On the sea, a dozen fishing boats gradually gathered together, and around them, three large ships were slowly approaching, seemingly aiming to intercept these fishing boats.
"Shigeru, what should we do? Those people don't seem to come in peace."
A fisherman with a very dark complexion said to an old man. Shigeru's face was darker than the fisherman's because he noticed that the people on the large ships had now focused their attention on him.
Because of this fisherman's exclamation of "Boss," Shigeru thought, "He's not a boss; he's just the oldest fisherman among them. He often takes new fishermen who have just arrived in Awa out to sea, helping them get familiar with the life of a fisherman. That's why he is called 'boss'."
His boat was even the oldest and smallest one at Awa, so how could he be considered a boss?
But Shigeru was at a loss for words and didn't even know why he and his group were being intercepted; they were just small fishermen.
If it was about money, these people should be stopping the specialized fishing boats instead. For people? That seemed even less likely; they were just a group of ordinary fishermen.
Before he could think much more, a person from the large ship suddenly jumped down and landed directly on the deck of his old boat, crushing a fish that had fallen on the deck.
Shigeru dared not complain; he just swallowed and looked at the man with sharp teeth, who was also looking down at him. The man then took out two photographs from his pocket, threw them onto the deck, and asked:
"Have you seen these people?"
Shigeru picked up the photographs with trembling hands, looked at the people wearing headbands, and felt confused. He had never seen them before, so he honestly looked at the newcomer, shook his head, and said, "I haven't seen them."
The newcomer gestured towards the other fishing boats, and Shigeru understood his meaning. He passed the photographs to others, but after circulating them, no one had seen the people in the photos. The newcomer frowned and said:
"None? If none, then forget it. Let me introduce myself. I'm Oka. Let's make a deal. I have six tons of fresh seafood here. You take it to the Land of Fire and exchange it for Land of Fire currency for me."
(Note: Considering this is not long after the second ninja war, it's theorized that there's still no universal currency between the different countries)
"How much?!"
Shigeru asked in surprise. Oka repeated, "Six tons."
After hearing this clearly, Shigeru's mouth dropped open. On a single trip, catching one or two hundred pounds of fish would be good, and even then, it would take several days to sell. How were they supposed to sell six tons?!
"That's too much, Mr. Oka. We can't sell it all."
"I'll give you a week to sell all this seafood. After a week, I want to receive one hundred thousand Land of Fire currency. And this is just the first batch. As long as you cooperate with us, there will be plenty of fish in the future."
Oka ignored Shigeru's excuses, and Shigeru's face grew even darker upon hearing Oka's words. Six tons, one hundred thousand—that equates to nearly ten of Land of Fire currency per pound.
Such a price couldn't be achieved in Awa. With this much cargo, only large trading companies could handle it, and those companies had already driven the purchase price down to less than four ryo per pound. This was an impossible task.
"What, unwilling?"
Perhaps sensing Shigeru's thoughts, Oka suddenly produced a short sword from somewhere and casually tossed it in his hand. The others on the large ship also watched the small fishing boat crew with predatory eyes.
"No, no!"
Shigeru quickly raised his hands to show he didn't mean that, and seeing the young people around him shivering, Shigeru gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll take it. But our small boats can't carry six tons of cargo."
"Don't worry, we can lend you a boat. After all, you can't run away."
Oka grinned, showing his sharp teeth. The surrounding fishermen, seeing Shigeru agree, looked worried. With so much cargo and such a high price, it would be impossible to sell it all.
But they also knew that Shigeru agreed only to save their lives, so no one would be foolish enough to undermine Shigeru at this moment.
Oka nodded and said, "Well then, see you in a week. These three boats will be lent to you for now."
As Oka was about to leave, he suddenly stopped and, as Shigeru was finally starting to relax, he held his breath.
Oka looked back at Shigeru, took out another photograph from his pocket, and said, "You haven't seen those people. How about these two?"
The photograph showed a blonde and a silver-haired young man. Shigeru was momentarily stunned; he had seen these two recently. They had just bought several dozen pounds of fish from him and paid extra money. They seemed to be ninjas from Konoha.
Thinking about the identities of these two young ninjas and comparing them to the ninja-like skills of the person in front of him, Shigeru suddenly realized something. He shook his head vigorously and said, "No, I haven't seen them."
Seeing Shigeru deny it again, but with a demeanor and tone completely different from before, Oka narrowed his eyes, bent down, and leaned in close to the nervous Shigeru, asking, "Are you really sure you haven't seen them?"
"No!"
"Hmm? I smell the scent of lies."
"Glub~"
Shigeru swallowed hard, his heart racing uncontrollably, and sweat pouring out. He didn't know how to respond.
