Conflict Escalates, Uchiha Kei Is Horrified

The flaming tachi collided violently with the pink sword energy.

In an instant, Kei's expression changed completely.

That seemingly graceful sword energy contained a terrifying force he could not resist at all. It instantly tore apart the flames around his blade and slammed fiercely into his chest.

He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the frigid seawater. Even his sword flew from his grasp.

"Kei!"

In the distance, Uchiha Yashiro and Uchiha Tetsuka's expressions changed sharply, the scarlet in their eyes nearly spilling over.

"You bastards!"

With an enraged roar, Yashiro gripped his ninja blade and leaped into the air. Feihong flames spread along the blade as he charged straight at Onigumo, who still hovered in midair. "Uchiha Style: Flame Blade Slash!"

At the same time, Tetsuka swept his hands across his waist, and eight shuriken infused with Fire Release chakra flew from his hands. "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 together behind him, 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, but just as he was about to sneer, his expression suddenly changed.

His Observation Haki instantly caught something unusual—the eight shuriken that had been knocked away had not fallen into the sea. Instead, they curved along bizarre arcs, trapping 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.

But at that moment, Tetsuka's hands in the distance suddenly completed the final hand seal. He shouted coldly, "Shuriken Manipulation Technique: Fire Net Line!"

Blazing fire instantly spread along the wires. Eight red-hot cords of flame abruptly tightened, viciously strangling Onigumo at the center of the encirclement.

Caught off guard, Onigumo finally showed a trace of horror as he looked at the fire net closing in.

At the critical moment, a flash of cold light streaked past, instantly severing three wires.

Momonga appeared out of nowhere at his side, holding his tachi horizontally as he blocked the tightening fire net.

Onigumo took the chance to retreat with Geppo, narrowly escaping the encirclement.

"You..." Onigumo had barely opened his mouth when Momonga's furious rebuke cut him off.

"You idiot! Do you even know what you've done?!"

"What's wrong with getting rid of trash that could threaten the Marines ahead of time?!" Onigumo snapped, still refusing to back down.

"You bastard!" Momonga was so furious that veins bulged on his temples, and even the hand gripping his sword hilt trembled.

Behind them, Uchiha Clan ninjutsu continued raining down across the sea. The hulls of the five warships had been scorched burning hot by the flames. What had begun as a probing reconnaissance had been turned by Onigumo's recklessness into a fight to the death.

Just then, a figure shot out of the icy seawater. Uchiha Kei stepped firmly back onto the sea surface with chakra. A long gash had been torn across the black combat uniform over his chest, blood seeping continuously from the curled flesh beneath. Though he pressed chakra forcefully against the wound, that glaring Feihong still exposed the fact that he had been injured.

"Damn it... What kind of monster is that woman?" Uchiha Kei clutched the wound on his chest, his expression utterly grim.

The wound did not look particularly deep, but that slash had first torn through several A-rank ninjutsu in succession, then shattered his flaming blade attack head-on, before finally sending him flying!

If not for the [Time Traveler] trait strengthening his body severalfold over the past year, that strike would likely have left him completely unable to continue fighting.

Did everyone on this sea have the physique of a monster?

At the bow of the distant flagship, Gion watched the scene, her brows drawing together slightly.

After only a few minutes of fighting, she had already figured out most of their methods.

Individually, none of the three leaders was a match for any one of the four vice admirals.

But once they joined forces, their strange water and fire techniques, endless hidden weapons, and predictive ability 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 fury in his voice. "These people's bodies are ridiculously tough. They're practically monsters!"

Yashiro and Tetsuka's expressions darkened further. Their gazes locked onto the pink figure at the front of the warships.

It was that woman. Even from several hundred meters away, they had felt the bone-chilling, lethal threat in that slash.

"Should we retreat now?" Kei asked in a low voice, his Sharingan still fixed intently on the enemy's movements.

"We can't retreat." Tetsuka shook his head, his tone resolute. "The clan head and reinforcements should be here soon. If we retreat any farther, Origin Island will be behind us.

"The clan grounds have only been built for a year, and our foundation isn't stable 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 scarlet in Yashiro and Kei's eyes surged. Their Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, and their icy killing intent locked firmly onto the Marine fleet ahead.

More than thirty Uchiha clansmen around them immediately gathered, forming an orderly battle formation. Chakra flowed slowly around their bodies. Even against the main fleet of Marine Headquarters, none of them showed the slightest intention of retreating.

Seeing their determination to hold their ground to the death, Gion knew that calming things down with a few words and sitting down to negotiate was no longer possible.

Unless they fought to determine a winner, the other side would never give an inch.

But just as she gripped her sword hilt and prepared to personally step in and suppress the situation, a lookout's cry pierced through the smoke and crashing waves:

"Vice Admiral Gion! Rear left! A large group of unidentified people has been spotted in the distance! They're their companions! More than a hundred people, approaching at high speed!"

"What?!"

Gion's expression changed sharply as she immediately turned toward the direction the lookout indicated.

On the fog-shrouded horizon, more than a hundred figures clad 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 scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan patterns, and the aura radiating from him was like that of a slumbering beast. Even from several nautical miles away, her Observation Haki could clearly sense it—

This aura was hardly any weaker than her own!