Early morning, the gentle sun rose from the horizon, illuminating the Bloody Mary drifting in the center of the river.
"Looks like good weather today."
The clear weather improved the mood of Uchiha Kazuhiko, who was sitting on the boat's roof.
He took out the training scroll for the C-rank Fire Release Jutsu—Phoenix Flower Jutsu, an heirloom from his parents, and began studying it.
The expedition team members, having rested through the night, woke up one after another.
They washed up, ate, and then went about their own business.
"Hey, hey, can you hear me?"
"How about now? Can you hear me?"
Gail, responsible for monitoring the expedition's work, had to report the latest progress to the higher-ups every day.
But being in such a remote tropical rainforest made receiving a signal very difficult.
She could only walk around, trying to find a spot with slightly better reception to communicate with the staff on the other end of the phone.
"Oh, this damned rainforest!"
Ultimately failing to establish a proper connection, Gail cursed angrily, forcefully pressed the end-call button on her phone, and leaned dejectedly against the ship's railing.
It was just Gail's rotten luck.
The place she was leaning against happened to be the bow side door where the gangplank connected to the dock.
Perhaps because it wasn't locked properly or due to the Bloody Mary's age and disrepair, the side door suddenly swung open under her weight.
Caught completely off guard, Gail lost her balance and fell with a splash into the murky river water.
"Help! Someone help me!"
Gail, struggling in the river, screamed for help, throwing the expedition team into a panic.
For a moment, the scene became chaotic.
Uchiha Kazuhiko immediately stopped his jutsu study, stored the scroll back into his system space, and moved to Dr. Jack's side to guard his safety.
The brawny Jordan also reacted then, shouting to the sailor Ah Chuan, who was piloting the Bloody Mary,
"Hey, man, stop the boat!"
Ah Chuan's piloting skills were excellent.
Upon hearing this, he immediately maneuvered the boat to a stop. Everyone hurried to the stern to rescue the fallen Gail.
Gail actually knew how to swim.
Her initial scream was just a subconscious reaction.
Once she regained her composure, she started swimming towards the stern on her own.
Seeing she was physically fine, everyone relaxed.
"Hey, Gail, is the signal better underwater than on the boat?"
"You bastard Jordan, wait till I get up there, I'll kick you down so you can try it yourself!"
Jordan, who always had a bit of a rivalry with Gail, teased her upon seeing her disheveled state, provoking her causing displeasure and anger. She planned to teach him a lesson once she was back on board.
Just as the others were also about to joke with Gail, Uchiha Kazuhiko, who was guarding Dr. Jack, suddenly leaped up.
He pulled a kunai from the tool pouch strapped to his thigh and jumped towards the area behind Gail.
Under the puzzled gazes of everyone, the kunai in Uchiha Kazuhiko's right hand shot out, arriving later but striking first.
It accurately pierced the head of a large crocodile that had leaped out from under the water.
With a forceful twist, he instantly extinguished the crocodile's life force.
After slaying the crocodile, Uchiha Kazuhiko grabbed Gail's arm with his left hand, used the crocodile's corpse for a slight push-off with his feet, and carried Gail as he jumped back onto the stern deck.
Only then did everyone realize that a crocodile had been preparing to ambush Gail from underwater, and Uchiha Kazuhiko had become the hero who saved her.
Uchiha Kazuhiko's slender build formed a striking contrast with the crocodile's massive corpse.
If they hadn't witnessed it happen with their own eyes, they would never have believed it was something Uchiha Kazuhiko could do.
"Oh my God, what have I found? Dude, are you Superman?"
The chatterbox Cole looked at the calm Uchiha Kazuhiko with shining eyes, excitedly exclaiming.
"I'm no Superman. You can think of it as Chinese Kung Fu."
Uchiha Kazuhiko didn't plan to explain too much to them.
He brushed it off with an explanation foreigners could easily understand, then jumped back onto the roof, leaving behind the group with their varied expressions.
After the boat continued on its way, Uchiha Kazuhiko glanced back at the crocodile corpse being devoured by a giant snake downstream, shook his head, and returned to his jutsu studies.
Although Gail was a strong woman, this was the first time she had experienced such danger.
Recalling the crocodile's wide-open jaws right in front of her still made her whole body tremble.
Comforted by Sam, Gail gradually calmed down. She looked gratefully towards the roof, a feeling of guilt arising in her heart.
From the very beginning, she had looked down on the student-like Uchiha Kazuhiko, even considering him dead weight on the team. Now it seemed it was all just her own self-righteous assumptions.
The daytime hours passed quickly.
Nightfall arrived again, accompanied by a downpour.
If there was any difference from last night, it was probably the completely changed way everyone looked at Uchiha Kazuhiko.
Relying on his outstanding strength, Uchiha Kazuhiko earned the awe and respect of everyone on board.
The only slight annoyance was the chatterbox Cole, who kept pestering Uchiha Kazuhiko, wanting to learn Chinese Kung Fu from him.
After great difficulty finding a few excuses to get rid of Cole, Uchiha Kazuhiko's ears finally found some peace. He ate a little something and then returned to the cabin to rest.
Late at night, Uchiha Kazuhiko heard the sounds of Dr. Jack moving about and immediately woke from his light sleep.
He saw Dr. Jack leave the cabin and walk towards the deck.
Concerned for his safety, Uchiha Kazuhiko got up and followed him.
He found Dr. Jack talking with Captain Bill as they walked towards the pilothouse.
Captain Bill, turning around and noticing it was Uchiha Kazuhiko, invited him to join them in the pilothouse.
Uchiha Kazuhiko glanced at Dr. Jack and accepted the invitation.
In the pilothouse, Captain Bill pointed at the turbulent Man River outside the Bloody Mary and said,
"We have a problem. The water level is rising much faster than previously estimated. The Man River is very dangerous now. I think we need to turn around and find another route, but that will probably take a few extra days."
"Do you know what those Blood Orchids represent? They are the greatest discovery in medical history. We don't have that much time to waste now."
Dr. Jack, who had almost staked everything on the Blood Orchids, refused Captain Bill's suggestion, insisting on sticking to the original route.
"Sounds impressive, but what does that have to do with me?" A major medical discovery held no value for Captain Bill; at least, not compared to colorful US dollars. "If you insist on me risking forcibly crossing the Man River, then you'll have to add a bit more money."
"Fine. I'll pay you an extra fifty thousand dollars out of my own pocket."
Dr. Jack didn't even think about this small condition proposed by Captain Bill and agreed directly.
"Deal. But if we run into trouble, you all have to listen to me." Captain Bill looked towards Uchiha Kazuhiko, who seemed unfathomable in his eyes, waiting for his response.
"I am only responsible for Dr. Jack's safety. Everything else is unrelated to me."
Uchiha Kazuhiko had no objections.
As long as he could complete the mission, it was fine.
If he knew the exact location of the Blood Orchids, he wouldn't even have let Dr. Jack board the boat; he would have gone to pick the Blood Orchids himself.
"OK, it's settled then."
After the discussion concluded, Captain Bill, having earned some extra cash, was in a great mood and celebrated with a swig from his flask.
Uchiha Kazuhiko accompanied Dr. Jack back to the cabin to rest, conserving their energy to prepare for the journey ahead.