Holding the Rear
If this drags on any longer, once everyone's Chakra is completely exhausted, these twenty-one Uchiha youths will be trapped and killed by hundreds of pirates at the dock. At that point, they won't even have a chance to escape, let alone break through and retreat.
Chunwu a deep breath, and the Three Tomoe in his eyes slowly rotated, quickly finalizing the only solution to break the deadlock.
"I'll stay behind to cover the retreat." He turned to Rin, his voice calm and collected, without the slightest hesitation. "You immediately lead the entire team back to the sailboat, raise anchor and sails at full speed, don't look back, don't stop."
Rin abruptly turned to look at him, her eyes instantly filled with panic, and even her tone changed. "Then how are you going to get away?"
"The Flying Thunder God Mark." Chunwu lowered his voice, his tone extremely confident.
"Before Senior Qi set off, he left a mark on the inside of each of our collars. Once activated, we can be instantly teleported back to the ship."
You go first, I'll hold off the pursuers and then catch up immediately.
Lin stared at him intently, remaining silent for several breaths, the struggle and seriousness in her eyes clearly visible.
She didn't waste any time arguing, speaking rapidly as if afraid that if she hesitated even for a second, she would never have another chance to speak, "I'll give you three minutes. If you haven't returned to the team in three minutes, I will immediately take over as the temporary captain, and with Carlos and this top-secret intelligence, safely return to Origin Island report."
Chunwu looked at her tense brows and nodded gently. "I've got it."
Rin said no more, turned and rushed straight into the heart of the port, Teuchi a series of retreat gestures.
The team members, who were scattered in various positions to hold off the enemy, immediately took turns providing cover and retreated towards the coast in an orderly manner without any chaos.
With the Izo forces holding the line, Shuriken fingertips and precisely pierced the instep of a henchman who had rashly given chase. The shrill scream instantly shattered the noisy night sky, forcing the remaining pursuers to hesitate to advance.
Jack caught a glimpse of the Uchiha group retreating, paused for a moment, then threw his head back and burst into a wild laugh, his laughter filled with undisguised contempt and smugness.
He assumed that these persistent brats had finally given up and were completely scared.
"Weren't you so stubborn just now? The rules of the Uchiha don't require reason? Why are you running away with your tail between your legs now?"
Chunwu ignored him, slowly tightening his grip on the hilt, and the Tachi slid smoothly out of its sheath.
The cold, sharp blade reflected the flickering Kakkō, gleaming with a chilling light.
He raised his eyes, his crimson Sharingan silently meeting those furious mammoth-like pupils, his posture as upright as ever.
We really have to leave.
The boy's voice was clear and calm, carrying steadily through the noisy night wind.
"But you have to stay. My teammates haven't gone far yet, and I'll have to spend a little more time with you on this journey."
Jack's laughter abruptly stopped, the mockery on his face vanished, and his entire fierce expression twisted into an extreme grimace.
Completely exhausted, he had no more patience to deal with the group of teenagers.
All he wanted to do now was tear apart the little devils blocking his way, then chase after them and capture everyone who had escaped, along with the wooden box containing the secret, and bring them back to Onigashima to report.
Chunwu did not respond.
The embers at the edge of the warehouse ruins surged up again, and scorching heat waves swept in all directions, lifting all the broken wood and cargo box debris into the air.
He gripped the scorching hilt of the knife tightly, his Three Tomoe locked onto Jack's furious face, and retreated inch by inch.
Ahead lay the reckless, brute force of ancient mammoths, while behind them, their warships slowly raised their sails, preparing to retreat.
He knew perfectly well that he couldn't hold on for much longer.
With his Chakra nearly depleted, his rudimentary Armament Haki was simply no match for the absolute defense of this Ancient Zoan.
But he doesn't need to hold on for long at all.
One and a half minutes.
If they could just stall for another minute and a half, that would be enough.
With his Observation Haki subtly spreading out, a familiar and steady Chakra fluctuation was rapidly approaching from the sea surrounding the port.
Senior Qi's speedboat is already on its way at full speed.
The night breeze brushed past his ear, and a faint smile quietly curved the corners of Chunwu's lips.
As expected, it couldn't be hidden from that insightful senior after all.
His back slammed heavily against the cold stone pillars of the dock, the hard stone surface pressing against his spine, completely sealing off all of Chunwu's escape routes.
The dull pain that had been lingering in his right shoulder had spread throughout his entire arm, and the fingertips gripping the knife trembled slightly uncontrollably.
With his Chakra completely depleted and his physical strength pushed to the limit, his normally proficient basic Armament Haki Hardening to an almost transparent thickness, appearing no different from a sheet of paper in front of Jack's innately powerful Ancient Zoan hide.
Amidst the howling wind, the mammoth's long trunk, covered in thick armor, swept across once more, carrying the immense force to crush rocks.
This time, Chunwu's body was completely empty, and he could no longer draw even a fraction of Chakra to support the Body Flicker Technique, let alone perform the most basic dodge.
The fingertips gripped the Kunai tightly in his palm, and the delicate Flying Thunder God Mark on the inside of his collar was clearly visible.
With just a thought, one can escape a deadly situation and safely rejoin the team in an instant.
But he can't leave.
In a blind spot on the west side of the dock, two team members are still trapped by dozens of Beasts Pirates minions, locked in a fierce battle and unable to break free.
While his solo escape was easy, the Uchiha's unwavering rule was never about self-preservation in dire situations, but about never abandoning any of their comrades.
In an instant, a fine, silvery-white spatial ripple suddenly spread across the heavens and earth.
The soft, gentle light precisely positioned itself between the boy and the raging beast, firmly preventing a fatal attack.
The mammoth's trunk, powerful enough to split mountains, slammed down, but the expected explosive impact did not materialize. The spatial ripple remained as stable as a fortress, completely still.
A massive hand covered in dark red, hard bone armor steadily caught the full force of the attack.
Jack's pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart skipped a beat.
In the dark night, a dark red Chakra skeleton slowly rose and grew, extending from the ribs to the broad shoulder armor, supporting a majestic outline from the rugged arms.
In just a few breaths, a Semi-Complete Susanoo, tens of feet tall, rose from the ground and stood majestically on the dilapidated dock, towering into the sky and exuding an awe-inspiring aura.
On Susanoo's right arm, a condensed Chakra longsword gleamed coldly, its sharpness restrained yet its power imposing;
With a slight contraction of his left arm, he safely protected the exhausted Chunwu, along with the two trapped new generation team members in the blind spot, within the range of his protection.
Uchiha Kei stood between Susanoo's eyebrows, his Tachi securely sheathed at his waist, not drawn even slightly.
He looked down at the disheveled and tense boy below, his tone so calm it was almost casual, as if he were commenting on a routine intra-team drill, completely devoid of the tension one would feel when facing a formidable opponent.
"You've done a good job. Leave the rest to me."