Under Konoha’s Shadow

Chapter 57: Pirates

"Hahaha..." Sarutobi Hiruzen was laughing so hard his stomach hurt. He clutched his belly with one hand and slapped Uchiha Kagami and Shimura Danzo's shoulders with the other. "So this is your multi-million ryo treasure? It's not even worth as much as my crabs."

Shimura Danzo's face darkened. "My pearl isn't valuable, but Yuki's is! Yuki, take out your multi-million ryo pearl and show it to Hiruzen." After saying that, he and Kagami went back to opening their shells.

Komiya Yuki took the pouch of pearls from her coat, opened it, and took out the most beautiful and largest one, placing it in her palm for Hiruzen to see.

Hiruzen and Akimichi Torifu leaned in to look at the pearl in Yuki's hand. Torifu couldn't help but praise, "This pearl is so beautiful! As expected of one worth millions. It's completely different from Kagami's and the others'."

Yuki looked at the pearl, her eyes seemingly lost in it. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Girls love shiny things like this the most."

A look of realization dawned on Hiruzen's face, and he turned and ran towards the sea. "I saw a big shell just now! There must be a pearl inside! When I have a pearl, I can give it to a girl and get a girlfriend!"

"Wait for me, Hiruzen! Let's go together!" Akimichi Torifu also jumped into the sea after him.

"Huh?" Shimura Danzo stopped opening his shells and said, somewhat speechless, "Does Hiruzen have some misunderstanding about getting a girlfriend? With his creepy aura, it won't matter what he gives."

Yamamoto Ryusei looked at Shimura Danzo with the eyes one reserves for a single dog. Danzo, you are still too young. No wonder Hiruzen gets married in the future, while you remain a bachelor. If Hiruzen gives a girl a pearl worth millions, of course he'll get a girlfriend. Because compared to handsome looks, girls still prefer immense wealth a little more.

An hour later, all the shells, including the ones Hiruzen and Torifu brought back, had been opened. Most of them contained misshapen pearls. Only a few were nearly perfectly round. Kagami got two more pearls of about two centimeters. Hiruzen, Danzo, and Torifu each only got one pearl of about two centimeters. Each of these was probably worth several hundred thousand ryo. Although they couldn't compare to Yuki's pearl, they were still very satisfied.

Back at the inn, Ito saw that Ryusei and his teammates had brought back so much seafood and immediately sent people to the town to buy some wine and meat, planning to have a bonfire party together.

At the party, several barbecue grills were set up by the fire, grilling the pork and lamb bought from the town. The main dishes served were seafood. The most popular was not the lobster or crab, but the shark. The members of the caravan, seeing the overlord of the sea, couldn't help but want to eat it. Before long, there were only a few pieces of shark meat left.

Senju Tobirama, on the other hand, preferred the lobster. A twenty-centimeter-long lobster had over ten centimeters of meat. Steaming it and eating it with sauce was the most delicious way. The other teammates ate whatever they could get their hands on, their mouths greasy with oil.

Akimichi Torifu said to Ryusei, "Ryusei, the food you make is so delicious. During the three-day break from our last mission, I had no appetite at all when I ate at home. My dad thought I had suffered some kind of trauma outside and didn't like to eat anymore. Now I don't even want to go back. I want to do missions forever."

Uchiha Kagami complained bitterly, "You think that's bad? At least you get normal food! I'm still eating insects at Mount Myōboku! The taste is simply unbearable."

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked with some surprise, "Didn't Ryusei already teach you how to cook insect cuisine? Why does the food at Mount Myōboku still taste so bad?"

Kagami said, on the verge of a breakdown, "Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima have been eating ecological insect cuisine for hundreds of years! Their tastes have become a habit. They're not used to fried insect dishes, thinking they lack the 'natural, fresh fragrance' of the insects themselves. Who the hell knows what kind of 'fresh fragrance' an insect has?!"

"Wait? Hundreds of years?" Shimura Danzo asked with some doubt. "You're not mistaken, are you? That toad has lived for hundreds of years?"

"That's right," Hiruzen also realized. "Do summoning animals have such long lifespans? Why doesn't my summoning animal, Enma, have such a long life?"

"Not all summoning animals have such long lifespans," Senju Tobirama said, eating a mouthful of lobster and enlightening them. "Only the sages of the three great sage regions can live that long. The slug sage from Shikkotsu Forest, whom my older brother has a contract with, has lived for over a thousand years. She is a sage from the same era as the Sage of Six Paths."

Komiya Yuki asked with curiosity, "Then why can they live so long?"

Tobirama also shook his head. "I don't know either. It might be because of sage arts."

"I don't think so," Ryusei offered his own idea. "The Sage of Six Paths definitely knew sage arts, but even he died, yet they are still alive."

