One step. Then another…
Sandai Tsuchikata moved faster and faster!!
Rolling thunderclouds flashed with lightning.
The towering Susano'o stood against the storm, and behind it, a red-haired man watched in silence.
With each step, Sandai Tsuchikata left behind a trail of blood on the ice. At the same time, the Senjutsu chakra surrounding him grew thicker and stronger.
"Boom!!"
Thunder roared in the sky, and flashes of lightning tore a figure down onto the icy ground. Against the blue backdrop, Shanks and his group stood firm on the ice, like towering mountains.
A gust of wind blew past, carrying Zabuza's voice through the thunder.
"Secret Art: Ship-Cleaving Slash!!"
A terrifying blade strike formed a massive, solid wall. The sheer force sent Sandai Tsuchikata flying once again.
Lightning crackled around Sandai Tsuchikata's shadow, leaving a blood-red streak in the air. The next moment, the freezing cold sealed his falling body in midair.
Soon after, the storm clouds in the sky began to fade.
Shanks, Shisui, and Zabuza exchanged glances, each with a bit of confusion in their eyes.
Even someone as reckless as Zabuza couldn't figure it out—wasn't this guy the one who jumped out first, trying to take them down?
Why did it suddenly feel like they were the ones bullying him instead?
He showed up acting like some big villain, but after taking just one hit from Shanks, now it looked like they were the bad guys.
"Are all people from overseas this weird? But honestly, this guy is ridiculously strong. His chakra and body toughness are just insane."
Zabuza sighed. Sandai Tsuchikata had taken on Susano'o head-on with just his body. He was sent flying, but the only real damage was that his arms were temporarily unusable.
That kind of endurance was crazy.
How many people in the ninja world could do that? He wasn't just tanking Susano'o's body—he was tanking its attacks.
To be honest, Zabuza himself had no confidence in beating this guy.
"Did he say something about being a 'natural sage' earlier?"
Shisui glanced at Shanks. He had never heard of such a thing before.
But this guy's body was clearly different from a normal person's.
"A natural sage, huh? I actually know a bit about that."
"Orochimaru had someone under him like that—born with a sage's body. But every time he used sage powers, he lost control."
Shanks thought of Jugo, but Jugo's power wasn't anywhere near this level.
"This guy, though—his control over sage power seems really strong. But maybe because of his natural sage body, it affected his intelligence in some way."
Shanks found an explanation that made perfect sense.
Jugo went berserk whenever he used sage power, but Sandai Tsuchikata didn't. His control was nearly perfect, and his power was far greater.
After all, even when Jugo lost control, he was still beaten down by Killer Bee. And Killer Bee wasn't even on the same level as Shisui—at least, not anymore. Shisui was way too strong now, even without sage mode.
Sandai Tsuchikata's only flaw was that he didn't seem very smart. He definitely had some issues in that department.
Of course, with gains come losses. He traded some intelligence for immense strength—it wasn't exactly a bad deal.
Compared to Jugo, Sandai Tsuchikata was winning big.
"I see. A natural sage… No wonder it's so hard to control that kind of power. Just keeping it from going out of control is impressive enough."
"But after years of suppressing that power, it's not surprising if it affected his mind."
Shisui nodded. He couldn't deny it.
He wasn't an expert on the human body, but he had been around Amado long enough to pick up a few things.
"That makes sense. I guess a power like this always comes with a price.
So… is this guy gonna be okay?"
Zabuza looked at the frozen Sandai Tsuchikata, feeling a bit worried. With injuries that bad, would he even survive?
"He'll be fine. He has strong life force. As long as he didn't die on the spot, his body will heal itself."
Haku walked over. He could clearly sense that Sandai Tsuchikata's body was still recovering. Even with his own power, he couldn't fully stop the healing process.
At most, in three months, Tsuchikata would break free from the ice using his own strength.
That is, if a sage could go three months without eating or drinking.
"So this is what a born sage is like? His body naturally absorbs nature energy and instinctively creates Senjutsu chakra."
Shisui was envious. There was no way he wouldn't be. With a body like that, just a little effort would be enough to reach a level that most people in this world could never even touch.
Too bad it also came with intelligence issues.
Thinking about it, Shisui decided he'd rather not have it. He wasn't as wise as Shanks or as scientifically gifted as Amado, but he was satisfied with his own mind.
