A lecherous pirate with a flattened nose and narrow, triangular eyes stared at the little girl trembling in the pool of blood.
A sickening grin spread across his face as he let out a creepy laugh.
“Hehehe…
This little brat’s actually pretty cute.
Hehahahaha!” “Whoa, you’ve got to be kidding!” another pirate shouted.
Instead of stopping him, he burst into laughter, his eyes gleaming with bloodthirsty excitement.
“She’s just a little kid and you’re actually into that?
Hahaha!
You’ve got issues!” The laughter only grew louder.
Filthy jokes and obscene comments poured over the deck like sewage.
Leaning against the mast, Hall watched the scene without the slightest intention of stopping it.
He simply held a cigarette between his lips and smiled cruelly, as if the horrific tragedy unfolding before him was nothing more than entertainment.
Just as the lecherous pirate rubbed his hands together and slowly approached Nina, the lookout atop the mast suddenly let out a blood curdling scream.
The shock and terror in his voice instantly drowned out every laugh and scream aboard the ship.
“W…
What is that?!
Everyone, on alert!
Hurry!
On alert!” Hall’s face darkened immediately.
His mood, already ruined by the interruption, exploded into anger.
He spat the cigarette onto the deck and roared toward the lookout.
“What the hell are you screaming for?!
Did you see a ghost?!” Cursing under his breath, he stormed to the railing, snatched the telescope from one of his men, and looked in the direction the lookout was pointing.
After only a single glance, the fury on his face froze.
It was replaced by complete disbelief.
On the endless blue sea, three figures were running across the rolling waves.
There wasn’t a single piece of driftwood or a boat beneath their feet.
They were simply sprinting over the ocean as though it were solid ground, racing straight toward the merchant ship.
“What the hell is that?!” Hall lowered the telescope in shock, his eyes bulging so wide he almost thought he’d drunk too much rum.
When he looked again, the three figures were even closer.
He could already make out what they were wearing.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
“Everyone, battle stations!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Move!
Turn every cannon toward them!
Grab your weapons!” The pirates, who had been laughing and looting only moments earlier, instantly descended into panic.
They scrambled for their swords and muskets before rushing to the railings.
The artillery crews frantically swung the cannons into position.
Every eye was fixed on the three impossible figures racing across the sea.
At the same time, the salty sea breeze carried the faint smell of blood.
The distant sounds of crying drifted across the waves.
Uchiha Yashiro frowned as he looked at the merchant ship tangled together with the pirate vessel.
He turned toward Shinsuke.
“Young Lord Shinsuke, what do we do?” “We board them.
Leave survivors.
We need information.” Shinsuke’s gaze rested on the pirate ship flying the skull flag.
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his voice.
The moment he finished speaking, a deafening roar echoed across the sea.
Several black cannonballs, wrapped in flames, tore through the air with piercing whistles and hurtled straight toward the three of them.
Yashiro raised an eyebrow with obvious disdain.
“What kind of attack is this?
Is this really how people in this world ambush someone?” With a flick of his fingers, four chakra infused kunai appeared between them.
His wrist snapped forward.
Four flashes of cold steel shot through the air with sharp whistles.
“What the…” Hall blinked before bursting into laughter.
“Hahaha!
What kind of joke is this?
You think a few pieces of scrap metal can stop cannonballs?
Where’d these cavemen come from?” Before his laughter could fade, four earth shaking explosions erupted over the sea.
Each cannonball was struck with unbelievable precision and detonated in midair.
Towering waves surged skyward as the shockwaves rippled across the ocean.
The mocking smile on Hall’s face froze instantly.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
“What?!
That’s impossible!” On the other side, even Yashiro was slightly surprised by the explosions.
“Tch.
Not bad.” “The power’s almost on par with a standard explosive tag.” Shinsuke didn’t respond.
His hands moved through a series of hand seals with incredible speed.
“Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.” The instant the words left his mouth, the sea beneath them erupted violently.
A massive water dragon more than thirty feet long burst from the ocean.
Its scales and claws were clearly defined as it let out a thunderous roar before crashing directly into the pirate ship.
Boom!!
The tremendous impact rocked the entire vessel.
The ship groaned under the strain.
Dozens of pirates who had lost their footing screamed as they were hurled overboard into the sea.
The rest stumbled across the deck or collapsed while desperately clinging to the mast, their faces pale with terror.
Several cannons near the railing were flipped over by the enormous wave and slammed heavily onto the deck.
Hall’s face turned as white as paper.
His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
“M…
Monster!” “Those are monsters!” Before the pirates’ terrified screams had even died away, the three figures vanished like ghosts and appeared in different parts of the ship.
At the very top of the lookout tower, Uchiha Yakumi rested one hand on the railing as his crimson Sharingan slowly rotated, calmly surveying the battlefield.
At the bow, Uchiha Yashiro casually spun a kunai around his fingers with a cold smile.
Meanwhile, perched on the railing of the second deck, Shinsuke crouched quietly as the sea breeze lifted the hem of his clothes.
His crimson Three Tomoe Sharingan looked down coldly upon the panicked pirates below.
“Which one of you is the captain?” His voice wasn’t loud.
Yet it cut through every scream and cry aboard the ship like ice, reaching everyone’s ears with perfect clarity.
The pirates immediately fell silent.
They exchanged nervous glances, every one of them shrinking back.
Not a single person dared answer.
“I’ll ask one more time.” “Who’s the captain?” Shinsuke’s tone remained perfectly calm.
Yet every pirate felt a chill run down their spine.
The deck remained deathly silent.
No one knew what this boy, who looked barely more than ten years old, intended to do to the captain.
If they pointed him out now and this terrifying monster left afterward, the captain would settle the score with them later.
The next instant, Shinsuke disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was already standing before a pirate hiding at the front of the crowd.
His right hand shot forward and wrapped around the pirate’s throat.
His fingers tightened slightly.
Crack.
The crisp sound of a breaking neck echoed across the deck.
The terror on the pirate’s face hadn’t even faded before his body went limp.
Dead.