Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 161 Collision

It's hard to imagine that Naruto's timing and location were meticulously calculated. He even waited for Yugito to notice something was wrong before activating his ninjutsu. Catching a giant squid from the seabed is indeed a nightmare challenge for most ninjas, but this doesn't include Jinchuriki.

Before Yugito's eyes, several large red chakra hands reached down from the center of the whirlpool. With a loud bang, a limp giant beast was lifted up by the "hands" and was now clawing and squeezing at whatever it was holding. Unfortunately, those translucent red objects were lifeless and unaffected by suffocation or impaired blood flow, and they managed to pull it to the surface, exposing it to the sunlight.

A giant squid, several times larger than an ocean liner, has appeared.

"Turn the ship around immediately!" Chi Ye gave the order before he could even get a clear look at the thing. Before this mission, he had scoffed at the survivors' descriptions, even thinking it was just an excuse for the servants to abandon their master and run away. Now, he finally fully understood their fear and decided to turn back immediately, leave this dangerous area, linger in the coastal waters for a few days, and then write in the mission report: Encountered a giant beast; target confirmed dead.

"No, the captain's orders are to stay put."

Jiraiya, who had been trying to keep a low profile for days, stepped forward. His aura was nothing like Naruto's gentle one. The Land of Iron hadn't fought a war in years, and Jiraiya was a ninja who had emerged from battlefields that were veritable meat grinders. With just a hint of killing intent, he could intimidate the middle guard. Moreover, most of the people on the ship looked at him with disapproval. In their eyes, abandoning Naruto, who could catch the giant beast, was the most foolish choice.

"There's land nearby!" Neji, who had activated his Byakugan the moment Naruto disembarked, suddenly pointed in a direction. "We can't see the end of that land area yet..."

"No...impossible, there's no island marked here on the map." This was the second time Chi had been threatened by a ninja. He realized he had greatly underestimated this team. This ninja, whom he had once thought was more likely to be in charge, and whom he had once used as a background character, was equally unfathomable. Should he praise Konoha for its emphasis on the Land of Iron? Or should he curse these ninjas for not valuing ordinary people's lives at all!

"I can't be wrong." Neji glanced at Ike with considerable arrogance and continued to concentrate on observing the island, showing no intention of glancing at Naruto again.

"There... there are people on the shore! Should we go check it out?"

"How many people are there?" Jiraiya asked.

"There aren't many, but they look like they've been shipwrecked. The terrain there is strange, full of protruding spikes; they're likely trapped in that area and can't get out."

Jiraiya frowned in thought, his gaze unconsciously shifting towards Naruto's direction, only to see that the large hand binding the squid's chakra had been severed, and on the fallen squid lay another humanoid object draped in a tailed beast's cloak.

If his eyes weren't damaged, then the blue flames dancing on the water's surface must belong to the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Could this be a secret base of Kumogakure? Konoha had suffered at Kumogakure's hands before, so Jiraiya was extremely cautious about this. Should they rush in to rescue Yugito while Naruto was holding him back, or wait until Yugito was defeated...? Rescuing them was Konoha's mission; they had no reason to retreat here.

Sigh, as expected, getting old makes you overthink things. His purpose on this trip was merely to accompany Naruto; he wanted to see how Naruto would act as a captain and his ability to handle situations. So, his instinct was to seek Naruto's opinion at this moment, but unfortunately, he was caught up in a fight.

"I'll go ask him." Sasuke, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. He stopped pretending and leaped over the railing, disappearing into the sea like lightning amidst the eerie silence of the samurai.

Ike's gaze, now filled with distrust, made Jiraiya feel a tiny bit guilty. But who was he? When it came to being "righteous and assertive," no one could compare to him.

"That was actually a ninja commissioned by the Land of Hot Springs, who secretly boarded the ship to investigate the matter. After all, the person was lost on the way to the Land of Hot Springs, so it's understandable that they were a little nervous. You can take a look and confirm its authenticity." Jiraiya slowly took out Sasuke's mission scroll. "Naruto found this ninja after boarding the ship and felt that it would be safer to keep him by his side, so he found an opportunity to take him over. He didn't inform you beforehand because he didn't want to affect the relations between the two countries, so please forgive him."

What could Chi say? He could only angrily accept the scroll, glance at it symbolically, and then give up resisting.

Naruto had anticipated Yugito's obstruction.

When the Cloud Village ninja first landed on this island, even though they were still wary of the giant squid, they never tried to kill it. Otherwise, how could its flesh and blood withstand the full force of a tailed beast's attack? Naruto initially had no problem with the squid; as a guardian of Turtle Island, it had been dutifully fulfilling its duties. But when it came to casualties, he couldn't simply treat the squid as a mischievous animal. More than thirty people were missing—how many broken families were behind that? He knew, of course, that there were still a few survivors on the island, but many more had perished at sea, becoming wandering souls unable to return home.

"Why are you here?" Without turning around, he knew that familiar chakra was approaching.

"Neji found survivors and was just about to ask for your opinion." Sasuke had thrown away his cumbersome armor while running; he was in a hurry and just grabbed whatever suit he could find. The white suit had the conspicuous Uchiha clan crest on the back, but thankfully the trousers were normal black stockings without a bulky, exaggerated belt, so he could at least use the cloak to conceal his identity.

"Go back and tell them to take advantage of the chaos to pick up the survivors. Don't wait for me, evacuate immediately." Naruto manipulated the water flow to disperse the fire rat swarm. From beginning to end, his position never changed.

Sasuke ignored him, gripped the Kusanagi sword, and walked forward. "That's your team, Captain Naruto."

The power of that address was akin to the creation of the world for Naruto. He was stunned for a moment, but the seawater he controlled surged up into a giant wave, almost sweeping Yugito away. A bright, deep blue tail emerged, and realizing that her first form couldn't win, Yugito unleashed even more power from Matatabi.

"You really are... Fine, it's not that easy to fight a Jinchuriki." Naruto didn't mention the messenger again, but instead sent out his shadow clone. He seemed calm, but even the resentment in his heart had been somewhat diminished.

"I know." Sasuke knew all too well, which made him even more eager to try.

He wanted to know just how far he was from Naruto. After all, it wouldn't hurt to kill a Jinchuriki from another country, right?