Shanks was not that surprised after hearing the report from the Vermilion Bird.
Honestly, he had already expected that such a day would eventually come.
It was obvious that the Akatsuki would sooner or later begin targeting the major villages directly in order to capture the Tailed Beasts.
Shanks looked toward the distant battlefield for a moment before calmly saying,
"It seems they have finally finished their preparations and are confident enough to face Uzushiogakure head-on… otherwise, they would not have started attacking the other major villages."
The Vermilion Bird nodded immediately, clearly agreeing with Shanks's words.
Till now, the Akatsuki had mostly operated from the shadows. They rarely revealed themselves openly to the world. Most of their activities involved taking mercenary jobs in secret, completing missions quietly while gathering money and influence from behind the scenes.
But now things had completely changed.
They were no longer hiding.
By simultaneously attacking multiple major villages and capturing their Tailed Beasts, the Akatsuki were openly displaying their power to the entire world.
And that could only mean one thing.
They were finally ready to stand against Uzushiogakure.
A violent breeze passed through the battlefield with a tremor caused by Shamrock's and Uta's Susanoo collision, causing Shanks's coat to flutter slightly.
Then he spoke again,
"Inform everyone about the meeting. Tell them that I have called for a clan meeting."
As soon as the Vermilion Bird heard this, she immediately bowed slightly and replied respectfully,
"Yes, my Lord."
The moment her words fell, her figure disappeared from behind Shanks like a shadow fading into darkness.
Meanwhile, the battle between Shamrock and Uta had reached an entirely different level.
Shanks shifted his gaze toward them and immediately saw that both of them had already entered their Full Body Susanoo forms.
Two gigantic humanoid warriors towered over the battlefield.
Both Susanoos stood nearly eighty meters tall, their heights almost identical. Their massive bodies radiated overwhelming chakra pressure that distorted the surrounding atmosphere itself. The ground beneath them had long since shattered under their presence alone.
Uta's Full Body Susanoo possessed elegant yet intimidating armor with crimson hues flowing across its gigantic frame. In one of its hands, it held a massive double-edged sword that gleamed ominously under the darkened sky.
On the other side stood Shamrock's Susanoo.
Its appearance looked heavier and more battle-oriented, radiating fierce destructive pressure. In its hand was a gigantic saber-like sword coated with dense black energy.
The two colossal warriors moved simultaneously.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Both Susanoos swung their swords toward each other with terrifying force. The pressure generated from the attacks alone split the ground apart before the blades had even collided.
And just as the two giant swords were about to clash—
Suddenly, a mark appeared in the empty space between them.
A crown-shaped symbol.
The symbol looked like a king's crown glowing faintly in the air.
This was Shanks's Astral Mark.
The next instant, space distorted violently around that location.
Shanks appeared there instantly using his Astral Imprint Technique—the space-time jutsu.
The timing was absolutely perfect.
The moment he teleported there, Shanks calmly extended both of his arms outward. His hands were coated in dense Armament Haki, further enhanced by Yang Release. Black lightning crackled faintly around his arms as overwhelming strength surged through his body.
Then—
With his comparatively tiny hands against those gigantic blades, Shanks directly grabbed both massive swords.
BOOOOM!!!
A monstrous shockwave exploded outward from the collision point.
The air shattered.
The surrounding ground collapsed violently while storms of chakra and pressure spread in every direction.
Yet despite stopping two gigantic Susanoo swords at the same time, Shanks's body did not move even an inch.
Both colossal blades were halted completely in his hands.
The swords trembled violently from the immense force behind them, but they could not advance any further.
That single scene alone displayed just how terrifying Shanks's physical strength truly was.
Shanks calmly said,
"Enough for today's battle."
The moment his words fell, he disappeared from between the two gigantic Susanoos and instantly reappeared back at the location where he had originally been standing on the ground.
The distorted air slowly settled.
Meanwhile, neither Shamrock nor Uta objected to Shanks's order.
