After Sakura entered the room, Naruto instinctively squinted his eyes and glanced up and down the narrow corridor. After confirming no one was watching, he shut the door.
With a click, Naruto locked the door.
When he turned around, he saw Sakura sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at him with her big eyes, making him feel a bit awkward as he explained.
"The door lock is broken. If I don't lock it, the door will swing open when the ship tilts."
"Alright." Sakura smiled.
'What does 'alright' mean?' Naruto wondered, feeling a bit uneasy. He walked over to the table and sat down on a chair bolted to the floor.
The food is relatively simple, consisting of air-dried meat chunks. After a little steaming and adding some seasonings, it can be eaten directly, which is very convenient to stave off hunger at sea.
But the food from a few days ago wasn't this tough and dry meat. It was proper meals with both meat and vegetables, which is clearly signaled that they were in trouble at sea.
Naruto divided some of the meat, then pushed the remaining portion back in front of Sakura.
"Anko-sensei said there's something wrong with this ship, and we should be careful." Sakura said after taking the food, "There might be a storm soon."
"Whatever. It is what it is. Let's eat first." Naruto said.
"Aren't you scared?" Sakura asked.
"Scared of what?"
"The storm." Sakura smiled, "If a storm comes, everyone on this ship might die. It's dangerous even for us."
"I don't really care about it. The three of us just need to protect Princess Fuun." Naruto said nonchalantly, "As for everyone else, their lives aren't our responsibility."
"That being said…" Sakura said, taking a bite of the meat and swallowed it with difficulty, "Even if we can walk on water, we are in the sea right now, so we would have no idea where to go."
"Without a ship and food, drifting at sea isn't a viable plan."
"We'll see when the time comes." Naruto put down the piece of meat, thought carefully and said, "Talking about it now is pointless and just adds unnecessary stress."
Naruto was not in a hurry at all. After all, there was still a large amount of food and drinks in his seal space. He had stockpiled them when he was free, just in case of missions that might require them.
He was prepared for the worst, like those harsh missions where he'd have to survive on wild fruits or hunting. So he figured it was better to stockpile food ahead of time.
As for the ship Sakura mentioned, he didn't have one, but he did have a small raft. He couldn't remember when he bought it, but it was probably for rafting in the river downstream of the waterfall.
Later, he'd forgotten about it, and it had just been collecting dust in the corner of his seal space.
With such sufficient preparations, Naruto is confident that even if they ended up in the storm and the ship sank or got destroyed, the three of them could still get Koyuki out safely.
Besides, at this point, worrying wouldn't help. All they could do was hope the ship avoided the storm or held up through it.
"Yeah." Sakura nodded and didn't say anything else.
…
The next day.
A sudden fog blanketed the sea, and even worse, the magnetic fields in the surrounding waters were in chaos.
Fortunately, the sea surface that could be seen clearly with the naked eye was still calm, the ship was sailing relatively steadily, and the kitchen even prepared a sumptuous lunch at noon.
On the deck, Naruto carried two meals, scanning around until he spotted Sakura in the mist.
Anko has been protecting Koyuki closely, while Naruto is responsible for patrolling the perimeter. They usually relied on Sakura for communication between the two, and occasionally, Anko would personally check on Naruto during her shifts with Sakura.
"We suddenly got extra food." Naruto chuckled, raising the two meals in his hands, "The crew thought we've almost reached the Land of Snow, so they're all excited."
"This seems more like a last meal than a celebration feast."
Hearing this, Sakura chuckled and said, "We are indeed approaching the waters of the Land of Snow. We should be there in about two days."
Afternoon.
The mist cleared, and the originally clear sky suddenly became gloomy.
A storm was gathering not far away, and the sight of towering waves surging toward the ship left everyone on board staring at the enormous waves and the nearly black-purple sky.
Their ship was heading straight for the massive waves. A sense of helplessness and fear washed over them, throwing the ship into chaos.
Naruto took a sharp breath, thinking to himself that taking this mission was a huge loss.
The crew on the ship had gone mad. What they initially thought was just a job had turned into a near-death experience, or so they feared, it would be their funeral.
Naruto kicked open the door with one swift move, drawing his Kusanagi Sword immediately.
Looking down the corridor at the chaotic mob, everyone seemed like headless chickens, screaming and crashing into each other, swaying wildly. Some couldn't accept the reality and sat on the ground, muttering to themselves with vacant eyes.
Angry roars echoed through the corridors as people began to lose their sanity. Screams, shrieks, and roars filled the air. Naruto paid them no mind, giving only a quick glance before quickly averting his gaze.
He sprinted diagonally along the walls of the cabin, clutching his razor-sharp Kusanagi Sword with a fierce look in his eyes.
The storm hadn't hit yet, but massive waves were already battering the ship.
"Shinobi? You're a Shinobi, right?! Quick, think of something!" Someone in the corridor spotted Naruto running along the wall and shouted out.
"Stop that kid! He's a Shinobi, he must have a plan!"
"Please don't abandon us!"
"I can pay, I have money!"
The people in the corridor, desperate for any hope of survival, reached out frantically towards Naruto. But he ignored them completely, not even glancing back. He was a Shinobi, yes, but not a savior.
In the face of those towering waves, who could possibly play the savior?
Right now, Naruto wasn't concerned with anyone else's survival. His priority was finding Anko, Sakura, and getting them all together. If possible, he would also bring along their protection target, Koyuki. In this situation, venturing outside was a death sentence.
They needed to hide, and as long as they could weather the giant wave without being swept away, they would be fine.
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