The massive shipyard shudders violently, and a whole swath of nearby buildings collapses.
Fissures tear through the ground.
Dust billows into the air.
It’s as though the earth itself quakes.
Such an astonishing tremor lasts nearly a full minute. By the time it subsides, both the four Kirigakure Chunin and Kurosuki Raiga lie collapsed on the ground—
Five Mist ninjas, all dead!
“Wasn’t that kind of overkill, just for one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?” Uchiha Shisui hears Hatake Kakashi’s calm voice beside him, the latter’s one visible eye dulled like a dead fish.
“Overkill?” Shisui is stunned. “But they were part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, right?”
“That’s only because you don’t realize how terrifying Whitebeard’s ‘Kekkei Genkai’ really is,” Kakashi replies, shaking his head.
Kakashi knows exactly how powerful Whitebeard is.
Though he’s unsure if that power is actually a Kekkei Genkai, he can only assume it is.
He explains, “Imagine you had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, and you used those eyes to kill an ordinary Genin.”
Shisui falls silent, looking around at the shattered surroundings.
He decides Kakashi’s comparison is fair.
The punch’s destructive power… is absurd!
“Cough, cough—!” Karin is still choking after nearly drowning inside the water prison. Finally catching her breath, she’s a bit downcast. “Mom, am I… just dragging Dad down?”
“Don’t put yourself down!” Before Uzumaki Fushi can respond, Naruto cuts in.
Although Naruto is limp and exhausted—like a toy that’s been worn out—he still musters the energy to say, “My dad once told me: a man of the sea never belittles himself! Nor does he allow anyone else to belittle him!”
“Even if you’re a girl, you shouldn’t talk like that!” Naruto says earnestly.
“Karin, Naruto is right.”
Uzumaki Fushi wipes the droplets from her daughter’s face. Her tone is gentle. “Didn’t we agree that you’d learn ninjutsu, so you can help Dad in the future?”
“…Help Dad!” Karin’s spirits rise at once. “I got it, Mom!”
She turns to Naruto. “Thank you, Naruto.”
“Hehe!” Naruto scratches his head with a laugh, happy at helping a family member break free of self-doubt.
At this moment, Whitebeard steps forward, picking up the two “Lightning Blades: Kiba” that Kurosuki Raiga dropped. Each blade is an odd shape, almost like sharp iron forks, their edges ground keenly.
Next to Whitebeard, though, they look like tiny fruit knives, because he actually “pinches” them between his fingers.
Raiga hasn’t been dead long, so faint arcs of lightning still flicker on the twin swords—completely ineffectual against Whitebeard’s hand.
“Swords that discharge electricity.” Whitebeard raises his brow with a hearty laugh. “Gurararara! Even on the seas, these count as rare blades worth quite a bit of money!”
“And even if they aren’t worth a lot, if I find a son who’s good with swords one day, I can give him these Kiba blades. Gurararara! Guess that’s another version of ‘Nitoryu,’ huh?”
Whitebeard recalls “Vista” from his ship.
That foolish son of his was one of the top sword masters aboard.
He wonders if that fool survived.
After all, that was the Summit War…
“That’s one of Kirigakure’s legendary Seven Swords—‘Kiba, the Lightning Blades,’” Kakashi explains from behind Whitebeard. “They’ve been handed down in the Hidden Mist Village for generations. If you plan to keep those blades, Whitebeard-sama, I doubt the Bloody Mist ninjas will accept it.”
Whitebeard tosses both blades toward Kakashi.
Startled, Kakashi hurriedly catches them, gripping their hilts so they overlap perfectly.
He sighs with relief that his reflexes were fast enough.
“Whitebeard-sama… Are you discarding these blades?” Kakashi is briefly confused, suspecting a change of heart.
Whitebeard has never heeded Kakashi’s advice before—did he actually listen this time?
