Victory

"Annoying fly!"

Sandersonia roared repeatedly, her attacks growing increasingly ferocious, but Shisui had already begun disrupting her rhythm.

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

The instant Sandersonia exposed an opening at her side after a wide-ranging lunge from one of her snake-head braids—

"Now!"

A sharp gleam flashed in Shisui's eyes. He abruptly stopped at Sandersonia's blind spot and flung out 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 the flames of Phoenix Flower Fire around shuriken, it formed a new Fire Style technique that inflicted both fire and shuriken damage upon impact, while also greatly interfering with the enemy's vision.

And its target...

Was the area near Sandersonia's armpit, which had been slightly exposed when she swung her snake head. It was one of the areas with relatively weak Armament Haki coverage.

Whoosh!

With the sound of flames scorching through the air, the two blazing-red kunai seemed to teleport as they accurately pierced toward the weak point beneath Sandersonia's arm!

"What?!"

Sandersonia's Observation Haki sent out an extremely dangerous warning.

She wanted to defend herself, but her enormous body, combined with the fact that her old momentum had faded before new momentum could arise, made her half a beat too slow!

"Boom!"

The kunai successfully struck Sandersonia and exploded violently.

An intense numbness and stabbing pain instantly spread through half of Sandersonia's body, drawing a pained groan from her.

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

Yet Shisui did not press his advantage. He merely 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 was more skilled at.

This was a suppression of combat intelligence.

After only a brief observation, Shisui had noticed that the green-haired woman before him did not possess the same physical strength as the other orange-haired woman.

A ninjutsu like Phoenix Flower Claw Red might not have dealt much damage to Marigold.

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

Ninjutsu was never simply better the greater its power.

Achieving the greatest results at the smallest cost was the best kind of ninjutsu!

On the other side, Fugaku faced Boa Marigold.

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

He did not clash with Marigold head-on in a contest of strength. Instead, he used the Sharingan's powerful insight to evade her heavy chops and sweeps of her snake tail by the narrowest margins at the most critical moments.

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

Though he had initially been shocked by the immense strength contained within Marigold's body, once he adapted to it, Fugaku's heart had completely calmed.

She possessed tremendous strength but did not know how to use it, only clumsily swinging her weapon to attack. How could such attacks possibly be effective?

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

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

Unable to land a blow for so long, Marigold grew somewhat impatient, her attacks becoming broader and more reckless.

Fugaku remained completely unmoved.

A childish provocation.

When Marigold's full-force chop missed once more and her blade sank deep into the ground, Fugaku swiftly formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Fire Technique!"

More than a dozen fireballs poured from Fugaku's mouth, shooting toward Marigold like a violent storm. Their coverage was so broad that she was forced to block them.

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

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 exposed by Marigold's blocking motion!

He held the fingers of his right hand together like a blade, highly compressed Chakra gathered around them and formed a shape akin to a sharp Chakra scalpel. He thrust straight toward the joint ligament where Marigold's snake tail connected to her human body!

That was likewise an area where her Armament Haki defense was relatively weak, and it was also a crucial point for exerting force and maintaining balance!

"Taijutsu: Body Flicker Piercing Finger!"

Sshk!

A precise, vicious strike! Fugaku's fingertips carried piercing Chakra, successfully breaking through the local defense and stabbing into the gap between the joints!

"Argh!"

Marigold felt a burst of searing pain and numbness in her tail. Her massive body instantly lost its balance and crashed forward, while the enormous cleaver in her hand flew free and smashed into the ground with a dull boom.

The battle reversed in an instant!

The Gorgon sisters, who had held an absolute advantage moments ago, were driven back by Shisui's extreme speed and precise attacks, while the other was instantly knocked to the ground by Fugaku's seasoned experience and tactics!

All the watching Uchiha clansmen fell silent at first, then erupted into earth-shaking cheers!

"Lord Shisui! Elder Fugaku!"

"We won!"

On Kuja Island's side, both the ordinary warriors and Hancock upon the throne wore expressions of utter shock and disbelief.

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

Yet the powerful warriors they had been so proud of had been defeated in such a short time by two opponents who did not even seem to be the strongest, and in a manner that was practically a complete "technical domination"!

Humiliation—this was simply humiliation!

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

"Enough!"

A cold, imperious cry resounded across the battlefield. It was not loud, yet it clearly drowned out all the 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 breathtakingly beautiful face, while rage burned within her deep-blue eyes.

Yet there was even more extreme displeasure—the displeasure of someone whose authority had been provoked by mere ants.

She did not even glance at her two sisters groaning on the ground, as though it were a trivial matter.

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

"You dared to injure I's beloved sisters to such an extent... and even forced I to witness such an unsightly, clumsy performance..."

Hancock's voice carried an innate allure, along with a lofty detachment.

"Your very existence is a desecration of I's beauty! For this sin, not even ten thousand deaths would be enough to atone!"

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

"So fast!"

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