At that moment, three towering pirate leaders emerged on the massive ghost ship.
"Hmph! Just three of you think you can be pirates? I'll take you out in a second!"
Naruto rolled up his sleeves, ready to dive into the fight.
But before he could make a move, he saw something behind the three pirate leaders—thousands of pirate grunts had appeared.
Each one was armed to the teeth with swords, spears, and all sorts of weapons, shouting and taunting Kazama and his crew.
Sure, they were just small fries, but their sheer momentum was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
Naruto, spooked, quickly pulled back the leg he'd stepped forward with.
"We're ninja from Konoha! I suggest you don't put up a pointless fight—surrender now!"
Yamato stepped in front of Naruto, trying to intimidate the pirates with Konoha's name.
But Yamato clearly underestimated the pirates' ambition.
Instead of cowering at his words, the pirates grew even wilder.
"You pathetic ninja think we'll just surrender? What a joke!"
"We've killed ninja from every major nation except Konoha. Since you've delivered yourselves to us today, I'll do you a favor and finish you off! Fire!"
With the pirate leader's command, hundreds of heavy cannons lined up along the ship's railing.
"Ninja or not, you'll die under our cannon fire, haha!"
As the sudden barrage of cannons fired, Yamato quickly unleashed his Mokuton to block the attack.
But to his shock, the cannonballs seemed to have a mind of their own, dodging his Mokuton barriers.
They kept hurtling toward everyone on the ship.
"Haha! I laced these cannonballs with chakra fuses—they can change direction at will! You're done for!"
"Suiton: Suijinheki!"
At that critical moment, Kazama conjured a massive water wall, shielding everyone behind it.
"Pointless, kid! My chakra cannons can redirect themselves!"
The pirate leader smirked, steering the cannonballs around Kazama's water wall.
"Funny thing—my Suijinheki can redirect too."
"What?!"
Just as the pirate leader thought victory was his, he saw Kazama's water wall morph into a perfect circle, completely encircling the group.
The Suijinheki now formed a 360-degree, flawless defense.
Even the chakra-laced cannonballs, capable of changing paths, couldn't find a single gap.
After a few volleys, every last cannonball was knocked into the sea by the water wall.
Kazama's jaw-dropping skill left the pirates stunned.
"He's using the Nidaime Hokage's signature 360-degree Suijinheki! This Kazama kid is something else!"
Even Yamato couldn't help but mutter in awe.
"Those three pirate leaders—they're the ones who killed our people and stole the sacred treasure of our Hoshigakure clan!"
Natsuhiboshi rushed behind Kazama, whispering urgently.
Kazama had initially planned to wipe out the pirates in an instant.
But since these three leaders had stolen Hoshigakure's treasure, he switched tactics. Now, he'd beat them within an inch of their lives and force them to hand it over.
"You pirate scum, today you'll face Konoha's Blue Beast!"
Might Guy shouted, charging toward the pirate leaders on the skull-shaped ship.
But what Guy didn't expect was that the moment he set foot on their ship…