29. Struggle

Upon hearing Shiki’s words, Sakamoto’s face turned ashen.

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to seize Shiki and tear him limb from limb.

Unfortunately, dozens of ghouls had already launched their attack.

They recklessly unleashed the violent energy within their bodies, venting the long-suppressed fury in their hearts.

They slaughtered the nobles present without restraint, even torturing some of them in cruel fashion.

These pampered nobles were like helpless lambs before the rampaging ghouls, utterly defenseless.

Even those who mustered a little resistance only served to give the ghouls a bit more satisfaction in their revenge.

Bloodshed, panic, and terror spread rapidly throughout the arena.

"Don't hold back your weapons and explosive tags! Eliminate them all quickly!"
Sakamoto issued his command.

As the top merchant of the Land of Rivers, he had specially assembled a ninja squad.

Abu, who was fighting against Shiraishi Mori, was one of them. Besides Abu, there were seven other ninjas—Abu and another were Chūnin level, the rest were Genin.

"President, what about the audience...?"

One of the ninjas hesitated. Everyone aboard this ship, “Heaven on Earth,” were influential figures from the Land of Rivers and even neighboring countries.

Now that they were mixed in with the ghouls, if they attacked…

"I said—kill them all."

Sakamoto’s gaze was as cold as ice.

With his order, the ninjas sprang into action.

Against ordinary people, ghouls with kagune were like demons.

But to battle-hardened ninjas, they were not invincible.

Countless kunai rained down from the stands, launching indiscriminate attacks on both ghouls and audience members below.

Explosive tags dropped alongside the kunai, filling the arena with wave after wave of explosions under the ninjas’ control.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire cruise ship rocked violently, on the verge of capsizing.

Though Sakamoto had poured a fortune into building this ship, it couldn't withstand such a sustained barrage.

Hearing the groans of the ship's hull, Sakamoto's heart bled.

Still, the results proved effective.

The ghouls on-site varied in strength, but the explosive tag bombardment wiped out more than half of their kagune.

Only a few of the tougher ones survived, like those with Ukaku – Centipede or Koukaku – Ant-Man types.

Even then, they were heavily wounded.

Of course, the worst off were the defenseless spectators.

In fact, most of them didn’t survive. Under such violent blasts, many were reduced to bloody pulp.

Witnessing the scene, Sakamoto showed a satisfied grin.

"Heh, still think you can fight me?"

Suddenly, a rock on the battlefield was overturned. A dark red figure shot out like a streak of lightning, dashing toward the stands at an unimaginable speed.

Sakamoto's face twisted in panic. “Stop her!”

The figure was a woman—with jet-black hair and a sharp, blade-like limb trailing from her shoulder.

It was the kagune: Rinkaku – Mantis.

The other limb had likely been destroyed in the previous explosion.

She charged into the stands like a deadly assassin.

Sakamoto’s guards rushed in with weapons drawn.

But her kagune was in a different league. With a flash of red, all incoming weapons were sliced clean in half.

In the stunned silence, the woman leapt into the crowd, and with a swift spin of her sharp kagune, five or six people were instantly sliced in two!

As the blood mist scattered, the woman crouched low, scarlet eyes gleaming like a predator ready to strike.

Seeing that ordinary guards were no match for her, the ninjas stepped in.

"Earth Release: Earth Spikes!"

Chakra traveled through the ground, summoning a thick, sharp spike beneath the woman’s feet—like a monster’s fang.

But just as the spike emerged, she leapt into the air again, dashing straight toward Sakamoto with her incredible speed.

"Lightning Release: Ground Net!"

Thin arcs of electricity spread across the ground like a web from another ninja’s hand.

Caught off guard while sprinting, the female ghoul's body stiffened momentarily from the electric paralysis.

In that moment, another ninja used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared in front of her, slashing down with his blade!

A clean decapitation.

After killing the ghoul, the ninja spat disdainfully.

“Tch. So much for ghouls.”

"Watch out above!"
A teammate shouted.

Looking up, a shadow loomed overhead.

A man covered in pitch-black kagune armor slammed down like a cannonball, smashing the ninja into the ground!

Boom!

The powerful impact created a crater on the floor. The ninja died instantly.

Seeing their comrade die, the remaining ninjas exchanged glances and grew serious.

"Earth Release: Ground Elevation!"

The ghoul with the Koukaku – Ant-Man kagune was suddenly lifted upward as the ground rose beneath him.

Right then, a blazing fireball flew in.

Direct hit!

The violent explosion unleashed intense heat and shockwaves in every direction.

Despite the strong defense of his kagune, the ghoul was turned to char and buried in flames.

Witnessing this, the ghouls that had been preparing to charge paused in their tracks.

"Have to admit, these ninjas are pretty capable,"
Shiki muttered, rubbing his chin with a nod of approval.

Hidan was different. He looked down on everyone except Shiki.

“Hmph, just a few low-level jutsu. If I stepped in, they'd all be dead by now.”

Shiki ignored Hidan. In some sense, Hidan wasn’t wrong.

But Shiki’s goal wasn’t simply to win a battle.

On the battlefield, the ninja named Abu slowly walked toward Shiraishi Mori and his parents.

During the earlier explosions, Abu had used Earth Release to burrow underground, avoiding all damage.

Shiraishi Mori’s family, on the other hand, had taken the full brunt of the blast.

Now, all three were gravely wounded—including Shiraishi Mori.

“Time to die. I don’t have time to waste on you anymore.”

Abu held his blade, eyes sharp.

Shiraishi Mori’s exoskeleton was nearly shattered from the explosion, but to protect his parents, he struggled to his feet and faced Abu.

But in the next moment, Abu vanished again.

Then, a gleaming blade of light filled Shiraishi Mori’s vision—!