Victory

"Annoying fly!"

Sandersonia roared repeatedly, her attacks growing more violent, but Shisui had already begun disrupting her rhythm.

Her Observation Haki could barely "see" him, but her body could not keep up at all.

The instant Sandersonia exposed an opening at her side after launching a wide-ranging strike with her snake head—

"Now!"

A sharp glint flashed in Shisui's eyes. He abruptly stopped in Sandersonia's blind spot and hurled two Kunai wreathed in flames!

Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Red!

This was a derivative ninjutsu Shisui had developed based on the Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Fire Technique.

By wrapping Phoenix Flower Fire flames around shuriken, it created a new Fire Style technique that inflicted both fire and shuriken damage upon impact while severely disrupting the enemy's vision.

And the target...

was the area beneath Sandersonia's slightly raised arm as she swung her snake head—a region where her Armament Haki coverage was relatively weak.

Whoosh!

Accompanied by the hiss of flames scorching the air, the two blazing-red Kunai shot forward as if teleporting, accurately piercing toward the weak point beneath Sandersonia's arm!

"What?!"

Sandersonia's Observation Haki sent her an extreme warning of danger.

She wanted to defend herself, but her massive body, caught between spent momentum and fresh force, made her half a beat too slow!

Boom!

The Kunai struck Sandersonia successfully and exploded violently.

An intense numbness and stabbing pain instantly spread through half her body, making her let out a muffled groan.

Many of the snake-head braids she controlled immediately fell apart, and her massive body staggered backward, exposing a huge opening.

Yet Shisui did not press his advantage. He simply stood where he was, coldly watching the disheveled Sandersonia.

From beginning to end, Shisui had not used the more powerful Great Dragon Fire Technique or the genjutsu he excelled at.

This was a suppression of combat intelligence.

After only a brief observation, Shisui had discovered that the green-haired woman's physical abilities were not as strong as those of the other orange-haired woman.

A technique like Phoenix Flower Claw Red might not have inflicted much damage on Marigold.

But against Sandersonia, whose Armament Haki was somewhat weaker, it was perfectly suited.

Ninjutsu was never simply better because it was more powerful.

Achieving the greatest result at the smallest cost was the best ninjutsu!

Elsewhere, Fugaku faced Boa Marigold.

Unlike Shisui's nimble swiftness, Fugaku's fighting style was steadier and more seasoned.

He did not clash with Marigold in a contest of strength. Instead, he used the Sharingan's powerful perception to evade her heavy chops and sweeping snake-tail strikes by the narrowest margins, always at the last possible moment.

His abundant combat experience caused Marigold's attacks to miss time and again.

Although he had initially been shocked by the immense strength contained within Marigold's body,

once he had adjusted, Fugaku's heart had completely calmed.

She possessed immense strength but did not know how to use it, only clumsily swinging her weapon to attack. How could attacks like that possibly work?

No matter how powerful an attack was, if it could not hit anyone, it would never be a threat!

"Damn it! Are you a loach? Can't you fight like a man?!"

Unable to land a hit for so long, Marigold grew somewhat agitated, and her attacks became broader and more reckless.

Fugaku remained utterly unmoved.

A childish provocation.

When Marigold's full-force chop missed once again and her blade sank deeply into the ground, Fugaku rapidly formed hand seals.

Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Fire Technique!

More than a dozen fireballs burst from Fugaku's mouth and shot toward Marigold like a torrential storm. Their coverage was immense, forcing her to block.

Marigold roared and swung her Armament Haki-coated arms and snake tail, knocking aside most of the flames.

At the instant Marigold's attention was drawn by the rain of fire filling the sky, Fugaku had already silently appeared at her rear flank through a combination of the Substitution Technique and Body Flicker Technique.

It was precisely the blind spot Marigold had exposed while blocking!

He held the fingers of his right hand together like a blade. Highly compressed Chakra gathered around them, taking the form of a sharp Chakra scalpel as he drove it straight into the joint ligaments where Marigold's snake tail connected to her human body!

That was likewise an area with relatively weak Armament Haki defense, as well as a crucial point for exerting force and maintaining balance!

Taijutsu: Body Flicker Piercing Finger!

Sshk!

A precise, vicious strike! Carrying penetrating Chakra, Fugaku's fingertips broke through the local defense and pierced into the gap in the joint!

"Argh!"

Marigold felt an intense pain and numbness in her tail. Her massive body instantly lost its balance and crashed forward, while the enormous cleaver in her hand flew loose and slammed into the ground with a dull boom.

The battle reversed in an instant!

The two Gorgon sisters, who had held an absolute advantage, had been forced back by Shisui's extreme speed and precise strikes, while the other had been instantly knocked to the ground by Fugaku's seasoned experience and tactics!

All the watching Uchiha Clan members fell silent at first, then erupted into thunderous cheers!

"Lord Shisui! Elder Fugaku!"

"We won!"

On Kuja Island's side, whether ordinary warriors or Hancock seated upon the throne, everyone's expressions turned incomparably ugly and shocked.

Sandersonia and Marigold were already the two strongest people on Kuja Island apart from Hancock.

Yet the powerful warriors they were so proud of had been defeated in such a short time by two opponents who did not even appear to be the strongest, through this near-total "technical domination"!

Humiliation—this was simply humiliation!

Just as the Uchiha Clan erupted into thunderous cheers and believed victory was assured, a suffocating, terrifying pressure descended like a tsunami!

"Enough!"

A cold, majestic feminine shout rang across the battlefield. It was not loud, yet it clearly drowned out every other clamor.

The "Empress," Boa Hancock, who had been seated upon her throne and watching coldly, slowly rose to her feet.

A layer of frost covered her exquisite face, while fury burned in her deep-blue eyes.

But even more than fury, there was the utmost displeasure of someone whose dignity had been provoked by ants.

She did not even look at her two younger sisters groaning on the ground, as though it were nothing of importance.

Her gaze, like two icy arrows, locked directly onto Uchiha Shisui and Fugaku Uchiha, who had just claimed victory.

"You dared to wound my beloved younger sisters so badly... and even made me witness such a disgraceful, appalling display..."

Hancock's voice carried an innate charm, along with an aloofness that placed her above all others.

"Your very existence is a desecration of my beauty! For this sin, not even ten thousand deaths can atone!"

Before her words had even faded, her figure abruptly vanished from where she stood!

"So fast!"

Shisui and Fugaku's Sharingan both caught a fleeting afterimage, but their bodies reacted half a beat too late!