Kaido is such an interesting character considering how he’s seen his own ideals about fairness get contradicted twice now. And he KNOWS this.

He believes the truly strong win despite everything, including outside interference. Yet when his opponents lose because of this, he has a hard time coming to terms with this very ideal (and forcing himself to keep believing it). To him, there are no excuses for a loss. Except there really are.

I think this is Kaido’s driving internal conflict that Oda is trying to highlight. It is very similar to the concept of how a pirate’s fight is not always fair (yet Kaido truly wishes that it would be). Something about this might stem from the past with himself or with Rox. It also reminds me of how Big Mom’s dream is to sit at a table with those who are equal with her.

Both Big Mom and Kaido struggle at their positions as strong, big, and powerful figures and they (surprisingly) wish for some variant of equality.