Back in Konoha, he had been the clan leader for over a decade, enduring step by step and yielding at every turn, yet in the end, he had almost led the entire clan into the abyss of extinction.
It was this young boy, only eleven years old, who had masterminded the entire evacuation single-handedly, leading the whole clan out of Konoha’s cage and finding a land where the displaced Uchiha could finally settle down.
Furthermore, in this completely foreign world, whether it was the power system, the rules of survival, or the path forward, Shin saw everything more clearly and acted with more decisiveness than he did.
Rather than clutching onto this hollow power, letting Shin lead the clan forward was perhaps the best choice for the Uchiha.
When Shin returned to the camp, Uchiha Yakumi and Yashiro were leaning against a tree wiping their Kunai.
Hearing Shin’s call, the two rose almost instantly.
Without a single redundant question, they simply nodded briskly, slung their Ninja tool bags over their shoulders, and followed Shin.
The three followed a gentle slope down through the forest.
The salty, fishy smell of the sea breeze grew stronger, and the soil beneath their feet gradually changed from fertile black earth to mudflats mixed with fine sand.
The ancient trees on both sides still blotted out the sun.
Occasionally, an unknown giant bird would sweep across the canopy, its wings spanning three or four meters wide.
This caused Yakumi to subconsciously grip the Kunai at his waist until he saw the giant bird merely circling away into the distance, at which point he slowly relaxed his hand.
Just as they rounded a dense thicket of bushes, they bumped into Uchiha Kai’s group returning from their patrol.
The group was covered in forest dew and leaf debris.
Kai, leading them, held a blood-stained animal bone in his hand.
Upon seeing Shin, he immediately stepped forward and bowed.
“Young Master Shin.”
“Uncle Kai, how is the investigation going?” Shin stopped and asked.
“We’ve just finished scouting the eastern area.” Kai straightened up, his tone certain.
“So far, we haven’t found any signs of human activity on the entire island.
No abandoned camps, no villages—nothing but wild animals everywhere.”
At this point, a look of amazement crossed his face as he added, “Actually, it’s quite eerie.
The animals on this island are ridiculously large.”
“We just encountered a tiger in the river valley.
It was nearly ten meters long from head to tail and stood taller than a two-story building.
I’ve lived for over thirty years and have never seen such a massive beast.
At first glance, I thought it was a Summoning Beast from some clan.”
A Jonin following beside him couldn’t help but interject, “At first, we thought it was like a Ninja Beast with Chakra, so we were prepared for a hard fight.
But once we engaged, we realized that while it looked intimidating, its strength was only about that of a newly promoted Chunin.
Aside from being thick-skinned, it didn’t have any special abilities.
We took it down in two moves.”
Uchiha Yashiro raised an eyebrow, his face full of astonishment.
“A ten-meter-long tiger?
That’s twice as large as the biggest tiger Ninja Beast in the Ninja World, yet it only had that much skill?”
“This world is just like that,” Shin chuckled, his tone calm.
“Most creatures here are like this—their sizes are ridiculously exaggerated, but they lack special abilities.
They’re just scary to look at.”
He turned to Kai and instructed, “Keep a close eye out as you continue your investigation.
Don’t be intimidated by size, but don’t let your guard down either.
Safety first.
If you encounter something you can’t handle, signal and retreat immediately.
Don’t force a confrontation.”
“Yes, I understand!” Kai immediately bowed in response.
Shin didn’t linger.
He nodded to the group and continued toward the direction of the sea breeze with Yakumi and Yashiro.
Passing through the last stretch of dense forest, their vision suddenly opened up.
The azure sea, churning with white waves, spread out before the three of them without warning.
The boundless azure sea stretched out before their eyes, waves crashing against the golden sand and churning up fine white foam.
The salty sea breeze, thick with moisture, blew against their faces.
Shin turned and gave a slight nod to Yakumi and Yashiro.
In the next second, fine threads of Chakra steadily adhered to the soles of his feet.
Without a moment’s hesitation, his figure blurred as he charged straight toward the churning surface of the sea.
Yakumi and Yashiro glanced at each other and activated their Chakra almost simultaneously.
Following close behind, two afterimages skimmed the surface of the sea, staying firmly behind Shin.
Walking on water was a basic required course for Ninjas.
For battle-hardened Elite Jonin like them, it was an instinct carved into their very bones.
Never mind these calm coastal waters; even the surging rivers of the Ninja World were like level ground to them when using Chakra.
In this world dominated by the sea, where Devil Fruit users viewed seawater as their natural enemy, three Uchiha elites galloped across the ocean surface as if no one else were around, racing across the boundless sea.
The waves surged beneath them, yet not even the hems of their clothes got wet.
With every step, only a circle of fine ripples spread across the sea, while their figures were as fast as arrows shot from a bow, racing toward the deep ocean.
Less than twenty nautical miles from where Shin’s trio was racing, on a fixed merchant route between the East and West Blue, the midday sun made the sea surface shimmer.
On the calm sea, a three-masted merchant ship flying the flag of a merchant guild—blue background with a white sail—was drifting slowly along the current.
Sailors on the deck were busy tidying the ropes, while the captain of the guard leaned against the gunwale wiping his saber.
He was joking with his subordinates, saying they had traveled this route dozens of times and had never encountered any blind pirates.
But before his voice could fade, the lookout’s scream from the mast tore through the calm sea: “Behind us!
A pirate ship is catching up!
It’s very fast!”
Everyone whipped their heads around.
At the edge of the horizon, a single-masted fast ship flying a bloody skull flag was cutting through the waves, approaching rapidly like a bloodthirsty shark.
The hull was a bit shorter than the merchant ship, but it was equipped with a full six broadside cannons.
The ship’s planks were covered in marks from knives and axes, clearly belonging to a ruthless crew that fought at sea year-round.
On the forward deck, a group of bare-chested, fierce-looking pirates were howling and waving their blades and guns.
Leading them was a burly man with a hideous scar across his face, holding a giant serrated saber.
He was none other than “Sawtooth” Hal, a pirate notorious in the surrounding waters with a bounty of 8 million Berries.
“Fire!
Stop them for me!” Hal’s roar carried over with the sea breeze.
In the next second, six cannons thundered simultaneously.
The cannonballs shrieked through the air and landed around the merchant ship, blasting water columns several meters high.
The entire merchant ship rocked violently from the shockwaves, and the sailors on deck instantly fell into a panic.
VOTE for me!