After watching for a while longer, Jūzō Biwa left the seaside and headed toward the center of the island.
As he walked, he pondered where he should go next...
At this moment, the situation on the Northern Three Islands could only be described as utterly disastrous. The appearance of the pirates had caused incalculable damage to the Northern Three Islands.
This was a catastrophe capable of affecting the financial strength of the Land of Water.
At sea, with the Fourth Raikage going all out and entangling the Three-Tails, Kumogakure's pirate crew finally boarded another ship.
"Raikage-sama said there's no need to wait for him. Retreat immediately!"
"Ah? How can we do that?"
"That's the Three-Tails. There's no point in us staying. Not to mention we're carrying a pile of goods. Set sail! Retreat!"
The captain of the support unit was a dark-skinned young man named Darui. There was a hint of laziness on his face, but his words still made everyone nod in agreement.
After all, his status was quite special. He had caught the eye of the Third Raikage and was chosen as the inheritor of one of his techniques. Though still young, his strength was formidable.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been appointed captain of this ship.
The battle on the sea continued.
The Fourth Raikage had already pushed his Lightning Release Armor to the maximum. His entire body transformed into a streak of lightning, darting back and forth around the Three-Tails.
The Three-Tails launched attack after attack, but to it, the Raikage was simply too small. Its strikes were like cannons firing at mosquitoes—impossible to hit.
Instead, it was the one being hammered painfully by the Raikage. Those lightning-attribute attacks made its rage skyrocket with every hit.
"The attack power isn't as strong as the Eight-Tails, but the defense is astonishing."
"Even my fists can't injure it at all?"
"And we're on the open sea. Damn it. Looks like I can only hold it back."
Gekko Chizan, hiding in the sea nearby, nearly failed to hold his breath when he heard that. What? He still wanted to keep the Three-Tails here?
What arrogance.
"Tsk tsk, what's this brute thinking?"
"Keeping the Three-Tails on the open sea? Even if the Nine-Tails came, he wouldn't dare say that."
"When the big turtle dives and lies flat on the seabed, no one will find it. Keep fighting? Forget it!"
Chōmei was, after all, a Tailed Beast. Hearing his little companion being belittled, he immediately started talking back.
If Gekko Chizan weren't here, he would've loved to fire a couple of glowing Tailed Beast Bombs at that shining brute to remind him that a Tailed Beast was still a Tailed Beast!
Of course, that was just wishful thinking. Some great terrors treated Tailed Beasts like adults beating up children.
The First Hokage: Oh?
Uchiha Madara: Oh?
"Roar!"
The Three-Tails, unable to land a hit for so long, wasn't out of options. Terrifying chakra began gathering before it.
This was the precursor to a Tailed Beast Bomb, and the Fourth Raikage recognized the move immediately.
"It's coming!"
"Dodge!"
The Fourth Raikage was confident, but he wasn't stupid. That was a Tailed Beast Bomb. He knew exactly how terrifying it was. No matter how arrogant he was, he wouldn't try to tank that.
Lightning displayed its fastest speed in that instant as he sprinted in the opposite direction.
Seeing its target trying to escape, the Three-Tails naturally wouldn't allow it. Its massive head turned, locking directly onto the Fourth Raikage.
"Damn it, it's locked onto me?"
"Boom!"
The Tailed Beast Bomb formed rapidly, a testament to just how enraged the Three-Tails was. It spared no chakra, accelerating the formation speed to the extreme.
In the next second, a pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb shot straight toward the Fourth Raikage.
The terrifying chakra carved a dividing line across the sea, forcing the surrounding waters to split apart.
"Hmph! It's just a Tailed Beast Bomb. Do you think I have no counter?"
"Full Activation! Body Flicker Technique!"
Lightning surged wildly as the Fourth Raikage's speed increased yet again—this time to the absolute limit.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sea surface, and the Fourth Raikage had already changed direction.
The original Tailed Beast Bomb shot past and ultimately exploded far away over the sea.
"Boom!"
The massive explosion triggered a considerable tsunami.
Even Gekko Chizan, who had been watching the show, had to leave his original spot.
"No need to keep watching. Kirigakure is going to suffer next."
"I'm off!"
With Flying Thunder God activated, Gekko Chizan successfully disengaged. As for what followed, that wasn't his concern.
However, this time he didn't teleport back to the inn.
Instead, he appeared on a hillside outside the town.
The moment he landed, his shadow clones surrounded him. Each one carried large bags, looking like they had made a killing.
"Hehehehe..."
"This is what you call a real profit."
"Alright, alright, time to tally everything up!"
...
An hour later, all of Gekko Chizan's clones had vanished. He himself sat cross-legged, with nearly fifty scrolls placed before him.
"A great harvest, a great harvest."
"Fifty scrolls—probably worth around five hundred million ryō. These guys really did inherit my true teachings."
"Oh no, wait. They are my clones. Hahahahaha!"
Gekko Chizan happily stored away all the scrolls. This round was pure profit for him!
Kirigakure was the one losing. Kumogakure was the one causing trouble. It had nothing to do with him at all. Hahaha.
The moment he finished storing the spoils, the system notification sounded.
[Ding! Detected that the host impersonated Kumogakure pirates to amass wealth during Kumogakure's sneak attack on Kirigakure. Reward: Ninjutsu Amplification +5%]
[Ding! Detected that the host deliberately forced the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, into rampaging Tailed Beast transformation, causing him to strike both his own coastline and Kumogakure pirates. Reward: Ninjutsu Amplification +5%]
Tsk tsk. After all that work, he finally got some rewards. Though compared to five hundred million ryō, this attribute boost was pocket change.
Activating Flying Thunder God once more, Gekko Chizan returned to the inn.
"Haku, Tagitsuhime, get ready. We're leaving."
"The conflict between Kumogakure and Kirigakure won't be resolved this time."
Seeing Gekko Chizan return, Tagitsuhime couldn't help but curl her lips. Based on her understanding of him, he had definitely stirred up far more than just a little trouble.
"Sensei, you're not hurt, are you?"
"I looked out the window earlier. There were robbers everywhere."
Young Haku still hadn't grasped the true essence of his sensei. He actually thought what he saw earlier was someone else's doing.
That left Tagitsuhime utterly speechless.
"Little Haku, what did I tell you earlier? On this island, the one doing the robbing is your sensei."
"He used shadow clones to rob while personally intercepting Kirigakure's shinobi."
"Your sensei here has quite the scheming mind."
Gekko Chizan laughed heartily at that and didn't respond. He simply grabbed Haku with one hand and Tagitsuhime with the other.
"Wait! My snakeberries!"
Gekko Chizan: ... An invincible foodie!