It was a woman in her fifties, her skin darkened by years of sea wind, her face lined with deep wrinkles.
"Tsunade-sama, you're here."
Captain Shimaho jumped down from the ship and bowed respectfully.
"The ship is fully prepared. We have ample supplies and can depart at any time."
"Thanks for your hard work."
Tsunade nodded.
"This is Captain Shimaho. She'll be in charge of the voyage from here on out."
Everyone exchanged greetings.
Captain Shimaho's gaze swept over the group, pausing briefly when it landed on Rin Nohara.
Rin looked the youngest, and her aura was the gentlest too, nothing like a seasoned ninja.
But the captain asked no questions.
After spending decades at sea, she knew better than most that the ninja world was unfathomable, and appearances were often deceiving.
"Please come aboard. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can reach our first stop before dusk."
The five of them boarded the Seagull.
It was not a large ship, but it was well designed. The deck was spacious, and the cabin was divided into several separate rooms.
Tsunade and Shizune shared one room, Kurenai and Rin shared another, while Kiyohara chose a single cabin near the bow.
It had the best view and made it easier to watch the sea.
Captain Shimaho and her three crew members quickly got to work. Raising the sails, untying the lines, adjusting the rudder—every movement was smooth and practiced.
The sailboat slowly left the harbor and entered open waters.
The sea was calm, the wind steady, and the ship moved southeast at a stable pace.
Rin stood by the rail, gazing out over the ocean with curiosity.
The blue water stretched all the way to the horizon, blending into the sky.
Seagulls circled behind the ship, crying out sharply.
"It's beautiful…"
she murmured.
"Yeah. The sea always has a way of making people feel more open."
Kurenai walked over to stand beside her.
"But don't let the surface fool you. The sea is beautiful, but it's also dangerous. Storms, reefs, sea beasts… out here, accidents can happen at any time."
"Have you sailed a lot, Kurenai?"
"Not that much, but I've got some experience."
Kurenai shook her head.
As she spoke, she looked toward the bow.
Kiyohara was standing there with his eyes closed, seemingly in the middle of some kind of training.
And in fact, he was.
He was talking with Toad Kiyohara about natural energy, asking whether he knew of any places outside the Three Great Sage Regions where natural energy was especially dense.
But to everyone else, it just looked like Kiyohara was standing there quietly thinking.
He was trying to apply the natural energy sensing method Toad Kiyohara had taught him to a marine environment.
The flow of natural energy at sea was much more complicated than it was on land.
The tides, the ocean currents, the terrain beneath the sea…
All of it influenced how natural energy was distributed.
"In the ninja world, the ocean covers at least sixty to seventy percent of the surface, but the Three Great Sage Regions are all on land, not at sea. Could it be that natural energy in the ocean just isn't as rich as it is on land?"
Kiyohara asked Toad Kiyohara.
It really was a blind spot.
Mount Myoboku was a mountain range. Ryuchi Cave was a serpent den.
As for Shikkotsu Forest, it had never been clearly stated what kind of place it was, but judging from slugs' natural habits, they preferred dark, damp environments, so it was probably something between Ryuchi Cave and Mount Myoboku.
Most likely a vast forest full of dense brush and undergrowth.
But no matter how you looked at it, none of them were in the ocean.
"I'm not too sure either, croak."
Toad Kiyohara folded his forelimbs and shook his head.
He rarely ever went into the ocean himself.
"I see."
Kiyohara stroked his chin.
Though looking at the original story, there really did not seem to be many truly powerful lifeforms in the ocean.
Just then, he sensed something strange.
About a kilometer off the ship's front-left side, the seafloor terrain suddenly grew complicated.
That area should have had a flat seabed, but instead there were large, irregular rises, almost like some kind of man-made structure.
Even stranger, a large number of living beings were clustered around those structures.
They were not ordinary marine creatures, but some sort of… hybrid.
They had human outlines, but with fish-like traits.
Some were swimming between rocks, others lurking in shadow, and all of them were oriented toward the ship.
Kiyohara opened his Sharingan and could see chakra flowing inside their bodies, glowing like distant fireflies.
"Sensei."
