The boat owner's assurances had given Naruto Uzumaki and the others considerable confidence.
But the storm was far more violent than they had expected.
Huge waves battered them one after another, and the rain fell so thickly that they could barely keep their eyes open.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and occasional flashes of lightning lit up the entire stretch of dark sea.
As the sea grew rougher and the weather worsened, they could not help considering how to take shelter.
"We can't keep going like this!"
Sasuke wiped the rain from his face and surveyed their surroundings. "The storm won't stop anytime soon. Let's find somewhere to shelter!"
"Where are we supposed to find shelter now?"
Sakura suddenly pointed ahead and to the left. "There! Look!"
The two followed her pointing finger. In the lightning, they could faintly make out a vast cluster of reefs, with several rocks tall enough to block some of the wind and waves.
"Head over there!" Sasuke ordered.
Although the boat owner was very reluctant, no matter how much confidence he had in his boat, he could not oppose the decision of Sasuke and the other two.
First, they were the ones who had paid to hire the boat.
The other reason, of course, was that Naruto and the others were ninja from Konoha.
In fact, the latter was the main reason.
If not for who Sasuke and the others were, the boat owner would not even have been willing to take them deep into the Land of Water.
Although conditions in the Land of Water were much better than before, all kinds of inspections were still unavoidable.
Under normal circumstances, few boat owners would have been willing to take this job.
But there was no helping it. The Land of Waves now had to defer