"Well... this is getting a little troublesome."
Seeing all the firelight extinguished, and with the shadow techniques now unable to be used, Nara Lukoto spoke calmly.
But even then, his expression remained astonishingly composed.
"However... are you underestimating us a little too much?" he said coldly. "We're ninja. Fighting in darkness only benefits us more. Even if I can't use shadow secret techniques, Hatake Ikko alone still can't stop all three of us."
"Maybe you're ninja... but in the world of darkness, this is my domain."
A voice suddenly rang out from directly behind Nara Lukoto.
The voice had appeared out of nowhere.
Before it sounded, Nara Lukoto had not sensed the slightest trace that someone had silently slipped behind him.
That shock made his heart leap violently.
But at that exact moment—
A force slammed into his lower back, blasting him forward.
Bang!
The body that flew away suddenly transformed into a block of wood.
"Just as expected of an experienced jonin," Rosinante said, sounding almost impressed. "You used the Substitution Jutsu at the very first instant to avoid my attack. Looks like when dealing with ninja in the future, I really shouldn't speak before striking. Once a ninja notices you in advance, they really do have endless ways to evade."
He praised Nara Lukoto first...
Then muttered the rest as if talking to himself.
"Did either of you notice how Saito Tsubasa moved behind me just now?" Nara Lukoto appeared from another direction and landed beside Yamanaka Makoto, asking in a low voice.
His face was incredibly serious.
He was a jonin.
And yet Rosinante had slipped behind him without a sound, without a trace, and he hadn't realized it at all.
If Rosinante hadn't spoken and startled him first, giving him just enough time to use Substitution Jutsu...
That blow would have landed.
For a ninja, this was absolutely unacceptable.
Because it was practically the same as handing your life over to the enemy.
"No," Yamanaka Makoto said grimly. "I couldn't sense his presence at all. And there wasn't the slightest sound during his movement either. It's probably some kind of secret technique that conceals both sound and aura."
"Is there any way to sense him?" Nara Lukoto asked.
"There is," Makoto said. "It's faint, but Saito Tsubasa does have chakra in his body. We should be able to track him through his chakra."
"Oh? You want to locate me through chakra?"
Rosinante's amused voice sounded again.
"Then what about this?"
The next instant, Yamanaka Makoto's expression changed.
The chakra flame that had represented Rosinante's presence...
Vanished.
Completely vanished.
And at the same time, Rosinante disappeared from before their eyes once again.
This time, he had truly disappeared entirely.
"Initial assessment," Makoto said at once, "the target possesses extremely strong perception... and an equally powerful ability to conceal himself from perception."
"Watch out for his sneak attacks," Nara Lukoto said sharply.
In an instant, the two of them adjusted their formation.
Back to back.
Alert.
Guarding all directions.
"This is troublesome," Nara Lukoto admitted in a low voice. "But not enough to abandon the mission. Makoto... I'm counting on you."
"Understood," Yamanaka Makoto said. "I'll find the right opening."
On the other side of the battlefield, Akimichi Go and Hatake Ikko were locked in fierce combat.
Despite his enormous size, Akimichi Go was surprisingly agile.
Every swing of his massive fists stirred up fierce gusts of wind.
Hatake Ikko, lightning flickering across his body, darted rapidly from place to place.
His short blade danced through the air, leaving one wound after another on Akimichi Go's huge frame.
But because Akimichi Go's body was so large, and because his battle experience was so rich, Ikko could only inflict shallow injuries for now.
None of them were enough to truly bring him down.
And more importantly...
Akimichi Go's goal was not to defeat Hatake Ikko.
His purpose was simply to hold him here.
Every time Ikko tried to break through and rush toward Rosinante's side, Akimichi Go would go all out to stop him.
For the moment, the two were locked in a stalemate.
"This won't do. I need to find a way to get over there quickly," Hatake Ikko muttered with a frown.
"You can stay here and stretch with me," Akimichi Go bellowed.
At some point, he had produced a massive iron club from somewhere.
Swinging it with terrifying force, he roared, "As long as I'm here, don't even think about getting past!"
Hearing that, Hatake Ikko's face grew even more anxious.
But the more anxious he became...
The harder it was for him to perform at his best.
In the end, although Hatake Ikko was a genius, his experience was far inferior to a battle-forged jonin like Akimichi Go, who had clawed his way upward through real life-and-death combat.
"Back-to-back defense, hm? Not a bad idea."
Rosinante's voice suddenly came from the side.
"But in doing that... you've also given up your advantage in numbers."
He appeared out of nowhere once more.
And at some unknown point, a long blade had appeared in his hand.
Without hesitation, he slashed straight at Nara Lukoto.
Nara Lukoto instantly produced a kunai and blocked the blade.
Clang!
"Who says we've lost our advantage in numbers?" Nara Lukoto sneered coldly as he held back Rosinante's strike.
At the exact same time—
"Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"
The moment Nara Lukoto blocked Rosinante's slash, Yamanaka Makoto completed his hand seals and unleashed a secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan.
Using his spirit, he directly attacked Rosinante's mind.
Seeing his friend successfully use the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, Nara Lukoto was certain they had finally succeeded this time—
But suddenly...
Blood began to stream from Yamanaka Makoto's eyes and nose.
"Hey," Rosinante said with a calm smile, glancing past Nara Lukoto toward Makoto behind him. "Did you do something just now? Your eyes and nose are bleeding."
"Monster..."
Yamanaka Makoto dropped to his knees weakly.
Attacking Rosinante with a mental technique was nothing less than asking for punishment.
Whether it was Rosinante's immense spiritual power...
Or the oppressive will behind his Conqueror's Haki...
Either one was more than enough to crush the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Body Disturbance Technique.
One had to understand—
Even though the One Piece world was not especially known for mental power, once a person's body broke past the level of an Admiral, once they began to shatter the limits of the human body...
Their spiritual strength naturally rose with it.
And Rosinante was even more terrifying than that.
He had crossed worlds twice.
His soul had been fused, tempered, and refined through two transmigrations.
If one were speaking purely in terms of spiritual power...
He was likely already stronger than even Kage-level ninja.
And on top of that—
There was the crushing will of Conqueror's Haki.
And the eternal stillness of the Silent-Silent Fruit, now fused into his soul.
With all of that combined...
Even genjutsu from Six Paths-level experts would have a hard time harming him.
So when Yamanaka Makoto launched a mental assault with the Mind Body Disturbance Technique...
Rosinante hadn't even counterattacked.
Makoto had simply slammed headfirst into Rosinante's passive mental defenses and been instantly shattered by the backlash.
His mind had been violently rebounded against.
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