Kiyohara opened his eyes and turned toward Tsunade.
Tsunade was in the cabin studying a map of the Land of the Sea. She looked up when she heard him.
"What is it?"
"There's something unusual about a kilometer ahead to the left. On the seafloor."
Kiyohara briefly explained what he had sensed.
"A large number of unknown creatures are gathering. Their target may be us."
Tsunade immediately stood up.
"Tell everyone to get ready for combat. Shizune, go inform Granny Shimaho and have her prepare to change course if necessary."
"Yes!"
Shizune quickly left the cabin.
Soon, everyone gathered on deck.
Captain Shimaho came over as well, her face grim.
"Tsunade-sama, should we alter our course?"
"Let's assess the situation first."
Tsunade walked to the bow and looked into the distance.
At first, the sea appeared calm.
But seconds later, she saw them—dark green shapes rising from beneath the surface, their scales glinting in the sunlight.
"That's…"
She narrowed her eyes.
The shadows became clearer and clearer.
They had human limbs and torsos, but their bodies were covered in dark green scales.
Their fingers and toes were webbed. Their faces retained human features, but their eyes were larger and lidless, their noses flat, and their mouths split all the way back toward their ears, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
Half human, half fish.
"Sea monsters…"
Captain Shimaho sucked in a breath.
"So the rumors were true. For years people have said sea monsters in this area have been attacking fishing boats. So it really was true!"
Tsunade lowered her hand seal, her expression grave.
"They're not natural creatures. Their body structure… looks more like the result of artificial modification."
Kiyohara said it plainly.
He, Tsunade, and Shizune all knew medical ninjutsu.
That made it easy for them to recognize how unnatural these creatures were at a glance.
Kiyohara was already certain in his heart that this was Orochimaru's handiwork.
He had probably been provoked by Kiyohara and started developing the Cursed Seal ahead of schedule.
Which, in turn, caused these fish-men to appear earlier than they had in the original story.
"Everyone, prepare for battle. There are a lot of them—at least thirty."
Tsunade ordered.
"Tsunade-sama, I can use Water Release to control the sea surface and limit their movements," Rin said.
With only her own chakra, that would be difficult.
But with tailed beast chakra helping her, it was a different story.
"All right. That's the plan."
Tsunade clenched her fist.
"Granny Shimaho, take your crew and hide in the cabin. No matter what happens, do not come out."
"U-understood!"
Captain Shimaho hurried off with the crew.
Only the five ninja remained on deck.
The sea wind turned cold.
In the distance, the ocean began to churn, and the dark green figures closed in at terrifying speed.
"They're here."
Kiyohara drew his ninja sword.
The first monster leaped out of the water.
It traced a high arc through the air, rising nearly ten meters before slamming heavily onto the deck.
The wooden planks cracked inward, but the creature stood up completely unharmed.
At close range, its appearance was even more grotesque.
Dark green scales covered its entire body, wet and gleaming in the sunlight. Its eyes were a murky yellow, with no pupils, just a cloudy, empty stare.
When it opened its mouth, two rows of serrated teeth and a forked tongue became visible.
"Hiss…"
The creature gave a snake-like hiss and lunged at the nearest target—Kurenai.
Kurenai did not retreat. Her hands flew through seals.
"Demonic Illusion: Mist Servant Technique!"
Her figure instantly blurred and split into three illusionary copies.
The monster struck nothing but a phantom, its claws tearing through empty illusion.
At the same moment, Shizune made her move.
With a flick of both hands, dozens of poisoned senbon shot out.
They struck the monster's joints and vital points.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
But the senbon bounced right off its scales.
"What tough scales!"
Shizune cried out.
The creature spun and pounced toward her, even faster than before.
Shizune hurried backward, but the creature's claws were already in front of her face.
Then a flash of steel cut through the air.
Kiyohara appeared in front of her and slashed horizontally with his blade.
His sword collided with the creature's claws, producing a screech of metal scraping against metal.
The creature was powerful.
But Kiyohara was stronger.
Slash!
His blade cut through the scales and sank deep into the creature's shoulder.
Dark green blood sprayed out, carrying a thick, fishy stench.
