He has even mastered Haki, and you say this is Naruto?

"First Mate, but... those two dared to deceive us. Shouldn't we deal with them?"

One of the pirates spoke up.

"They even dared to use the name of a Yonko to trick us! That's someone even the Captain respects!"

Zabuza nodded in agreement. Not bad—these guys actually knew how to protect their captain's dignity.

"Yeah, First Mate, we're doing this to uphold Yonko Shanks' honor!"

"Huh?"

Zabuza was stunned. Wait a minute—weren't they doing this to uphold his authority as their captain? Who's Shanks? Are they close to Shanks or something? I'm your captain!

"Kado, was this your idea?"

Zabuza stared at Kado. Something was definitely off—Kado must be behind this.

"Captain, I'm innocent!"

"I was just afraid they'd have designs on the Land of Waves!"

"And what's that got to do with us? You are the lord of the Land of Waves, not the Blade-Free Pirate Crew."

"And I said it from the start—we only collect protection fees. This time, you made the first move."

Zabuza said fiercely.

After hearing this, Kado froze.

Thinking back carefully—yeah... it did kind of happen that way.

At first, Zabuza just came to the Land of Waves to collect protection money. Kado refused to pay, which led to a fight.

Then, Kado nearly died by Zabuza's blade and had to beg for mercy.

After that, the Blade-Free Pirate Crew was formed, and somehow he ended up on the ship… and became the third-in-command?

But actually... it seemed... he was never really part of the crew. He was just someone they were extorting.

"..."

The other pirates were stunned too.

Yeah… when did Kado become part of the crew?

One by one, the pirates moved away from Kado, clearly declaring they had nothing to do with him and were loyal members of the Blade-Free Pirate Crew.

At that moment, Kado was dumbfounded.

"Captain… am I not a member of the crew?"

"No. You've always been the lord of the Land of Waves.

Kado, how dare you try to take advantage of the Blade-Free Pirate Crew!"

At that, Zabuza stood up. If he couldn't find the original troublemakers, venting on this guy would do.

"Haku, hang Kado outside the door overnight."

"Yes, Captain!"

Haku obeyed immediately and dragged Kado outside.

As Kado hung in the cold night wind, he began to reflect. So… he was still the boss of the Land of Waves? But why did it feel like his status was incredibly low?

Inside, the rest of the crew had finally quieted down. Their job was to protect the Land of Waves. Unless it was invaded or under threat, they couldn't interfere.

They were pirates, yes—but even pirates had their own code of conduct.

Then again, as the saying goes: "Principles are dead, but people are alive."

Seeing his subordinates covered in injuries, Zabuza felt he had to take revenge for them.

"Captain, here's the intel on those five ninjas."

Five portraits were laid out in front of Zabuza—Naruto's group plus the two genin.

"Konoha ninjas. Since only genin are on the mission, there should be a jōnin squad leader too."

Zabuza frowned. If it was just a regular jōnin, it was fine. But if it was one of those elite jōnin, that could be a problem.

In Konoha, elite jōnin were either geniuses from big clans or monsters among geniuses. None of them were easy to deal with.

"Haku, give them the medicine I gave you. Once their injuries are healed, we'll go find them again."

Zabuza said. He had never used the healing medicine Jiraiya gave him, so he still had plenty left.

"Ah?"

"C-Captain… I already gave that medicine to those three ninjas."

Hearing that, Zabuza fell silent.

After a long pause, he let out a long sigh.

As expected—Haku, this kind of genius… just like Shanks, their brains don't work like normal people's.

"Sigh…"

Chapter 37: Shanks: What's It Got to Do with Me?

Elsewhere, Kakashi was bewildered when he saw that three people had left, but five came back—and Naruto was badly injured.

Fortunately, the three had gathered plenty of intel. There was no need for Kakashi to investigate further.

"There was no more conflict after that?"

Kakashi was confused. Things had escalated, yet the enemy didn't press further and even stepped in to stop it.

