"Let me go!"
Isaribi struggled desperately, her waist bound by an octopus tentacle. The bandages on her body began to loosen and slip, exposing the scales hidden beneath them.
"Though it's almost certain, let's test it with the Jeweled Branch of Mount Penglai first."
Kabuto Yakushi pushed up the round glasses on his nose with his index finger. Holding the fingers of his left hand together like a blade, he made a light slash, his fingertips passing half an inch from Isaribi's cheek.
"Ugh!" Isaribi squeezed one eye shut in pain as a line of blood appeared on her cheek.
Kabuto Yakushi reached back with his other hand and produced a jade-like branch that looked carved from ruby and agate. Then he opened his left hand, letting several crimson drops of blood roll down onto it.
The next moment, the Jeweled Branch of Mount Penglai blazed with light, its twigs trembling. It looked extraordinarily mystical.
"It really is mermaid blood! I've finally found it! This is Mount Penglai Island, where mermaids live. All those days sailing around with the Jeweled Branch of Mount Penglai weren't wasted."
Kabuto Yakushi perked up and burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
Hirota Tulio looked at his companions. Most had been stunned by the sudden turn of events and lay trembling on the ground.
The octopus tentacles writhing over the sea like the legendary Kraken were thicker than any anaconda Hirota Tulio had ever seen. A light squeeze would probably crush every bone in a person's body to pieces.
Pain also crept onto Isaribi's little face as the octopus tentacle coiled around her.
"Let... girl... go!"
The foreign white woman found courage from somewhere, stepped forward, and rattled off a string of English at Kabuto Yakushi.
"Mr. Hirota, what is this foreign lady saying?"
Hirota Tulio