New World, Kibu Island.
Long after Kaido disappeared, the area near where the two had just fought shimmered with light.
Mihawk, enhanced with the clear-clear fruit, rendering him invisible, appeared alongside Carol.
Carol looked in the direction Kaido had left with a sigh.
"Truly pathetic..."
Sakazuki chuckled, no longer looking in the direction Kaido had departed.
"Pathetic about what?"
Carol smiled.
"Pathetic about those who oppose you..."
"One of the Four Emperors, the Beast Kaido, had his convictions shattered. No one would believe it if you told them..."
Was Kaido strong? Of course, he was.
Being one of the Four Emperors wasn't just a title; they were the apex of the sea.
While Sakazuki could overpower Kaido, it was within limits. Fighting two Emperors at once would still be strenuous...
The reason Kaido was unilaterally beaten was that Sakazuki had disrupted his state of mind.
From his childhood as a war machine for a kingdom, Kaido had fought his way through, eventually joining the sea-dominating Rocks Pirates and continuing to fight.
After Rocks' downfall, he forged his own path.
Strength, influence, shrewdness, cunning – Kaido lacked none of these.
Reaching the rank of Emperor was a testament to his exceptional talent, yet in a brief confrontation, Sakazuki's words shattered his psychological defenses.
Did Sakazuki's words have no flaws? They did, many.
But Kaido had no time to consider them. Those events had genuinely happened.
If his memory were exceptional, he would have recalled Sakazuki's very first statement, and then he would have realized that Queen had inexplicably tripped right in front of him...
Why such a coincidence?
The seed of doubt was quietly sown...
Then, Sakazuki's words, one after another, ensnared everything Kaido had strived for.
Everything he possessed thus far seemed to have been orchestrated by Sakazuki from behind the scenes...
Until Kaido's rage overwhelmed his doubts. But just then, Sakazuki mentioned Wano Country.
That was Kaido's foundation, everything he owned, everything he had fought for over decades.
It was all in Wano Country...
No one can truly transcend worldly attachments.
Shanks' familial bonds, Charlotte Linlin's dream, Kaido's foundation...
The easiest way to drive these unruly pirates into a frenzy.
Is to destroy what is most important to them, what they have strived for their entire lives...
Kaido was afraid...
He feared that if he returned a moment too late, he would be left alone, his decades of effort rendered meaningless, and he would have nothing in the end...
He fled.
But he shouldn't have looked back.
When he turned and saw Sakazuki's mocking smile, he knew he had lost...
Sakazuki did not destroy Wano Country.
But his urgent demeanor revealed everything, making him acutely aware of being toyed with by Sakazuki.
His convictions were utterly shattered, and he dared not fight anymore.
Even knowing that this escape would make Sakazuki an eternal nightmare he could never overcome.
Yet, his body could not stop.
He had fled...
Sakazuki let out a soft breath.
"Interesting, wasn't it."
Carol shrugged and chuckled.
"Truly despicable, Fleet Admiral."
Carol felt truly sorry for those individuals...
How much karma had they accumulated to be enemies with Fleet Admiral Sakazuki in this lifetime? It was too tragic...
Tsk...
Sakazuki looked at the two.
"It seems Kaido didn't notice..."
Sakazuki's mockery had only begun when Carol, along with the invisibility-enhanced Mihawk, had instantly teleported to the side.
It was to test whether an Emperor-level powerhouse could detect such a thing during a battle.
But the result...
Carol was a little helpless.
"It shouldn't count."
"Kaido was so demoralized by you that he was unilaterally pummeled."
"He wouldn't have had the time to notice the ground, or the depth of the footprints, or anything like that."
Sakazuki stretched his body.
"It doesn't matter, it was just an experiment."
"Give the order to attack."
"Kaido won't recover anytime soon."
It's just a case of being too close to the forest to see the trees. Kaido might fall into a slump for a while, but he wouldn't lack the courage to fight back; he wouldn't be scared to death...
As if an amusing thought had occurred to him.
Sakazuki suddenly laughed and looked at Carol, speaking in a low voice.
"You say..."
"When he regains his confidence, and then we destroy Wano Country."
"His expression..."
"Will it be... even more interesting?"
Using the most cruel method...
To torture them to death...
Thinking of that scene, a dark line flickered across Carol's forehead, and his mouth twitched.
"He'd surely go mad..."