Yas followed the direction of Bullet's finger and looked toward the distant horizon.
The island's outline flickered in and out of view amid the rolling waves. A thin layer of ominous black smoke hung over it, like the lair of an evil dragon, exuding death and despair.
The Butcher Pirates' home base.
Yas's icy gaze did not waver.
His mission this time was only to wipe out the pirate crew. The island the pirates had plundered was not on his task list.
But the system notification in his mind changed his decision.
[Ding! Detected a possible extension of the host's "fiercely protective" persona-"Protect civilians under your jurisdiction"!] [Side mission triggered: eliminate the remaining enemies on the island and rescue the surviving villagers.] [Mission reward: Template Fusion +5%! Unlock special ability: Chakra Sensing (beginner)!]
Chakra Sensing?
Yas stirred inwardly. This was a good ability. In the world of Hokage, it was practically standard equipment for every sensory ninja, allowing them to detect enemies' numbers, locations, and strength across a wide area.
In this world, even if it could not directly sense Haki, it would still be an incredible ability for locating enemies and avoiding danger!
More importantly, there was that 5% fusion reward!
Defeating a pirate with an eighty-million bounty and destroying his ship had only earned him 10% fusion from the system. Now he could get 5% just for going to the island and cleaning up?
That was a good deal.
"Change course."
Yas spoke without turning his head.
"Our target is that island."
"Yes, Major Yas!"
This time, the replies were no longer as disorderly as before.
Teppei, Bullet, and every surviving recruit roared in perfect unison with all their strength, their voices filled with fervor and conviction!
After witnessing that devastating strike with their own eyes, every word Yas spoke had become an inviolable divine decree to them!
The Vanguard turned its bow and sped toward the smoke-shrouded island, cutting through the wind and waves.
As they drew closer, the scene on the island gradually became clear.
It was a picture of hell.
Where the harbor should have been, only ruined walls remained, with several smashed fishing boats half submerged in the water.
The village near the shore was an even more unbearable sight.
Most of its houses had burned down. Only charred frames remained, creaking in the sea breeze as though recounting the tragedy that had recently unfolded.
The air was thick with the smell of blood, burning, and a... rotting stench.
The entire island was terrifyingly silent.
"Those animals!"
Looking at the scene before him, Bullet clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked, his eyes wide with fury.
He might have been a troublemaker, but his honor and sense of justice as a marine were already etched into his bones.
Teppei and the other recruits had turned deathly pale at the brutal scene. For the first time, they experienced the pirates' cruelty and the darkness of this age so directly.
The Vanguard slowly pulled ashore.
Yas was the first down the gangway, stepping onto earth already stained dark red with blood.
"Bullet, take ten men and search the village for survivors. Teppei, take the rest and guard the ship. Stay alert."
Yas issued his orders concisely.
"Yes, Major!"
Bullet and Teppei immediately acknowledged the orders and swiftly set to work with their men.
Yas walked slowly into the ghostly village alone.
His footsteps were light, yet with every step, he seemed to hear the village's silent sobbing.
On the walls of collapsed houses, he saw countless marks left by blades and bloody handprints that had long since dried.
He saw broken toys scattered along the street, with a pool of blackened, congealed blood beside them.
He could imagine the horrific slaughter that had taken place here not long ago.
Just then.
Creak.
An extremely faint sound came from a relatively intact wooden house nearby.
Yas stopped, sweeping his icy gaze toward it.
The wooden door opened a crack, and a small face covered in fear and grime peeked furtively outside.
It was a little girl who looked no older than seven or eight. She was all skin and bones, dressed in tattered clothes, her large eyes filled with fear of everything outside, like a startled fawn.
When her gaze met Yas's utterly still eyes, she shuddered violently, as though she had seen something horrifying. She screamed, jerked her head back, and slammed the door shut.
"Don't... don't kill me... I don't taste good... my meat is sour..."
From behind the door came the little girl's incoherent, tearful pleas.
Yas frowned slightly.
It seemed the name "Butcher" was well deserved.
He said nothing, merely standing quietly at the door.
After a while, Bullet returned with his men. They all looked grim.
"Reporting, Major. In the village... we found no one alive. We only found a dozen or so survivors hiding like her in cellars and ruins. Most are elderly people and children. They're all terrified." Bullet's voice was slightly hoarse.
Just then, another startled cry came from the lookout aboard the Vanguard on the distant sea.
"Major! Lieutenant Bullet! Out at sea... another pirate ship has appeared!"
What?!
Bullet's expression changed dramatically. He immediately pulled out his spyglass and looked.
On the distant horizon, a pirate ship one size smaller than the Bloody Mary was heading toward them.
"It's an auxiliary ship of the Butcher Pirates! They're back!" Bullet said through gritted teeth. "That bastard Gore must have sent them to plunder other shipping routes!"
Inside the house, the little girl let out an even more desperate, piercing cry when she heard the words "pirate ship."
"The demons... the demons are back..."
"It's over... we're all going to die..."
Despair began spreading among the survivors who had just been found.
Yet Yas merely glanced at the approaching pirate ship, his gaze utterly unruffled.
He turned toward the tightly shut wooden door and said calmly:
"Stay inside. Don't come out."
With that, he turned and walked toward the harbor.
"The demons won't be coming back."
Through the crack in the door, the little girl stared blankly at the retreating figure in the coat marked "Justice" as he walked toward the pirate ship that symbolized death and despair.
She did not understand.
Why would this man, who seemed colder and more frightening than those pirates, say something like that?
A second later, she had her answer.
The man reached the edge of the harbor and slowly raised his hand toward the pirate ship drawing ever closer.
Once again, three fingers.
Once again, that devastating blue spear of light!
"No!"
A pirate leader aboard the ship that had just approached the harbor made out the figure onshore, then saw the wreckage still scattered across the distant sea. He instantly realized something and let out a scream so terrified his voice broke!
But it was already too late.
Hiss!
A blue ray of death crossed a thousand meters, striking first despite being unleashed later!
Boom!
Another earth-shaking explosion!
Before the surviving villagers' disbelieving eyes, as they gazed upon it like a miracle, another pirate ship was completely erased from the world!
When the explosion's shock waves faded.
Yas slowly lowered his hand.
He could feel that nearly seventy percent of the vast Lightning Release Chakra within him had been consumed by those two all-out bursts.
Waves of soreness and fatigue rose from deep within his muscles.
Yet at that very moment, as his mind and body reached the brink of their limits, he suddenly sensed something unusual.
He sensed that he could seemingly coat his body and his fists with an... invisible force that was not Lightning Release Chakra, yet was tougher and more concentrated!
It was a power born of will, born of the spirit!
Yas slowly raised his right fist. He did not activate his Lightning Release Chakra.
He merely concentrated all his will on his knuckles.
He threw a seemingly casual punch at a massive, waist-high reef rock beside him!
What was that?
Behind the rock, Bullet's pupils abruptly contracted as he secretly watched everything!
What had he seen?
Across the surface of Major Yas's fist, there seemed to have flashed a... fleeting... faint black sheen?
Before you continue