Beating a Celestial Dragon

Facing the provocation in Inabi's words.

The White Mask CP0 showed no anger whatsoever, merely gesturing to his companions beside him.

The other two CP0 members vanished in an instant!

They appeared at Inabi's left and right like they had teleported!

One formed his five fingers into a claw, his fingertips coated in pitch-black Armament Haki as he thrust at Inabi's ribs!

The other unleashed a side kick, the wind from his leg sharp as a blade as it swept toward Inabi's knee!

Fast! Too fast!

And the two worked together flawlessly, sealing off every angle Inabi could use to evade!

Inabi's pupils contracted slightly. His Sharingan spun rapidly, catching their trajectories.

He held his blade horizontally to parry the claw strike from the left while forcibly twisting his body, trying to avoid the kick from the right.

Clang!!

The claw collided with the blade, producing the sharp ring of metal striking metal!

That CP0 member's Armament Haki was far tougher than Inabi had imagined!

Inabi's arm shook, and the kick from the right had already arrived. He barely twisted aside, the wind from the kick grazing his waist and leaving a searing pain.

In the first exchange, he had fallen slightly behind!

The two CP0 members did not pause after their failed strike, launching a relentless assault like a raging storm!

Their martial arts had been honed to the pinnacle, incorporating many techniques of the Six Powers.

Finger Pistol, Storm Leg, Kami-e, Iron Body—they used them with effortless ease. They were fast, powerful, and attacked from vicious angles!

Inabi wielded En'yōmaru, pushing his Fire Release Sword Technique to its limit as fiery blade arcs crisscrossed the air.

But the opponents' mastery of Armament Haki was clearly deeper; they could often withstand his flaming slashes head-on.

Yet their attacks forced him to evade and block with all his strength, rapidly draining his stamina.

What was even more troublesome was that the White Mask CP0 Leader had yet to make a move.

His mere presence exerted enormous pressure.

Screech!

A momentary misjudgment by Inabi allowed one CP0 member's Finger Pistol to graze his left shoulder, sending a spray of blood flying.

But he reacted swiftly. Without even turning his head, he slashed En'yōmaru at the CP0 member who had just passed him.

Sizzle, sizzle~

The sound of flames burning flesh.

En'yōmaru, wreathed in fire, mercilessly carved a charred, horrific wound across the man's back!

The blood that had just welled from the wound was instantly vaporized by En'yōmaru's scorching flames.

"You actually managed to injure me!?"

Glancing at his bleeding left shoulder, Inabi spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his gaze turning even fiercer.

"Looks like I need to get serious!"

He was about to use a wider-range Fire Release ninjutsu.

"That's enough, Inabi."

A calm, gentle voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

Uchiha Shisui appeared at his side like a ghost, one hand lightly pressing down on the wrist holding his sword.

Inabi froze, a flicker of displeasure passing through his eyes.

But when he saw Shisui's blood-red eyes, now bearing Three Tomoe, he snorted coldly and ultimately stopped gathering Chakra.

"So the genius of your clan has finally decided to make a move?"

Inabi mocked him without mercy.

Others might not know, but how could he not?

The great Uchiha genius, Body Flicker Shisui, was in truth the same sort of person as Uchiha Itachi deep down.

He possessed a kind of weakness that people found repulsive.

Despite being formidable, he always hesitated and looked before he leaped, approaching everything with a gentle sort of compromise.

All Inabi saw in Shisui was avoidance, not even a trace of the resolve needed to shoulder the Uchiha Clan's rise.

Such a person was not worthy of his respect.

Seeing Shisui appear, the two CP0 members immediately halted their attacks and warily retreated half a step, their gazes shifting between Shisui and Inabi.

For the first time, the White Mask Leader's gaze held obvious scrutiny as it fell upon Shisui.

"Who are you?" The White Mask's voice remained cold.

Shisui did not answer him. He merely said quietly to Inabi:

"The clan head said not to complicate things. Withdraw immediately and return to Area 30."

"Hmph, you may be afraid of them, but I'm not!"

Inabi grinned. "I just can't stand these weaklings throwing their weight around."

As he spoke, Inabi cast a disdainful glance at Saint Charlos, who was surrounded by bodyguards.

Why were this world's nobles so damn irritating?

Since they were the ones who had irritated him first, then he was not violating the clan head's order not to provoke the Celestial Dragons for the time being.

Because he was not provoking the Celestial Dragons—they had provoked him first!

"They're not weak. It'll be troublesome if they manage to hold you back.

Leave the rest to me!"

Shisui turned back, still wearing that gentle expression.

As he spoke, he vanished and appeared behind Saint Charlos and the others, beside the cage holding the woman in red.

A flash of steel!

Crack!

Where the blade light passed, the forged steel chains snapped like rotten wood, so fast that even the sound of metal scraping had no time to ring out.

The chains sealing the cage holding the red-haired woman, Hikari, broke apart at once!

Before Hikari could react, she felt a gentle yet irresistible force supporting her arm.

The scenery before her instantly blurred, stretched, and reassembled.

