The flaming Tachi collided violently with the pink sword energy.
In that instant, Kei's expression changed completely.
That seemingly graceful sword energy carried a terrifying force he could not possibly contend with. It instantly tore apart the flames coating his blade and slammed viciously into his chest.
He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the icy seawater. Even his sword flew from his grasp.
"Kei!"
In the distance, Uchiha Yashiro and Uchiha Tetsuka's expressions changed drastically, the crimson in their eyes nearly spilling over.
"You pieces of trash!"
With an angry roar, Yashiro gripped his ninja blade and leaped into the air. Crimson flames spread along its edge as he charged straight at Onigumo, who was still suspended in midair. "Uchiha Style: Flame Blade Slash!"
At the same time, Tetsuka swept both hands across his waist, and eight shuriken infused with Fire Release chakra shot forth at once. "Uchiha Style: Shuriken Manipulation Technique!"
"Nothing but cheap tricks!"
Onigumo's face was full of disdain. The six spider-like arms formed from his hair swung simultaneously, and his eight Tachi became an impenetrable web of blades, instantly knocking away every incoming shuriken.
He swung his sword backhandedly to force Yashiro away. Just as he was about to sneer, his expression suddenly changed.
His Observation Haki instantly caught something unusual—the eight shuriken he had knocked away had not fallen into the sea. Instead, they traced strange arcs through the air, surrounding him tightly from every direction.
A wire as thin as a strand of hair, nearly blending into the seawater, was attached to the end of each shuriken!
"Damn it!"
Startled and enraged, Onigumo forced Yashiro back with a slash, then turned to cut the wires apart.
But at that moment, Tetsuka's hands in the distance abruptly completed their final hand seal, and he shouted coldly, "Shuriken Manipulation Technique! Fire Net Line!"
Blazing flames instantly spread along the wires. Eight red-hot ropes of fire suddenly tightened, viciously constricting Onigumo at the center of the encirclement.
Caught off guard, Onigumo looked at the fire net closing in before him, and a flicker of shock finally appeared on his face.
At the critical moment, a flash of cold light streaked past and instantly severed three wires.
Momonga appeared at his side out of nowhere, holding his Tachi horizontally as he blocked the tightening fire net.
Taking the opportunity, Onigumo used Geppo to retreat swiftly, narrowly escaping the encirclement.
"You..." Onigumo had barely begun to speak when Momonga's furious rebuke cut him off.
"You idiot! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"What's wrong with eliminating a bunch of trash that could pose a threat to the Marines in advance?!" Onigumo thrust out his chin, still refusing to back down.
"You bastard!" Momonga was so furious that veins bulged at his temples, and even the hand gripping his sword hilt trembled.
Behind them, the Uchiha Clan's ninjutsu continued raining down across the sea. The hulls of the five warships had already been scorched red by the inferno. What had initially been a probing reconnaissance had been turned by Onigumo's recklessness into a fight to the death.
At that moment, a figure shot out from the icy seawater. Uchiha Kei stepped steadily back onto the sea on chakra, his black combat uniform split open across his chest. Blood seeped continuously from the torn flesh beneath; even though he forcibly pressed down on the wound with chakra, the glaring crimson made it plain that he had been injured.
"Damn it... What kind of monster is that woman?" Uchiha Kei clutched the wound on his chest tightly, his expression ugly beyond measure.
The wound did not look deep, but that slash had first torn through several A-rank ninjutsu in succession, then shattered his flaming blade head-on before finally sending him flying!
If the [Time Traveler] trait had not strengthened his body several times over during the past year, that one strike would probably have left him completely unable to continue fighting.
Did everyone on this sea have the bones and muscles of monsters?
At the bow of the flagship in the distance, Gion watched the scene with a slight frown.
After only a few minutes of fighting, she had already figured out most of her opponents' methods.
Any one of those three leaders alone was no match for any of the four vice admirals.
But once they joined forces, their bizarre water and fire techniques, endless hidden weapons, and predictive abilities were enough to completely suppress anyone other than her.
"Kei! How are you?"
Taking advantage of the break in the fighting, Yashiro and Tetsuka immediately pulled back to his side. Their gazes swept over the wound on his chest, their eyes full of concern.
"I won't die." Kei gritted his teeth and shook his head, unable to suppress the shock and anger in his voice. "These guys' bodies are absurdly tough. They're practically monsters!"
Yashiro and Tetsuka's expressions darkened further at his words, their gazes fixed tightly on the pink figure at the front of the warships.
That woman was the one responsible. Even from hundreds of meters away, they had felt the bone-piercing, deadly threat of that slash.
"Do we retreat now?" Kei asked in a lowered voice, his Sharingan still fixed on the movements across from them.
"We can't retreat." Tetsuka shook his head, his tone resolute. "The clan head and the reinforcements should arrive soon. If we retreat any farther, Origin Island is behind us.
The clan grounds have only been built for a year, and our foundation isn't secure yet. You saw the power of their naval guns. If they reach the island, one volley will destroy our home!"
As his words fell, the crimson in Yashiro and Kei's eyes surged. Their Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, and their chilling killing intent locked tightly onto the Marine fleet ahead.
The more than thirty surrounding Uchiha clansmen immediately gathered around them as well, forming an orderly battle formation. Chakra flowed slowly around their bodies. Even facing the main fleet of Marine Headquarters, they showed no intention of retreating.
Seeing their determination to hold their ground to the death, Gion understood that calming the situation with a few words and sitting down to negotiate was no longer possible.
Unless they first fought to determine a victor, the other side would never give an inch.
But just as she tightened her grip around her sword hilt, prepared to step in personally and suppress the situation, a cry from the lookout pierced through the smoke and crashing waves:
"Vice Admiral Gion! Rear left! A large number of unidentified people have been spotted in the distance! They're their companions! More than a hundred of them! They're approaching at high speed!"
"What?!"
Gion's expression changed sharply as she immediately turned toward where the lookout pointed.
On the fog-shrouded horizon, more than a hundred figures dressed in identical black combat uniforms raced across the waves.
At their head was a middle-aged man with a grim expression. His eyes bore intricate, bizarre crimson Mangekyo Sharingan patterns, and the aura emanating from him was like that of a dormant beast. Even from several nautical miles away, her Observation Haki could clearly sense it—
That aura was hardly any weaker than her own!
Before you continue