Chapter 44: The Shichibukai Meeting

A month had passed.

The Uchiha clan's territory had begun to grow more lively.

With Uchiha operatives working for the clan externally, they purchased substantial supplies and returned, allowing the clan to gradually restore the prosperity they had enjoyed in Konoha.

During this period, Shisui returned, and Yami distributed ten Raid suits crafted by overtime efforts to those working for the clan, improving their safety.

Yami's personal suit had been crafted first by Judge.

He had just received it and experimented with its capabilities.

However, he immediately refocused on training, lacking time for leisure activities.

Although his strength had improved dramatically, he still needed time to adapt to combat.

Simultaneously, he copied all the ninjutsu scrolls within the clan and practiced techniques seriously.

During daily training, he separated two shadow clones to let them practice certain techniques, while his main body developed the [Rasengan] with attribute modifications and simultaneously developed new elemental ninjutsu.

Previously, insufficient chakra and strength had made developing new techniques extremely difficult.

Thunder Release development alone had challenged Yami considerably.

He had attempted fusing Fire Release and Thunder Release to see if he could develop a Kekkei Genkai, but this proved too difficult.

Both attributes were unstable and difficult to merge, so Yami had no choice but to develop new individual attributes.

All attributes could be practiced, but the chakra possessed an attribute bias.

Using inappropriate release techniques reduced power significantly.

Compared to the power-to-consumption ratio, it wasn't worthwhile.

But now Yami possessed abundant chakra, so he didn't concern himself with efficiency.

His priority for development was Water Release; this technique proved genuinely useful in this world.

Fighting at sea and using Water Release directly could restrict Devil Fruit users severely.

If he then deployed Thunder Release into the water, basically, ordinary opponents wouldn't withstand the combination.

However, the sudden ringing of his Den-Den Mushi interrupted Yami's practice.

"Puru puru puru puru..."

"Hello, this is Uchiha Yamikage."

Yami retrieved the Den-Den Mushi and answered the call directly.

Upon seeing this particular Den-Den Mushi, he knew what was happening.

"The World Government has summoned you, along with the other Shichibukai, to gather at Mariejois to hold a meeting. The date is ten days from now."

The voice on the other end wasn't an elder like the one who had negotiated with Yami previously.

It sounded like someone responsible for conveying messages.

"Understood."

After Yami responded, he disconnected the call.

"In total, it seems the seal left for Luffy will activate in just a few days…"

"Shichibukai meeting?"

"It appears the War at Marineford is about to begin."

"I'll test the matter this time and assess the situation. If things feel problematic, I'd better return to the ninja world and awaken the Rinnegan first."

Yami contemplated these thoughts, then set down the Den-Den Mushi and continued practicing.

Ten days were allocated for the other Shichibukai to prepare; he wouldn't require that much time to arrive.

On the seventh day, he departed.

Nothing in the clan required his personal attention.

Though called the clan leader, he functioned more as a spiritual symbol, while Fugaku handled the practical work.

When approaching the Sabaody Archipelago, Yami dismissed his Susanoo.

He wasn't prepared to expose this power to people just yet.

At sea, he used his Sharingan to control a Sea King as transportation, simply standing on it while watching the creature swim steadily forward.

However, on the afternoon of the eighth day, he arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago.

He explored for a while and conducted an experiment.

Only on the tenth day did he seek out the World Government personnel responsible for this matter, who escorted Yami to Mariejois.

‘Genjutsu can control the Celestial Dragons. Basically, there's no significant problem. This provides considerable room for manipulation…’ That was the experiment he conducted.

Yami followed a colonel while considering the results of his experiments over the past few days.

He had approached a Celestial Dragon from more than twenty meters away and directly used genjutsu to control him.

The Celestial Dragon showed no resistance.

The consumption wasn't substantial either.

These Celestial Dragons possessed average physical fitness and even weaker mental fortitude, making them easily controllable.

If situations arose, controlling a dozen or so Celestial Dragons to create chaos could resolve many problems.

Soon, he arrived at Mariejois, walked through the long corridor, and reached a particularly spacious conference room.

Among the Shichibukai, Yami was the last to arrive.

"Is this the newcomer who just became a Shichibukai?"

"Doesn't seem particularly powerful…"

Doflamingo had propped his feet on the chair cushion and sat on the backrest.

He spoke with sinister undertones.

After all, he felt the Shichibukai position shouldn't be granted so casually.

He had expended considerable energy to obtain his current status.

In his eyes, Yami had simply captured a small pirate and become a Shichibukai, what a joke.

"Hmph, I was careless that time, otherwise the Straw Hat boy would definitely have been mine."

Gecko Moria snorted coldly.

Despite his head still being bandaged, he spoke arrogantly.

He remained deeply unhappy that the Straw Hat boy had been taken away like this, denying him his chance for revenge.

Simultaneously, he harbored no positive feelings toward the person who had defeated the Straw Hat Kid, let alone any thoughts of gratitude.

Blackbeard, meanwhile, cheerfully consumed his meal with no intention of interrupting.

It seemed no one else knew about Bartholomew Kuma's defeat.

The cyborg sat aside silently, observing these people coldly.

Dracule Mihawk and Boa Hancock also showed no interest in such provocations.

One remained solitary, while the other had no interest in the affairs of men.

Several Vice Admirals sat around the room.

They similarly held no favorable impressions of these individuals they regarded as pirates.

"A stray dog who was expelled from the top, and a loser who fell to a newcomer, are you qualified to judge me?"

Yami responded without restraint.

He wouldn't swallow such insults and taunted them directly.

To establish a firm position on these seas, patience proved useless.

Doflamingo, who had worn a smirk, suddenly stopped smiling.

But it was someone else who exploded.

"You weakling, do you want to die?"

Gecko Moria erupted in anger and shouted directly.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Moria's eyes contracted sharply, because Yami's right hand, crackling with [Chidori], was less than ten centimeters from his neck.

The sound of electrical arcs could be clearly heard by Moria.

"Continue what you were saying, and your neck will be severed."

Yami stood on the dining table, wielding [Chidori] while warning Moria.

"You brat!!"

Moria seethed with anger.

He wanted to retaliate directly, but sensed that if he acted, the other party would genuinely cut off his neck.

"Enough, stop this."

At that moment, someone intervened to restore order.

Vice Admiral Tsuru.

She was overseeing this meeting.