— — — — — — —
"Caprico, take everyone to the island. I'll handle this brat myself."
"Understood, Master Hades."
Even though the enemy was terrifyingly strong, their guild master, Hades, was no pushover.
Caprico clapped his hands, and in an instant, all the members of Grimoire Heart disappeared.
"Be careful."
With a propulsion device strapped to his back, Caprico swiftly flew away from the ship.
"Trying to escape right in front of me?"
Uchiha Kitaro muttered indifferently as he watched Caprico attempt to flee.
Crackle!
Lightning surged around Kitaro's body, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Caprico, as if he had teleported.
This seemingly simple movement contained an immense fusion of power:
Thunder Breathing
Lightning Chakra
Dragon's Lightning Power
Navy's Moonwalk
Light-Weight Rock Jutsu
These abilities combined to unleash an astonishing speed.
"W-What?!"
Caprico's eyes widened in shock, but before he could react—
Slash!
A streak of black light flashed.
A deep wound appeared across Caprico's neck, and before he could even register what had happened, his head was cleanly severed from his body.
With Caprico's death, all of Grimoire Heart's members reappeared in mid-air—only to plummet straight down towards the ocean.
"Waaaahhh!"
"Aaaaahhh!"
Screams echoed as dozens of people fell toward the sea.
"What the hell just happened?!"
"Caprico... he's dead?!"
Caprico, one of their strongest members, had been killed instantly. A cold, dreadful fear crept into their hearts.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!!!"
Kitaro showed no mercy, unleashing a monstrous sea of flames from his mouth. At his level, even the most basic ninjutsu possessed terrifying power.
The inferno engulfed the falling enemies in an instant.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Gyaaaahhh!"
Agonized screams filled the air as bodies were swallowed by fire.
From atop the ship, Hades roared in anger, "Brat, you're going too far!"
At the same time, two black chains shot toward Kitaro's shoulders, aiming to pierce through him.
With a swift swing of his blade, Kitaro effortlessly sliced the chains apart. Meanwhile, the surviving Kin of Purgatory managed to escape the blazing inferno.
Kitaro turned his gaze toward Hades and activated his dojutsu.
Amaterasu!!!
Fwoosh!
Black flames erupted and instantly set Grimoire Heart's airship ablaze.
Seeing his ship catch fire, Hades panicked. The vessel contained something crucial to him.
"Ultear!!"
Upon hearing Hades' call, Ultear immediately used her Arc of Time magic to restore the ship. However, even though its structure returned to normal, the black flames continued to burn.
"Zancrow!"
Realizing the severity of the situation, Hades yanked Zancrow over with his chains, ordering him to act.
Zancrow wielded black flames himself. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth to consume the Amaterasu flames.
At first, he seemed to succeed, swallowing the flames entirely.
But then— "What... what is this fire?!"
A moment later, Zancrow's eyes widened in horror as black flames erupted from his ears, eyes, and mouth, engulfing his body completely.
"Aaaaaaahhh!!"
His screams of agony filled the air as he writhed in pain, unable to extinguish the flames.
Kitaro spoke calmly, "You think you can devour the flames of Amaterasu? What a joke."
Zancrow fell into the ocean, but even submerged, the black flames continued to burn him away until nothing remained.
"A-Another one dead..."
"Ugh... ughhh...!"
The remaining Kin of Purgatory trembled in fear.
Caprico had been effortlessly beheaded.
Zancrow had been incinerated to death by fire.
And all of it had happened in mere moments.
"Damn you!!!"
Hades clenched his fists. Even though his subordinates were mere tools to him, watching them get slaughtered so easily right before his eyes filled him with rage.
He immediately activated his magic.
"Amaterasu: Formula 28!!!"
Three layers of massive magic circles surrounded Kitaro.
Boom!!!
The triple-layered spell exploded with immense force.
"Did we get him?!"
As the smoke cleared, Kitaro stood there unharmed.
A translucent, rib-like structure of orange energy surrounded his body, completely shielding him from the attack.
Even though Hades' magic couldn't actually hurt him, Kitaro simply disliked having his clothes burned or damaged.
Ultear's eyes widened in shock. That eerie orange skeletal energy—
She had seen it before.
Back at the Tower of Heaven, a colossal energy giant had appeared, standing thousands of meters tall.
"No way..."
Her expression turned pale.
Back then, he had been there too.
"Old man, looks like you're in trouble."
A voice suddenly spoke up behind Hades.
A man appeared—a tall, middle-aged sorcerer with long black hair tied in a braid, a sharp, monkey-like face, and a white coat draped over his shoulders.
"Bluenote."
Bluenote Stinger, the vice commander of Grimoire Heart. His power was infamous.
But Kitaro barely even glanced at him.
To him, this guy was barely Shichibukai level. And at his current strength, even Yonko and Admirals weren't worth taking seriously.
Crackle!
Kitaro took a step forward, and in an instant, he appeared atop Grimoire Heart's ship.
"So fast!!"
Both Hades and Bluenote were stunned by his speed.
"Gravity Fall!!!"
Bluenote manipulated the surrounding gravity, attempting to lock Kitaro in place.
Then he leapt into the air, charging toward Kitaro while releasing a powerful gravitational force.
Kitaro barely reacted—he simply moved past him.
Splurt!
A deep crimson gash split across Bluenote's body, blood spraying into the air.
.
.
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