Shiraishi's pirate ship was blasted into kindling, its deck thoroughly submerged in water; it was completely clear that this vessel could not be saved.
The Marines had struck out of nowhere, forcefully sinking the only ship their pirate crew possessed in one fell swoop. Even Ace was left completely dumbfounded.
It wasn't because of the sudden Marine ambush, but rather because a single standard cannonball had basically brought the vessel to its knees—just how poor was the structural quality of this ship?
"Hee-hahaha! Hey, you two boys! If you intend to set sail across these seas, a pirate ship of this level is nowhere near enough!"
Ivankov let out a hearty, boisterous laugh. If one prepared to venture into the vast ocean, one should naturally make absolute, foolproof preparations; the pirate ship before their eyes clearly hadn't reached a standard suitable for deep waters.
Shiraishi pondered for a moment. Indeed, the build quality of this ship was rather poor, leading him to speak with a trace of awkwardness: "The truly elite master shipwrights are said to all be gathered in Water 7."
"Then let's just commandeer a Marine warship first... Currently within the East Blue, the highest standard of shipbuilding technology still belongs to Marine warships."
Ivankov's suggestion was for Shiraishi's group to simply hijack a Marine warship directly for convenience.
Seeing Shiraishi and the others chatting casually as if nothing had happened, Captain Yellowspring gritted his teeth in sheer irritation: "How utterly arrogant... these damn pirates..."
Growing increasingly infuriated the more he thought about it, Captain Yellowspring strode over to the main artillery battery and began personally operating the controls, unhurriedly calibrating the cannon's alignment: "What a pity that on these high seas, people like you usually die exceptionally fast."
His face contorted in a sneering, brutal grimace, Captain Yellowspring locked the cannon's sights straight onto Shiraishi and the others, instantly unleashing a thunderous, explosive roar of gunpowder!
Boom!
The pitch-black projectile cut a graceful arc through the sky, blasting with pinpoint precision toward Shiraishi's location. This single strike clearly proved that Captain Yellowspring's marksmanship was by no means an empty boast!
To hone such a level of artillery skill on the open sea was not something that could be cultivated in a day or two. Although Captain Yellowspring was somewhat corrupt as a person, his operational skill set was factually intact.
Faced with Captain Yellowspring's second incoming artillery shell, Uchiha Madara's expression turned thoroughly dark. Letting out a cold huff, he flashed forward in an instant.
Madara landed on the submerged deck and directly retrieved the Sunagakure flag from the ship. Seeing this scene, Shiraishi let out a faint smile; it appeared Madara had fully embraced his identity as the Vice-Captain of this vessel.
Facing the cannonball flying in from the distance, Madara leapt directly into mid-air, extending a single hand as his palm reached straight toward the second incoming projectile.
"Haha, what an idiot!"
Captain Yellowspring grinned mockingly, staring at Madara, who was attempting to catch the cannonball with his bare hands. Setting aside the sheer, terrifying kinetic impact the projectile currently carried, the sheer heat of the cannonball alone was more than enough to burn a human hand to the bone.
Not to mention that under such extreme heat, the gunpowder inside the shell was unstable and would instantly detonate upon direct physical impact.
Captain Yellowspring narrowed his eyes slightly, pulling up a pair of binoculars to watch the impending scene of flesh and blood flying across the air. This moment filled him with immense anticipation and excitement, a guttural, cruel laugh escaping his lips.
However...
They were destined for disappointment...
Leaping through mid-air, the exact fraction of a second before Madara's palm made contact with the cannonball, his hand executed an imperceptible, fluid rotation, his entire body twisting in mid-air to generate a high-speed spin.
Simultaneously spun along with Madara was that second massive artillery shell.
Accompanied by a dominant, roaring shout from Madara, the heavy cannonball was thrown straight back!
Boom!
Following a muffled, heavy explosion, the redirected cannonball actually slammed back with absolute precision right into the muzzle of the artillery cannon, as if time itself were being replayed in reverse!