The enormous Full Body Susanoos surrounding them began dissipating almost immediately. Cracks of chakra spread throughout the gigantic constructs before they slowly broke apart into streams of fading energy.
The towering armored warriors vanished piece by piece.
First the weapons dissolved, then the armor, and finally the gigantic skeletal frames themselves disappeared into the air like smoke. The terrifying pressure dominating the battlefield gradually faded away, leaving behind only the destroyed land covered in countless craters and cracks.
Soon enough, both Shamrock and Uta landed back on the ground.
The two of them walked toward Shanks and stopped beside him. Both looked toward him expectantly, clearly waiting for his evaluation of the battle.
Shanks glanced at both of them calmly before speaking,
"Both of you fought well and were able to counter each other's moves quite perfectly."
A faint breeze passed by as he continued,
"Uta, there is only one mistake that you made."
Uta immediately became attentive after hearing that.
"When you were using Susanoo, the defensive strength you used was too low. You only maintained the skeletal form while using your Kotouta ability."
Shanks's sharp eyes landed on her.
"You should have used the half-body armored version of the Susanoo instead. The skeletal form can still be broken by powerful ninjas capable of using S-Rank ninjutsu or similar-level attacks. That weakness can create a serious issue for you while your consciousness is inside the Uta dimension."
Uta listened quietly and nodded slightly.
"I understand."
Shanks then shifted his gaze toward Shamrock.
"As for you, Shamrock, you did well too. But you still need to improve your Divine Departure further."
Shamrock's expression turned serious immediately.
"With the level of power behind your attack, one strike should have been enough to completely shatter the normal skeletal defense of the Susanoo."
The battlefield around them still carried traces of the previous clash, and Shamrock himself understood exactly what Shanks meant.
After hearing this, Shamrock nodded firmly.
"I will keep this in mind, Father."
Shanks gave a slight nod in return.
"Very well."
Then his expression became slightly more serious.
"Let's go. We have an urgent meeting to attend."
After saying that, Shanks immediately started walking ahead.
Uta and Shamrock exchanged brief glances before following behind him without wasting any time. Their footsteps echoed softly across the ruined battlefield as they walked past shattered ground and enormous craters left behind by their fight.
After walking for a short while, Shamrock finally asked,
"Who called for the meeting, Father?"
Shanks answered calmly without slowing his steps.
"I was the one who called for it."
His voice remained steady, but there was a faint heaviness hidden underneath it.
"The Akatsuki have started making their moves."
After hearing this, Shamrock's face immediately became solemn.
Uta also nodded lightly, her expression turning serious as well.
If the Akatsuki had finally started moving openly, then that also meant Uzushiogakure could no longer remain still.
The atmosphere around the three of them subtly changed.
With that thought in mind, Shanks, Shamrock, and Uta began walking toward the Uzumaki Clan Compound.
The path ahead was calm, but the air carried a strange heaviness after the news they had just received. The setting sun cast long shadows across the streets while a cold breeze occasionally passed by.
As they were nearing the Uzumaki Clan Compound, Uta suddenly remembered the scene from earlier—how Shanks had casually stopped both her and Shamrock's gigantic Susanoo swords with his bare hands.
The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
Finally, she could not help but say,
"You were deliberately trying to show off your strength, right, Father?"
Shanks's steps paused slightly.
Uta continued with a faint pout,
"You could have just ordered us to stop. We would have stopped anyway."
The moment those words fell, Shamrock instantly looked away, already sensing what was about to happen.
Meanwhile, Shanks's face twitched slightly.
Even his forehead twitched faintly.
Slowly, he turned toward Uta with a dangerous smile on his face.
Then, without hesitation, he grabbed her cheek and pulled it.
"It seems you are becoming more and more mischievous as you grow older."
"Ow, ow, ow—!"
Uta immediately cried out in pain while trying to pull herself free.
"I'm sorry, Father! I'm sorry!"
Her voice became slightly muffled because of her stretched cheek.
Meanwhile, Shamrock could not help but laugh after seeing Uta in such a state.
The previously heavy atmosphere lightened slightly because of the small interaction.
