30 Years in Whitebeard’s Crew, I Became Invincible

Kaido hadn't expected Ace to react so fiercely. Before he could say another word, Ace had already charged straight at him.

"Fire Fist!!"

Caught off guard, Kaido was shocked to see Ace's fiery punch coming straight for his face. The flames exploded upon contact, engulfing his head.

What should have been a thunderous entrance instead became a humiliating moment as Ace's flames coiled around Kaido like a rope and dragged him down from the sky.

BOOM!

Kaido crashed into the ground, sending up a massive cloud of dust and smoke.

When the Spade Pirates saw Ace knock Kaido down from the sky, their faces lit up with excitement.

The remaining Beasts Pirates on the island were left completely dumbfounded.

"That was Lord Kaido…"

"He was knocked down?!"

"No way!!"

The Spade Pirates erupted in cheers. Kaido had been slammed down.

"Captain is amazing! He took down Kaido!" Loxus shouted in excitement.

"Hey, hey, don't get ahead of yourself. It's way too early to celebrate," Deuce said, pulling him back.

From the smoke, a giant silhouette emerged, and Ace's expression turned serious.

"Honestly, all of you are the same…" Kaido cracked his neck as he stepped forward.

"I won't let you insult me. The only father I acknowledge is Whitebeard!" Ace growled through gritted teeth.

"Pathetic, fighting to be someone else's son. Only that old fool Newgate would encourage that nonsense. A pirate crew should be ruled by strength, survival of the fittest. Not playing house with a bunch of brats. He's old…nearly dead." Kaido sneered.

"You're the one who's dying! I'll kill you right now!" Ace roared.

"Wororororo! You?" Kaido laughed.

He reached behind his back and pulled out his spiked club.

"Fire Fist!"

"Thunder Bagua!"

CRACK!

Flames and lightning clashed. But soon, Ace's fire was split apart, and Kaido's club smashed into him.

SPLURT!

Ace, being a Logia-type, wasn't taken down easily. He quickly reformed and rushed Kaido again in a blaze of fire.

"Divine Fire: Unknown Fire"

Ace grabbed his own flames, transforming them into two blazing spears, and hurled them toward Kaido's chest.

Boom!

The flames exploded on contact, engulfing Kaido's body in fire.

At first glance, it seemed the attack had worked, but Ace's expression grew grim.

"No way…!!!"

"That's it? You couldn't even pierce my skin."

Kaido looked down at Ace and flicked him away with four fingers.

Ace tumbled across the ground, dragged back by the force.

"Compared to that guy Blackbeard, you're barely worth mentioning. I heard he defeated you and handed you over to the Marines, right?" Kaido said with a cold smirk.

"You met Teach?" Ace stopped and looked up in shock.

Ran into him on the way here. Smacked him around, doubt he's dead, though. If you can't even beat trash like that, what makes you think you can challenge me? If anyone's qualified to fight me, it's Newgate."

Kaido transformed into a divine dragon, then opened his mouth wide at Ace.

"Heat Breath."

Ace raised his flame-wrapped fist and launched a counterattack.

"Fire Fist!"

The two fiery attacks clashed in the air and canceled each other out.

It showed that Ace had grown stronger during this time.

"Where's Teach?" Ace demanded.

Kaido flew into the sky, laughing.

"You want to know?"

"Tell me!!"

Ace flew up in pursuit, igniting the air in his path.

"Flame Wings!"

Flame wings burst from Ace's back, closing in around Kaido to trap him in a fiery pincer.

WHOOM!

Kaido was engulfed in two massive wings of fire, but he came out completely unharmed. In fact, his body began to glow red.

"Fire Dragon Great Torch!"

Kaido's blazing body, reminiscent of Oven's Heat-Heat Fruit, charged straight at Ace.

Ace's Observation Haki warned him just in time. Flames burst from his legs as he darted skyward.

But Kaido predicted this, twisting his body at a sharp angle and shooting upward like a missile.

BAM!

"URGH!!"

Ace coughed up blood, and the blow hit him squarely.

"That was Conqueror's Haki…" he muttered. He had already used his powers defensively, yet he was still injured, definitely from Kaido's Haki-infused attack.

"Fire Fist!"

Ace was a fighter to the end. He raised his fist, now wrapped in Armament Haki, and launched himself with a flame boost.

WHAM!

His punch smashed into Kaido's nose. The flames and Kaido's sky-leaping power collided mid-air.

They clashed for a while, but ultimately, Ace was sent flying.

"Is that really all you've got?"

Kaido returned to his human form and dove down from the sky.

"Thunder Bagua!"

His spiked club, now surrounded by lightning and Conqueror's Haki, came crashing down.

Ace had no time to dodge; he could only brace himself.

"Flame Dragon!!"

He turned his body into a fire dragon and met the blow head-on.

BOOOOM!

The sky and earth shook. Two waves of Conqueror's Haki exploded against each other.

"Conqueror's Haki…" Kaido narrowed his eyes at Ace beneath his club.

"Of course. You're Roger's son. How could you not have Conqueror's Haki?"

"But at this level?… you're not even close to being my match."

Kaido roared and poured in more force.

WHOOSH!

Ace's body flew like a meteor, crashing into the earth.

BOOM!

The ground erupted. Flames engulfed a hundred-meter radius.

Ace stood up from the fire, blood dripping from multiple wounds.

"You're… scared of people with Conqueror's Haki!" Ace shouted, staggering to his feet.

Kaido dropped from the sky, landing before him.

"Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates… What a nostalgic title. Do you know what this is?"

He pointed to a scar on his abdomen.

Ace's eyes locked onto the wound. Despite everything he'd tried, he couldn't even scratch Kaido, yet this scar was there, deep and deadly.

"The man who gave me this scar… was Kozuki Oden. You should know that name."

"Kozuki Oden…"

Ace was pulled into a memory.

"Why do we have sixteen divisions, but the second division has no commander?"

That was the first question Ace asked Marco when he joined the Whitebeard Pirates and was placed in the Second Division, only to find it empty.

"Because the commander of the 2nd Division died. There used to be one, but after he was killed, the position was left vacant."

"Huh? Who was he?"

"His name was Kozuki Oden. He was an incredibly powerful man."

Three years ago, in Wano…

"My dream is to become Kozuki Oden!"

That's what Kaido's daughter had said, pretending to be Oden.

That name had been burned into Ace's memory. He never thought he'd hear it again like this.

"So the scar was from Oden, the former Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates," Ace said.

"That's right. That wound is from Oden. Compared to him, you… are far too weak. You're not even worthy of being Whitebeard's Second Division Commander. No wonder you were cast out."

...

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

[email protected]/DaoistJinzu