What is overnight wealth! (Seeking recommendation tickets)

The journey back to Red Province Island remained uneventful, though on their return trip, they discovered an empty ship drifting nearby.

"That looks like the mark of the merchant ninjas from our island!"

Bando pointed at the flag on the ship and spoke.

However, adhering to the principle that it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble, they did not approach to investigate. Naturally, they failed to realize that this was the very ship belonging to the middle-aged merchant ninja who had previously threatened Bando.

They had intended to steal the Universal Mud while Araki and the others were occupied with the pirates, but they had severely overestimated their own strength. Unfortunately, they were struck by a single explosive tag cannonball and had been sent to the bottom of the sea without even a bubble rising to the surface.

Zabuza had not left the pirate ship; he remained behind to guard the sole surviving pirate, waiting for Araki and Kisame to return from Red Province Island.

Three days later.

Araki and Kisame leaped up from the sea surface and landed on the deck of the pirate ship.

"How about it, Zabuza? Did you find out where their lair is?"

Araki's tone was filled with anticipation for the money.

"Of course!"

Zabuza said, kicking the pirate. "Get the ship moving!"

"Yes, yes!"

The pirate shivered all over, scrambling to hoist the sails before running to the helm to steer.

As he operated the wheel, he spoke timidly: "Our Warship Island is in that direction, about a day's journey away."

"A day, huh? Captain, can you use Water Release to speed up the ship?"

Wind Release would naturally be the best method for acceleration, but Araki did not possess such large-scale Wind Release techniques, nor did he have the chakra to waste on them, so he had to trouble Kisame to try with Water Release.

"Heh, of course I can."

Kisame walked to the stern and quickly formed hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Wave!"

A massive torrent of water erupted from his mouth, slamming into the bottom of the ship and generating powerful thrust. The sudden acceleration was so intense that the pirate at the helm nearly lost his footing and fell.

Although Water Wave is only a C-rank ninjutsu, its application is highly flexible. With Kisame's mastery of Water Release, discarding its lethality to enhance the propulsion for the ship was effortless.

Thanks to Kisame's diligent efforts, in less than half a day, an island shaped like a towering volcano came into view.

As they drew closer, they could see rows of cannons along the island's coastline, very similar to those on the pirate ship.

"It seems you weren't lying to us!"

Zabuza glanced at the captive pirate.

"Of, of course not. How would I dare?"

The captive squeezed out an ugly, ingratiating smile.

"Oh, then you're useless."

Before the words had even faded, Zabuza swung his arm, and a spray of blood splattered outward.

The pirate captive collapsed in agony, his face full of confusion and protest.

Zabuza had no intention of explaining, and Kisame and Araki were already accustomed to such things.

The three of them did not linger, jumping off the ship and sprinting across the surface of the sea toward the pier.

It must be said, this island was worthy of being a pirate lair; their vigilance was truly high.

The moment the three of them appeared in their line of sight, cannonballs rigged with explosive tags came crashing down toward them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Columns of water exploded upward, but unfortunately, aside from making Araki grit his teeth in distress, it had no effect.

"Damn pirates, that was all my money!"

Araki's heart was bleeding, and his outward reaction was to immediately activate Gale Palm and enter the state of Grace of the Wind, his speed surging!

The distance, which was not far to begin with, was covered by him in under ten seconds.

Wrapped in fierce winds, Araki charged onto the pier with a murderous aura. Without a word of nonsense, he drew his sword and slashed.

Even their Captain Roger couldn't last two moves under Araki's hand, so how could these small fries left behind to watch the house?

He didn't even need any sword techniques; relying solely on the speed of the Body Flicker Technique and the sharpness of his longsword, Araki's figure flashed and leaped. The pirates were often cut across the throat by a clear, bright flash of light before they could even react.

A few breaths later, there wasn't a single pirate left standing near the pier's artillery battery.

This was the first time Araki had killed so continuously and rapidly. In that instant, he felt as if he had faintly grasped the pleasure of moving at lightning speed.

This feeling... I think I've discovered the joy of dashing back and forth!

He sighed inwardly.

The sensation of moving freely as if he had merged with the wind was truly intoxicating, especially when paired with the bursts of blood spraying outward—it was practically addictive!

Thus, when Kisame and Zabuza stepped onto the pier, what they saw was an Araki lost in a state of intoxication, with the corpses of the pirates scattered across the ground behind him.

"This..."

Although he wasn't surprised that Araki could wipe them out so quickly, what was with that look of lingering desire on his face?

Was he addicted to killing?

That was just too Kirigakure!

Zabuza didn't know what to say; although he had been crowned with the title of "Demon," he never felt any sense of enjoyment when slaughtering his classmates.

On the contrary, Araki now gave him the impression that he was savoring the act of killing.

"Alright Araki, wake up, we haven't gotten the money yet!"

At this moment, it was the big brother Kisame who spoke up to snap Araki out of it.

Stimulated by the thought of money, the impoverished Araki finally and reluctantly set aside the opportunity to contemplate the true meaning of pleasure, following the two of them into the interior of the island.

This island didn't look like a place for living; it looked more like a combat fortress, with pirates and combat machinery visible everywhere.

Of course, facing the trio of Araki, those who came charging in while howling were naturally just throwing their lives away.

They found the largest and most imposing building on the island, went inside to ransack it, and the spoils were as follows:

One thousand Explosive Tags, various ordinary swords and blades, and a negligible amount of cash.

"As expected of pirates, do they really not keep any cash on hand?"

Araki's tone was filled with lament.

"It looks like they've basically converted all their money into Explosive Tags."

Zabuza's eyes were also shining.

That was one thousand Explosive Tags!

What kind of concept was that?

The price of each Explosive Tag was between ten thousand and twenty thousand ryo, with slight variations depending on the country. Here in the Land of Water, because Water Style was so effective at countering Explosive Tags, they were slightly cheaper, but they were still worth at least ten thousand ryo each.

That was ten million ryo!

The base reward for an S-rank mission was two million ryo, which meant they had just earned the bounty of five S-rank missions in one go!

Talk about getting rich overnight (tactical lean back)!

Even Kisame was very tempted, his sharp teeth involuntarily beginning to grind against each other.

Even he hadn't yet had the chance to take on an S-rank mission!

With this huge sum of money, he could purchase quite a few ninjutsu upon returning to the village, and his strength would see a massive surge.

Araki had already begun to imagine how much chakra metal he would use to forge his own exclusive longsword.

After all, for a swordsman, the weapon in one's hand was equivalent to half of one's combat power!

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