Chapter 727: Eat My Great Fireball Technique!
Seeing so many shuriken flying toward them, Marco instinctively stepped in front of Bonney.
But he forgot that with Ian here, there was no need to worry about such an attack at all!
"Oh! Real shuriken, huh!?" Ian's eyes lit up, but his hands didn't slacken. With his right hand, Black Wing Demon, he casually flicked upward, and the immense wind pressure it generated instantly formed a wind barrier around the three of them.
This was naturally a skill from the Yasuo card. Although Ian hadn't equipped that card, ever since he advanced to the master level in swordsmanship on Whole Cake Island, he discovered that aside from a significant boost in sword technique power, he could effortlessly use sword skills like Yasuo, Haohmaru, or Genjuro that didn't require special energy involvement.
It felt like mastering one thing led to understanding everything...
The cross-shaped shuriken spinning through the air lost their momentum upon hitting the wind barrier and clattered to the ground, failing to harm the trio.
But at that moment, the ninjas' figures vanished from the treetops. As they threw the shuriken, they had already moved from their positions at incredible speed. When the shuriken clinked to the ground, six ninjas now stood around Ian, gleaming short swords in hand, and simultaneously slashed at him!
With such swift footwork, the ninjas' movements seemed eerie, as if they had appeared beside Ian the instant they disappeared from the treetops.
However, for Ian, who had expanded his massive psychic field, every ninja's actions were within his perception!
In Ian's perception, the ninja to his right front was slightly faster, meaning he would strike first.
So Ian raised Black Wing Demon to block!
Clang! As the sound of metal clashing rang out, Ian parried the ninja's short sword while instantly shifting behind him. A silvery white blade light flashed as he swung Thousand Cherry Blossoms in his left hand down in a slash!
This was naturally the Flash Slash from the Ryoma card, which Ian hadn't used in a long time...
The ninja felt a blur before his eyes, and his target vanished. At the same time, a chilling sensation ran down his spine. Startled, he instinctively formed a hand seal with his free hand.
Crack! As Ian's blade came down, the feel on the edge seemed off. Looking closely, he saw he had cut a log! The ninja had somehow dodged to the side...
"Aha!? Substitution Technique!?" Ian grew even more interested. "So that really exists!?"
By then, the other ninjas' blades were closing in, but Ian's figure shifted rapidly, unleashing Flash Slash after Flash Slash. In an instant, several blade lights flashed, appearing to strike simultaneously to onlookers!
The remaining ninjas attacking together weren't as quick as the first one. They couldn't even activate their Substitution Technique before Ian cut them down, sending them crashing to the ground with cries of pain.
Ian had held back. If he hadn't wanted to see what these ninjas' techniques were really about, none of them would have survived his blade!
As for the ninja who used the Substitution Technique, he had just dodged aside when he saw his comrades bleeding and falling. Before he could react, Ian's voice came from beside him: "Hey! Did you use chakra energy for that technique just now?"
The ninja's hair stood on end in shock. He realized Ian was far faster than him—he hadn't even noticed how Ian appeared beside him!
Before he could ponder what Ian meant by "chakra," he quickly kicked off the ground and spun around, throwing a round object to the ground.
"Smoke... Smoke Escape Technique!"
Boom! Where the object hit, a thick cloud of smoke erupted, enveloping the ninja's entire body.
The ninja planned to use the smoke as cover to slip away from Ian, but suddenly a hand reached through the smoke and grabbed him by the collar from behind!
Ian yanked him, choking his neck so hard his tongue nearly stuck out!
Because Ian pulled with such force, the ninja's feet kept running forward, lifting off the ground, and with a thud, he landed flat on his rear!
Are you kidding? With Observation Haki psychic field sensing, letting you escape with a puff of smoke would be ridiculous!?
"Cough! Choking me to death!" Ian coughed harshly as he grabbed the ninja, now caught in the smoke himself. "Damn! What's in this smoke!? Did you burn a ping-pong ball or something!?"
Seeing their comrade caught so easily by Ian, the other ninjas were both shocked and enraged. They immediately charged forward to rescue him.
Three ninjas leaped into the air, hurling shuriken at Ian from above, while four others rolled on the ground from all directions, thrusting their short swords at Ian's waist in a coordinated assassination attempt.
Ian had to let go of the ninja he held and performed a backflip to dodge.
While airborne, several ninjas intercepted him, throwing a large net to trap him from above.
Ian swung Thousand Cherry Blossoms and Black Wing Demon, slashing a few sword beams at the net. By the time it fell on him, it was already tattered, passing through and dropping to the ground!
Just as Ian was about to land, he sensed something and immediately hardened his Armament Haki on his feet. Sure enough, as he neared the ground, several sharp blades burst from the earth at his landing point, aiming for his soles.
But because he sensed the attack in advance, the blades struck his shoe soles and could go no further. With a crack, they snapped under the pressure of his Armament Haki!
"Damn! My shoes!" His feet were fine, but the soles were pierced, irritating Ian. He thrust Thousand Cherry Blossoms into the ground, unleashing a powerful surge of lightning!
The earth conducts electricity—unless it's bone-dry, it can carry current. That's common sense. Since these ninjas could attack from underground, they likely used Earth Escape techniques to hide. Ian's lightning blast electrocuted the ninjas hidden below, leaving them dazed...
The underground ninjas lost consciousness. If someone didn't dig them out soon, they'd suffocate. But the remaining ninjas now realized that Ian had eaten some kind of "worldly treasure" granting him demonic abilities. Moreover, the sword beams he had used earlier to cut down their comrade were incredibly powerful, slicing through not just the target but also several large trees behind him.
They quickly warned each other: "Careful! He's a swordsman master! Use Clone Technique against him!"
So Marco and Bonney, watching from the sidelines like bystanders, stared wide-eyed as the remaining ninjas stood still, pulled out scrolls, bit them, and formed hand seals. With a series of popping sounds, each one split into multiple clones!
It was a remarkable sight, as if the number of ninjas had multiplied several times in an instant.
Ian was a bit surprised too. In his perception, these clones were real physical forms—his psychic field could accurately sense their size, volume, and movements. This meant the Clone Technique wasn't just a simple illusion.
But...
Ian still saw through the ninjas' true bodies at a glance!
The reason was simple: he couldn't detect heartbeats or sounds from the clones!
This disappointed Ian a little. After this brief exchange, he realized these ninjas used relatively traditional techniques, not the chakra-based ones he had imagined.
To sum it up, Ian felt these techniques were more like a special form of physical combat and abilities, similar to the Marine's "Six Powers" skills—not too mystical!
Seeing the ninjas emboldened by their increased numbers as they swarmed toward him, Ian curled his lips, gripped his swords, and said, "Think you're the only one who knows techniques? I do too!"
Then Ian took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide, and spat out a massive black fireball at the charging ninjas!
Hah! Eat my Great Fireball Technique!!