The creature let out a pained screech, but it did not fall.
Instead, it swung its other claw toward Kiyohara's heart, completely ignoring its own injury.
Kiyohara sidestepped the strike and flicked his blade upward, severing the entire arm.
Then came another slash, cleanly taking off its head.
The monster's head rolled across the deck. Its body twitched a few times, then went still.
But that was only the beginning.
More monsters leapt onto the deck. One, two, five, ten…
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty of the half-fish monsters had gathered on the ship.
They surrounded the five from all directions, yellow eyes locked on them, hissing nonstop.
"There are too many…"
Kurenai frowned slightly. She specialized in genjutsu, but these monsters seemed to lack complete consciousness, greatly weakening her illusion techniques.
"Rin, use a defensive Water Release."
Kiyohara called out.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Rin slammed both hands onto the deck.
The seawater around the ship suddenly rose up, forming four thick walls of water that enclosed the entire vessel.
The monsters that leaped at them crashed into the water walls, their speed noticeably reduced.
But they quickly adjusted, shredding the water barriers with their claws and continuing forward.
"It's no good! Their scales are too hard—normal attacks won't work well!"
Shizune fired off another volley of senbon, and once again, every one of them bounced away.
Tsunade stood in the center of the group, her brows locked together.
She was afraid of blood. Even though this blood was green, it still placed a heavy strain on her.
So she shut her eyes and relied solely on chakra sensing.
It did not take long for her to realize that although the monsters attacked fiercely, they had no coordination.
Each one fought on its own, sometimes even getting in each other's way.
And their eyes seemed unusually sensitive to light. They instinctively avoided places where the sunlight struck directly.
Seeing such a large number of sea monsters already on deck, Kiyohara knew cutting them down one by one would be far too inefficient.
He planned to use a large-scale area attack instead.
That was also why he had asked Rin to use a defensive Water Release. He did not want his next jutsu to destroy the ship by accident.
Kiyohara sheathed his blade and formed the Horse seal.
He took a deep breath, his chest expanding, then exhaled all at once.
A roaring cascade of fire poured out like a blazing waterfall, instantly covering the entire deck.
The temperature of the flames was immense, warping the air.
The monsters at the front were swallowed whole and let out piercing screams.
Their scales blackened, curled, and fell away almost immediately under the heat. Flesh charred and gave off a sickening burnt stench.
That one move alone wiped out nearly all of the sea monsters.
Only two or three in the back managed to dive into the ocean in time and escape.
"Don't think you're getting away."
Kurenai's hands flashed through seals.
"Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death!"
The escaping monsters suddenly froze.
In their hallucination, thick vines erupted upward from the sea around them and bound them tightly in place.
The genjutsu would not last long, but it was enough to buy them time.
Shizune seized the opening, pulled a few small bottles from her medicine kit, and hurled them into the cluster of monsters.
The bottles shattered midair, spraying liquid everywhere. The moment it hit the air, it vaporized into a pale purple mist.
It was a nerve toxin of her own design, absorbed through both the respiratory system and the skin.
After inhaling the mist, the monsters' movements visibly slowed, and some even began to stagger.
"It's working!"
Shizune's eyes lit up.
But at that moment, another wave of sea monsters appeared in the distance, and one especially large creature broke through the line.
It was a full size larger than the others, with dark blue scales and a sharp bony horn protruding from its forehead.
This one was clearly smarter. It avoided both the flames and the poison mist, then sprang straight up from the surface of the sea and lunged toward the one who looked weakest—Rin Nohara.
But just as its claws were about to reach her, red chakra burst out from her body like flames.
A tail made of chakra formed behind her and swayed slowly.
Her eyes shifted into beast-like vertical pupils, and red markings spread across her face.
She raised one hand.
Boom!
The charging monster struck what felt like an invisible wall and was sent flying backward at even greater speed, slamming into the ship's railing hard enough to shatter it.
The monsters seemed to sense that their chance was gone, and attacked again.
But this time, their momentum had noticeably weakened. Some had even begun to retreat.
"They're trying to run!"
Shizune shouted.
"We can't let them get back and report this!"