In the next instant, she was already standing several meters away, beside the man who could produce flames.

The speed was so fast that she had not even felt herself move.

"Stay here. Don't move."

Shisui released her hand. Without even sparing her a glance, his figure was about to disappear again.

On the field, the White Mask Leader had already locked his gaze onto Shisui.

"Spatial movement? No... it's extreme speed, even faster than Soru!"

A trace of gravity entered his cold voice.

"But I've already seen through your movements!"

He waited no longer and personally made his move!

In a flash, the White Mask Leader appeared where Shisui had originally been standing. His palm, coated in jet-black Armament Haki, chopped down like a blade, but it only struck an afterimage in the air.

Without pausing, as though he had predicted it, his body twisted at an angle that defied the laws of physics, and he swept a kick backward!

Bang!

Shisui had just appeared at his side, preparing to attack, when the kick precisely forced him back. His feet plowed two shallow grooves across the ground.

Observation Haki prediction?

Shisui understood. The clan head had told them about the abilities of the three types of Haki long ago.

The other man's speed could not possibly keep up with his, but this predictive ability...

It had to be the Observation Haki the clan head had mentioned.

The Three Tomoe in Shisui's eyes slowly turned as he analyzed the other man's movement patterns.

Meanwhile, Saint Charlos watched as his amusing toy was rescued, then saw that these lowly commoners still had not been subdued.

Rage completely overwhelmed what little reason he possessed.

"Trash! All of you are trash! You can't even catch two inferior humans! Kill him! No, capture him alive! I will personally turn him into a specimen!!"

He shoved aside the bodyguards trying to protect him. His fat body staggered forward several steps, and the Sapphire Pistol in his hand waved wildly in Shisui's direction.

Now.

For the first time, Shisui's gaze properly fell upon the severely wounded Scarface.

The man's unfocused pupils seemed to sense something and turned toward him with extreme difficulty.

No words were needed. No words had to be spoken.

Soru!

Everyone only saw a blur before their eyes. Like teleportation, Shisui's figure crossed more than twenty meters in an instant and appeared at Scarface's side!

"Impudent!"

"Stop him!"

Several nearby bodyguards roared and lunged at him, blades and swords striking out together!

Two men even tried to drag Scarface off the ground to use him as a hostage!

Shisui did not even look at them.

He merely shifted slightly, dodging the incoming blade by a hair's breadth, while his left hand casually swung the Longsword outward.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The three bodyguards charging at the front seemed to suffer heavy blows, dull thuds sounding from their chests at the same time.

They looked down at their own chests in confusion.

Splat~

Only then did blood burst forth in a wild spray!

It was not ninjutsu—just the simplest taijutsu combined with an eruption of Chakra.

Strikes that used the Sharingan to precisely catch openings! Fast, accurate, ruthless!

He bent down, reaching out with one hand to help Scarface up.

"You lowly thing! Who gave you permission to touch this Saint's insect?!"

Saint Charlos's shriek nearly pierced everyone's eardrums.

Ignoring the danger, his obese body burst forth with speed utterly disproportionate to its size. Waving the butt of his short gun, he smashed it down toward the back of Shisui's head!

The face beneath the glass bubble twisted with fury and the humiliation of being ignored by a lesser creature.

Shisui's movements did not pause in the slightest.

The instant the gun butt was about to touch his hair, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. His right hand, which had just helped Scarface up, remained still as his left leg whipped backward like a lash.

Bam!!!

With a dull impact, his foot slammed solidly into Saint Charlos's belly, covered in layers of fat beneath his custom protective suit!

"Ughaaah—!!"

Saint Charlos let out a pig-slaughtering scream as his entire body flew backward through the air like a kicked ball!

The glass bubble instantly filled with cracks. Filth mixed with blood sprayed from his mouth, streaking through the air in an arc.

Boom!

He crashed heavily onto his own sedan chair four or five meters away, collapsing one corner of the luxurious carriage. All he could do was lie there and groan.

The entire scene fell silent.

Even the bodyguards who had been attacking or preparing to attack, and even the two CP0 members standing ready, froze in place.

He kicked a Celestial Dragon?

He actually dared to kick a Celestial Dragon?!

In this world, since its founding eight hundred years ago, such an outrageously rebellious act had probably happened only a handful of times!

Celestial Dragons were gods, descendants of the Creator. Their bodies were sacred and inviolable!

Even touching one with a fingernail was a crime that would condemn nine generations of one's family!

And now, this man in black had sent a Celestial Dragon Saint flying with one kick?

After that brief dead silence came chaos like a volcanic eruption!

"Saint! Saint Charlos!"

The bodyguards were scared out of their wits. They no longer cared about Shisui and rushed toward the sedan chair like madmen.

"Blasphemy! This is unprecedented blasphemy against the gods!"

For the first time, the White Mask Leader's voice fluctuated violently, icy with a mixture of extreme shock and boundless killing intent:

"Spare no expense. Kill this bastard!"

"Notify all nearby CP and Marine forces! Issue the highest-level warrant! Seal off the entire island!!"