…
Around half an hour later, the meeting hall of Uzushiogakure had already become filled with people.
All of the Uzumaki siblings were present.
Along with them, the younger generation of the Uzumaki Clan—including Shamrock, Uta, and Ryuko—had also gathered inside the meeting room. Besides them, several commanders of the Uzushiogakure Shinobi Army were present as well.
And standing quietly around the hall were the four commanders of the Shadow Guards.
The atmosphere inside the meeting hall was extremely solemn.
The large hall itself radiated authority and prestige. The faint sound of footsteps echoed occasionally while everyone remained seated quietly, waiting for the meeting to begin.
At the highest seat, the Daioh-tai, Shanks sat calmly.
A few steps below him, arranged in parallel rows, sat the Uzumaki siblings along with the others attending the meeting.
The atmosphere turned even quieter when Shanks finally began speaking.
"I have just received the news," Shanks said calmly while looking toward everyone present, "and most of you must already know by now that the Akatsuki has finally made its move."
The entire hall remained silent.
"In one coordinated operation, they simultaneously attacked the major villages and captured all the Tailed Beasts from them."
Some expressions in the hall became slightly heavier after hearing this spoken aloud so directly.
Even though many already knew the information, hearing it officially confirmed still carried a different weight.
Shanks continued calmly,
"Even after Makima received news that those villages were under attack, none of us made a move."
His sharp eyes swept across everyone in the hall.
"First of all, we do not have such close relations with those villages that we would interfere directly to prevent such incidents from happening. Whether they could stop the Akatsuki intruders or not depended on their own capabilities."
A brief silence followed.
"Unfortunately, they failed."
"Their Tailed Beasts have already been taken away."
The room became even quieter after those words.
Then Shanks leaned slightly back before continuing,
"Secondly…"
A faint pressure subtly spread through the hall.
"We needed them to become confident enough to crawl out from their hiding hole."
His gaze turned colder.
"So that we can destroy them completely in one move."
As soon as Shanks said those words, everyone present inside the meeting hall nodded solemnly.
No one questioned his decision.
The people sitting here understood very clearly what kind of enemy the Akatsuki truly was. If they had remained hidden forever, dealing with them would have been far more troublesome. Only by allowing them to grow overconfident enough to reveal themselves completely could Uzushiogakure eliminate them in one decisive strike.
The atmosphere inside the hall remained heavy and serious.
Then Shanks shifted his gaze slightly and said,
"Erza, tell everyone about the growth that has occurred over the past three years."
The moment her name was called, Erza immediately stood up from her seat.
Her expression remained calm and composed while everyone's attention shifted toward her. The light inside the meeting hall reflected faintly off her crimson hair as she began speaking in a clear voice.
"Brother, over the last three years, the number of Shadow Guards has increased to three hundred."
A few people in the hall nodded faintly after hearing that.
The Shadow Guards were the true hidden force of Uzushiogakure, and every single member was carefully selected and trained personally under strict conditions. Increasing their numbers to three hundred was not a small achievement.
Erza continued without pause,
"Along with that, the Uzushiogakure Shinobi Army now possesses one hundred and fifty Elite Guards."
Her voice carried a hint of pride while speaking about their forces.
"These Elite Guards have all passed the advanced combat and sealing evaluations. Most of them are capable of leading squads independently during large-scale battles."
The commanders seated nearby listened attentively.
"Our total shinobi army numbers have now reached approximately five thousand members."
A faint murmur spread through the hall for a brief moment before quieting again.
"These are not ordinary recruits," Erza added calmly. "Every single one of them has successfully passed the graduation examination of the Uzushiogakure Ninja Academy."
There was visible confidence in her tone now.
"Their combat quality is quite high compared to normal shinobi forces from other villages. And as expected from Uzushiogakure…"
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Their primary fighting style revolves around sealing techniques."
The moment those words were spoken, several people in the hall showed faint expressions of approval.
After all, sealing techniques had always been the greatest specialty and pride of the Uzumaki Clan.
----
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