Life is like the ocean—at some point, everyone will stir up a storm in the course of their life.
We call that a pivotal moment.
The stronger a person is, the more violent the storm they stir up—capable of affecting more people, even forming a tsunami.
As for ordinary people, the storms they stir up can only affect a small circle around them.
But no matter what, storms do not last forever. There will always come a time when the winds calm and the waves settle.
Amid the turmoil of the outside world, the incident of one of Konoha's Sannin, Orochimaru, defecting from the village, finally came to an end and gradually ceased to be a topic of discussion.
Time passed in the blink of an eye. More than a month later, it was now mid-June of Konoha Year 53.
After the initial pursuit resulted in the loss of some ANBU personnel, the Third Hokage seemed to have let the matter go.
With Orochimaru's strength, sending ordinary ANBU after him would only be sending them to their deaths—nothing but needless casualties.
Only Jiraiya stayed briefly in Konoha. After expressing some dissatisfaction to his teacher, he once again disappeared, traveling through the shinobi world—searching for the Child of Prophecy while also gathering information on his close friend's whereabouts.
Unfortunately, the shinobi world was vast. A ninja like Orochimaru, skilled at hiding, would be extremely difficult to locate once he chose to lie low.
Orochimaru was a man driven by purpose. Without benefit, he would never waste time causing trouble. Now that he was a free man, he could finally carry out his experiments as he pleased.
After Konoha cleared out numerous hidden laboratories outside the village, aside from uncovering Orochimaru's research objectives, they gained no other useful intelligence.
Trying to deduce his current hideout from those materials was simply impossible.
Inside the Hokage's office, Makoto—who was happily slacking off—was summoned by the Third Hokage.
"Makoto, with your sealing skills and Kushina's, have you still not figured out the purpose of the curse mark on Anko?"
"Sorry, Hokage-sama. We're not particularly versed in forbidden techniques. Kushina-sensei, Minato-senpai, and I studied it together and only discovered that the curse mark contains some natural energy. As for what it's used for, we have no idea. I think only Orochimaru himself knows its purpose."
"Natural energy, hm? Looks like Minato has already begun training in Sage Arts."
Makoto didn't hide it. "Yes, Minato-senpai is progressing quite smoothly in learning the Sage Arts of Mount Myōboku."
Hiruzen understood well that Sage Arts were a powerful asset—but very few could master them. Even his three disciples, including himself, had failed. The fact that Minato could learn them meant his strength had grown even further.
Learning to refine and use chakra was the dividing line between ordinary people and ninja.
Sage Arts were another such dividing line.
"The curse mark on Anko—there's no negative effect on her, right?"
"As long as she doesn't actively stimulate it with chakra, it basically has no effect. On the contrary, the curse mark is passively enhancing her body."
"You could call that a benefit. At the very least, with Anko-senpai's eating habits, she could eat dumplings and red bean soup all day and not worry about gaining weight."
"I see. That's reassuring. Makoto, I called you here today not only for this matter, but also because there's a mission I need you to handle."
"Please leave it to me, Hokage-sama."
"Good. This mission is a request from the Land of Fish. Their fishermen have recently been encountering massive sea monsters while out at sea, so they've asked Konoha to help eliminate them."
Makoto thought for a moment about the location of the Land of Fish and asked, "Hokage-sama, aside from eliminating the sea monsters, you must have other objectives, right?"
"Yes. Makoto, you're as sharp as ever. The Land of Fish is just a small island nation, but to its northeast lies the Land of the Sea."
"According to mission records, during the later stages of the war—and even after it ended—Orochimaru frequently took Anko there on missions. I suspect there may be one of his laboratories in the Land of the Sea. He might even be there right now."
"So, Hokage-sama, if I encounter Orochimaru himself, what do you want me to do?"
"Bring him back. If that's not possible… then killing him is acceptable as well. Ordinary ninja cannot deal with him. Minato and I cannot act personally. Only you can go. With your strength, I believe you can handle it."
"No problem, Hokage-sama."
"Do you need me to specially arrange a team for you?"
"No need. I'll take Hayate's team. At sea, Yamato can be very useful."
Hiruzen nodded, having thought of that as well. "Hohoho, you're right."
Yamato was an extremely practical ninja.
After all, no one else could clap their hands together and instantly build a large wooden ship.
Shipbuilders would definitely want someone like him.
Furniture makers and construction developers would too.
...
Not far off the eastern coast of the Land of Fire lay a small island nation—obscure within the shinobi world, but well-known among Naruto fans in Makoto's previous life—the Land of Waves.
There were many such small island nations in the shinobi world. The Land of Fish was one of them, but within this world, it was far more well-known than the Land of Waves.
The Land of Fish lay in the distant seas northeast of the Land of Waves, between the southeastern corner of the Land of Hot Water and Kaikawa Island of the Land of Water.
From its name alone, one could guess its primary industry.
The surrounding waters were rich in silver-scaled mackerel and red-spotted swimming crabs—both exceptionally delicious delicacies, considered top-tier across the shinobi world.
These were also the nation's primary export products and the main source of income for its fishermen.
From the Land of Fish, if one sailed further northeast into the open sea, one would reach the Land of the Sea.
