Under Konoha’s Shadow

Chapter 56: Pearl

And so, half a month passed. They finally arrived at a seaport on the border of the Land of Fire. Uncle Ito needed to stay here for a day to rent a ship before they could set sail for the Land of Artisans.

The Land of Artisans was located on an island at sea. The island was rich in mineral resources, allowing for the forging of excellent weapons, which made it a favorite among craftsmen. However, its grain production was very low, so it needed to import a large amount of food every year. This was why so many merchant caravans brought grain to the Land of Artisans, and for the same reason, there were many pirates at sea. Uncle Ito had hired Konoha ninjas precisely to prevent pirates from robbing him.

A short while later, Uncle Ito informed them that he had found a ship. They would load the cargo today and could set sail tomorrow.

It was the first time Yamamoto Ryusei and his teammates had been to the seaside. Seeing that there was nothing to do, they told Senju Tobirama and then went to the beach to play.

Komiya Yuki looked at the boundless, azure sea and couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so beautiful here, Ryusei."

Ryusei took Yuki's hand. "Let's go, Yuki. Let's go play on the sea."

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the two of them walk hand-in-hand on the water and couldn't help but give a lecherous grin. "Let's go play too."

"Thwack..." Just as Hiruzen was about to go, his shoulders were simultaneously grabbed by Uchiha Kagami and Shimura Danzo. Danzo said, annoyed, "Hiruzen, what are you going over there for? To be a third wheel? Don't you have any sense? You already ruined a good moment for Ryusei last time. If you go and disturb them again this time, you'll probably be beaten to death by him."

Kagami was also a bit exasperated with Hiruzen. It was obvious the couple wanted to be alone, yet he insisted on going over. "Hiruzen, you should just stay with us."

Hiruzen felt his shoulders ache from their grip. He shrugged them off. "Let go of me first. It's so boring staying with you guys."

Akimichi Torifu pointed at the sea and said excitedly, "Then let's go catch fish! I've never had fresh sea fish before!"

"Alright! Let's have a competition! Let's see who can catch the most fish," Hiruzen proposed excitedly.

Kagami and Danzo exchanged a glance and both nodded. "Alright then. From now on, for the next two hours, we'll meet back here. We'll see who catches the most, and that person wins."

The teammates all agreed and then dived into the sea.

On the other side, Ryusei and Yuki also dived into the sea to get a closer look at the marine life. Seeing the various colorful and cute little fish, the beautiful, multi-hued coral, as well as the sea turtles and adorable little octopuses, was an exceptionally novel experience for the two of them, who had never been to the sea before.

After coming up for air dozens of times and swimming back and forth in the sea for over an hour, Yuki was finally getting a little tired and was ready to go back. Suddenly, Ryusei spotted a large seashell about half a meter long. He quickly swam down, caught it, and then returned with Yuki.

Just as they got back to the beach, they saw Kagami and Danzo sitting side-by-side on a large rock, enjoying the sea breeze and gazing at the blue ocean. Beside the rock were some seashells, conches, octopuses, sea fish, and other seafood.

"Wow... you guys caught so much seafood! Is this for dinner tonight?" Yuki asked excitedly, rummaging through the catch.

Kagami pointed at the sea. "There's more. This is just what the two of us caught. Torifu and Hiruzen are still in the water catching fish."

Ryusei placed the large seashell on the sand and asked with some confusion, "Why catch so much? This is already enough to eat. Or are you planning to treat the caravan members to a meal?"

"We were just bored," Danzo said with a shrug. "The few of us decided to have a competition to see who could catch the most seafood in two hours. By the way, Ryusei, what's that you brought back? Is it delicious?" Danzo had recently awakened his inner foodie under Ryusei's culinary influence. Whenever he saw something in Ryusei's hands, his first reaction was to wonder if it was tasty.

Ryusei patted the half-meter-long seashell in his hands. "This is good stuff. Not only does it taste delicious, but if you're lucky, there might be a pearl inside."

"A pearl?" Yuki's eyes suddenly lit up as she stared at the shell in Ryusei's hands. She urged him excitedly, "Ryusei, quick, open it and see!"

"Alright," Ryusei said, drawing a kunai and preparing to pry the shell open.

"Wait," Yuki stopped him, then drew her own kunai excitedly. "Let me do it! I want to get this pearl myself!"

Ryusei stepped aside. Yuki stabbed her kunai into the crack of the shell and pried it open in one go. She then tossed the kunai aside and began to feel around inside the shell.