"The Blade-Free Pirate Crew's first mate is said to possess power recognized by Shanks. He controls ice. He's very strong—just standing before him, you can feel overwhelming pressure."

"It's like…"

Sasuke didn't finish. The pressure Haku gave him wasn't just physical—it was emotional.

That gentle gaze reminded him of that man. The one who once looked at him the same way… and then slaughtered their entire clan.

That was Sasuke's true fear—hatred and fear, mingled together.

"These two are the ones impersonating members of the Uzumaki clan?"

"What do you mean 'these two'? I, Lord Sabei, am a master swordsman from a samurai family.

I'm only 27 and already a genin!"

Said the guy in the corner, fully bandaged. He looked more like 47, but apparently wasn't that old.

"Call me Lord Kotaro. I'll be a chūnin one day! How dare you underestimate me!"

The guy beside him added confidently.

They had been entrusted with an important mission by Orochimaru himself.

Though they were only barely qualified as genin, they believed they must have hidden potential. They just hadn't discovered it yet.

As ninjas, they had to keep secrets. Without secrets, how could they call themselves shinobi?

So yes—they must be the chosen ones.

"You two, shut up."

"Okay."

Hearing Sakura's scolding, the two quickly zipped their mouths. After all, she did save their lives.

Otherwise, what genin would dare speak to them that way?

Though they were genin too… they were older. That gave them pride.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is the medicine that guy Haku gave us."

Sakura handed over the bag. When Kakashi saw it, something clicked in his memory.

"This is a special supply bag for Konoha jōnin. But these aren't in use anymore… how did he get this?"

Kakashi frowned. He didn't recognize the medicine, but as a former Anbu, he knew Konoha's gear well.

The medicine bag seemed to contain a kind of secret medicine—one not recorded in Konoha's records.

As he pondered, Kakashi spotted a single character at the bottom of the bag: 油 ("Oil").

"I think I know whose this is."

He poured the contents out to confirm the word.

"Oil?"

"Oh, is this from the Aburame clan?"

Sasuke guessed. In Konoha, clans usually had symbols or characters representing them—like the Uchiha fan on his own clothes.

So the character "油" must mean it was from the Aburame clan?

"No. This belonged to a certain senior."

"You've heard of him—one of the legendary Sannin, Konoha's hero."

Kakashi explained. He was technically Jiraiya's disciple's disciple, and they had a close bond.

Let's not forget—Kakashi had read every volume of Icha Icha Paradise. He was the Jiraiya expert in Konoha.

Based on the era of the gear and the unidentified medicine inside, only one person fit the profile—Jiraiya.

"Summoning Technique!"

To confirm, Kakashi summoned one of his ninken.

"Pakkun, smell this. Is there any trace of Jiraiya-sama's scent?"

If it really belonged to Jiraiya, there was no cause for worry.

After half an hour of sniffing, Pakkun looked up.

"Kakashi, this thing smells of women… at least a thousand. The youngest one was probably—"

"Hahaha! Definitely Jiraiya's!"

Kakashi quickly covered Pakkun's mouth.

In public, did his nose have to be that sensitive? If it only smelled of women, there was no doubt.

If it had smelled like Jiraiya, that's when they should be worried.

"Alright, Sakura, go ahead and apply the medicine to Naruto."

"What about us?"

Sabei and Kotaro asked in unison. They were badly injured too!

"Shut up."

This time, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all said it together.

Under their collective pressure, the two genin—at the very bottom of the combat food chain—silently shrank back into the corner.

They looked up at the moon through the window. It seemed unusually lonely tonight.

But they weren't the only ones feeling this way. Kado, still hanging outside, looked up at the moon and also felt a deep sense of melancholy.

Even so, the three slept soundly that night.

As for Zabuza and Kakashi—who appeared calm—they didn't sleep at all.

Because only those who understood how deep the waters ran, lay awake thinking.