Located between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water, it had a relatively large land area but poor living conditions and few specialties. Its population was small, and it was often used as a refuge by criminals fleeing into the open sea.
On land, ninja could move extremely fast.
But at sea, unless one wanted to waste chakra running across the water, they had no choice but to travel by boat like ordinary people—and the speed was far from fast.
After receiving the mission, Makoto and his team took only half a day to reach a port city on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire. From there, they boarded a merchant ship and spent several days at sea before arriving at the Land of Fish.
Officials from a coastal fishing town received them and presented fresh local specialties to the ninja from Konoha.
Ninja—especially those from major nations—held a high status in the eyes of small countries. No one dared offend them lightly. Otherwise, they might not even know how they died.
Makoto and the others had eaten mackerel and crabs before in Konoha—but those were frozen.
Now, tasting them fresh, the flavor was indeed extraordinarily delicious. No wonder the daimyō and nobles on the mainland were willing to pay exorbitant prices for preservation and transport.
After resting for a night, early the next morning, Makoto's team boarded a government fast boat under the escort of local officials and followed a fishing fleet out into the open sea.
Due to the sea monsters, fishermen no longer dared to go out alone. They only went out in groups—so that if attacked, at least someone could provide assistance.
The accompanying official was a fair-skinned, short, and chubby man—his complexion starkly contrasting with the sun-darkened, copper-toned skin of the fishermen.
He complained to Makoto, "These sea monsters that came out of nowhere have severely affected our catches. Now fishermen don't dare go out unless they gather enough people."
Makoto asked, "When did these sea monsters start appearing?"
"They've been around for a few years, but back then it was just one or two occasionally—not very strong, so the impact wasn't big. Recently, for some reason, a giant octopus appeared. We have no way to deal with it."
"So now all fishing trips are organized collectively?"
"That's right. We have no choice. But some fishermen who urgently need money still go out alone. That's extremely dangerous—if they encounter a sea monster, no one can save them."
Very soon, Makoto's group saw just how dangerous it was—and they also encountered the so-called giant octopus.
Ahead of the fishing fleet, a lone fishing boat had its bow lifted high into the air. The rear half of the vessel was wrapped tightly by the tentacles of a massive octopus, which was crushing the hull while dragging it underwater.
Even more outrageous—this octopus had far too many tentacles. A rough count put it at twenty or thirty.
Some of the tentacles lacked suction cups. Instead, they crackled with electricity, and at their ends were large mouths filled with dense teeth—like electric eels.
These mouths swam through the water, swallowing the fallen fishermen whole.
This was the first time Yūgao had seen such a creature.
"Hey, hey… why is that octopus so huge? And why does it have so many tentacles? Why can it generate electricity? What kind of species is that?"
Hayate replied, "I don't know. But I don't think something like this could evolve naturally. It's probably an artificially created organism."
Makoto nodded. "Exactly. Someone's summoned beast must have gotten loose. Stop talking—save them first."
The four of them leapt off the ship and ran across the surface of the sea.
Upon seeing the fleet, the giant octopus immediately abandoned its current prey and swam toward them excitedly.
It seemed to possess some intelligence—especially interested in destroying human creations.
In the distant fleet, many fishermen watched nervously, their eyes filled with fear.
Many of them had already lost friends or relatives to this monster.
If even the ninja couldn't deal with it today, they had no idea how they would continue living.
The distance between the sea monster and Makoto's team rapidly closed.
As the octopus raised a tentacle with a gaping mouth, preparing to swallow the annoying insects before it, Makoto slapped both hands onto the surface of the sea.
In an instant, a massive sphere of water enveloped the octopus and lifted it out of the ocean.
The water sphere trapped its main body, leaving dozens of tentacles thrashing wildly outside as it struggled.
"Everyone, attack together—kill it!"
Yamato quickly formed hand seals. From his right hand extended a thick, sharp wooden spike that rapidly grew.
Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique!
The sharp wooden spike shot into the water sphere, piercing through the octopus's eye and exiting the back of its head—instantly penetrating its body.
From both sides, Hayate and Yūgao approached, then leapt high into the air and drew their swords.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Several large, razor-sharp wind blades sliced through the air, severing the octopus's tentacles at the roots and turning it into a massive, defenseless lump of flesh.
After so much training, the two had successfully mastered the simplified version of Shadowless Sword—Vacuum Blade.
However, due to their limited chakra reserves, they couldn't use it frequently.
The octopus's vitality was astonishing.
Even after Yamato pierced its brain, it continued to struggle wildly.
Only then did they realize—
Octopuses seemed to have more than one brain.
But no matter how many brains it had, Makoto didn't believe it could survive being split in half.
He immediately released control over the massive water prison, letting the water and the octopus fall together, while he drew the ninja blade from his back and slashed forward.
Sage Art: Wind Release: Shadowless Sword!
A massive, nearly invisible blade—discernible only through distortions in the air—cut through the octopus like a hot knife through butter, slicing it cleanly into two halves.
A huge amount of tissue and blood rained down, turning the surrounding sea into a surreal painting of red and blue.
Strangely enough—
Two different colors of blood coexisted within its body.
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