Tobirama thought carefully. "Then they must have their own method of longevity. But this method must be very difficult; otherwise, there wouldn't be so few sages."

When I get back, I must observe my older brother carefully. See what the difference is between someone who has practiced sage arts and someone who hasn't.

Tobirama looked at his students gathered around him and, remembering their complaints about the food, reprimanded them, "A ninja is one who endures all things! If you can't even endure the desire for good food, how can you become an excellent ninja? During the war, we sometimes had nothing to eat at all, just military ration pills. When the pills ran out, we even ate raw meat to survive. Now you can't even endure this little bit of hardship. How will you support Konoha in the future?" He then took a bite of lobster.

Ryusei and his teammates all bowed deeply. "We were wrong, Teacher Tobirama."

Tobirama nodded nonchalantly. "Now that you've eaten your fill, go and rest. You still have work to do tomorrow."

"Yes, Teacher Tobirama." Ryusei and his teammates went back to the inn to rest. Tobirama continued to slowly eat his lobster.

The Next Day

A medium-sized, two-masted sailboat was sailing on the sea. The weather today was sunny and beautiful, with a gentle breeze that made one feel comfortable. However...

"Blech..." Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo were both leaning over the ship's rail, vomiting their guts out, completely ruining the beautiful picture.

Ryusei looked at Yuki, Torifu, and Kagami, who had no reaction at all, and was very confused. "Why are you guys completely fine? Don't you feel dizzy?"

Akimichi Torifu shook his head while eating snacks. "Not at all. I feel it's not much different from being on land."

Uncle Ito came over with some medicine. "It's related to one's constitution. Some people are naturally immune to seasickness. But you'll be fine after a day or two of getting used to it. Take this medicine; it should make you feel better."

Hiruzen and Danzo took the medicine, but the moment they swallowed it, they felt nauseous and threw it up again.

"Urrgh..." The two of them vomited for a long time before stopping. Danzo, with vomit still on the corner of his mouth and no strength to even wipe it, said, panting, "I can't eat anything right now. The moment it enters my stomach, I'll just throw it up. Is there any other way?"

"There is," Ryusei said, stepping forward and knocking them both out. He then carried them to the cabin to rest.

"Pirates are coming!" a sailor shouted, seeing a pirate ship sailing towards them. The pirate ship was a large sailboat with three masts flying black sails. On the front lookout post was a skull flag indicating their identity. Its speed was much faster than their ship, and it would catch up to them in no time.

Seeing the pirate ship, Ryusei said excitedly, "It's my turn now, right?" He hadn't had a chance to make a move on the last mission. This time, he could finally stretch his limbs.

"No," Uchiha Kagami shook his head. "Whoever gets to them first, gets them."

"Alright, let's see who's faster." Before Ryusei had even finished his sentence, he shot out, using Geppo a few times in the air to land on the pirate ship. The pirates were all gathered on the deck, each one looking fierce and vicious. There were even some with missing limbs or eyes. Ryusei looked at the motley crew on the deck and asked, "Excuse me, in your pirate world, is there a Pirate King?"

Although the person in front of them was a child, the pirates looked at each other, and no one dared to make a move. After all, this kid had just flown over from the sky. It was obvious he was a ninja, and they were completely outmatched.

The pirate captain was burly, a head taller than the others, and his body was intact with no missing parts. Seeing his underlings hesitate, he scolded, "He's just one little kid! There are so many of us, there's no need to be afraid of him! Let's go together and finish him!"

"Now there are two," Uchiha Kagami suddenly appeared behind Ryusei, drawing a kunai and facing the pirates.

Seeing another child appear out of nowhere, the pirates became even more timid and didn't dare to advance, only circling at the edges. The pirate captain, seeing this situation, roared, "Men, follow me! Let's chop them up!" He then led the charge. The lackey pirates, seeing their boss charge forward, knew that if they didn't follow and the boss won, he would settle accounts with them later. They gritted their teeth and also charged forward.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... Komiya Yuki and Akimichi Torifu shot a volley of shuriken from the sea, taking down a large number of the pirates. Ryusei drew his sword and cut down the pirates in front of him. Uchiha Kagami also killed the pirates before him with his kunai. Before long, most of the pirates were dead. Only a small number had been wounded non-fatally and were now lying on the deck, groaning.

Kagami, seeing no enemies left standing, went to other parts of the ship to clean up the rest.

Yuki and Torifu leaped from the sea onto the deck. Looking at the pirates lying all over the deck, Torifu couldn't help but complain, "They're too weak. How dare they try to rob people with this level of strength?"

Yuki pointed at the swords in the pirates' hands. "To ordinary people, their strength is quite formidable."

Ryusei walked up to the pirate captain. This guy's physical constitution was quite good; he had taken two or three slashes and was still not dead, just lying on the deck like a dead fish.