Marco's Surprise! The Awakened Susanoo!

Marco stood at the ship's railing, his eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly.

He could clearly sense the young guard's strength—the degree of Chakra concentration, the explosive power contained in his muscles, and the cold aura emanating from his Sharingan. In the Marine Headquarters, he would at least be a colonel, or even reach the threshold of Rear Admiral.

This person was merely a squad leader on a patrol boat.

Fugaku leaped off the Moby Dick, his toes barely touching the sea, and landed on the bow of the patrol boat in a few steps.

He showed the clan chief's token to the leading youth and whispered a few words of instruction.

The young guard immediately sheathed his sword, knelt on one knee in salute, and then stood up to signal the patrol boat behind him to proceed.

The speedboat turned around and cleared the waterway; the entire process, from interception to release, took no more than three minutes.

Marco leaned against the ship's railing, watching the speedboat rejoin the patrol route, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Hey, is this the level of a patrol captain? Just how much are these Uchiha hiding?"

He glanced back at Vista and Jozu, who were also looking surprised on the deck.

Vista paused for a moment, then shook his head, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice. "We've been in the New World for so many years, known as the elite of the Whitebeard Pirates —and yet, that Uchiha, a mere gatekeeper, could be a great pirate with a bounty of over 100 million in Four Blues."

Fugaku returned to the deck of the Moby Dick and, upon hearing the discussion, calmly explained, "These are not members of my Uchiha Clan."

Most of the Guard Corps on Spirit Awakening Island were reorganized from the original garrison forces of the three major kingdoms and trained by Uchiha Jonin to clan standards.

The patrol captain we just saw was named Uchiha Ryosuke. He was one of the few members of the Guard Corps whose captain was a member of the Uchiha clan, and he was responsible for the daily patrols around Spirit Awakening Island.

There are more than ten patrol captains like him on the three guard islands of Spirit Awakening, Sourceguard, and Hillguard.

He paused, then added calmly, "The core of the Shadow Guard Unit and the Guard Corps are all located on the main island of Origin Island. This is just the outer perimeter."

Whitebeard sat on the deck, listened to Fugaku's explanation, tilted his head back and took a swig of sake. He wiped his mouth with the back of his rough hand, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Gurgle gurgle gurgle! Kids, you Uchiha are treating the Marine Headquarters officers like cabbages!"

Fugaku didn't reply, but just stared at the approaching port of Spirit Awakening Island, a faint smile flashing in his eyes.

The lid of the Nutrient Pod slowly closed, and the pale green nutrient solution submerged Natsu's chest. Blood samples collected from members of the island's Shadow Guard and Guard Corps, after being screened by Vallen for matching, were mixed with the specially prepared nutrient solution in a specific ratio and were being injected into the chamber drop by drop through the transparent tube.

At first, nothing changed. The nutrient solution continued to calmly envelop Natsu's body, while the two waveforms on the monitor continued to relentlessly tear at each other.

Then, the moment the first drop of successfully matched Uchiha blood touched Natsu's skin, his body trembled violently.

A dark golden phantom burst forth from Natsu's body, enveloping the entire Nutrient Pod and the surrounding experimental table.

It was a rudimentary form of Chakra giant with only its upper body. Its skeleton was not yet fully formed, and its armor only covered its shoulders and chest. But the dark golden light was all too familiar to everyone present— Susanoo.

Without the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan's pupils or Natsu's conscious command, it simply appeared on its own, cradling the Nutrient Pod in its arms like a wild beast awakened from its slumber, warily surveying everyone who tried to approach.

Vallen, still clutching the half-empty vial of blood sample, froze on the spot. His glasses reflected the dark golden phantom's light, and after several twitches, he managed to stammer, "So this thing really does have its own consciousness?"

He had dedicated his life to genetic engineering and bioinformatics, and since arriving at Origin Island, he had been constantly having his understanding challenged. However, the scene before him still caused his professional judgment to waver between "This is fucking unscientific" and "But this is fucking true."

Uchiha Setsuna instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, then slowly released it.

He has lived for over sixty years, fighting from the Sengoku period to the present, and has activated the Three Tomoe. He has seen Susanoo countless times, but he never knew that Susanoo unfold on its own while the host was unconscious.

This isn't Dōjutsu, nor is it Ninjutsu; it's the instinctive reaction of Guardian Spirit —like breathing, like a heartbeat, like a mother turning over in her sleep to protect the baby beside her.

As the blood mixture continued to be injected, Natsu's body began to tremble uncontrollably, and her eyelids twitched violently.

The Susanoo lowered its head slightly, as if gazing at the host in its arms, or as if waiting for something.

Then Natsu's eyes snapped open.

Those scarlet pupils were unfocused for a few seconds in a daze, then slowly turned and met Susanoo's lowered gaze.

The human and the spirit gazed at each other in silence.

Natsu recognized it, not as a technique or form, but as something that had been hidden within him and was now finally showing itself to say hello—like Kunwu, like the Uchiha flowing through his veins.

Susanoo was also looking at him, and then the dark golden phantom seemed to finally confirm that its host was no longer in danger. It slowly turned into firefly-like specks of light, peeling off layer by layer from the edge of the armor and merging back into Natsu's body.

Immediately afterwards, the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern in Natsu's right eye began to spin wildly.

The Ōkuninushi was activated once more, and crimson-gold Yin Release Chakra roared from his eyes like an awakened beast, guiding Yang Release Chakra to launch a counterattack.

The dark red energy at the edge of the abdominal wound sensed the threat and launched a frenzied counterattack. The dark red waveform on the monitor suddenly surged and emitted a piercing alarm—but the Ōkuninushi gave it no chance to breathe.

Under the coordination of the Ōkuninushi, the Yin-Yang Release truly merged into one, transforming into an unstoppable torrent that crushed along the edge of the wound inch by inch. The dark red energy was continuously shredded, devoured, and decomposed, eventually dissipating completely into the crimson-gold light.

The penetrating wound that had been unable to heal for several hours despite the combined efforts of Feihong and Feiyan using the Mystical Palm Technique began to grow at a visible speed. The areas where the skin and flesh had rolled back together, healed, scabbed over, and fell off, leaving the new skin smooth and flawless.