached out to support Kaido when he shoved her away with a sudden push.
Kaido understood the vast gap between their strengths and saw no need to drag anyone else into this.
"Senju Hashirama, you are strong." Kaido raised his head and looked toward Senju Hashirama standing atop the great Buddha, his voice weak but still carrying the boldness of a Yonko.
In that moment, he felt firsthand the unfathomable depth of Senju Hashirama's power.
"Come then, kill me, and the title of Yonko is yours."
Kaido straightened his back, and a look of resolute determination flickered in his eyes.
Senju Hashirama looked down at Kaido and suddenly threw his head back with a hearty laugh.
"Kaido, I will not take your life."
"From this moment on, Wano Country is mine."
Senju Hashirama had his own plans for Wano Country and was not driven purely by a desire to kill.
Kaido heard these words and was first taken aback, clearly not having expected Senju Hashirama to arrive at such a decision.
But quickly, he too broke into laughter, a laughter tinged with a hint of unwillingness yet filled with fighting spirit.
"Fine! I acknowledge you, Senju Hashirama! But just you wait, Wano Country, I will take it back sooner or later!"
Kaido clenched his fist tightly, swearing an oath to himself in his heart.
This battle was without doubt his most crushing defeat, yet his proud soul would never allow him to simply concede.
He understood clearly the gap between himself and Senju Hashirama, and he knew that to reclaim everything he had lost, he had to become stronger.