"Are we just accepting this... isn't it a bit inappropriate?"
At the pier, beside a brand-new sailing ship, Sasuke and the others were saying goodbye to Fossa and his crew.
"Sasuke-kun, saying that is looking down on us Whitebeard Pirates."
"Exactly, exactly!"
"And us too! You're this island's saviors!"
"That's right, we can't let our saviors leave empty-handed—"
Upon learning about the embarrassing situation where Sasuke and his companions lost their means of transport due to someone's drunken rampage, everyone first burst into merry laughter, then volunteered to help build them a ship.
But Fossa was even more direct. He outright vetoed the townspeople's plan and instead notified his comrades to bring a ship.
In his own words, "When it comes to ships, it's better to leave it to us professionals."
Seeing that their gratitude had nowhere else to go, the residents spontaneously prepared various supplies needed for the voyage.
Among them, the locally brewed specialty alcohol was politely declined by Sasuke.
Yamato issued a strong protest, but the final vote result of 2 to 1 declared the protest invalid.
Baby-5 was inclined to vote in favor, but she also knew she couldn't be too obvious.
Besides, without a ship, reaching the next island wouldn't be so simple.
She liked Sasuke.
Not just because Sasuke had told her he needed her.
But also because Sasuke gave her life a different meaning.
To be honest, do you think Baby-5 didn't realize she had been helping a tyrant all those years in the Donquixote Family?
That was obviously impossible.
As one of the few in that family who still had a conscience and kindness, she had also thought about doing good deeds.
But in the end, they were all vetoed by her 'family members'.
To Baby-5 at that time, her family members' opinions were more important than her own will.
So she wouldn't rebel.
Even though she would get angry at Doflamingo because her suitor was killed, it couldn't change the fact that she still unconditionally followed his orders.
But after the Snake-People Crisis in Dressrosa, Baby-5 finally grasped a bit of life's meaning.
Evil deeds are evil deeds… they don't change in nature just because you do them for someone.
Those shouldn't be excuses.
Especially after witnessing those tragedies firsthand, Baby-5's somewhat distorted worldview was finally torn open by that impact.
Now, Baby-5 genuinely liked Sasuke.
Not because Sasuke needed her, but because Sasuke was Sasuke.
It wouldn't work with anyone else.
Of course, to Sasuke himself, there didn't seem to be much change in this regard.
Every time he looked back, Baby-5 always had that same heart-eyed expression, not much different from the little girls back in his village.
Because they had dealt with Crocodile, Sasuke and his two companions obtained a brand-new ship and a full load of supplies without spending a single penny.
According to Fossa, this ship was built by a superbly skilled shipwright. Most of their pirate fleet's ships were repaired there.
In terms of skill, it ranked high even in Water 7.
Amid the crowd's farewell cheers, the trio set off on their journey again.
But just as Yamato naturally reached for the ship's wheel, Sasuke stopped her.
"Huh?"
She herself was still somewhat confused.
"From now on, I'll steer this ship. You just need to give me the direction."
Sasuke's tone was firm, leaving no room for discussion.
"What?! Am I so untrustworthy?"
Yamato was indignant.
She was met with two pairs of speechless gazes in return.
Yamato's confidence faltered.
She finally conceded.
"Alright, alright, last time was my fault. We'll do as you say then."
Saying so, Yamato, without any regard, directly reached into her chest, pulled out a Vivre Card still carrying some body warmth, and placed it in Sasuke's hand.
This made both Sasuke and Baby-5 embarrassed.
Especially Sasuke. He now felt that warm white paper was really a bit too hot to handle.
Heaven and earth can bear witness… he originally just wanted Yamato to point the way from the side. This girl really has no sense of gender boundaries!
—Though, this was also his fault.
He should have realized this earlier.
"Hold it steady, don't let the wind blow it away. I only have this one!"
Seeing Sasuke's fingers half-clenched, Yamato immediately reached out discontentedly, helping him grip the Vivre Card tightly.
"Here, the corner the Vivre Card points to is the direction of Naruto-sama."
