"Calm down…"
From atop the giant's shoulder, Naruto's voice was steady.
"This is Kage-jutsu—the power to manipulate shadows. Your shadow's been caught, but he can't kill you with it."
Indeed, techniques like the Shadow Imitation or Shadow Strangle were effective against humans.
But against giants over twenty meters tall, their sheer bulk diminished the technique's lethality dozens of times over.
Just as Naruto predicted, within seconds Nara Shikaku's face twisted.
"The strength of this monster… it's unbelievable!"
Though his shadow held the giant pirate, the raw power behind the massive body threatened to snap the technique at any moment.
That was when Jiraiya and Orochimaru struck together, hands flying through seals, unleashing jutsu at the horde of pirates:
"Katon – Gamayu Endan! (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!)"
"Fūton – Kamikazari no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Cutter!)"
In an instant, flames roared skyward. Wind fanned fire, fire fueled wind—the fusion birthed a devastating torrent.
Toad oil-fed flames surged like a blazing river, sweeping toward the three-hundred-strong pirate army.
"Kukuku… they can't escape this…" Orochimaru rasped, eyes wild. He was already imagining the sea of corpses to harvest for his research.
But several pirates calmly stepped forward.
"Flames, huh?" Crocodile exhaled a smoke ring from his cigar, sandstorm swirling in his hand before he hurled it outward.
"If it's fire, let's smother it with sand."
"Water's more fitting." Jinbe stood ankle-deep in a nearby stream, his expression solemn. He grasped the current and heaved.
"Gyojin Jūjutsu – Kairyū Ipponzeoi! (Fish-Man Jujutsu: Sea Current Shoulder Throw!)"
"Don't waste time…" Trafalgar Law frowned, impatience in his gaze. He still had business with Doflamingo. Extending his right hand, a blue sphere expanded instantly.
"ROOM!"
Jiraiya and Orochimaru's eyes widened as walls of sand surged forward, dousing the burning toad oil. A serpentine torrent of water crashed in next, extinguishing the rest.
Finally, Law's eerie sphere warped space itself, teleporting the ignited oil directly above their heads.
"Move, now!" Orochimaru's face blanched. "That's space-time ninjutsu!"
Jiraiya gasped sharply, darting away with Body Flicker.
BOOM!
The redirected inferno slammed down, engulfing the earth in a blazing sea of fire. Even the two Sannin felt their scalps crawl.
"These monsters…" Jiraiya panted, stunned as he stared at the pirates.
"Was that ninjutsu? A kekkei genkai? None of them formed hand seals, yet their power—!"
"Enough chatter…" Orochimaru hissed, eyes narrowing at Crocodile. "That one wields dominion over sand itself…"
"Hah! Call it a sandstorm!" Crocodile laughed, swinging his right hand. Blades of sand slashed forward in a storm of death.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Sanjū Rashōmon! (Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!)" Orochimaru slammed his hands into the earth.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three massive iron gates tore from the ground, shielding against the sand blades.
But Crocodile's body of swirling sand slipped past, surging like a tsunami.
Then Jinbe charged. His fist, wrapped in Armament Haki, drove forward like a cannonball.
"Gyojin Karate – Gosenmai Uwazan Punch! (Fish-Man Karate: 5,000 Tile True Punch!)"
"So fast!" Jiraiya's pupils shrank. He hadn't expected such speed from the hulking fish-man.
"Jiraiya, behind you!" Gamabunta roared, drawing his short blade and slashing down at Jinbe.
CLANG!
To Jiraiya's shock, Jinbe's fist shattered the blade instead of his arm.
"GRAGH!" Gamabunta cried, staggering as the broken weapon fell away. A single punch had toppled a five-meter toad and snapped a forged blade in half.
On another front—
"AAAHHHH!!!"
Hyūga Hiashi, head of the Hyūga Clan and an elite jōnin, howled as seven or eight pirates pummeled him mercilessly. His face swelled, nose bloodied.
"Jiraiya-sama! Save me!!!" he cried in desperation.
Moments ago, he had unleashed Gentle Fist, striking their tenketsu with precision.
But the pirates didn't even flinch. Instead, they hammered him harder, one punch swelling his eye, another crushing his jaw.
Now he was being battered in a frenzy, his vaunted Gentle Fist reduced to nothing.
The harder he struck, the more excited they grew, as if these monsters reveled in raw, brutal exchanges of flesh and bone.
They were going to beat him to death.
"Clan Head Hiashi—!" Jiraiya turned, panic in his eyes.
But Jinbe stepped in his way, skin glistening with moisture, his hands dripping streams of water. His gaze was grave.
"Lord Naruto asked me to aid his homeland. My price: granting Fish-Men the right to walk the surface world." His voice was steady, fists clenched.
"That's why… I won't let you interfere!"
"Fish-Men? Surface world?" Jiraiya blinked, utterly lost. He had no idea what a Fish-Man was.
Jinbe didn't bother explaining. To him, the shinobi lands were but another island in the sea—and Naruto would be its ruler.
Water condensed around his palm. With a sharp twist, he hurled it like a spear.
"Gekisui! (Surging Water!)"
Jiraiya blurred aside with Body Flicker.
SHUNK!
The trees behind him were pierced through, sap spraying like blood.
(End of Chapter)
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