Arrive, a Little Show

Early the next morning, Natsume set off with several team members.

Natsume, Uchiha Nichiyo, Uchiha Tsukihime, Uchiha Gin, and Uchiha Takashi—a total of five people.

Among them, Nichiyo, Tsukihime, and Gin were all members of Natsume's personal guard.

Tsukihime was Nichiyo's older sister. At eighteen years old, she possessed a tall, slender figure, with legs so long they nearly reached Natsume's shoulders.

Ahem...

Of course, Natsume had not recruited her into his personal guard because of her long legs or anything of the sort.

It was mainly because her strength was quite impressive.

At only eighteen, she already possessed the solid strength of a Jonin.

She could be considered the youngest and most outstanding female ninja within the Uchiha Clan.

Although she couldn't compare to monstrous talents like Kakashi or Itachi, she was still highly worth cultivating.

After all, even in the entirety of Konoha, if one were to add up all the dozens of large and small clans, including those hidden or unregistered, the total number of Jonin definitely did not exceed three hundred.

And among the Uchiha clansmen he had brought out himself, those who had reached the Jonin level were fewer than ten!

This count even included those elderly and frail clan elders.

Therefore, every young Jonin was incredibly precious!

Uchiha Takashi, thirty-seven years old, was a Chunin.

His combat power was not outstanding, but he had previously been responsible for the trade dealings between the Uchiha compound and other Konoha clans.

He was highly experienced in commercial affairs.

The reason for bringing Uncle Ryu along was precisely to utilize this specialty of his.

It would make it easier to quickly take over the Shipping Company and integrate its business after wiping out Gato and his cohorts.

As for bringing Nichiyo and Gin along, it was purely to give them more opportunities for experience.

After all, as the village grew step by step in the future, he couldn't possibly manage everything day and night by himself, could he?

He had to cultivate more trustworthy and "capable" subordinates!

Besides that, Natsume was much more composed on this trip than the last.

He had already left quite a few Flying Thunder God marks in various secret corners within the village. Coupled with his own massive chakra reserves of "72 Kakashi," he could teleport back at any time.

Furthermore, even if Konoha were to take any action, it would be difficult to escape the intelligence network of Otogakure and the Uchiha secret agents he had left inside Konoha.

Therefore, there was no need to worry about the safety of the village for the time being.

The most urgent priority was to hurry up and make some money!

The Land of Waves is located to the southeast of the Land of Fire.

The distance from the Land of Fields is somewhat far.

However, Natsume's group of five were all at least at the Chunin level, so their speed was not slow.

It took them less than two days to reach the target country.

Of course, if it had been Natsume alone, he estimated he wouldn't even need half a day at his top speed.

The Land of Waves is situated on a small island surrounded by the sea on all sides.

To enter, one generally has to rely on taking a boat.

As for that Naruto Bridge, which would become quite famous in later generations, construction had not even begun yet.

Soon, after spending a little money, Natsume and his group boarded a fishing boat bound for the Land of Waves.

The man rowing the boat was a middle-aged man who didn't look particularly sturdy.

Judging by the thick calluses on his hands and the smell of fish on his body, it could be concluded that he was an old fisherman who had made a living by fishing and rowing for many years; he was likely not a villain.

"Young Mas... Young Master, the fog here is so thick! I can barely see anything in the distance..."

Sixteen-year-old Uchiha Gin leaned over the ship's railing, gazing out with wide-eyed curiosity.

"That's normal. Nations located on the sea, including the Land of Water, are frequently shrouded in heavy fog."

Nichiyo, standing to the side, responded indifferently.

Compared to Gin, who disliked reading, his store of knowledge was clearly much richer.

"Is that so! But what I want to know is, why does the fog rise? Where does all this fog come from?"

"Brother Nichiyo, do you know?"

"This..."

Nichiyo was at a loss for words, unsure how to explain it.

Just then, Natsume, who was sitting at the stern of the boat, began to explain:

"The seawater is moist and evaporates easily under sunlight. Once it evaporates and drifts into the air, it forms water vapor. When the vapor pressure increases until the air is saturated, it condenses to form fog..."

Nichiyo: ???

Gin: ???

Tsukihime: ???

Uncle Ryu: ???

The others stared at Natsume with wide eyes.

They felt as though they had understood everything, yet at the same time, understood nothing at all.

Natsume rolled his eyes at them, feeling as if he were casting pearls before swine.

Although he hadn't been some high-achieving doctor in his past life, he still understood basic principles like this.

It was just a pity that explaining it to these illiterates was useless.

"Hahaha! Our Young Master is truly learned and knowledgeable!"

"Gin, stop thinking about playing all the time and learn something useful for a change!"

Uchiha Takashi, standing nearby, laughed and teased, breaking the group's state of bewilderment.

The boat continued to row forward.

A moment later, Natsume took the initiative to ask:

"Uncle boatman, how much longer?"

The middle-aged boatman wiped away a light sweat and responded heartily.

"Almost there, just a few more minutes!"

"It looks like you all must be young noble masters and misses from the Great Nations, right?"

"No, no, no, we are all ninjas!"

"Huh? There's no such thing as a ninja as young as you, little master! Stop pulling my leg."

"We really are ninjas!"

Natsume argued.

But the boatman still didn't believe him.

After all, none of them were wearing the standard ninja forehead protectors.

