The Target is a Celestial Dragon

"You've got sharp eyes, kid."

Rayleigh chuckled, neither confirming nor denying, his tone casual:

"You're no ordinary tourist either. Not everyone can stomach that cloying sweetness of the bubble specialties."

Even though he hadn't recognized the young man before him.

But did that matter?

Having weathered storms and waves, there was little left to surprise him!

Yoru smiled too, flashing a row of white teeth:

"Allow me to introduce myself. Uchiha Yoru, current clan head of the Uchiha Clan."

He paused, his gaze falling on Rayleigh's calloused hands:

"I've heard that there was once a legendary swordsman on this sea, whose blade could split mountains and cleave waves.

Now living in seclusion here, making a living by coating ships—I take it that's you, senior?"

Yoru casually tossed out a few compliments without any burden.

It was a habit from his past life: slap a high hat on anyone you meet, and you can't go wrong.

Rayleigh lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a hazy plume of smoke that obscured his eyes behind his glasses:

"Legendary? That's all ancient history. I'm just a coating grunt coasting through life now. Can't teach anyone, least of all a kid like you, who reeks of trouble."

"Don't be so quick to refuse, old man."

Yoru wasn't fazed, still grinning:

"Our clan may not have much, but we've got plenty of good stuff. Fine wine? Plenty of it. Stories? We've got plenty of interesting tales too.

And we even know a thing or two about rumors of immortality~"

Yoru lowered his voice on the last sentence, laced with a hint of temptation.

He had no idea what could sway a retired Rayleigh, but figured old folks probably wanted longevity, so he just made up some nonsense.

If Rayleigh was genuinely interested.

Yoru wouldn't mind telling him about puppet techniques and Living Corpse Reincarnation.

It wasn't his skill anyway.

Rayleigh shook his head with a smile at that:

"Immortality? Hah, that's no good thing. The longer you live, the more tragedies you witness.

As for fine wine and stories—I've got plenty of booze here. As for tales, I can't even be bothered to recall my own."

The two of them, one squatting and one sitting, chatted idly in the alley thick with the smell of resin and tobacco.

"Brruu brruu... Brruu brruu..."

A small, inconspicuous black Den Den Mushi suddenly rang from his pocket.

Yoru's smile faded a bit, and he made an apologetic gesture to Rayleigh before answering the call without any pretense.

The Den Den Mushi mimicked Shisui's gentle face, now marked with obvious guilt.

"Clan head."

Shisui's voice came through the Den Den Mushi, the guilt perfectly replicated by the snail:

"I'm terribly sorry. I disobeyed your orders."

Yoru raised an eyebrow, puzzled:

"Orders? Did I give any orders?"

"You said not to provoke the Celestial Dragons." Shisui's voice dropped a notch lower:

"But I just severely injured one..."

Shisui quickly explained the whole story, holding nothing back.

On this end of the Den Den Mushi, Yoru was silent for about two seconds.

Then, he suddenly let out a "pfft" of laughter.

Not a cold laugh, not an angry laugh, but one that sounded like he'd heard something amusing, tinged with resignation and an "I knew it" vibe.

"Hahaha... Shisui, Shisui, what can I even say about you?"

Yoru's shoulders shook with laughter: "I knew it. With your temperaments, you were bound to stir up trouble on this island. How could there not be a conflict?"

"But I really didn't expect the one to poke the biggest hole first would be you, the usually mildest Shisui!

Kicking a Celestial Dragon flying? Nice one, Shisui! Never knew you had such a fiery side!

How'd it feel? Pretty satisfying, huh?"

Yoru had long mentally prepared himself for the possibility of the Uchiha clashing with the Celestial Dragons.

Even the local pirates, who knew full well how dangerous the Celestial Dragons were, couldn't stand their ways.

Zoro nearly cut down a Celestial Dragon.

Let alone the Uchiha, who had no real understanding of the Celestial Dragons' lofty status—there was no way they'd tolerate them.

This wasn't about justice or injustice; it was simply that no normal person could stand those Celestial Dragons.

Everything was going as expected.

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Shisui seemed taken aback by the clan head's reaction:

"Clan head... are you really sure it's fine?"

Shisui hesitated.

"I told you, I'm the one who does the thinking! I'm not surprised you lot would stir up trouble. Did you really think I'd let you run loose without a backup plan?"

Yoru's tone was relaxed, with no trace of fear.

Right. After a Celestial Dragon gets beaten, an Admiral will definitely show up to block the way.

With the Uchiha's current strength, if they all gathered together, they might barely handle one Admiral.

But if they got pinned down and a second Admiral showed up, it'd be over.

Still, that's ridiculous—who in their right mind would want to fight an Admiral?

Looking for trouble?

Uchiha Yoru didn't choose to come to Sabaody Archipelago on a whim, nor just to bring his clan sightseeing.

There was a target he'd already set his sights on here.

Those Celestial Dragons.

A bunch of ordinary people with supreme status—was there anything better to control with genjutsu?

Ordinary genjutsu, even with the Sharingan's boost, would struggle to control an enemy of decent strength.

But that scope definitely didn't include ordinary people.

Ordinary people had no resistance against the Sharingan's genjutsu—their bodies and minds would be completely enslaved!

Just like in the original story, when Itachi and Kisame first met Uzumaki Naruto and saw Jiraiya watching over him like a shadow.

Itachi chose to use genjutsu to control a beautiful woman to lure Jiraiya away.

So as soon as they landed, Yoru scoured the entire island for Celestial Dragons.

He easily used genjutsu to control three of them.

Now he'd make one more trip to control this Saint Charlos, and then pretty much all the Celestial Dragons on the island would be under his control.

With the Celestial Dragons under my control.

Why would I fear an Admiral??

It was precisely because of this confidence that Yoru let the Uchiha act freely.

Cause whatever trouble they wanted—there wasn't a thing on this island the Celestial Dragons couldn't smooth over.

"I told you it's fine, clan head. I was the one who struck first. What's a mere Celestial Dragon? Even a Daimyo wouldn't make the Uchiha flinch."

Seeing the clan head wasn't angry, another cocky voice suddenly piped up from the Den Den Mushi.

"Ohh~ that lively voice—must be Inabi."

Yoru pulled another pie from his pocket, took a slow bite, and mumbled.

"That's me, clan head. I found something good on this island—I guarantee it'll blow your mind!"

Inabi said proudly, fiddling with En'yōmaru in his hand, unable to put it down.

"We'll talk about that later. Since you're so confident, Inabi, when the Admiral shows up, you can take point for us!"

"No problem, clan head. I feel terrifyingly strong right now. Leave that damn Admiral to me alone!"

Inabi's voice came back, brimming with confidence.