Chapter 161: A Shabby Banquet
“Hah!”
Unlike Hana-zō’s sluggish transformation, Kaido entered his hybrid form almost in the blink of an eye.
“Kongorō!”
Whoosh—!
“Urgh!”
Before he could react, the pitch-black Wolf Fang Club viciously struck the air, a purple Impact wave hitting Hana-zō’s back and sending his massive body sprawling flat.
“This form… you’ve obtained Devil Fruit power too, huh?”
Hana-zō, lying on the ground, saw Kaido’s half-human, half-beast form and couldn’t help but widen his pupils.
“Heh heh! That’s right, and it’s even rarer and more powerful than your Ancient Zoan—a Mythical Zoan!”
Kaido usually didn’t like boasting about his Devil Fruit Ability; his focus had always been on Haki.
But facing an old friend he hadn’t seen in years, he couldn’t help but show off a bit.
“Mythical Zoan, huh… I see.”
“But so what? Rarity doesn’t mean it’s definitely stronger. My Ancient Zoan power won’t necessarily lose to yours!”
In contrast to Kaido, Hana-zō had become obsessed with this superhuman power ever since eating the Devil Fruit.
Plus, he’d always loved the ancient Giant Beasts depicted in picture books since childhood, which sparked his idea to form a Pirate Crew of all Ancient Zoans…
“Overlord Tail Whip!”
Twisting his massive body, Hana-zō swung his iron-whip-like tail once more.
“Too slow! Too slow!”
“These sluggish actions will never hit me!”
Kaido easily dodged the attack with a step back, then leaped up and smashed his club into the opponent’s chin.
The fully beastified body boosted power but lost agility and technique; this brute-force form wasn’t suited for one-on-one fights.
So after his attack was dodged again and he took another club hit, Hana-zō followed suit and shifted to hybrid form.
“Well~ Now it’s barely starting to look decent.”
“Hmph! This time you won’t dodge.”
Hana-zō picked up his weapon again, aiming the scythe’s blade at Kaido.
“Uro-ro-ro! Is that so~? But I’ve lost interest in continuing.”
Honestly, this fight was boring Kaido; he’d expected a surprise from his old rival after going to sea, but the guy’s strength was even less than Ember’s.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“I mean our boring chit-chat is over.”
“Thunder Bagua!”
Potent Armament Haki coiled around the Wolf Fang Club as Kaido swung this strike with a bit more seriousness.
Clang!
Hana-zō had no time to react; his scythe bent at a weird angle the instant it touched the Wolf Fang Club, then massive force transmitted through the bent handle straight to his chest.
Boom!
Whoosh—!
Hana-zō’s consciousness blurred instantly, and his whole body flew back like a cannonball, smashing into his Pirate Ship in the distance.
Crash!
The fairly new Pirate Ship was smashed with wood chips flying everywhere, nearly capsizing.
“Captain!” *n
Before passing out, Hana-zō heard his crew members’ worried shouts and a strange girl’s voice…
“Eh? Boss Kaido, didn’t you say you were going to meet an acquaintance?”
“How’d it turn into a fight? Did you owe him a ton of Belly and not wanna pay?”
…
“Urgh…”
In a room on Fenrir Island, Hana-zō opened his eyes again.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
“Eh? Boss Kaido, this Fang Uncle seems to be awake.”
It was that little girl’s voice again; it wasn’t a hallucination.
How’d a kid suddenly appear by Kaido’s side? Did he have a daughter?
His wild thoughts didn’t last long before a very cute girl entered his line of sight.
The girl looked about eight or nine, with vibrant red hair and golden eyes, appearing innocent and lively.
Her looks and voice alone could magically make people feel relaxed and cheerful, like a little sun.
Yeah, definitely not Kaido’s Daughter.
For some reason, he quietly sighed in relief inside, then tried turning his head to see where Kaido was.
“Hey hey hey~ Don’t get up in a hurry.”
“Let me check first if Boss Kaido bashed anything wrong in you.”
Aoxi waggled a finger in front of his face.
“Come on, tell me what this is?”
“Uh… ‘one’?”
Hana-zō was utterly baffled by her.
“Ah? What ‘one’?”
“This is clearly a finger!”
“Oh no, Boss Kaido, you knocked him silly.”
“Quick! While no one’s around, let’s quietly dump him in some remote spot so he doesn’t cling to us.”
“You little brat…”
Realizing what was happening, Hana-zō had veins popping on his forehead.
“Uro-ro-ro-ro! Aoxi, stop teasing him.”
Kaido, sitting nearby drinking, saw his old friend’s awkward state and felt quite pleased.
“How is it? Can you get up now?”
Ancient Zoans, as special Zoans, had far superior recovery compared to ordinary Zoans.
Kaido’s club strike was heavy, but ultimately just ordinary Armament wrapping—no internal damage.
“Hmph!”
“Of course; that featherweight club of yours can’t hurt me.”
Tearing off the bandages someone had wrapped around him, Hana-zō got out of bed and stood up.
“By the way, where are my crew members?”
Looking around, Hana-zō saw only Kaido and Aoxi, big and small; none of his own crew were there.
Those were veterans who’d followed him since the Woka Kingdom—rare guys he could trust.
“Them? That noisy bunch—I sent them to the town.”
“Alright, since you’re fine, let’s go!”
“Go? Where?”
“To the banquet, of course!”
After reuniting after so long, there was no reason not to throw a banquet to celebrate.
Kaido stood up and led Aoxi and Hana-zō outside.
…
On the way to the Banquet Hall, Aoxi asked with some curiosity:
“By the way, Boss Kaido, when did we prepare a banquet?”
“Haha! For this kinda thing, you open it whenever the mood strikes! No prep needed!”
“Just tell Burufaruto; he’s the expert on this!”
Kaido didn’t care; banquets were all about whimsy—open one anytime the urge hit.
“But Uncle Burufaruto isn’t here today; there was a disturbance on the island below, so he went to handle it.”
“Hm? Really?”
“No biggie, there’s Ember—have him arrange it.”
“Sister La sent Ember to exchange Belly; he’s not here either.”
“…”
Kaido suddenly had a bad premonition.
“Then that little brat Obei…”
“She’s at the factory watching construction progress; super busy. That’s why I got kicked out.”
Mystery solved.
So the entire Beasts Pirates had just him and Aoxi idle, lounging around?
No wonder this brat had been tailing him all day—nobody else was around!
“…”
“Then…”
“You’re not thinking of going to Sister La to throw you a banquet, are you?!”
Before Kaido could speak, Aoxi stopped and put distance between them.
“You go yourself; I’m not going with you.”
Aoxi hadn’t seen La all day; she figured her sister was off in some nooks and crannies trying weird stuff again.
She didn’t dare disturb her now.
“Cough! Don’t need her; I have my ways!”
“I’m the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates—can’t I throw a banquet?”
“Let’s go!”
Kaido waved his hand grandly and turned direction.
Hana-zō followed silently, but his gaze on this long-lost old friend gradually turned strange.
He’d thought the guy was stirring up storms on the Sea with endless glory, but every home had its hard-to-recited scriptures…
And so, under Aoxi and Hana-zō’s unenthusiastic gazes, Kaido strode confidently to… uh, the Canteen’s entrance.
Slam!
Boldly shoving open the gate, Kaido bellowed straight at the kitchen:
“Bring out all the leftover booze and meat! I’m holding a banquet!”
