Whitebeard's hearty laughter seemed to echo throughout half the town, showcasing the commanding presence of a king of the sea.
Kakashi, on the other hand, was sweating profusely.
"How did this happen?!"
He never expected that the strange flag Whitebeard had him draw was for something like this!
Announcing that this town was now under the control of the Whitebeard Pirates and demanding protection fees?
How is this different from declaring war?
Looking at Whitebeard's towering figure and then at the pirate flag fluttering above, Kakashi felt a headache coming on.
He could only pin his hopes on Naruto, hoping that Minato-sensei's son could talk some sense into his father.
However...
"Dad, is this what it means to be a pirate?" Naruto, instead of dissuading Whitebeard, found the whole thing very interesting.
Even though the massive stone on his back made him tremble, he still looked up at the pirate flag with effort.
Kakashi: "..."
This
This is bad.
Minato-sensei's son might be completely led astray.
If Naruto decides one day that he doesn't want to become Hokage but instead wants to be a pirate, there will be serious trouble!
"Gurararara! That's right! Being a pirate means doing this!" Whitebeard declared, overlooking the crowd of Fire Country citizens, taking in their shocked and terrified expressions.
Whitebeard's smile seemed open and cheerful to Naruto. But to the terrified citizens, it looked like a monster grinning down at them.
"Run! It's a giant! Run!" Someone finally reacted. "Quick! Notify the ninjas in the town!"
"He's a pirate! The giant is a pirate!!"
"Waaah! Monster, stay away! Where are the ninjas? We need the ninjas!!"
"Idiot! Just run!!"
The panicked citizens of the Fire Country fled into the town, screaming and abandoning their goods on the ground, running as if their lives depended on it.
However, the various fearful shouts made Naruto uncomfortable.
Naruto muttered, "Why are they calling Dad a monster?"
"Gurararara! This is fear!"
Whitebeard didn't care about causing such a big scene. As one of the Four Emperors of the New World, he had never known what it meant to keep a low profile.
If it were the New World, declaring that the Whitebeard Pirates were protecting a place would simply mean the locals would pay a protection fee without fear. They knew the Whitebeard Pirates' good reputation.
But in the shinobi world, nobody knew about the Whitebeard Pirates.
The three of them walked boldly into the town.
Wherever they went, people fled.
...
"Tch, that noble really knows how to live it up!"
Giri was a jonin of the Sarutobi clan in Konoha. Recently, he took on a mission to escort a noble from the Land of Fire from one city to another.
Although the shinobi world war had ended, there were still plenty of bandits, rogue ninjas, and thieves in the Land of Fire.
The nobles of the Fire Country, valuing their lives highly, were willing to pay a lot to hire Konoha ninjas for protection.
An escort mission like this one earned 3 million ryo.
Such missions were highly sought after in Konoha, but Giri, the Third Hokage's nephew, could easily obtain them.
"Who's to say otherwise?" A Sarutobi clan ninja, an elite chunin, said. "That noble is generous. Going to a place like that, he even hired two of us ninjas."
He sniffed the perfume on his clothes, smiling with nostalgia. "Next time we pass through here, I'll have you treat me to that special massage again, Giri."
"Hahaha!" Giri laughed. "You got it! We made a deal!"
However, just as they were about to return to their temporary residence, they noticed a commotion ahead.
"Hm?"
Giri frowned. "What's happening over there?"
The ninja beside him, who seemed to be a sensor type, listened intently. "Giri, I think... I hear people shouting about pirates invading, saying bandits have entered the town."
"Pirates?" Giri was stunned.
That can't be right!
If this were a coastal town, encountering pirates might be understandable. But this was an inland town!
Where would pirates come from here?
"Ninja-sama! Ninja-sama!" A group of panicked Fire Country citizens, upon seeing the two ninjas, ran to them as if seeing their saviors.
"Ninja-sama! There are pirates! There's a monster!" One breathless citizen exclaimed.
"Pirates? Monsters? Which is it?" Giri frowned.
"Uh, Giri, you might not need to ask."
Suddenly, the sensor ninja swallowed hard, his voice tense. "I think... we might have found something significant."
"Giri, look over there!"
Giri looked in the direction indicated.
He was stunned.
His eyes widened.
"What is that?"
Whitebeard's 6.66-meter frame was incredibly conspicuous in the town—taller than many single-story houses and two-story shops! It was nearly impossible not to notice such a figure.
Neither Giri nor the elite chunin beside him had returned to Konoha in over half a month. They had no idea who Whitebeard was.
Their shock was evident.
"Tch!" Giri's face turned serious. "A pirate who looks like a monster? A combination of pirate and giant? This guy might be a wanted criminal!"
He drew a weapon, his serious look mixed with anticipation. "If we take down this pirate, our mission reward might exceed 5 million ryo."
"He doesn't have a ninja headband, nor one with a line through it. He's neither a rogue ninja nor from another village. We have the advantage in a two-on-one fight against such a large target!"
Giri licked the kunai he had just drawn. "Let's hunt him down!"
...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whitebeard's massive footsteps resonated loudly, each step echoing like a war drum, causing many hearts to tremble.
In the town, civilians hid in their homes, trembling.
The braver ones...
Only dared to open windows a crack to peek outside.
"Should I... put away my Konoha headband first?"
Kakashi felt conflicted, feeling like an accomplice to the pirates.
With the Konoha headband on top of it.
Great!
Konoha colluding with pirates!
Kakashi glanced at Naruto, surprised. "How is Naruto holding up? He's been carrying that heavy stone for almost a kilometer now."
A five-year-old child, carrying over a hundred pounds of stone, walking a kilometer.
The sheer determination was staggering.
"Is it the power of the Nine-Tails? The Uzumaki bloodline? Or Minato-sensei's inherited talent?" Kakashi didn't understand.
But he was deeply impressed.
At that moment, as the trio continued forward, Whitebeard stepped into an inconspicuous muddy pit.
"Got him!"
A sudden shout of joy erupted. "Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"
...
...