Your Strength is Recognized

"Trying to flee? Have you asked Me?"

Hancock naturally noticed the Uchiha's movements. She snorted coldly, her figure abruptly rising, attempting to bypass the Susanoo and directly attack the retreating clansmen.

"Don't even think about it!"

Shisui roared, his left eye nearly splitting from the strain!

The Susanoo's remaining skeletal arm suddenly spread wide, abandoning its own defense, sweeping toward Hancock like an embrace. The massive palm came crashing down with a whistling wind pressure, forcing Hancock to turn and counter.

"Boom!"

Hancock kicked aside the incoming skeletal palm, her gaze turning even colder:

"Since you're so set on dying, I will grant your wish first!"

She concentrated all her attacks on Shisui and his Susanoo.

Fists and feet coated in Haki poured down like a raging storm upon the green skeleton.

"Crack... crack..."

The grating sound of splintering bones rang out without pause.

Cracks spread across the Susanoo, growing deeper and more numerous. The green glow dimmed further and further.

Inside, Shisui's body swayed precariously, held upright only by sheer will.

His vision had begun to blur. He relied solely on instinct and the lingering pupil power of his Sharingan to command the Susanoo in its final resistance.

Hancock's attacks were fierce, but Shisui never fell, nor did he let the Susanoo disperse.

This green fortress, like a beacon lit by his burning life, stood rooted in place, guarding the clansmen behind him.

"It's over! Great Perfume Kick!"

Hancock cried out sharply, spinning her body, concentrating all her strength and Haki into her right leg.

This was a spinning kick capable of shattering mountains—like a pitch-black meteor of destruction.

With terrifying internal explosive force, it slammed viciously into the Susanoo's chest, already riddled with cracks and seemingly ready to shatter at any moment!

Against this blow, Shisui, whose strength was utterly spent, had no chance of surviving!

Just at this critical moment—

"That's enough, Shisui. Leave the rest to me."

A calm voice rang out.

Uchiha Yoru, who had been quietly observing the battle, finally moved.

He made no hand seals. He simply took a single step forward.

In an instant, he appeared directly in front of Shisui's crumbling Susanoo, facing the terrifying blow that could overturn an island.

"Clan Head?!"

"Yoru! Get out of the way!"

Fugaku and the half-conscious Shisui cried out in alarm simultaneously.

Seeing this man, who seemed to be the leader, dare to block her ultimate technique with his bare hands, Hancock's exquisite face twisted with disdain.

"Overestimating yourself!"

Her right leg, coated in pitch-black Armament Haki, accelerated, its power redoubled, vowing to smash this troublesome man and the bones behind him into dust!

Yet, facing this earth-shattering kick, Uchiha Yoru's expression remained as calm as still water.

Only as the attack was about to land did Yoru's eyes snap open—

A crimson light bloomed! Complex, eerie patterns spun rapidly within his pupils!

Mangekyo Sharingan, activate!

"Boom—!"

A dark red Chakra, denser and far more massive than Shisui's, surged skyward!

A more complete half-body Susanoo, covered in veins and flesh, materialized abruptly around Uchiha Yoru!

It radiated a terrifying pressure that made the soul tremble!

Another Susanoo!

"A showy, useless turtle shell—worthless."

Hancock sneered, her right leg crashing down like a mountain toward Yoru.

But this wasn't the end!

The moment the dark red Susanoo took form, the patterns in Yoru's eyes spun wildly once more.

"Armament Haki, Wrapping!"

With his low voice, the surface of the dark red Susanoo, as if alive, rapidly spread and coated itself in a deep, pitch-black hue that seemed to devour all light!

Armament Haki-coated Susanoo!

"BOOM—!!!"

In that instant, Hancock's full-force Great Perfume Kick finally slammed viciously into the chest of the Armament Haki-clad Susanoo!

The expected devastating destruction did not appear.

Instead, an earth-shattering roar erupted, far louder than any previous clash, like a great bell or massive drum!

A violent shockwave expanded outward in a spherical shape, tearing up layers of the surrounding ground, dust and smoke blotting out the sky!

The Kuja female warriors nearby were scattered by the aftershock, stumbling and unable to keep their footing.

Under everyone's utterly stunned gaze, the pitch-black Susanoo coated in Armament Haki merely shuddered violently.

The Armament Haki armor on its chest rippled intensely, yet stood firm! It withstood the blow that could shatter mountains!

Instead, it was the attacking Hancock who felt a tremendous force—a mix of physical impact and a strange energy backlash—surge up from her foot.

"Ugh!"

She couldn't help but let out a muffled grunt.

Her entire right leg went numb instantly, and her delicate body was uncontrollably blasted backward.

She flipped several times in the air before landing somewhat clumsily in the distance, staggering a few steps to barely steady herself.

Hancock looked up at the massive Susanoo, radiating a red-and-black glow like a demon god descending.

Gazing at Uchiha Yoru, unharmed within the Susanoo's protection, her face showed a serious expression for the first time.

This opponent was strong!

Seeing the clan head withstand the enemy's full-force strike, Shisui's mind relaxed, and his emerald-green Susanoo could no longer hold, shattering with a roar into scattered specks of energy light.

Panting heavily, Shisui gasped for breath, his left eye tightly shut, blood streaming down, his aura faint to the extreme.

"Go down and rest."

Yoru spoke coldly, with neither extra concern nor an explanation for why he hadn't acted earlier.

He was the clan head; many things didn't need deliberate explanation to his clan members.

As for excuses like being too lustful to fight Hancock—

That was, of course, a joke to coax 7-year-old Sasuke.

The reason he hadn't acted was simple.

He felt the situation was still under control, not yet at the point where he had to step in.

He was the head of a clan, not a babysitter for the Uchiha.

He couldn't personally fight every enemy that came along.

What he wanted more was for Shisui, Itachi, and the other Uchiha elites to each stand on their own, becoming strong in their own right.

Not to hide under his protection like cared-for infants.

If that were the case, he might as well pick an uninhabited island as the Uchiha's safe haven.

Why bother landing on a Shichibukai's turf?

He wanted Shisui and the others to witness the world's strong in relatively safe conditions, as quickly as possible.

Now, it was about time to end this!

After ordering Shisui to withdraw, Uchiha Yoru stood within the Susanoo's protection, calmly watching the Empress, whose expression had grown slightly serious.

He spoke slowly, his voice carrying through the Susanoo across the battlefield:

"Boa Hancock, I acknowledge your strength.

But now, can you calm down and listen to a few words from me?"