Oka straightened up, the short sword reappearing in his hand as he toyed with it and said, "I didn't expect these two to be so well-known in the Land of Fire that even a fisherman like you recognizes them. But why are you lying to me?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Oka's expression turned vicious. Shigeru shrank back in fear, wanting to say something, but then he saw Oka swing the short sword.
"Bang!"
The short sword struck down, its invisible blade slicing through the deck. The already dilapidated boat began to fill with water, but Shigeru was nowhere to be seen on the boat.
Oka's face darkened, his brows furrowing as he looked around, trying to figure out why Shigeru had suddenly disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to have seen a flash of silver and a kunai.
"Hidden Mist Village Special Jonin, Oka. Do you want to get to know me?"
A voice with a unique raspiness of adolescence rang out. Oka's expression changed as he looked toward the source of the sound and saw a silver-haired youth standing on the railing of the boat he had arrived on.
At the youth's feet was Shigeru, cowering in fear and gasping for breath.
"Shiro Yaksha? Sakamoto Tatsuma?"
Oka asked, frowning at the silver-haired youth. The youth raised an eyebrow and said, "Shiro Yaksha? Why am I suddenly given that nickname? Isn't it supposed to be Konoha's Dragon?"
"Hmph! Konoha's Dragon? It's not as impressive as Jewel Crusher. It's just Hanzo's nonsensical boasting."
Oka spoke with a hint of unease because his companions, who had been standing by the boat earlier, were now nowhere to be seen. Despite several exchanges, they had not shown up.
"Looking for your companions?"
At that moment, another voice came from behind. Oka turned around to see another person standing on the railing of a different boat, holding a string of people.
It was Oka's subordinates and companions!
"Sannin Tsunade?!"
Seeing this person's appearance, Oka's face mirrored Shigeru's earlier expression. Sweat poured from his forehead, and his limbs grew cold and began to tremble.
"Oh? My Sannin title, isn't it just the nonsense of that frog in the well?"
Tsunade looked down at Oka from a high position, her face filled with mockery. Oka felt his face burning and said nothing more. He leaped with a perfect water splash and fell into the sea.
The fishermen were still stunned. One of them said blankly, "He just ran away like that?"
He wasn't blaming the two sudden arrivals, but it was hard to accept that the fierce person had suddenly fled.
"It's fine, he can't escape."
Tatsuma on the railing replied, then took a step forward and fell into the sea. Amid the astonished gazes of the fishermen, Tatsuma brought his hands together and then slapped the surface of the water.
"Water Release! Water Colliding Wave!"
Suddenly, a water vortex appeared on the surface of the sea, and a water tornado surged toward the sky. At the top of the tornado was Oka, trying to escape into the water.
His face showed not only fear but also confusion. He couldn't understand why Water Release ninjutsu could be used like this; why hadn't his previous team Jonin taught him this?
Before he could figure it out, he saw a kunai fly over his head. In the next moment, a silver figure appeared, and a fist seemed to grow larger and larger in his view.
"Bang!"
Under the explosion of Enhanced Strength, Oka's face was severely deformed, and he instantly lost consciousness. Tatsuma grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and appeared beside Tsunade in the next instant.
"There are a total of thirteen people—three Chunin teams plus Oka the team leader. No one else is around."
After Tatsuma spoke, Tsunade looked at the string of people she was holding and said, "It would be too troublesome to bring them back to the village."
"At least take Oka's body back. He wanted to exchange a large amount of Land of Fire currency, which must have some use. Take him back and let the Yamanaka clan interrogate him."
Hearing Tatsuma's words, Tsunade raised her eyebrows. Over the past three years, she had rarely paid attention to this disciple's development, and she didn't expect that he had already learned to think like a ninja.
Thinking about the child who was once unwilling to wield the butcher's knife, Tsunade suddenly felt a sense of distance, as if from a different era. She tugged at the corner of her mouth and said, "Then I'll handle these people."
With that, she flicked her wrist, and the steel wire binding the Mist ninjas snapped taut. With the immense force, their spines were instantly severed, dying silently.
Tatsuma glanced at the barely-alive Oka in his hand, then coldly finished him off by twisting his neck. He proficiently took out a blank sealing scroll and sealed Oka's body inside.
Tsunade took a weighted block from the boat, wrapped the steel wire around it, and then dropped both the weighted block and the corpses into the sea.
After securing the scroll, Tatsuma returned to Shigeru's boat and said to the slightly recovering Shigeru, "Uncle Shigeru, these three ownerless boats will be operated by you from now on."
"Okay?"
Shigeru nodded, then realized something was amiss. Just as he was about to refuse, Tatsuma pressed his hand down to interrupt him and said, "Now, please sail these boats and take us back to the Land of Fire."
"My sensei and I don't know how to operate the boats. Also, the seafood on the boats, although most of it is still alive, needs to be sold quickly."
"...Alright."
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