When you shout in front of Kaido that you want to become a king, there is a certain chance of triggering his passive. Most people will be knocked down with a single strike of his kanabo and then subjected to his questioning.
[You want to become what king?]
If one can continue answering, it means Kaido’s “teaching exercise” has been successful. If one cannot answer, it signifies failure.
As Kaido’s daughter, Yamato has inherited this talent to some extent and Crocodile managed to trigger this passive.
The 7th generation Takeru, wrapped in Haki, made Crocodile experience pain once again.
Haki can touch the physical body of a Logia-type, but it does not seal their abilities. After an attack ends, a Logia user’s body can still transform into the elemental state.
Due to his Logia-type ability, Crocodile was like a slime in her hand. The impact from two consecutive strikes made his internal organs churn.
“Hey, get up. I held back. If you lose consciousness from just this, I’ll have to really reevaluate the strength of the Shichibukai. Rotom, record this, and make sure to take a good shot.”
There was more than one reason for beating Crocodile; what happened a few years ago was one of them, and returning back to Onigashima was also one of Yamato’s objectives.
The Four Emperors, the Marines, and the Shichibukai are known as the three great forces of the Grand Line. Previously, she had clashed with the Marines quite a few times, but those Marines were just small fries from East Blue and held no reference value.
However, the Shichibukai were different. Defeating a Shichibukai would at least prove she hadn’t been slacking off, and she could use it to satsify Kaido when she returns.
But all of this had one prerequisite—Crocodile couldn’t be too weak. Otherwise, he’d be just like those Marines from East Blue, completely worthless.
“You will… regret this!”
Clang!
Crocodile latched his golden hook onto Yamato’s ankle. Seeing such a childish tactic, Yamato lost interest in Crocodile.
“Tch, I thought you were someone strong, but it turns out you actually use such underhanded tricks. Did I beat you stupid or something?”
She didn’t look down on Crocodile for using a hook as a weapon. According to Kaido’s teachings, in battle, everything—be it teeth, nails, biting, or scratching—were a part of combat.
But the premise was that the attack had to be effective. She believed that her two strikes just now had already demonstrated her strength, yet Crocodile was still using such ineffective methods to attack her.
It even looked like there was poison on it. As a Shichibukai, he was using such despicable yet ineffective means to attack her. This made her wonder if this man had long forgotten what true strength was.
In truth, given Yamato’s strength, even if she didn’t defend herself and allowed Crocodile’s poison to enter her body, the poison might not even be a match for her immune system.
“I heard you used to roam the New World, yet you don’t even know how to use Haki? If that’s the case, father definitely wouldn’t accept it.”
With a casual kick, Yamato sent Crocodile flying and then placed the 7th generation Takeru back into her bag.
“Princess, and king—how do you two want to deal with him?”
“……”
Even with the truth laid out before their eyes, Vivi and Cobra found it hard to believe. Crocodile, who had plagued Alabasta for years, had been defeated in a single move and was now being toyed with like a toy.
As Yamato’s words entered his ears, Crocodile’s mind flashed with various scenes from the past.
His battle with Bullet in his youth, the high-spirited ambition he had as a spectator at Roger’s execution, his confidence when the Great Pirate Era began, the terror he experienced when challenging Whitebeard, and that detestable face of Ivankov.
“If I can’t have it… then neither can you!”
Placing his right hand on the ground, Crocodile, as if experiencing one final burst of energy, unleashed a new technique in fury.
“Ground Death!”
As the user of the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit, Crocodile could turn any part of his body into sand. But his other ability was the power to absorb moisture.
His right hand could drain the moisture from anything it touched—wood would wither, rocks would erode into sand, and people would become dried-up husks.
As one of the early-introduced Shichibukai, Crocodile was known as a 50-50 fighter—capable of fighting Bullet and even clashing with Whitebeard, yet also getting completely destroyed by Luffy without any gear.
But among the Shichibukai, he was undoubtedly the most ambitious.
Yamato’s tone, as if appraising a merchandise, her mockery of his strength, and her dismissive attitude were all mercilessly trampling on his pride.
He couldn’t accept it—years of planning had been ruined by a woman who had appeared here for some unknown reason.
Haki was something both familiar and distant to him. He was clearly not a good student, unlike his predecessor, Golden Lion, who managed to reclaim what he had lost in battle.
Not even the legendary “awakening club” could awaken him, but he still prepared for a fight to the death. [TN: Yamato hit him with her kanabo three times, but he still didn’t awaken, while Luffy was able to awaken after getting hit three times by Kaido’s kanabo. For more context: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/481534702 ]
His target now was the entire royal palace!
“Kuahahaha… die!”
The grass around his palm withered rapidly, the ground cracked at a visible rate, and the palace walls began to collapse. Due to the geography of Alabasta, the royal palace was built on high ground.
Crocodile intended to bring it all down and bury everything completely. According to Cobra, the Poneglyph was somewhere within the palace. As long as he turned everything into sand, he could take his time searching for it.
“It’s useless! Even if your Conqueror’s Haki can knock out most people, you can’t stop the bombs. Everything will be destroyed! Above the sand, I alone reign supreme!”
Crocodile was about to push his ability further and erode everything completely, but he suddenly realized—his Ground Death had stopped working.
The ground became unbelievably cold, and a sharp layer of ice had frozen his palm, rapidly spreading upwards. Though he managed to break free, large chunks of flesh from his palm were left on the ground.
He could absorb moisture from objects, but Yamato had used her ice to block his ability. The combined power of the modified Kyurem and Ōkuchi no Makami had created a protective layer over the ground.
Before Crocodile could absorb the moisture, the extreme cold had already frozen the blood in his palm. If he hadn’t broken free, he would have turned into an ice sculpture before he could drain the water.
“You seem to have misunderstood something. I was just asking my employer how they wanted to deal with you, not whether I could deal with you. Thunder Bagua!”
This time, Yamato didn’t hold back. With a clean strike, Crocodile lost consciousness. She then picked up her Rotom again.
“Moshi moshi, Ul-chan, Pay-tan—stop playing around for now.”
“Do me a favor—knock out anyone still standing nearby, and then look for things like cannons or bombs.”
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