“Gurararara! What nonsense are you spouting?” Whitebeard laughs. “I’m a pirate! Who cares what Kirigakure thinks? I want you, white-haired brat, to keep these for me, seal them in that scroll of yours.”
Kakashi: “…”
So he worried for nothing.
Whitebeard doesn’t give a damn about the Hidden Mist Village.
Of course… that’s exactly who Whitebeard is.
“White-haired brat, if you want to be my son, I’ll give you these two useless swords,” Whitebeard teases, making Kakashi’s face go rigid.
“I’ll, uh, just seal them for you for now!” Kakashi pulls out a blank scroll—his last one.
He wonders if he should restock soon; at Whitebeard’s rate of ‘acquisition,’ his scrolls won’t last long.
During this, Whitebeard lifts the limp Naruto over his shoulder. “Foolish son, everyone else realized the food was drugged—you’re the only one who missed it. This lesson should teach you something!”
Naruto’s cheeks burn with shame.
The “sleeping powder” saps his spirit, and only his strong constitution kept him from fully passing out.
At the same time,
Some distance away:
Clack— Tomoto Aomizu’s telescope falls from his trembling hands, its lenses shattering as it hits the ground.
“Gulp.”
He swallows hard, both hands shaking.
“They’re all monsters… That Kurosuki Raiga was a monster from Kirigakure, but Whitebeard is an even bigger monster among monsters!” It’s the first time he’s witnessed such an intense ninja battle.
That lightning from the sky and that earth-shattering quake
Leave him quaking with fear and weak at the knees!
Even more shocking is that a member of the Hidden Mist’s Seven Ninja Swordsmen—high-status elites—died here, at the shipyard under his management.
All five Mist ninja lost to Whitebeard!
“Wait!” Realizing something terrifying, Tomoto Aomizu feels dread crawling up from his gut. “With the Mist ninjas dead, won’t Whitebeard come after me?”
“This is bad! I’d better not stay here!”
He’s sweating so much he’s soaked. “He killed even Kirigakure’s Seven Swordsmen without blinking—if that pirate wants to kill me, I’m doomed!”
He summons his hired thugs, ordering them to gather up his savings. He intends to flee the Land of Water altogether, far from Whitebeard.
But when he looks, he finds those thugs unmoving, eyes wide. Startled, Tomoto Aomizu turns to see why—and his pupils contract like needles.
“You tried to assassinate Dad by joining forces with Kirigakure. Did you think you’d just leave so easily?”
It’s Uzumaki Fushi who speaks, blocking the path of those thugs, a kunai in one hand, the other forming a seal.
“Actually, I had nothing to do with it myself.” Kakashi’s voice comes from the group’s left side. “But Whitebeard-sama told me to stop you. This has nothing to do with me or Konoha.”
Kakashi stands with one hand in his pocket, the other helping support Uchiha Shisui, blocking the way on that side.
He doesn’t move an inch.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Each heavy footstep rattles the ground.
Tomoto Aomizu and his thugs turn around.
Whitebeard approaches with immense pressure, almost causing them to wet themselves on the spot.
On Whitebeard’s left shoulder slumps a languid Naruto, and on the right shoulder, Karin is perched. Whitebeard’s lips curl at the corners—an ironic, teasing grin.
“Hello again, little merchant,” Whitebeard says mockingly, enough to scare Tomoto Aomizu into losing bladder control.
A dark stain spreads at his crotch, dripping onto the ground.
“M-misunderstanding…” Tomoto Aomizu forces a grin worse than crying, his fear skyrocketing. “It’s all just a misunderstanding… I can explain. I really didn’t mean—”
He never finishes.
Shlkk—
A single kunai pierces his back, its tip emerging from his chest, blood instantly soaking his clothes.
“I refuse to let anyone assassinate Dad.” Uzumaki Fushi is the one who drives the kunai in.
None of the hired thugs dare stop her, so she simply walks behind Tomoto Aomizu, jabs forward, and stabs him.
