Nightingale Guard Operation!
The team member who was asked nodded, his gaze lingering for a moment on the gray-white figure in front of him, and said with certainty, "Captain Zhenhe has actually already stepped into the threshold of Kage Level."
"They stayed with our patrol team because they weren't assigned to the Shadow Guard. Once we get back from this mission, the Night Owl Guard's transfer order should be coming through."
They all knew that being able to witness a future member of the Night Owl Guard take action would make the mission worthwhile.
At the same time, under the night sky of the West Blue, similar Kakkō rose and fell on different islands.
From the ring of islands surrounding Spirit Awakening Island to the remote shipping lanes west of Hillguard Island that were not yet covered by the Uchiha Patrol Team, about a dozen islands of varying sizes were plundered by pirates almost on the same night.
Most of these pirate crews were scattered individuals who had come from the New World. Some were testing the limits of the Uchiha, some simply couldn't control their hands, which were accustomed to burning, killing, and looting, and some were just foolish enough to think that the West Blue was so big that the Uchiha couldn't control it.
But they soon realized they were wrong.
That's completely wrong.
The Uchiha squad, dressed in greyish-white uniforms, appeared like ghosts on every burning island. The crimson glow of their Sharingan, illuminated by the Kakkō, became the last color these pirates would ever see.
Pirate captains with bounties of two or three hundred million couldn't last ten moves against the Elite Jonin of the Nightingale Guard, and those with bounties of four or five hundred million only managed to hold out for a few more moments.
When the leading Jonin unleashed the Uchiha Style Swordsmanship, those thugs who usually ran rampant in the New World fell like wheat being harvested.
On the rocks along the coast, rows of ferocious heads are neatly stacked, facing the sea, as if showing a letter to those who come after.
But not all pirates are easily defeated.
On a medium-sized island in the southeast of the West Blue, a pirate crew with a bounty of over 1.2 billion berries clashed head-on with the Nightingale Guard squad that came to wipe them out.
After a brief exchange, the Uchiha Jonin the team decisively ordered a retreat—the enemy captain had a bounty of 900 million, his Observation Haki was so advanced that he could detect the Sharingan's dynamic vision, and his several combat captains were all at the level of 300 to 400 million. If they continued to fight head-on, the Uchiha would only suffer losses.
The ten-man squad retreated cleanly and efficiently, leaving behind several pirate corpses without suffering any casualties themselves. Before leaving, they even used Sealing Jutsu to blow up the two sailboats of the pirate crew docked at the pier, cutting off their retreat.
The pirate captain stood by the burning dock, watching the gray-white figures quickly disappear into the night, and let out a sneer.
"What a load of bull, Uchiha! They're pretty fast, aren't they?" He kicked aside the corpse of one of his own men, whose throat had been Kunai, and waved to his men behind him who hadn't had their fill of fighting yet.
"See? That's all the Uchiha are capable of. They make it sound so amazing, but if we actually ran into them, wouldn't we just run away with our tails between our legs? I'll stay in the West Blue and see what they can do to me."
Several combat captains joined in the jeering, their profanities and laughter lingering all night amidst the stench of blood.
Unbeknownst to them, the first thing the withdrawing Uchiha squad did after leaving the island wasn't to return to base to rest, but rather to send a detailed combat strength assessment report back to Origin Island using Summoning Jutsu.
The target's bounty, fighting style, Observation Haki coverage area, and a brief note: Night Owl Guard intervention is recommended.
The pirates set fire to the oil drums they had looted from the town, the orange Kakkō illuminating half the dock.
Several combat captains dragged out several barrels of rum that hadn't been burned from the tavern, cut open the lids with knives, and started chugging them down their throats.
Someone dug out a broken wooden guitar from the ruins, with a broken string, and casually strummed it a couple of times, and then joined in the off-key singing.
"Who cares about the Uchiha? They're like gray Nezumi; they'd run away with their tails between their legs if they saw our captain."
"That's right, that's right! Once the ship is repaired, we'll go to another island and have some more fun!" The captain, with a bounty of nine hundred million, leaned against the charred cargo box by the dock, a mocking smile still lingering on his lips, letting his men run wild.
The town behind them was already mostly burned, the fire spreading along the rows of wooden houses with crackling sounds.
Those who failed to escape now lie silently beneath the charred thresholds, beside the capsized fishing boats, and in the looted warehouses.
At the dock, on the side of a merchant ship that was not yet completely burned, was a broken Kunai nailed to its side—it was the one the Nightingale Guard squad had used to blow up the ship and block the harbor when they withdrew. It hadn't completely destroyed the ship, but had only pierced through the keel at the bottom.
The pirates patched it up and are shouting that they can set sail again at dawn.
Only two pirates didn't drink.
One was a sniper on the ship, leaning against the mast with his gun, his brow furrowed, glancing into the darkness every now and then.
The other was the strategist standing behind the captain, holding a crumpled wanted poster in his hand, the face of Uchiha Natsu on it flickering in the Kakkō.
He stared at the number on the bounty poster several times, but in the end, he didn't dare to say anything to spoil the captain's mood. He simply folded the bounty poster and stuffed it into his pocket, subconsciously touching the sword at his waist.
Origin Island, Naka Shrine.
Uchiha Setsuna sat in the duty room, with intelligence scrolls that had just been sent back from various patrol routes in the West Blue spread out in front of him.
He was already preparing to hand over his shift and rest, and the tea in his hand had gone mostly cold. But when he opened the urgent battle report from a remote island in the South Blue, his hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.
The battle report, though hastily written, was detailed: the Nightingale Guard's third patrol squad encountered a pirate captain with a bounty of 900 million Beli. The pirate's Observation Haki was already able to detect the Sharingan's movements. After a brief exchange, the squad leader took the initiative to order a retreat.
The retreat was swift and clean, with no casualties. Before leaving, they even used Sealing Jutsu to destroy the two sailboats that the pirate crew had moored at the dock.
But the pirates didn't run away. Not only did they not run away, they even repaired their ship and held a banquet on the ruins of the town they had burned to the ground.
He Setsuna clenched the battle report, the edges of the paper crumpling into a ball in his palm.
The weariness that had just lingered on that weathered face was instantly replaced by a chilling killing intent.
"You lowly scum, how dare you act so arrogantly under the banner of the Uchiha?"
He didn't slam his fist on the table, nor did he roar. Instead, in an extremely calm and cold voice, he instructed the Shadow Guard on duty outside the door, "Notify Uchiha Yaoyu, Uchiha Yakumi, and Uchiha Kei to come to the Naka Shrine to see me immediately."
The three arrived quickly.
Setsuna a single sentence, the contents of the battle report were made clear: someone had slapped the Uchiha in the face and was even holding a banquet to celebrate on those blood-soaked ruins.
He needs the support of these three Elder to legally mobilize the three Night Owl Guard squads.