Even ninjas from ordinary, small hidden villages would wear forehead protectors bearing their own village's emblem.

However, this wasn't strange.

After all, their own Flame Hidden Village had only just been established and hadn't had time to produce their own unique forehead protectors yet.

"Uncle, we really are ninjas, and the very powerful kind at that!"

Uchiha Gin shouted.

"I don't believe it, unless you perform a ninjutsu for me to see! The ninjutsu of ninja lords is supposed to be very impressive!"

"This... ninjutsu isn't meant for performances. I..."

Gin froze, looking hesitantly toward Natsume.

After all, using ninjutsu recklessly to show off was strictly forbidden.

That was common knowledge among ninjas.

However, none of them expected that at this moment, Natsume, who was sitting at the stern, would suddenly open his right hand and begin to condense a massive amount of chakra.

In an instant.

A chakra energy sphere, not particularly large but brimming with formidable power, appeared in Natsume's hand.

It contained at least two units of chakra!

The immense energy stirred the surrounding mist, rapidly converging into a massive spiraling vortex that made quite a commotion.

The burly boatman standing at the bow felt his legs go weak, nearly collapsing to his knees in terror.

"Young Master, what are you doing?!"

Uncle Ryu whispered, his voice laced with tension.

After all, in his perception, the chakra within this single energy sphere alone was several times greater than the total amount in his entire body.

If this were to explode, no one on the boat would survive!

Likewise, the others were equally anxious.

Even Uchiha Tsukihime, who was cold by nature and had remained silent throughout the journey, wore a look of shock.

She could not fathom the actions of her young clan head.

The next moment.

Without offering an explanation, Natsume flicked his right hand, and the fist-sized chakra energy sphere shot out instantly.

It flew toward the left side of the small boat and quickly vanished into the thick mist.

A few seconds later.

"BOOM!"

A massive roar erupted.

A vast column of water surged into the sky, spraying outward.

It then transformed into a heavy downpour of rain, falling back down...

The power of a single strike left the others dumbfounded, secretly trembling in their hearts.

At the same time, in the distance.

Following the explosion came a chorus of miserable wails and cries for help.

"What was that?!!"

"It should be a group of sea bandits who make a living by plundering," Natsume replied indifferently.

"Young Master, so what you just did was?"

"Their ship has already been blown to pieces, but quite a few of them should still be alive."

"These sea bandits are capable of every evil, killing and looting; they deserve to die."

"Nichiyo, go over there and finish off the remaining bandits!"

"Understood!"

Nichiyo acknowledged the order and leaped out immediately.

He stepped onto the water's surface, dashed to the left, and disappeared into the mist, beginning to swiftly harvest the lives of the remaining bandits.

Soon, more screams rang out.

Regrettably, it lasted no more than thirty seconds.

The screams gradually faded away.

At the same time, Nichiyo, carrying two blood-stained kunai, quickly returned to the small boat.

"Reporting to Young Master. It was indeed a group of pirates, about twenty people. All survivors have been eliminated!"

"Very good, sit down."

Nichiyo put away his kunai, glanced at his sister Uchiha Tsukihime sitting on the left, and said nothing more.

Uchiha Gin, however, exclaimed in amazement.

"So amazing! Was it really a group of pirates?"

"Young Master, how did you discover them?"

"And what was that ninjutsu you just used? You didn't even need to weave hand signs!"

Natsume smiled slightly.

"Just a crude way of using chakra. You could call it a super low-end version of a Tailed Beast Bomb; as long as you have enough chakra and control, you can master it."

"Can I learn it too?"

"You can. Once your chakra reserves increase by five or six times, you might be able to barely use it..."

Natsume's answer was like a bucket of cold water poured over Gin's burning enthusiasm.

Five or six times the chakra—who knows how many years it would take for him to save up that much!

As expected, the Young Clan Leader is a freak!

He tosses out ultimate moves as if they were child's play.

As for how Natsume detected that group of pirates in advance.

It was even simpler.

With the S-rank Spirit Transformation Technique at his disposal, he could easily perceive every living soul approaching him.

Furthermore, he could discern whether they harbored malice or killing intent.

Therefore, he had sensed it long ago.

Far off on the sea to the left, a group of malicious pirates had been stealthily tailing them.

He was merely waiting for the right moment to strike.

It was the perfect opportunity to test the power of his chakra energy sphere.

Rest assured, it was definitely not for the sake of showing off!

At this very moment.

The massive explosion, the instant disintegration of the pirates, and these few unfathomably powerful ninjas...

All of this had left the boatman at the bow paralyzed with fear.

Good heavens, he had truly loaded his boat with a group of ninjas!

And that youngest boy, what kind of monster was he exactly?

He had never seen such terrifying ninjas in his entire life!

"Haha. Uncle Boatman, do you believe we are ninjas now?"

Uchiha Gin teased with a laugh.

"I believe, I believe!"

"I beg you, great ninjas, please spare my life!"

The boatman kowtowed in a panic, trembling with fear.

"Gin! Stop scaring people!" Natsume interjected.

Uchiha Gin: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ???

He was just talking, how was that scary?

Besides, no matter how scary he was.

He wasn't as terrifying as the move the Young Clan Leader just pulled!

"Alright. Don't be afraid, Uncle Boatman. We won't harm you."

"As it happens, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

Natsume helped the boatman up, smiling with a very "nuclear" kindness.