Naruto held his breath and was silent for three seconds before saying, "Stop reading useless books."
"… Oh."
After saying that, Naruto muttered under his breath as he walked away, "What scene was that from? I don't recall seeing it. Did Pervy Sage release a new book again?"
Sakura pursed her lips but said nothing, slowly following behind him.
Two hours passed by in a flash.
Anko, now dressed in a warm coat, carried a few skewers of hot red bean dumplings. The film crew's ship was already docked at the harbor, and Koyuki had also been taken aboard.
It was said that she was sleeping peacefully, like a Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately, the one who knocked her out wasn't a prince, but a certain heartless blond.
"Damn it! You! You're the one I trust the least!" Anko shouted as she grabbed Naruto by the collar, "Show some respect to our client! We're Shinobi, not bandits."
"Okay~!" Naruto drawled lazily, showing little concern.
The trio walked in a disorganized line. Anko felt exhausted and convinced that she and Naruto were fated to clash. She knew this mission was bound to be anything but simple.
Sakura was walking beside Naruto, and suddenly, without telling Anko, she secretly grabbed Naruto's hand from behind, squeezed it tightly, and then immediately let go.
Naruto was puzzled, his face full of questions. The action was so quick that Anko didn't notice anything at all. Sakura didn't say anything either and simply smiled at him.
Feeling slightly confused but too lazy to probe further, Naruto shifted his focus back to the mission, 'As long as the mission was completed, nothing else mattered.'
He then casually pulled up the system interface.
The previous options still lingered on the screen, awaiting his choice. There was a countdown in the upper right corner of the panel, showing that there were only three hours left to decide.
The film crew's ship hadn't set sail yet, and in three hours, they might still be drifting at sea.
'The options couldn't be delayed any longer… I had to choose now.'
Option one was to protect Koyuki as she traveled to the Land of Snow to overthrow the tyrannical rule. Option two was to threaten Koyuki into handing over the geothermal generator and force the Land of Snow to pay taxes.
The two are not actually in conflict and could even be executed consecutively.
If he has to choose between the two, there is no need to choose the first option. After all, the key to the geothermal generator is on Koyuki. If he gets it, he still needs to deal with the current ruler of the Land of Snow.
Moreover, the mission's objective was to protect Koyuki as she traveled to the Land of Snow to film a movie. Regardless of the circumstances, her safety had to be ensured.
'Option Two.'
With a thought, option two flickered and disappeared, then the system interface slowly faded away.
Despite the system choices, Naruto didn't want to deal with overly complicated matters. He picked option two simply because the reward would allow him to upgrade the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Had the reward been different, Naruto might have chosen the first option just for convenience. Having made the system choice, he set aside thoughts of the system and focused on observing the situation.
Seaside, at a port.
As the late winter receded, the coastal mountains stood still, with most of the trees barren, the landscape filled with an air of desolation.
Occasionally, small patches of green buds could be seen sprouting. A figure dashed down the mountain, riding a bicycle, only to crash violently into the sea, drawing the attention of those nearby.
Sakura had already boarded the ship and didn't pay attention to the person who had fallen into the water. Instead, she focused her gaze on a particular spot on the dock.
There, a blond-haired figure crouched by the shore, grinning and watching the commotion with lively enthusiasm, gesturing animatedly. Soon, he locked eyes with the unlucky person in the water, and the two began exchanging insults.
The person who fell into the water, red-faced and cursing, climbed back onto the shore with the help of the sailors. Then, without wasting any time, he ran angrily to the yellow-haired boy to argue.
With a loud splash, the unlucky man was hurled into the sea by the yellow-haired boy, forming a graceful arc through the air.
"Hahaha! Is that brat a Shinobi?"
"Which village does he belong to? Throwing people into the sea… Is he not afraid of punishment?"
"He's not wearing a forehead protector, he must be a Rogue Shinobi! Or maybe not even a Shinobi at all. If it were me, I could do that too…"
The ship rocked unsteadily as it sailed.
In the distance, the sea met the sky, forming a fine silver line on the horizon. Anko was busy exchanging paperwork with the client, seemingly in the middle of a heated argument.
With nothing to do, Naruto and Sakura stood on the deck, leaning over to look down.
The sea was as clear and blue as the sky above, with turbulent white waves churning like fish darting in every direction. The salty sea breeze felt sticky against their faces, with a bitterness much stronger than soda water.
"So this is what the sea looks like." Sakura stood about three meters to Naruto's left, with half of her body leaning out from the railing.
"This is my first time seeing it." She said.
"Me too." Naruto said, "If you keep heading west from the Valley of the End, you can see the sea. When Sasuke left last time, I almost chased him all the way to the Valley of the End."
Hearing the word 'Sasuke', Sakura fell silent for a moment, pulling her clothes tighter around her, "Do you still want to bring Sasuke back?"
"Huh?" Naruto instinctively shook his head, "Not at all."
"Alright." Sakura didn't ask further.
"So you're all here, huh? Saves me the trouble of looking for you one by one." Anko's voice suddenly came from behind them, "This journey's going to be a long one."
Naruto and Sakura turned around to see Anko approaching, wrapped in a cotton coat and scarf.
The clothes she was wearing were quite warm, though her open fishnet training outfit still revealed her generous figure, as bold and unabashed as ever.
"Won't your chest feel cold if you don't button up your clothes?" Naruto asked bluntly.
Anko stopped in her tracks, glanced down at her unbuttoned jacket, then looked up at Naruto with a slightly embarrassed expression on her face.
"Your focus is a kind of weird, damn it!"
"I'm just curious." Naruto asked, "So, is it cold?"
Anko: "…"
…
The next day.
Having never been out to sea before, Naruto had a restless night. Anko had mentioned that the journey would be long, and indeed, they had been drifting on the sea for an entire day without feeling like they were making much progress.
Even if someone told him that the ship was just going in circles on the sea, Naruto would still believe it. Not being able to see the destination at all made life on board felt monotonous and dull.
At dawn, Sakura stopped by to bring him some food.
"Did you not sleep well either?" He asked while eating.
"Yeah, the ship's too unsteady." Sakura didn't look very well, with bloodshot eyes. "The crew said we'd get used to it in a few days, and the return trip should be much better."
"What about that woman?"
"You mean Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Who else could it be? She's sharing a room with you, isn't she?"
"Well…" Sakura suddenly chuckled, " Do you really want to know? But if you find out about such embarrassing thing, she'll probably kill you."
In the afternoon.
There's good news and bad news.
The good news was that Koyuki had woken up.
The bad news was she had come while wielding a sword.
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