Kiyohara nodded, looking at the newly arrived monsters.
If all of them dove back into the sea, Fire Release would be difficult to use against them.
The best option would be Lightning Release—just blast the fish directly.
But this time, Kiyohara wanted to try something else.
He extended his right hand, palm facing upward.
Blue chakra began gathering and spinning, forming a rapidly rotating sphere.
The Rasengan.
But that was not enough.
Kiyohara refined fire-nature chakra and slowly fed it into the Rasengan.
It was a dangerous process.
The Rasengan was the ultimate form of pure chakra shape transformation. Adding elemental nature transformation required incredibly precise control.
The moment the balance slipped, the chakra would explode out of control.
Kiyohara could feel the fire chakra fusing with the Rasengan, the two different forces colliding and intertwining in his palm.
A blazing heat began spreading outward.
The Rasengan's color shifted from blue to orange-red, fiery patterns appearing across its surface.
The temperature of the surrounding air rose sharply, and visible heat distortion rippled into view.
"That's…"
Kurenai stared with wide eyes at the newly developed technique in Kiyohara's hand.
"Fire Release: Microwave Style—Great Flame Rasengan!"
Kiyohara opened his eyes. The Rasengan in his palm had fully transformed into a burning fireball.
It was not merely wrapped in flames.
The Rasengan itself had become flame.
He thrust it toward the densest cluster of monsters.
The instant the fireball left his hand, the temperature across the entire deck jumped by more than ten degrees.
The sea wind warped in the heat and began howling.
The monsters sensed the fatal danger and let out terrified shrieks, scattering in every direction.
But it was too late.
The Great Flame Rasengan carved an orange-red trail through the air and smashed down onto the sea below.
Boom!
The explosion was beyond anything anyone expected.
It was not just a blast wave and fire—it was the Rasengan's spiraling destructive force combined with searing heat.
Flames burst outward from the center of impact, expanding in a ring of fire.
Every monster caught within that ring was torn apart and burned black before it could even scream.
When the flames finally faded, the sea surface itself had been gouged into a depression.
Only after a few moments did the surrounding water slowly rush in and fill it back up.
After that, Kiyohara and the others began cleaning up the battlefield.
Once most of the blood had been cleared away, Kiyohara finally told Tsunade it was safe to open her eyes.
"Sensei, during the fight I noticed one creature that never joined the attack. It stayed back and watched from a distance, then fled the moment the battle ended."
"It escaped?"
Kurenai frowned.
"Do you think it went back to report?"
"Very likely."
Tsunade nodded.
"Then we need to move faster. Captain Shimaho!"
Captain Shimaho and her crew emerged from the cabin, trembling all over. The moment they saw the state of the deck, they all sucked in cold breaths.
"Th-this… this…"
"Forget 'this' and 'that.' Clean the deck and get us moving at full speed!"
Tsunade ordered.
"We need to reach the Land of the Sea before the other side has time to react!"
"Y-yes!"
The crew immediately got to work.
As for Kiyohara, he rose directly into the air and flew off into the distance.
He had intentionally spared that sea monster because he wanted to follow it back to its nest.
But after observing it for a while, he noticed something strange. As the fleeing sea monster kept escaping, the color of its scales began to change, fading from dark green and revealing pale skin underneath.
Then the entire creature floated up onto the surface of the sea.
Its scales began dropping away one by one, exposing human skin.
The webbing vanished. The claws shrank. The fish-like gills on its face began receding.
A few minutes later, what lay before him was no longer a monster, but a human woman.
She looked to be in her twenties, with long black hair and delicate features, though her face was deathly pale.
She wore tattered cloth clothing, torn open in many places where the scales had burst through.
The most striking feature was her neck.
There was a black curse mark there, shaped like a coiled snake.
Kiyohara took one look and realized she resembled Isaribi from the original story.
Seeing that, Kiyohara grabbed her and flew back to the deck.
"Sensei, come take a look at this."
Tsunade walked over and raised a brow when she saw the creature.
"It's still alive?"
"Yeah. And… it looks like it's changing back into human form."
Just as Kiyohara said, the creature was still transforming.
~~~
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