Chapter 308: Kurai's Journey to the West (2)
Volume 2.5 — Omake 2
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Mount Huaguo. A tall foggy mountain filled with trees of all kinds, though most of which were of different breeds of bananas, as white-furred monkeys rested on top of the trees and enjoyed their meals.
It took Kurai two days and three nights of active search and interrogation to get a lead about where this Monkey Mountain was located—and finally, she managed to find it.
Within the foggy peak, Kurai gently landed on her feet. Immediately after, she sensed all the monkeys around her, sitting on top of different trees as they were, turning their heads at her to give her a quick scan of Chakra.
"...!?"
All the monkeys who did the scan flinched in high alert as they sensed that the small cat was as dangerous as it looked cute.
The children were immediately evacuated by the mothers, while the adult monkeys prepared themselves for battle. Without hesitation, the monkeys all rushed at Kurai at a blinding speed. She was surrounded by dozens of monkeys in an instant, and these baboons weren't weak or fools as they had chakra circulating within them—granting them powers to lift boulders.
"Krearr—" One of the monkeys growled aloud. "Kitty, what business do you have here?"
"I am here to meet Enma, The Monkey King." Kurai replied, her head rising high like an arrogant God. "I have something to ask him."
The monkeys, rather than refusing her outright as she was used to, slowly exchanged glances. A moment later, the monkey who spoke sluggishly scratched his head.
"Err. is that so?" The monkey asked. "Alright, wait here, I will go call the King."
Kurai blinked a little at the unexpected answer.
'That was easy…? Huh.'
She expected the monkeys to be more arrogant, to look down on her and stuff—why were all monkeys in this world-wise and nice?
A while later, the monkey she was in search of, the Monkey King: Enma, walked to the crowd while wearing a scowl on his face.
Just like its kin, the Monkey King had white fur and very humane facial features. Unlike the rest, however, he wore a Ninja headband… a Konoha headband.
That wasn't the end, as his Tier was the highest Kurai had seen among all the animals she had encountered in her life.
[Enma – Monkey King – Low Tier 8]
Low chances, but if a fight broke out, she might not be able to defeat this creature. She was just around Level 600 now, after all. However, did Kurai ever care? She wasn't scared at all and rather raised an eyebrow while staring at the headband.
"Hn? Are you related to Konoha?" Kurai asked the creature, to which he stared silently at her for a long while before nodding. "I see. How so?"
The Monkey King clearly didn't find her act of questioning funny, he after all was a King. But for whatever reason, he just sighed and answered her anyway.
"I was the Summon Beast of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He died a few years ago, but as a sign of respect I keep wearing the headband of Konoha." Enma said, and before long he asked Kurai something back. "In whatever case, I wish to learn who you are. I don't particularly like the presence of your dark, deathly chakra in my home. So I wish you to be quick with whatever you are here for."
"Mhm, fair." Kurai shrugged her small shoulders. "I am searching for five women, and I think only one of them is in this world. This chimpanzee dude told me you guys might know where this one woman is, if she is here at all. Care to help?"
The Monkey King stared at her silently for two seconds, before nodding with a soft smile.
"If that's it, you should have said earlier. That doesn't sound like a difficult thing to do. Just give me the pictures and–"
"That's the problem, I got no picture of them."
"...."
Enma looked more than a little annoyed when she said that. It baffled him that think that this cat, the same creature, who didn't even have the picture of the people she was looking for had somehow found Mount Huaguo—it was insulting to his pride as the leader of this hidden society.
If other Sage Animal hidden societies heard about this, then the Monkey Sages would be the laughingstock of the circle.
"Hey, c'mon old man!" Kurai insisted. "I have been looking for them for a few weeks, think of something else and help me out!"
With an impatient look on his face, Enma was about to scold her, but he held it in and decided to take it out on the subjects around him. "Why is everyone still here? Don't y'all have anything else to do? Stop creating a crowd, this kitten is of no danger, I have it handled."
Slowly, the monkeys exchanged glances before quickly scattering away, unwilling to anger their King any further.
"...Alright then." Enma turned back to Kurai. "At the very least, you must know how they look. Give me their description, then. It will be hard, but we will see."
