At that moment, amidst the ruins in the center of the chaotic port, Uchiha Fugaku, Itachi, Shisui, Tekka, Inabi, and five other elite Uchiha Jonin arrived.
Seeing the town and offshore vessels reduced to ruins by artillery fire, everyone wore expressions of fury. A pair of Sharingans activated instantly in unison, staring fixedly at the Krieg Pirates' grand armada far out at sea!
In the sky, another round of pitch-black cannonballs came hurtling through the air, emitting a piercing whistle.
"Form a defensive stone wall! Block this barrage!" Fugaku ordered.
In an instant, the ten of them formed hand seals simultaneously. Striking the ground with their palms, they shouted in unison:
"Earth Release! Earth Style Wall!"
As the ten Uchiha Jonin performed the technique together, the entire port was instantly gripped by a massive tremor. The earth throbbed violently like a beating heart, the heavy vibrations traveling to the soles of everyone's feet. The sea began to churn, huge waves crashing against the shoreline and kicking up layers of spray.
The already shattered ruins began to distort, the ground splitting rapidly as if cleaved by an invisible force. With the chakra of the ten Uchihas pouring in, the earth across the port began to heave, and a massive stone wall rose from the ground.
That rampart looked as though it had been carved directly from the skeleton of the earth—sturdy, majestic, and exuding an inviolable aura!
The stone wall was about three hundred meters wide, shielding the entire port town behind it. Its height nearly matched that of the large ships at sea, twenty to thirty meters tall, giving the impression of a mountain range rising into view. Its surface resembled an ancient city wall, indestructible, with the texture of the rock clearly visible, as if it were a barrier forged by the combined forces of nature and humanity.
Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The volley of cannonballs fired from the sky crashed against the stone mountain wall, blasting only rock fragments and billowing plumes of thick smoke. It caused not the slightest bit of damage to the towering rampart.
High above, the hero Garp, who had arrived via Moonwalk, witnessed this astonishing scene as well.
He was stunned.
"A Nature-type ability to manipulate the earth? Are all these guys users?!"
Garp possessed extraordinary eyesight. Just now, he had witnessed with his own eyes ten red-eyed imperial guards simultaneously unleash a bizarre ability to create the massive stone wall fortress hundreds of meters long right before him.
"What kind of people are running the Sypher Kingdom anyway?! To think they have so many ability users!" Garp thought to himself.
Ceasing his advance, he remained suspended in mid-air via Moonwalk to watch the battle.
Atop the peak of Foosha Village, Makino, the village chief, Dadan and her gang, and the three Luffy brothers were also having their souls shaken to the core by the giant fortress rising from the ground!
"So cool! The new king's imperial guards are insanely strong!!!" Luffy shouted excitedly.
"A miracle! It's an absolute miracle!"
The elderly village chief dropped to his knees in worship atop the mountain peak, and Dadan's bandits were infected by the spectacle, all dropping to their knees in reverence!
Even Shanks and his crew, moored by the shore of Foosha Village's small port, were watching the battle from afar on the deck.
"Those two red-eyed brats from yesterday are there too! There are only ten of them in total, but it looks like all of them possess Nature-type abilities to manipulate the earth! It's incredible!"
High up in the crow's nest on the main mast, Yasopp exclaimed. He raised his long rifle, observing the battlefield through the scope combined with his top-tier Observation Haki.
"The East Blue really is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers," First Mate Ben Beckman commented calmly as he drank a beer by the deck railing.
In the premium seat at the bow, Shanks stood with his back to the rest of the crew, gazing far into the distance, silent as if lost in thought.
Back out on the sea, the ships of the Krieg Pirates remained stalled in the distance, the explosions of artillery fire and the roar of the waves weaving together into a chaotic wall of sound.
Yet, as that latest barrage of cannonballs landed, almost all the pirates froze, their eyes filled with sheer disbelief and shock.
"Th-What is going on?!" a burly pirate muttered to himself, staring at the massive stone wall that had suddenly appeared, a hint of terror flashing in his eyes.
"What the hell! How did a giant city wall just pop out of nowhere?!" another pirate blurted out, his voice trembling noticeably. "Our artillery fire couldn't even break that rock wall—how on earth did this thing appear?"
"Look at the top of the wall! There are people!" a pirate shouted suddenly, his eyes wide as copper bells as he yelled. "Could it be a Devil Fruit user's power? Otherwise, who could build such a massive rock mountain defense in such a short time?!"
Another pirate retorted dismissively, "Even a Devil Fruit's power couldn't reach this level. That's not just some ordinary stone wall—it looks like an entire underground mountain range was hauled up!"
"Wait..." said another, slightly more cautious pirate in a low voice. "If it really is a Devil Fruit power, it has to be some kind of 'Nature' type! But we've never heard of any Nature-type Devil Fruit users in our East Blue! What should we do? Captain Krieg, let's run!"
Though Krieg was also shocked by the massive stone fortress that had appeared before him, he had never fought against a Devil Fruit user. At the same time, he firmly believed that there was no defense that could withstand a bombardment from his mighty ships and heavy artillery!
"What's there to panic about?! What Devil Fruit user?! Load the cannons! Full attack! Destroy that rampart! Hahahahaha!"
Krieg roared with maniacal laughter. His voice possessed immense penetrating power and infectiousness.
In an instant, more than fifty pirate ships erupted with fierce artillery fire once again!
Hundreds of pitch-black cannonballs streaked through the air, forming a giant and dense net of firepower!
At the summit of the stone wall fortress, facing the oncoming web of artillery fire, Uchiha Fugaku exchanged a glance with Itachi, Shisui, and the others.
In a flash, the ten figures leaped forward.
Their forms moved like phantoms, landing steadily upon the surface of the sea.
The next instant, the stone wall fortress behind them was struck by the violent bombardment. Blinding flashes of fire, fierce explosions, and thick smoke painted the sky in an apocalyptic scene.
Yet the ten men sprinting at top speed across the ocean surface didn't even look back as they rapidly closed in on Krieg's three-tiered flagship!
"Captain Krieg! They're coming! Th-They're actually running on the sea surface!"
A medium-built man with sloppy hair and a beard exclaimed. His name was Gin the Man-Demon, with a bounty of 12 million berries, and he served as the combat commander-in-chief of the Krieg Pirates.
Following Gin's shout, thousands of men across the grand armada spotted this special squad out on the ocean!
By now, Krieg also sensed the threat and pressure posed by this bizarre squad. Yet, wrapped in his ignorance, he remained confident.
With a strong yank, he tore off his cape, revealing the thousands of bullet belts wrapped around his towering torso! A pair of round golden shields rose from his arms, exposing two rings of Gatling machine gun barrels!
"Insects and vermin dare to block the path of Commander Krieg?!"
"I am the strongest!"
"Go to hell!"
"Grand Battle Axe!"
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
Instantly, two fiery serpents spat from the Gatling guns, shooting two tongues of flame toward the Uchiha group on the sea.
Itachi, positioned in the center of the squad, accelerated as he charged forward. With a calm expression, his hands moved rapidly through a series of hand seals before he thrust them straight down into the sea water, whispering:
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
In a split second—
Boom, boom, boom!
A towering wall of surface water erupted into the air. While perfectly blocking the Gatling bullets, it transformed into a raging torrent that crashed down toward Krieg's three-tiered flagship!