Your Strength Has Earned My Recognition

"Trying to run? Did you ask me first?"

Hancock had naturally noticed the Uchiha's movements as well. She gave a cold snort and suddenly leaped into the air, attempting to bypass the Susanoo and directly attack the retreating clansmen.

"Don't even think about it!"

Shisui roared, his left eye nearly splitting wide open!

Susanoo's remaining skeletal arm abruptly spread open, disregarding its own defense as it swept toward Hancock in an embrace-like motion. Its massive palm came crashing down with howling wind pressure, forcing Hancock to turn back and deal with it.

Bang!

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

"Since you insist on courting death, I'll grant your wish first!"

She focused all her attacks on Shisui and his Susanoo.

Her fists and kicks, coated in Haki, poured down upon the green skeleton like a raging storm.

"Crack... crack..."

The grating sounds of shattering rang out without pause.

More and more cracks spread across Susanoo, growing deeper and deeper as its green glow steadily dimmed.

Inside it, Shisui swayed on the verge of collapse, supported solely by sheer willpower.

His vision had already begun to blur. He could only rely on instinct and the remaining Eye Power of his Sharingan to control Susanoo in one final stand.

Hancock's attacks were powerful, but Shisui never fell, nor did he allow Susanoo to disperse.

That green barrier was like a beacon lit by his burning life, firmly nailed in place as it protected the clansmen behind him.

"It's over! Great Perfume Kick!"

Hancock cried out as her body spun, gathering all her strength and Haki into her right leg.

It was a spinning kick capable of shattering mountains, like a black meteor of destruction.

Carrying the terrifying force of internal destruction, it smashed viciously toward Susanoo's chest, which was covered in cracks and seemed ready to break apart at any moment!

Shisui, already at the end of his rope, had no possible way to block this strike!

At that critical moment—

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

A calm voice rang out.

Uchiha Yoru, who had been silently observing the battle all along, finally moved.

He formed no hand seals. He merely took a single step forward.

In an instant, he appeared directly before Shisui's crumbling Susanoo, facing that terrifying blow capable of overturning an island.

"Clan head?!"

"Yoru! Get out of the way!"

Fugaku and the barely conscious Shisui cried out at the same time.

When Hancock saw that this apparent leader dared to stand barehanded before her ultimate move, a trace of disdain flashed across her breathtaking face.

"Overestimating yourself!"

Her right leg, covered in pitch-black Armament Haki, shot forward even faster and with even greater force, determined to blast this troublesome man and the bones behind him into dust!

Yet Uchiha Yoru's expression remained as calm as still water in the face of that earthshaking kick.

Until, just before the attack landed, Yoru's eyes suddenly opened—

Scarlet light bloomed! Complex, sinister patterns spun rapidly within his pupils!

The Mangekyō Sharingan opened!

"Buzz—!"

Dark-red Chakra, denser and more massive than Shisui's Susanoo, surged into the sky!

An even more complete upper-body Susanoo, filled with veins and flesh, abruptly manifested around Uchiha Yoru!

It radiated a terrifying pressure that made souls tremble!

Another Susanoo!

"A useless turtle shell that only looks impressive!"

Hancock snapped, her right leg descending upon Yoru like a mountain.

But it was not over yet!

At the very instant the dark-red Susanoo took shape, the patterns in Uchiha Yoru's eyes spun madly once more.

"Armament Haki, coat!"

Along with his low voice, a profound black color that seemed capable of devouring all light rapidly spread across the dark-red Susanoo's body like a living thing!

A Susanoo coated in Armament Haki!

Boom—!!!

In the blink of an eye, Hancock's full-powered Great Perfume Kick finally slammed viciously into the chest of the Susanoo coated in Armament Haki!

The expected crushing destruction never came.

Instead, an earthshaking blast far louder than any previous collision erupted, like the ringing of an enormous bell!

A violent spherical shockwave expanded wildly outward, peeling up layer after layer of ground as dust filled the sky!

The nearby Kuja Tribe warriors were blown away by the aftershock, unable to keep their footing.

Under the utterly stunned gazes of everyone present, the black Susanoo coated in Armament Haki merely shook violently once.

The Armament Haki armor around its chest rippled intensely, yet it remained completely unmoved! It had forcibly blocked a strike capable of shattering mountains!

Instead, Hancock, who had launched the attack, felt a tremendous force travel up from her foot, mixed with physical impact and a strange energy backlash.

"Ugh!"

She could not help letting out a muffled groan.

Her entire right leg went numb in an instant, and her delicate body was violently blasted backward beyond her control.

She spun several times in midair before landing somewhat awkwardly in the distance. She staggered a few steps before barely managing to stand steady.

Hancock looked up at the massive Susanoo, which seemed like a demonic god descending upon the world, radiating intertwined red and black light.

Seeing Uchiha Yoru standing completely unharmed beneath Susanoo's protection, a grave expression appeared on her face for the first time.

Her opponent was very strong!

Seeing their clan head block the enemy's full-force attack—

With his mind finally relaxing, Shisui's emerald-green Susanoo could no longer endure and shattered with a crash, turning into energy motes that drifted through the air.

Huff, huff~

Shisui panted heavily, his left eye tightly shut and drenched in blood. His aura had weakened to an extreme.

"Go rest."

Yoru spoke coldly, showing neither extra concern nor explaining why he had not acted earlier.

He was the clan head. There were many things he did not need to deliberately explain to his clansmen.

As for excuses about being too lecherous to fight Hancock—

Those had naturally only been jokes meant to placate seven-year-old Sasuke.

The reason he had not acted all this time was simple.

He believed the situation remained under control and had not yet reached the point where he needed to intervene.

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

He could not personally step onto the battlefield against every enemy they encountered.

What he wanted even more was for elites like Shisui and Itachi to become capable of standing on their own, each growing into a powerhouse in their own right.

Rather than hiding beneath his protection like infants waiting to be cared for.

If that was truly what they wanted, they might as well choose some deserted island as the Uchiha's safe base.

Why would they need to land in the Shichibukai's territory?

He wanted Shisui and the others to witness the strong people of this world as soon as possible, under relatively safe circumstances.

Now, it was about time to end this!

After having Shisui withdraw, Uchiha Yoru stood beneath Susanoo's protection and calmly watched the Empress in the distance, whose expression had grown somewhat grave.

He slowly spoke, his voice spreading across the battlefield through Susanoo.

"Boa Hancock, your strength has earned my recognition.

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