"Madara-senpai, you actually have some?"
"I don't like owing people favors."
Madara replied. He had learned quite a bit from Shanks. Saying this out loud was embarrassing, but it was the truth.
Still, he was Uchiha Madara. Owing someone a favor? That wasn't something he could accept.
But outright saying that he had the Divine Tree in his possession would be too shocking. So he chose a different way to put it.
"I don't have much, but I have enough to build a ship."
Madara spoke calmly.
Now that he finally knew what Shanks wanted, he figured this was a good chance to clear his debt.
After all, they were talking about the legendary Divine Tree.
"That's perfect. I only need a single branch to use as the ship's keel."
Shanks had no idea when Madara ended up owing him a favor, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that his ship was finally coming together.
Now that he thought about it, everything was almost ready. Once he reached his limit and could no longer improve his strength, it would be time to set sail.
As for building the ship, Shanks didn't have the skills to do it himself, but he was confident he'd find the right shipwright in the future.
And if worst came to worst, he could always take a trip to Water 7. Their shipbuilding skills were definitely more reliable than his.
Meanwhile, Zabuza had a plan similar to Shanks'.
But this Water 7 wasn't the same one.
Zabuza was heading to the capital of the Land of Water.
"Captain, the fleet has set sail."
Gato rushed back to the ship with the news.
They had been in port for five days now, and today, the fleet had finally left the port.
"No rush. Their ships aren't fast. If we get too close now, they'll notice us."
Zabuza stood at the bow, watching the departing ships in the distance.
Those were ships from Kirigakure Village.
Every year, Kirigakure received a sum of money from port. It was tribute from the Daimyo of the Land of Water.
The five great nations were all the same.
Even though the ninja villages were strong, they didn't interfere in the country's affairs. This had been a tradition in the ninja world for a long time.
Of course, some smaller countries didn't follow this tradition. In those places, the ninja villages directly governed the country. But the Land of Water wasn't one of them.
"Captain, that's a Land of Water Kirigakure Village ship. If we do this…"
Gato looked worried. He was arrogant, but that didn't mean he had a death wish—especially after getting taught a lesson by Zabuza.
Just thinking about it… If a rogue ninja like Zabuza was already this strong, who knew how many powerful ninjas were on that ship?
On their side, it was just Zabuza and Haku. The rest were nothing but small-time thugs.
"If we don't do this, where's the money going to come from?"
Zabuza snapped.
Gato had spent almost all of his money on weapons just to go against him.
Zabuza regretted it now. If he had known how expensive those ship cannons were, he wouldn't have sunk that boat in the first place.
Now, the Land of Waves was practically broke.
Luckily, Gato did have a talent for making money, which had kept things somewhat stable.
But making money through regular business was just too slow.
To Zabuza, smuggling was just another form of normal business. He couldn't help it—ninjas had a unique way of looking at business.
Take Kakuzu, for example. He considered assassinations a proper way to make money.
Zabuza's mindset was completely different from a "legit businessman" like Gato.
To make money faster, Zabuza had now set his sights on his old employer—Kirigakure Village.
For him, this first move was all about the money.
And the second? That was just for personal revenge.
As a pirate, if you didn't get back at those who wronged you, were you even a real pirate?
"But this is way too risky. There must be a lot of ninjas on that ship.
On our side, it's just you and the first mate. Isn't this too dangerous?"
Lately, Zabuza had been training his crew.
Unlike traditional ninja training, his method was based on techniques from the Six Styles, mixed with chakra training.
This way, they could skip the chakra refinement step and focus directly on improving their physical abilities.
The results varied from person to person, but for ordinary people, it was already a huge improvement.
Still, Gato knew his own limits. They might do fine against regular people, but against trained ninjas? No way.
"So what if it's risky? Are you pirates or cowards?"
Seeing the crew stay silent, Zabuza glared at them in frustration.
The moment their captain got mad, the crew all lowered their heads.
Afraid of dying? Of course, they were.
They used to just be smugglers. Even attacking regular merchant ships was already a big step for them.
And now their captain wanted to rob a Kirigakure Village ship?
"Captain, we…"
"Captain, we're not afraid to die, but we're not strong enough…"
"…"
The crew hesitated, stumbling over their words.
Even Haku, standing beside Zabuza, had a conflicted look in his eyes.
Zabuza had told him not to be too soft-hearted, but watching these people walk to their deaths… Haku couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Captain, everyone just started training not long ago. We're not strong enough to go up against Kirigakure ninjas."
Haku struggled with it for a long time, but in the end, his kindness made him step forward.
"Captain, I don't think it's worth risking our lives for a few hundred million ryo."
His voice was filled with sincerity. He was truly thinking about the whole crew.
Zabuza hesitated after hearing Haku's words.
He wasn't the same ninja he used to be.
He wasn't the Demon of the Hidden Mist anymore.
As the captain of the pirate crew, he had to think about everyone. He was responsible for all of them.
He was strong enough to deal with the enemy, but what about the rest of the crew?
Just as both of them hesitated, the other crew members on the ship were stunned.
What? What did the first mate just say?
There are hundreds of millions of silver taels on that ship?
Hundreds of millions?
Why didn't you say so earlier?!
If there's really that much money, who cares about their lives anymore?
It wasn't just the ordinary crew members—even Gato lost his mind at that moment. He wished he could go back in time and slap himself.
Hundreds of millions of silver ryou!
Taking risks? Sure, there's danger.
But isn't that normal? If there was no danger, Gato would feel guilty about taking the money.
"In that case…"
Zabuza let out a deep sigh. Right now, he had to take responsibility for everyone.
"Captain!"
"Captain, we're willing to take this risk."
"…"
Zabuza was just about to say they should give up, but the crew spoke up one after another.
"Captain, we chose this life. We never planned on backing down."
"That's right, Captain! We're pirates. We've conquered the sea—why should we fear a single ship?"
"If we turn back now, we might never get another chance to move forward, Captain."
"…"
"Everyone?"
Haku was stunned by what he saw.
Just a moment ago, everyone was afraid for their lives. But now…
He finally understood.
This was the charisma of Lord Zabuza.
This was the trust between comrades.
"Captain, we're not a burden to you."
Even Gato spoke excitedly.
"You guys…"
Zabuza was dumbfounded too.
But looking at their determined eyes, he knew his crew was speaking from the heart.
At that moment, Zabuza truly felt what it meant to be responsible.
His crew would stand by him.
So this was what it felt like to be a pirate?
Being the captain of a pirate crew… it wasn't a bad feeling at all.
"Alright, boys!"
"Let's go!"
The next moment, the giant skull flag was unfurled for all to see. The pirate ship set sail from the port of the Water Capital without hiding its presence at all.
The other ships in the port were left in shock.
Since when had a pirate ship appeared among them?
This was the Land of Water Capital, after all!
People couldn't help but worry about the security of the Land of Water.
If pirates could show up even in the Water Capital, who knew how many more were lurking in the country's waters?
But Zabuza and his crew didn't care about any of that.
Their pirate ship was already speeding away.
The crew's morale had never been higher.
Ninjas? Just some outdated warriors.
They were men destined to rule the sea.
The future of the world didn't belong to the ninja—it belonged to the pirates!
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