The force of the backfire instantly shattered the Marine-issue cannon into pieces. The scattering shrapnel, carrying intense heat, blasted indiscriminately in all directions, causing a chorus of agonized wails to erupt from the surrounding Marines.
Once he made his move, Madara showed absolute zero mercy. The moment he gripped his war fan, a massive gale erupted, deflecting every subsequent incoming cannonball back toward the fleet, instantly converting the warship before his eyes into a roaring sea of flames.
Emulating Shiraishi's method of leveraging pure physical strength to walk on thin air, Madara moved rapidly through mid-air, landing heavily onto Captain Yellowspring's warship. The exact instant his feet touched the deck, a chilling wave of pure killing intent flooded the entire vessel.
How could the legendary Specter of the Shinobi World be so casually underestimated and humiliated by a few ordinary Marines?
Since you broke our ship, then prepare to pay the absolute price!
In an instant, countless dark flames shot forth. Under Madara's precise control, they pierced through the uniforms of all the Marines at extreme speed, the powerful, corrosive fire utterly destroying their hearts.
Madara's terrifying, clinical slaughter completely paralyzed the remaining Marines on the warship with pure terror. Captain Yellowspring stared at this scene, his face pale with sheer horror.
"This child carries far too much killing intent."
Koushirou hadn't expected Madara to strike with such ruthless severity, directly slaughtering so many Marines. Just as Shiraishi was about to explain, Ivankov shook his head gently: "The Marines discovered that we were associating with those two boys. To avoid implicating us, that boy Madara chose the most decisive, thunderous method available."
"In any case, you two should return to the dojo first. Leave this area for us to handle."
After Ivankov and Koushirou departed, Shiraishi clearly perceived that after Madara wiped out the surrounding Marines on Captain Yellowspring's deck, he went straight for the head of the mastermind behind this Marine operation.
He truly remains an old relic frozen in the mindset of the Warring States period...
Although Madara's actions just now indeed stemmed partly from a desire to prevent Koushirou and Ivankov from being implicated, his methods were simply far too savage. Furthermore, Shiraishi had already sensed another giant warship rapidly cutting through the waves from the far distance.
"Vice Admiral Garp is here!"
Seeing Garp's vessel, Yellowspring scrambled frantically toward the direction of Garp's warship, while the Marines on the other surrounding vessels rushed over to provide support.
However, the ghost fires in Madara's hands condensed into a high-speed spinning Rinnegan vortex, functioning like a sphere of dark energy that unleashed a catastrophic explosion across the deck.
"Oh no!"
Sensing that Captain Yellowspring was in critical danger, Garp threw a punch forward, carrying an astonishing, dominant momentum as it lunged straight toward Madara.
Having arrived in a rush, although Garp knew the black-haired youth before him possessed considerable strength, he hadn't taken him entirely to heart, believing that a single strike from his standard "Fist of Love" would be more than enough to force him back.
Yet, how could Uchiha Madara ever be someone who submitted to force?
Facing Garp's fist, the Dark Nine-Tails energy surrounding Madara formed a protective cloak of aura. While forcefully enduring the raw impact of Garp's punch, the war fan in Madara's hand was suddenly hurled outward, slicing straight through Captain Yellowspring's waist in mid-air...
The massive shockwave generated by the fist forced Madara to recoil a few steps. At this moment, Shiraishi materialized on the deck as well, gently bracing Madara from behind.
Gazing at the tragically slain Captain Yellowspring before him and the mountain of Marine corpses scattered across the deck, Garp's entire face turned livid, entering a state of absolute, roaring fury. In the distance, Ace's eyes instantly filled with profound dread.
Even for him, witnessing his grandfather in this state evoked an indescribable, suffocating terror.
"You brat... who on earth are you people?"
Facing Garp in his absolute rage, Shiraishi gripped the silver blade in his hand and stepped forward:
"The Sunagakure Pirates. I am the supreme leader of the entire crew, Aoki Shiraishi—and this is my partner, Uchiha Madara."
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