Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 164 "In Distress"

"This... isn't our ship, is it?" Sasuke was bewildered as he landed in the sea again. There was indeed a ship in front of them, but it was clearly much smaller than the large ships of the Land of Iron; it was probably just an ordinary medium-sized fishing boat. Sasuke considered the possibility that the tailed beast battle had affected the outer areas, and then thought about the possibility that Naruto had thrown the Flying Thunder God Mark into the fishing boat. In the end, he could only look at Naruto with utter confusion.

Naruto blinked, seemingly unsure of the situation, but by then some people on the ship had already spotted them, and ignoring their enthusiastic shouts from the other side didn't seem like a good idea.

"Have you encountered a shipwreck? We just heard a muffled sound. Is there a storm?" The unusually young captain was not surprised by the ninja standing on the water. Instead, he asked in a friendly manner, "Do you want to go back to shore? We can give you a ride."

Just a second before Sasuke could refuse, his hand was grasped, and Naruto replied with a smile, "Okay, thank you!"

"You're too kind, just call me Captain." The young man grinned broadly, but this only earned him a round of teasing from the crowd.

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at him showing off like that."

"Hey! It's the little captain!"

"Hahahaha!"

The young man's dark face didn't show whether he was red or not, but his exposed ears and neck were bright red. He said loudly, "Wasn't that your choice?!"

The ship was bustling with activity, creating a lively atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the stagnant water on the Iron Country's large ship.

"What exactly happened?" Sasuke asked in a low voice when no one was paying attention.

"I don't know. Maybe something at sea is affecting my perception of where I'm going to land. Let's go back to shore first." Naruto's answer was reasonable and well-founded.

Sasuke really wanted to spend some time alone with Naruto; every time they'd met before, it was always during a mission, and they were always with other people. But... isn't Naruto the team leader? Is it okay for him to leave the team like this?

What about over there?

"Isn't there a Shadow Clone Jutsu? If all else fails, there's always the Perverted Sage." Naruto felt no pressure about abandoning his teammates, and even exuded a strange confidence.

"...You know what you're doing." Sasuke felt reassured and didn't try to persuade him any further; he hadn't really wanted to do it in the first place.

After less than half a day on the ship, Sasuke realized that the atmosphere was different, and it probably wasn't because of the difference between an official ship and a civilian ship. Before they could even settle in, several other ships came into view. These ships were of varying sizes, but the crew members wore identical clothing. A ninja who could also walk on water jumped off one of the ships and quickly boarded it.

"Who have you found?" The new ninja was clearly a fiery and impulsive person, and he had a very clear goal. He rushed up and headed straight for the stern of the ship.

Sasuke silently stepped in front of Naruto, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword beneath his newly donned cloak. The newcomers were dressed no differently from fishermen, bearing no insignia of any ninja village. Their eyes held a hint of wariness, as if assessing their strength. Most of the ships in this area came from the Land of Iron, the Land of Mist, and the Land of Hot Water. Except for the Land of Iron, the relations between the other two countries and Konoha were quite delicate; he wasn't sure what this ninja's true intentions were.

"Hello, we are ninjas from Konoha." Sasuke was brainstorming, but Naruto simply and decisively revealed himself.

To Sasuke's slight surprise, he noticed that the ninja opposite him had lost his guard. As if he was certain that the Konoha people would not harm the fleet, he became just as enthusiastic and didn't even question why they had appeared.

"It's quite rare to see Konoha ninjas in this sea. I won't ask your names, but I do want to know how you got separated from the ship. Did it crash?"

If there really is an accident, would you still go to rescue them?

Sasuke thought to himself, but fearing that Naruto might be too honest, he quickly answered, "Our ship was attacked by a sea monster at sea. He and I stayed behind to deal with the giant squid, and let the ship go first."

The mention of sea monsters caused a subtle reaction from everyone on the ship, with the ninja's eyes lighting up the most.

"Did you see the sea monster? Where is it?"

Sasuke snorted proudly, "At the bottom of the sea, of course it's dead."

These words were like a firecracker thrown into water; people swarmed around, bombarding him with questions for more details and desperately trying to confirm the story's veracity. It was only when the far-sighted Naruto pulled a scroll from his pocket and tossed out a tentacle twice the length of a ship that the crowd quieted down.

"You are the heroes of this sea!" Although the ninja was slightly deflated when he saw the tentacles, he quickly rallied and rushed over to grab Sasuke's hand, so fast that Sasuke couldn't dodge.

Sasuke became even more wary, because this person seemed to be quite strong, but unfortunately he couldn't ask Naruto to confirm it.

"...That's an exaggeration. I'm just trying to protect myself from danger."

“But you are still a hero. We’ve been struggling with that thing for a long time, and many people have never come back because of it…” The ninja suddenly remembered something and asked cautiously, “Have you seen any survivors? The kind who are wearing the same clothes as us?”

“Yes. Our ship picked them up, and I believe the Land of Iron will send them back home.” Naruto smiled, then quickly looked disappointed. “However, there are many more victims. We did our best to collect the remains, if you need them…”

"We need it, thank you." The ninja released Sasuke and grasped Naruto's hand, saying earnestly, "Thank you so much! You eliminated the threat for us and brought our fellow villagers home. We will definitely repay you."

Sasuke really couldn't handle this type of situation, and the fishermen reacted strongly. Many passing boats would throw things at them, mostly food, and a few shells. Whenever Sasuke was surrounded, he would try to look to Naruto for help, but Naruto wouldn't come to his rescue immediately. Instead, he would watch with a smile as Sasuke was tormented until he was about to make his escape before finally intervening.

For example, like this now.

"Captain, what are these?" Naruto walked into the crowd holding two palm-sized scallops. "They were thrown at me by a passing ship, and they almost knocked me unconscious."

"It must be that old Liu who doesn't know his own strength. I'll go talk to him about it!" The captain didn't pay attention to the seashell immediately, but turned his head to look at the sea. He couldn't let his little heroes on board get hurt by him.

"This is a good thing, something that nobles all like." A middle-aged man smiled and pulled out a knife.

The two scallops were pried open on the spot. The uncle skillfully squeezed the scallop meat, and two small, round beads that reflected the light immediately emerged, one pure black and the other grayish-white.

These were originally pearl-producing shells.