Turn Passivity into Activity

Just then, Carlos climbed out of the car. His left eye's pupil was pale white, veins bulging around his temple and forehead, while his right eye's Two-Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated. A pistol gripped in his right hand, he rapidly pulled the trigger, bullets pouring out in a single second...

Seven bullets tore through the air, flying toward the five figures charging from the right. Muffled grunts rang out as the five figures nearly simultaneously collapsed to the ground. Then the follow-up bullets and gunfire turned them into sieves, shredded flesh.

But on the left, Carlos was stretched too thin to manage. Five figures in matching black tight suits, as if merging into the night, rushed onto the road. Various gleaming weapons swung, screams erupted, blood sprayed. In an instant, nearly all the fighters on the left were taken out, at most one left severely wounded and dying.

"You all stay back—these people aren't something you can handle!"

After saying that, Carlos casually tossed aside the pistol. Dressed in a well-fitted blue suit with a rose pinned to his chest, he formed his fingers into claws and charged forward.

The first to meet him was a short man wielding a pair of short blades. The knives stabbed viciously toward Carlos's waist—right where his kidneys were. If struck, a man's dignity might be lost forever.

"Looking to die!"

Carlos cursed inwardly, enraged. His move was even more vicious than his opponent's. Ignoring the incoming attack entirely, his Eagle Claw shot toward the man's head with a sharp whistle through the air.

The short man showed no fear, speeding up his own strike. The two blades stabbed into Carlos's waist first. A grin had just begun to form when it froze solid. Clang! It was like striking steel—couldn't even break the skin.

Pfft...

But the short man had no chance to think further. The Eagle Claw dug straight into his skull, Internal Energy surging. In an instant, he was dead.

After taking down the short man, Carlos had no time to dwell. He tilted his head to dodge a slashing blade, and his right eye's Two-Tomoe transformed into Three-Tomoe.

Illusion Technique: Sharingan!

The lithe figure before him, wearing a black mask that revealed only a pair of cold, merciless eyes, stiffened. Boundless terror flooded her gaze, as if she were seeing her own worst nightmare.

Crack!

A crisp sound of bone breaking rang out. All terror faded into stillness—she would never fear again.

After killing another, the remaining three launched a coordinated attack. To Carlos's Byakugan and Sharingan, their seemingly perfect teamwork was riddled with flaws. He sneered disdainfully, shifted his footing, and leaned his body back slightly. The three-pronged assault missed completely.

Casually, Carlos's Eagle Claw swept across one assassin's arm. Rip! Flesh tore open, and as the claw passed a pressure point, Internal Energy surged from his fingers, flooding into the opponent's acupoint.

That assassin expected searing pain in his arm, but instead felt nothing at all. His entire arm went completely numb and out of his control. His weapon clattered to the ground—his combat effectiveness was essentially gone.

The last two assassins gave it their all, unleashing every assassination technique they knew. But against Carlos's exquisite Eagle Claw Technique, Twelve Road Tan Leg, and his two Dojutsu, they were utterly powerless. Everything was seen through!

In just three moves, one was struck at a fatal acupoint by the Internal Energy-laced Eagle Claw and died instantly. The other took two kicks—one to the heart, one to the head—struggled briefly on the ground, and then went cold.

The sole survivor saw the situation was hopeless. His courage shattered, he turned and ran...

Carlos spread his hand. A nearby fighter, quick on the uptake, hurriedly handed his rifle to their Boss.

Carlos took the gun, aimed, and fired in one fluid motion. A single bullet struck the fleeing assassin's leg, even as he serpentined in a desperate attempt to evade.

"Team One, take the surviving brothers for immediate medical treatment and clear the roadblock. Team Two, gather the fallen brothers' remains and secure the still-living assassin."

"As for the dead assassins, send someone from the Mansion to handle them later."

"Yes, Boss!"

Under Carlos's orders, everything was dealt with quickly. The convoy set off again.

Back at the Mansion, Carlos enjoyed a pleasant bath before heading to the dungeon where the assassin was held, ready to personally interrogate the one he'd deliberately left alive.

His men were too slow—he was faster. Truth be told, he didn't have any truly powerful people under him. Noah handled things well enough, but his strength was too rough.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Respectful greetings came without pause along the way. When he reached the underground cell, the assassin's wounds had already been treated. He was a middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes, silently bound to a chair.

Carlos walked slowly toward him. The middle-aged man looked up, voice hoarse, and grinned. "Don't waste your effort. I won't say a thing."

"If I spared your life, would you talk?" Carlos asked with a smile, looking sunny and kind.

The middle-aged man fell silent, hesitating.

Carlos sneered inwardly. Tch, and I thought he'd be tougher than that.

Too bad—he'd never planned to let this guy live. A few of his men had died. As their Boss, he had to avenge them.

Hypnosis!

Carlos locked eyes with the middle-aged man. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan emerged, Pupil Power erupting, instantly hypnotizing the caught-off-guard assassin.

Honestly, these assassins were weak in his eyes. He'd taken them all out without much trouble, and their resistance to his Sharingan was negligible.

Carlos wasn't entirely sure of his own current strength, since he lacked a worthy opponent to test against. But he was confident he was at least at the level of a Marine Headquarters field-grade officer.

Whether that meant Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or Captain, he didn't know—but at minimum, he had Lieutenant Commander-level strength.

The hypnotized assassin quickly spilled everything he knew. They were indeed assassins sent by the John Family—not wild ones, but trained in-house.

Carlos asked a few more questions about the John Family. He already knew a bit about them, but clearly not as much as this trained assassin did.

This gave Carlos some ideas.

After this batch of assassins failed, the John Family would surely send stronger operatives. Even if those failed too, they'd keep throwing various methods at him until he was dead or groveling in submission, becoming the John Family's dog.

Neither outcome appealed to Carlos. So instead of reacting passively, why not strike first?

With his current forces, a direct confrontation against the powerful John Family was impossible. The John Family itself was no pushover, and they also had four or five medium-to-small affiliated families like the Mike Family. A head-on fight was definitely not the answer.

It would be far too easy to squander the hard-earned foundation he had built. He aspired to become a super big shot whose influence spanned the entire world—there was no way he would be stupid enough to charge into a frontal assault!

Admitting defeat was out of the question. He had to fight, but he could do it in a more flexible way—attack from the flanks!

A Mafia family as large as this was riddled with internal conflicts, not to mention external ones. All he needed to do was ignite some of those conflicts, leaving the John Family too busy to deal with him, buying himself time to develop!

If he could just hold out until the Great Age of Pirates erupted, the whole world would descend into chaos. The number of pirates would skyrocket, and whether it was the Navy or any other power, their main focus would be on the pirates!

Pirates like Luffy were better described as adventurers, much like the adventurers in DNF. They didn't resemble real pirates at all. True pirates were greedy to the bone and killed without blinking!

Having made up his mind, Carlos turned and left with a single remark.

"Drag this bastard out and shoot him, to honor the spirits of our fallen brothers..."

"Yes, Boss!" The Mafia members in the dungeon shouted in excitement and fervor.