"Thanks, old baboon man!"
"...."
Though Enma's lips twitched, Kuria began to speak while her tail wiggled behind her. "Anyway, so, they all look human. The first is an older woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Another is a blue-haired girl with blue eyes. The third is a black-haired girl with–"
"Stop, stop!" Enma stopped her explanation with a stunned look on his face. "What's with those amateurish, basic descriptions? Do you have any idea just how many human females with blonde and blue hair exist in this world?"
"...."
"Don't give me that stunned look! How old are you?"
"...Seven."
"Seven?" Enma looked speechless. "How are you this strong as a seven-year-old?"
"That's because I am a God–"
"No, you are not, you fool." Enma's tail whipped like thunder and struck Kurai's head, making her wince as she glared at Enma. "Shut up, before you say anything. Just having power doesn't make someone a 'God', even if perhaps you indeed are a race of God. What makes a God isn't just power, but knowledge and intelligence as well. You cannot claim to be a God while acting like a child."
"Shut up, hmph!" Kurai grumbled as she glared at Enma. "You are not my guardian!"
Enma's tail whipped down on her head again, making her body tremble as her eyes went teary.
"If your guardian, whoever they are, was here I would have hit them too!" Enma wore a deep frown as he looked down at the super cat. "I bet they're as arrogant as you are, otherwise it wouldn't make sense. Now explain to me in detail what each of these women looks like. Be descriptive."
"Grrr…" Kurai glared with wet eyes. "Fine…"
Then, she started to explain who looked what way, in the greatest of detail she should think of
* * *
"Huh… I don't think I have seen or ever heard of any of these people." Enma said, "Say, are you from another planet?"
"Mhm?" Kurai blinked, raising her mouth from the bowl of milk she was given by Enma as an apology gift. "Kinda. I and Papa are from somewhere else, not telling you where though."
"Hah, fair." Enma sat in front of her as he contemplated. "In any case, I don't know any of these girls, and therefore am unaware of their location as well. Though there are indeed some legends about a 'Moon Bunny' in this world, but… I doubt that's the same person you are looking for since this legend has been around for millennia and your people got lost a few weeks ago."
"Hah? Oh." Kurai's small shoulders deflated at the answer. "Another dead end…?" Slowly, Kurai looked down at the milk, her face barely reflecting on the liquid. "But I was expecting a result this time…"
The Monkey King shifted uncomfortably in his spot as he saw the scene, his harsh facial expressions melted softly as he asked in a gentler voice than before.
"These people are close to you?"
"One is my mother, and the others are my aunties." Kurai answered, raising her head gently.
"Mhm…" Enma stared at her.
'But she said they're all humans? Ah, perhaps this Papa and Mommy are her owners, not actual parents.' Enma realized. 'That makes the situation sadder, then… Did they abandon her? No, she said her Papa is with her, so it's indeed a teleportation gone wrong?'
A while later, realizing that there were too many questions unsolved, Enma decided on something.
"Little kitty,"
"It's Kurai."
"Alright, Kurai." Enma corrected himself. "If you are fine with it, I can accompany you on your journey. You must know this as a world of Ninja and Samurais, but there is more to it than just this— yes, there are other continents that humans of this continent have never been to. I think that the person you are looking for is on the other side of the sea, in the west."
Kurai blinked. "Really?"
"I think so, yes." the Monkey King looked at her calmly. "So what do you say? About a journey to the west?"
Kurai stared up at the monkey, who seemed like a wise sage to her, as her head slowly moved up and down—indicating a nod.
**
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Master4thWall: Alright, an entirely new discovery for me—but this might answer why the 'Naruto World Map' looks too small to our eyes.
Theory says what we saw is just one continent, and that there are other continents in this world. Such was seen in the movie Naruto: The Last when we got a planetary view of the planet but everything besides the map we are used to was mysteriously hidden. Moreover, the new characters in Boruto, "Victor, Code, Amado, and Delta" and such all sound so westernized—somewhat weird for an anime that has been so loyal to its Japanese naming theme. It'd also explain why these people never revealed themselves until Boruto, because they weren't even in this continent.