"Alright then, the three of us will handle the interrogation together."
Shisui glanced at Shanks, who nodded back at him in understanding.
"Get whatever information you can out of him. This guy doesn't seem very bright—looks like someone just used him as a tool. Let's see if Dark is behind this."
After saying that, Shanks didn't bother with it anymore.
It really did seem like something Dark would do. After all, this wasn't the first time he had pulled something like this.
"Dark sure loves these little tricks, huh? No idea where he even dug up this sage from."
Hearing Shanks say that, Zabuza also started to suspect Dark.
Dark had used this kind of manipulation more than once before.
The first time, he gathered tens of thousands of pirates to attack Shanks.
The second time, he joined forces with ninjas from the Land of Water and the Land of Thunder to march on Konohagakure.
The third time, he went to the Land of Wind and straight-up blew up the Greyl Stone mines.
And you're telling me Dark didn't do it on purpose? He went all the way to the Land of Wind, didn't bother searching for the Divine Tree's group, and just camped out at the Greyl Stone mines.
Who would believe that wasn't intentional?
Even Orochimaru had his doubts. He suspected Dark planned to blow up both him and Shanks.
Dark definitely had the ambition and ability to do something like that. And he had a reason to get rid of Orochimaru, too.
Shanks also found it strange. Someone had actually managed to dig up a "monster" like this? He had never thought the world of Naruto was this deep.
But as for interrogating Sandai Tsuchikata, Shisui and the others could handle it.
Shanks, on the other hand, just needed to sort through the worldview of Naruto again. He felt like he must have overlooked something.
Back in his captain's quarters, Shanks sat down and thought carefully. He had read through most of Naruto already. Even if he had skipped some parts, he wouldn't have missed the overall picture.
"A born sage… In theory, that should be possible. It makes sense. So appearing in the ninja world isn't strange at all."
"There's Jugo, who can't even control himself, so naturally, there should be others who can. But if that's the case, why didn't we see them in Naruto?"
Shanks thought about it. There weren't many sages in Naruto, and they were all part of the ninja system. As for born sages, Jugo was the only one.
So there wasn't much for Shanks to use as a reference.
As for whether the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had a natural sage body, Shanks wasn't sure. He had no idea what the Sage Mode of the Shikkotsu Forest was really like.
But if sages could be born or trained, then the power structure of this world might need to be divided even further.
It wasn't really surprising. Sandai Tsuchikata's appearance just filled in some gaps in Shanks' earlier thoughts.
Now that a third-party force had emerged, the truth of the ninja world was probably about to become much clearer.
"Why does everything feel like it's getting bigger and more complicated?"
"Other people who end up in the Naruto world at this point are usually just dealing with Danzo, trying to outmaneuver him. Even in the most overpowered stories, by now, they'd have taken over as Hokage and be thinking about how to handle the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Or maybe they'd be preparing to take on the Akatsuki. But why does it feel so different for me?"
Shanks watched as things spiraled out of control, and a bad feeling started creeping in.
This ninja world seemed to be getting deeper and more dangerous. Even if this was supposed to be 'Naruto: Pirate Chronicles,' did it really have to be this complicated? Or was he just not reckless enough?
Shanks thought about it—he really hadn't been using his brain that much.
He knew himself well enough. He had a brain, sure, but he wasn't about to take on the entire ninja world in a battle of wits.
So, he didn't bother with complex strategies. He went with the simplest approach: drag all the schemers down to his level, force them to play by his rules, and then use his experience to keep them from outsmarting him.
Just look at what he'd been doing. He played everything openly—so openly that he was practically forcing everyone else to do the same.
That way, his own strength could shine through completely. He never tried to play it safe or slowly build up power in secret.
He went all in, straight-up warrior style. No tricks, just strength. Forget mind games—bring on the action!
But what Shanks didn't expect was that while he was keeping things simple, the rest of the ninja world seemed to be reacting in a way that made things even more complicated.
Even though he was just playing at level one, everyone else somehow lifted him up to a whole new level.
And the one responsible for this mess...
On Zabuza's ship, Shisui, Haku, and Zabuza all stared at Sandai Tofu, who was sitting there with his head unsealed.
Zabuza: "Should I do the questioning?"
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