"I found it! Look, Ryusei!" Yuki jumped up happily and held out her hand to him. The three boys looked at the pearl in her hand. It was an oval-shaped pearl about one or two centimeters in diameter. It wasn't very round, so its value wasn't high. But since this was the first time Yuki had dug out a pearl herself, she was very excited.

Ryusei, seeing such a large pearl oyster, figured there should be more than one pearl. Sure enough, he found a dozen more. They were of various sizes; the largest was over four centimeters, and the smallest was less than one centimeter. Most of them were misshapen, but this time, their luck was very good. Three of them were nearly perfectly round. One of the perfectly round ones was close to four centimeters, and the other two were about two centimeters. These were the most valuable of all the pearls; the rest could only be used to make pearl powder.

Ryusei handed the perfectly round pearls to Yuki. "Yuki, these are the most valuable ones. You can take them to have some jewelry made."

Yuki was completely mesmerized by the dazzling pearls. She quickly found a pouch on her person, put them inside, and tucked it into her clothes by her chest.

"The most valuable? How valuable?" Kagami asked with some doubt.

Yuki put the pearls away before answering, "The value of a pearl depends on five things: its shape, size, luster, flaws, and color. Of course, the rounder and bigger the pearl, the better. The more lustrous the surface, the higher the value. The fewer the flaws and the cleaner it is, the better. Lastly is the color. Ordinary pearls are white. Under the same conditions, other colors are more valuable. Most girls can't refuse a beautiful pearl. A pearl like that largest, perfectly round one just now is probably worth several million ryo."

"Several million?" Kagami and Danzo looked at each other, then immediately turned and ran towards the sea, diving in to look for more seashells.

Are you kidding me? The pay for this entire mission isn't that much! A few pearls are worth that much? You'd have to be a fool not to take this opportunity to get more.

A short while later, Hiruzen and Torifu returned from the sea, fully loaded. Hiruzen walked in front, shirtless and wearing only pants, his clothes and some seaweed tied together to hold many crabs and lobsters. Each crab and lobster was about thirty to forty centimeters long. There were also some conches as big as bowls.

Akimichi Torifu, however, was carrying a shark over two meters long on his shoulder, walking behind Hiruzen. From the looks of it, it was a tiger shark.

Thump...

Torifu threw the shark onto the ground, looked around, and, not seeing Kagami and Danzo, asked, "Ryusei, are Kagami and Danzo not back yet?"

Ryusei pointed at the two piles of seafood on the ground. "They came back, but they went back into the sea to look for shells. This is the seafood they brought back. But Torifu, why did you catch a shark?"

"Because it's big!" Torifu said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "If I caught this, then I win the competition. And when you grill it, it has fewer bones than those small fish, so it's more convenient to eat. Unlike those small fish, which are full of bones and not tasty at all."

Torifu had choked on a fish bone as a child and hadn't liked eating fish much since then.

"Grill it?" Ryusei said, a bit speechless. "Torifu, shark tastes terrible when grilled like that. That's because shark meat contains urea. If you grill it directly, you'll be eating the urea along with it. You have to wash the shark meat thoroughly and soak it in water for a period of time before cooking it into a dish. Then it will be quite delicious."

Torifu chuckled. "Then I'll have to trouble you to make it for me, Ryusei. I don't really know how."

After half an hour, Kagami and Danzo also returned, shirtless. Each of them was carrying a bundle made from their clothes, and inside each bundle were several shells, the largest being over twenty centimeters and the smallest only a few centimeters.

Danzo, having just come out of the sea, was breathing heavily. "Kagami and I searched in the sea for a long time, but we couldn't find a shell as big as Ryusei's. We could only find some small ones to bring back and see."

Hiruzen was confused. "Are these shells delicious? Why did you guys bring back so many?"

Kagami opened a shell and felt around inside without looking up. "I don't know if it's delicious, but it's valuable! One of them might have something worth several million inside!"

"Several million? Are you kidding me?" Hiruzen nearly jumped up. He pointed excitedly at the dark shells. "I saw a lot of those in the sea just now! If one is worth several million, then I'd be rich!"

"The shell isn't valuable; it's the pearl inside that's valuable. Found one!" Kagami found a two-centimeter pearl inside the shell, but it was oddly shaped and not round at all.

"I found one too!" Danzo found two pearls in another shell. He was a bit luckier than Kagami; at least one of his two pearls was oval-shaped, although it wasn't as big as Kagami's, only about a centimeter.

Kagami and Danzo handed their pearls to Yuki, asking her to see how much they were worth.

Yuki carefully examined their pearls and said, "Kagami, this pearl is probably worth a dozen or so ryo. Danzo, yours is worth over a hundred. Your pearls aren't round, and they're too small. They have no aesthetic value. They can only be made into pearl powder."