Hearing this, Sasuke also forced himself to maintain a poker face, looking at the Vivre Card.
One corner of the white paper was now slightly raised, still trembling towards a certain direction even without any wind.
Following this direction for thousands of nautical miles, passing through storms, crossing the Red Line, leaving the Grand Line, entering the Calm Belt.
There, a place called [Island of Women], Amazon Lily.
...
On an outlying island not far from Amazon Lily's main island.
Here, trees formed shade, the jungle was lush.
Correspondingly, there were more creatures like snakes, insects, rats, ants, birds, and beasts, and their sizes were all surprisingly large.
In the forest that resembled a sea of trees, there was an area uniquely without tree shade, where sunlight shone directly down, making the place seem less dangerous.
However, as the largest freshwater pool on the island, many fierce beasts came here to drink.
Countless killings occurred over the water source, so the weaker creatures on the island tried to avoid this place during the day as much as possible.
After all, you never knew if a pair of eyes were watching you from the shadows, waiting for you to let your guard down before striking.
At the very center of the mirror-like lake water, a solitary figure was currently standing.
The figure standing on the water's surface caused some of the more intelligent beasts to feel a bit puzzled… they didn't know how he managed it.
The figure had his legs slightly bent in a horse stance, both hands holding aloft a rock larger than himself.
Perhaps it was this huge rock that made the beasts hold back a little.
"Haaah… Huuuh…"
The person standing in the middle of the lake was none other than the wilderness survival expert, Sarutobi Konohamaru.
At this moment, Konohamaru was bare-chested. Sweat slid down his forehead in rhythm with his breathing, flowing over his bare upper body, then absorbed by the sash tied around his waist.
After all, he also drank from this lake, so he tried to avoid sweat seeping into it as much as possible… though compared to the lake's volume, that sweat was practically negligible.
Since coming to Amazon Lily with Naruto, Konohamaru had started his 'advanced training'.
Training like today's, which simultaneously exercised Chakra Control and physical stamina, was only considered a 'warm-up'.
The real main event was yet to come—
Swish swish swish!!
The quiet forest suddenly echoed with the sound of leaves rubbing, followed by dozens of black shadows swooping down from mid-air.
Looking in the sunlight, they were actually horseflies the size of fists!
Their stingers reflected an ominous purple light… they clearly weren't to be trifled with.
And indeed, that was the case.
During Konohamaru's first few days thrown onto this outlying island, he had encountered these terrifying killer horseflies.
Even though he used every trick at the time, killing wave after wave of the swarm, he was still ambushed by one killer horsefly's stinger when he let his guard down.
These creatures had a fast-acting biological toxin on their stingers that could paralyze a prey's nerves.
After crushing the last killer horsefly, he only had time to pull out the stinger before weakly slumping to the ground.
It was only by relying on the half-baked Medical Ninjutsu he learned from Karin that he managed to neutralize the toxin, regaining his freedom of movement before nightfall.
But now—
"Horseflies?"
Without opening his eyes, Konohamaru had already discerned the killer horseflies' movements.
Then he silently switched to supporting the huge rock above his head with one hand... causing more sweat to appear on his forehead.
The freed hand reached into the ninja tool pouch on his waist.
Then several shuriken were rapidly thrown.
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
With eyes closed, he formed hand seals with one hand. The several shuriken split into two, then four in mid-air, becoming a dark, dense mass in the blink of an eye.
The fierce killer horseflies, before the Haki-wrapped shuriken, only resisted briefly before being slaughtered completely.
After finishing this, Konohamaru gave a strong tug, pulling the shuriken that had fallen to the ground back using the wire threads wrapped around them.
After properly arranging them, he put them back into his pouch.
After all, in the big forest, these shuriken were limited, making one less for each use. So, Konohamaru came up with the reusable method of attaching wires.
And indeed, it was quite effective.
After dealing with these uninvited guests, Konohamaru acted as if nothing had happened, lifting the huge rock again, quietly standing in the center of the lake.
A gentle breeze blew, carrying a faint trace of blood lingering on the shore deeper into the forest.