"There's no mistake, Vice Admiral!" Rolf hastily straightened, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "I checked the coordinates in every missing-person report three times. They're all within this stretch of sea, a hundred nautical miles in radius. There can't be the slightest error!"
Momonga said nothing more and raised his binoculars again.
He had spent decades on the seas, from the Grand Line to the New World, and encountered countless vicious pirates and secretive powers. Yet never before had he been unable to catch even a glimpse of his opponent as he was now.
That pervasive sense of something uncanny kept every nerve in his body taut.
Just then, a shrill cry from the lookout broke the silence on the bridge. "Reporting, Vice Admiral! Port side, three o'clock! Unidentified personnel spotted on the sea! Five nautical miles away! Moving at high speed!"
Momonga's pupils abruptly contracted. He swung his binoculars around and looked to port.
On the gray-blue sea, fifteen figures in matching, close-fitting black outfits ran steadily across the rolling wave crests, swift as falcons skimming the water.
Invisible chakra held the waves beneath their feet, keeping even the tips of their shoes dry. Their formation was precisely staggered, their every movement displaying strict discipline. The Red-and-White Fan clan crests on their backs stood out starkly beneath the gloomy sky.
At their head, Uchiha Taoho's three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated. His crimson eyes swept the vast sea, taking in every movement for several nautical miles around.
He was an elite jonin assigned specifically to the clan's outer patrols. All fifteen members of his squad were genuine jonin-level fighters, forming Origin Island's first line of perimeter defense.
Almost at the exact moment the lookout spotted them, Taoho stopped abruptly and raised a hand to halt his clansmen behind him.
His three-tomoe Sharingan abruptly focused, clearly locking onto the two capital ships flying Marine flags five nautical miles away, along with the powerful presence on the bridge, like a lurking beast.
Elite troops from Marine Headquarters!
And their leader was far stronger than any pirate they had encountered before—even stronger than most of the clan's elite jonin!
"Everyone, stay alert!" Taoho kept his voice extremely low, his hand already resting on the tachi at his waist. The fourteen clansmen behind him instantly spread into formation, their crimson Sharingan activating in unison. Chakra raced through their pathways, ready to form hand seals and respond at any moment.
"Those are Marine Headquarters capital ships, and their leader is extremely powerful. Follow Young Master Natsu's previous orders: don't engage rashly. Our priority is to fall back and report to camp!"
On the bridge, Momonga's grip on his binoculars tightened sharply, his knuckles turning pale. Shock completely replaced the calm on his face.
He could clearly see the strange crimson patterns rotating in their eyes and feel the almost tangible killing intent radiating from them.
What made his heart pound even harder was that every one of the fifteen had a steady, formidable presence. Even the weakest was no less powerful than an elite captain from Marine Headquarters. More than half possessed such concentrated killing intent and power that they could already rival Headquarters rear admirals!
Fifteen elite fighters, all at least captain-level?!
Momonga's mind reeled.
He knew all too well what that meant.
Marine Headquarters had only a few hundred captains in total, and those who could reach the level of a rear admiral were rarer still.
Yet here, in this deserted sea, a mysterious force he had never seen before had deployed fifteen fighters of that caliber on a single patrol?
How could such a terrifying force be hiding in the Four Blues?!
"All hands, battle stations! Train every cannon on the targets!" Momonga abruptly lowered his binoculars and barked his orders, his voice carrying unquestionable authority.
"Signalman, order them to stop immediately and submit to a Marine inspection! If they make any suspicious move, open fire at once!"
At his command, the entire flagship sprang into action.
A piercing alarm rang out across the sea. Dozens of cannons along both sides of the ship swung around in unison, their dark muzzles locking onto the fifteen figures on the water. The signalman waved his flags, repeating the order to stop for inspection again and again.
But the Uchiha on the sea showed no intention of stopping.
Taoho glanced at the warships turning their cannons toward them, not a trace of fear in his eyes. He simply ordered coldly, "Split into two teams and cover each other in turns. Retreat at full speed! Don't get tangled up with them!"
The instant he finished speaking, all fifteen figures accelerated, turning into fifteen black afterimages as they raced toward Origin Island.
"Fire! Warning shots!" Seeing them speed up their retreat rather than stop, Momonga's expression darkened, and he barked the order.
A deafening roar erupted. Several shells, wreathed in flame, screamed through the air toward the sea ahead of Taoho's squad. Enormous columns of water shot skyward, blocking their path.
But just as the shells landed, Taoho's hands flashed through a series of hand seals, and he snapped coldly, "Water Release: Water Shock Wave!"
As his words fell, a massive, surging wave rose from the sea before him. It instantly scattered the columns of water thrown up by the shells, then transformed into several water dragons that rushed to meet the incoming cannonballs.
Muffled explosions rang out one after another within the waves, but the thick wall of water blocked every fragment and shock wave. None of them so much as scratched the fleeing squad.
That single move made Momonga's pupils contract sharply on the bridge.
No sign of a devil fruit user, and they weren't using Geppo. They could control seawater and block naval cannon fire with some unknown method alone? Just who were these people?
In those few seconds of stunned hesitation, Uchiha Taoho's squad used the curtain of water as cover and accelerated again. Their figures grew smaller and smaller, soon vanishing into the thin mist over the vast sea. Even their chakra signatures disappeared completely, leaving nothing he could sense.
"Do not pursue!" Momonga raised a hand to stop the lieutenant commander who was about to order the ships forward. His expression was grim beyond measure.
He knew perfectly well that if they dared to move freely through these waters, they must have made thorough preparations.
Recklessly leading the fleet into this unknown stretch of sea would only send them straight into the enemy's trap.
Besides, if they deployed fifteen captain-level elites on a single patrol, how many fighters of that caliber were hidden in their stronghold? And what sort of terrifying beings lurked there?
"Vice Admiral, what do we do now?" the lieutenant commander beside him asked with a bow.
Momonga briefly closed his eyes, suppressing the turmoil raging within him. When he opened them again, only an icy calm remained. "The fleet will stand by here. Sound the highest-level alert and keep every cannon ready to fire. Send an encrypted telegram to Headquarters immediately. Report everything that happened here in full."
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