The next afternoon, the three of them arrived at a port in the Land of Fire.
Trade in the Land of Fire was flourishing, so there were many ships at the port, and more passengers coming and going. Thus, Shikaku found an empty boat and set off.
However, shortly after, he regretted his decision.
The boatman was an old man, and although he rowed the boat hard, its speed was still very slow.
Based on this pace, Shikaku worried they wouldn't reach the Land of Waves until nightfall.
And if it weren't for the ongoing peace between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waves, the safety of this boat might not have been guaranteed.
Shikaku approached and said, "Old man, can you row faster? The sea may not be calm at night, so we better move quickly."
As the old man rowed hard, he turned and said, "I can't meet your expectations. This is already my fastest speed."
Shikaku then called Asuma over and said, "Let my student help."
Asuma looked reluctant, but couldn't refuse, so he had to step forward.
The old man then let go of the oars and handed them to Asuma.
He warned, "Just keep rowing straight ahead."
Asuma had no choice but to take on the role of a laborer and swing the oars, though his speed was indeed much faster than the old man's.
The old man looked at Shikaku for a moment and said, "Are you a ninja? I didn't notice it at first. No wonder this young man is so strong."
Shikaku smiled and said, "Yes, we are ninjas from Konoha Village."
"This time, we are going to the Land of Waves to explore the terrain and complete a geologist's task."
Hearing this, the old man laughed and said, "Well, what a scholar. The Land of Waves is so small that one can walk around it twice in a day. You could just come and walk around it twice yourself, but you insist on coming."
Shikaku smiled and said, "Perhaps it's because a scholar's time is more valuable. By the way, old man, has anything special happened in the Land of Waves recently?"
The old man asked confusedly, "Hasn't the Land of Waves always been like that?"
"When you said you were going to the Land of Waves, I wondered why anyone would want to go there lately. It's remote, poor, and there are no bridges, so few people are willing to go there."
"As for any special circumstances, old man, I really don't know. After all, there shouldn't be any ninjas in a small place like the Land of Waves."
Seeing that he couldn't obtain any information, Shikaku smiled politely and sat back in the boat. He found Shintaro staring at him, so he nodded slightly at him.
If Shintaro had had any doubts when a few people left the village, it was now certain that there was something wrong with this mission.
Shikaku had been in a hurry since they set off and even asked Asuma to row the boat to reach the Land of Waves earlier, claiming it was for safety reasons. But all three of them were Chunin, and they wouldn't drown even if the boat capsized.
Combined with Shikaku's recent behavior of deceiving the old man, Shintaro was very sure there was something wrong with this mission.
At dusk, the group arrived at the shore. Shikaku paid the old man the original fare, which made the old man very grateful.
The first thing to do upon arriving in the Land of Waves was to find a place to stay.
After all, the Land of Waves was small, but if they conducted a thorough survey according to the mission requirements, it would still take a week.
So finding a place to stay was necessary.
Shikaku then began giving assignments, "It's late today. Asuma, find a hotel with available rooms."
"Shintaro and Kurenai, investigate the terrain in the city, and I will go check outside the city."
Shikaku and the others stood outside the only city in the Land of Waves, looking a bit conspicuous and attracting the attention of some passersby.
He took out the survey book and seemed ready to start surveying potential buyers outside the city.
Shintaro and Kurenai entered the city, and Asuma went ahead to start looking for suitable accommodation.
Kurenai said, "Let's start investigating too."
Shintaro looked a bit careless because he knew that the so-called exploration investigation was just a cover.
However, he still cooperated with Kurenai and said, "Alright, let's split up. You go to the east of the city, I'll go to the west of the city, and we'll meet here in half an hour."
Kurenai nodded, and they both began exploring the city area.
Shintaro held the terrain survey book and observed the people around him.
Most of the civilians here were relatively thin, indicating that this country was indeed very poor.
However, there were some ninjas mingled among the civilians, and their strength was generally not weak.
Since Shintaro arrived here, he had found no fewer than ten ninjas in this city, all with strength at the Chunin level.
Whenever he encountered a ninja, he pretended to observe the terrain and acted as if he didn't notice them.
In fact, he had the Six Eyes and could see through even the best-disguised ninjas at a glance.
And those ninjas clearly noticed Shintaro.
Some of the more vigilant ones followed and observed him for a while, then left after confirming he wasn't a threat.
At this moment, Shintaro's attention was drawn to a girl.
The girl had long reddish-brown hair and very beautiful green eyes. However, this wasn't the main point of his interest.
The main point was that Shintaro saw with his Six Eyes that the chakra in the girl's body seemed different from the chakra of everyone else he had ever seen.
Shintaro immediately thought of the possibility of Kekkei Genkai.
Kekkei Genkai often change a person's chakra attributes, allowing them to use special ninjutsu beyond the five basic attributes.
This was common knowledge in the ninja school, and the girl in front of him matched the characteristics of Kekkei Genkai.
And the girl should be about his age, but she was very strong and could rival a Jonin.
Shintaro had seen such high talent in Konoha with Kakashi.
The girl also noticed Shintaro's gaze. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, and she immediately came over to greet him: "Hello, handsome boy, are you a Konoha ninja? You're amazing!"
The girl said while calmly trying to hold his hand, but Shintaro brushed it off.
"I am a Konoha ninja. What do you want?" Shintaro asked calmly.
The girl pouted and complained, "Don't be so cold. I just came to say hi. By the way, why are you here?"
Shintaro looked at the girl and said, "That's none of your business."
However, the girl opened the book in his hand and said, "Terrain survey? You should have told me earlier. I'm very familiar with this place. Do you want to come with us?"
Shintaro still refused.
The girl was very reluctant and kept chatting with him.
Eventually, Shintaro walked a half-circle around the small town and returned to the agreed meeting point.
He said, "Having a conversation like you will never work."
The girl wondered, "Why? Because I'm not pretty enough?"
Shintaro replied, "Because you'll scare others away."
The girl pinched her cute little face and wondered, "Am I really that scary?"
However, when the girl looked up, she saw he had already left. When she saw Kurenai next to Shintaro, she understood why the other party was so cold now.
Shintaro and Kurenai met and then went to find Asuma together.
Kurenai asked, "Who was that girl with you earlier?"
"I don't know." Shintaro answered honestly.
Kurenai asked again, "You really don't know her?"
"I really don't know her. I don't even know her name." Shintaro still didn't lie.
Kurenai then gave up and said nothing more. She just gently patted Shintaro and said, "It's all because you're so handsome."
At this moment, the girl heard the conversation between Shintaro and Kurenai, and her anger suddenly rose.
After a while, she said, "Hmph! I'll make sure you remember my name, you smelly Uchiha boy."
The girl clearly saw the Uchiha clan emblem on Shintaro's back.