We Join Forces!

Akuta's combat performance was not ideal, but it did allow him to escape from Ash's clutches.

Before the battle, he considered that charging straight up would be too dangerous, so he placed his shadow mage some distance away from the hill.

If a direct confrontation proves unfavorable, one can activate the Shadow Mage's swap ability to leave the battlefield.

However, things did not develop exactly as Akuta had imagined.

While Jin was in a fit of impotent rage, Akuta, who had successfully escaped on the other side, was not in good condition.

The encounter with Jhin was even more brutal than he had anticipated.

In terms of speed, physical skills, Devil Fruit mastery, and Haki, King is several levels above Akuta.

If it weren't for Jin's demonic possession and his desire to play a few rounds with Akuta...

With his strength, it wouldn't be a problem for him to knock Akuta to his knees with a single move; Akuta wouldn't even have a chance to use Shadow Mage to escape.

To prevent Jin from catching up, Akuta dared not stop and ran wildly despite his injuries, only stopping after dark.

After finding a secluded cave, Akuta finally relaxed.

He leaned against the wall in the corner and began to examine his injuries.

During the battle with Jhin, although he managed to escape, he suffered numerous fractures of varying sizes throughout his body.

"Hiss..."

Akuta gritted his teeth and threw his tattered modern jacket aside.

He glanced down at his twisted arm, took a deep breath, and raised his left hand.

A shadow slowly rose from beneath him, coalescing above his palm.

"A little thinner... a little thinner..."

As the Akuta murmured softly, his shadow slowly lengthened and thinned in his hand, eventually coalescing into a long black line as thick as a sewing needle.

Without hesitation, he inserted the suture thread directly into the skin of his right forearm.

"Hungry (sound effect of being hit)!"

A sound of being struck came from Akuta's mouth, and the shadow line followed the muscle fibers straight to the broken bone.

He manipulated the shadow lines to slowly travel through the muscles, letting the shadows envelop both ends of the broken bone, and began to push the dislocated bone back little by little.

"Hmph hmph hmph ahhhhhhh!"

Pulled by the Akuta, his broken bones began to reassemble.

He didn't rest for long before immediately reshaping the Shadowthorn into a flat strip, which he then wrapped around the broken bone from both sides, fixing the bone in place like a splint.

He then withdrew all the shadows, allowing them to form a net-like structure around the fracture site, clinging tightly to the bone from deep within the skin and flesh like a bandage.

Finally, a layer of shadow was applied over the skin as a final fixation.

"Call!"

After finishing all this, Akuta wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Although I was mentally prepared for it.

But when the surgery actually started, he realized that having surgery without anesthesia was really painful!

Just as Akuta was tending to his injuries, not far from his cave, two people dressed in samurai attire were carefully searching in the mountains.

The two were none other than Kin'emon and Kanjuro.

After Oden ordered a city-wide search for the Akuta, the Nine Red Scabbards split into several groups to search independently.

Kin'emon and Kanjuro were assigned to the same group, responsible for the search in the mountainous area north of Ringo.

"Kanjuro, hurry up!" Kin'emon urged, pushing aside the weeds blocking his path as he carried his lantern. "The terrain here is complex, and it'll be even harder to find after dark. We need to be more careful."

"Here they come." Kanjuro followed slowly behind. "Kin'emon, we've been searching for days and haven't seen a soul. If you ask me, that guy named Akuta might have already left Ringo."

"We cannot let our guard down." Kin'emon said without turning his head, "Our lord said we must find him before Kaido's men, and we must find him."

Kanjuro's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

His plans were quite different from Kin'emon's.

These past few days he's been thinking about what exactly happened with that "Akuta" that appeared out of nowhere.

Who is this "Akuta" who attacks Kaido's forces everywhere? He wants to see that guy before anyone else.

Just as Kanjuro was lost in thought, Kin'emon suddenly stopped.

"Etc."

"What is it now?" Kanjuro asked casually.

Kin'emon crouched down and brought the lantern close to the ground.

There was a string of dark red spots on the ground, stretching from the distant mountain path all the way into the grass here.

It's blood.

The fact that the bloodstains are not completely dry means that the blood was only recently left on the ground!

Kin'emon's expression instantly turned sharp.

"Someone is injured, and the bloodstains were left not long ago."

Kanjuro stepped forward, glanced down, and his heart skipped a beat.

The blood was precisely in the direction they were looking for.

Could it be that Kin'emon really ran into them?

"Quick! Follow me!"

Without saying a word, Kin'emon followed the trail of blood and ran quickly towards the hillside ahead.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Kanjuro cursed under his breath, but had no choice but to follow.

The two of them went into a clump of low bushes one after the other, and after passing through a few rocks, they found a cave entrance about half a person's height on the cliff face ahead.

Kin'emon rushed inside without thinking.

The cave was dimly lit, with only moonlight filtering in through the entrance.

As soon as Kin'emon entered, he saw a figure leaning against the innermost stone wall, covered in wounds.

That person was Akuta.

Akuta was startled by the sudden intrusion of the two people, thinking that it was Jin's men who had caught up with them.

He instinctively tensed his body, and his shadow began to writhe silently beneath him.

By the light from the cave entrance, he could make out the samurai uniform of the newcomer.

Those exaggerated hairstyles, shoulder feathers, and belts are not the attire of the Beasts Pirates.

Akuta relaxed slightly, but the shadow was not completely withdrawn.

Who are you?

Before Akuta could finish his question, Kin'emon's eyes widened, and he rushed forward a few steps, unable to contain his excitement. He placed his hands on his knees, his eyes shining as if he could see right through people.

"Are you Akuta? You must be Akuta!"

Akuta paused for a moment.

"Ah?"

He blinked, looked at Kin'emon, then at Kanjuro, who was standing behind him with half his body still huddled at the cave entrance, his expression somewhat subtle.

"You... still remember my name?"

Akuta pointed at himself.

Am I famous?

"You really are Akuta!"

Kin'emon slapped his thigh in delight, almost jumping up and down on the spot.

"Great! I've finally found you!"

He turned and waved vigorously at Kanjuro outside the cave.

"Kanjuro, we've found him! He's Akuta!"

Kanjuro stood at the cave entrance, his expression as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water.

In the dim light, his face was as stiff as a stone statue, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably twice.

Is it true or false?

They actually found the Akuta?