She shows no hesitation.
She’s already acknowledged Whitebeard, acknowledged the Whitebeard Pirates as her family. She wants the family intact—no one is allowed to hurt it.
“Hagh…”
Tomoto Aomizu can’t form words.
Blood and foam spill from his mouth, his breathing labored, consciousness fading.
He regrets everything.
Then he crashes to the ground, dead on the spot.
“Seems we’ll need to find the shipyard’s second-in-command,” Kakashi comments, retracting his kunai. He hardly glances at the trembling thugs, letting them be.
From there, matters unfold smoothly. Whitebeard’s naginata, Murakumogiri, skewers corpse after corpse—
Four limp Chunin,
One twisted Swordsman,
And Tomoto Aomizu.
Six bodies, lined up like skewered dumplings.
The sight is ghastly.
When the other shipyard workers see those corpses, they shake uncontrollably. They dare not resist. They obey Whitebeard’s orders exactly.
Soon,
The shipyard’s best designers gather, trembling, to refine the Moby Dick’s blueprints—praying to finish it as soon as possible. They don’t want to share Tomoto Aomizu’s fate.
Everyone else’s projects halt. To build such a colossal ship requires all the shipyard’s resources. Other works must wait.
They also reserve the highest-quality shipbuilding materials for the Moby Dick.
The entire shipyard is mobilized.
Of course, Whitebeard is still paying.
A rough estimate from the ship designers suggests building the Moby Dick will cost no less than six hundred million ryo. Right now, Whitebeard has only around four hundred million.
They’re short a hundred million or so.
Even scouring the shipyard’s illicit funds still leaves them an entire hundred million short.
“Whitebeard-sama, why are you looking at us like that?” Kakashi asks uneasily.
“White-haired brat, how much are you and that Uchiha brat’s bounties combined?” Whitebeard muses aloud.
Kakashi: “!!!”
“W-wait!” Kakashi breaks out in cold sweat. “Even if you took my head and Shisui’s, that wouldn’t cover a whole hundred million.”
He’s genuinely worried Whitebeard might redeem them for the bounty, just to afford his ship.
“Gurararara! Look how scared you are.”
Whitebeard laughs. “I’m not about to destroy the Whitebeard Pirates’ mobile piggy bank.”
“…” Kakashi’s cheek twitches.
So in your eyes, I’m just a walking piggy bank?
Well… that is kind of true. But still, it hurts to hear.
Time passes with several sunrises and sunsets.
Five days later,
Five days after that huge commotion in the shipyard—and with Whitebeard openly parading corpses on his naginata—everyone knows five Kirigakure ninja died there.
One even belonged to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!
No way such news stays hidden.
Especially since Whitebeard never intended to hide it.
Thus, word reaches Kirigakure.
“Lord Mizukage, something has happened!” A Mist ninja knocks and enters the Mizukage’s office, delivering unwelcome news. “Kurosuki Raiga… has been killed!”
“Hmm?” The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, lifts his gaze.
He has a baby face so young it almost seems incongruous—like a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy, exquisitely well-maintained.
Plenty of noblewomen would swoon over that face.
But he’s older than he looks,
And he’s one of the very few perfect Jinchuriki in the ninja world—Kirigakure’s strongest warrior.
“Kurosuki Raiga is dead?” Yagura’s face shows chilly anger, an invisible aura of killing intent spreading. The temperature in the office drops. He asks, “Who killed him?”
“It’s reported to be Edward Newgate!” The Mist ninja swallows hard, not daring to meet Yagura’s eyes. He answers with head bowed, “The same man widely wanted by the daimyo of many nations—Whitebeard!”
Whitebeard’s fame has long spread through the ninja world.
Single Handedly destroying Kusagakure and killing the Grass Daimyo—
No one could ignore that.
Even Kirigakure, known for shutting itself away, gets outside intel.
“Whitebeard!”
Yagura narrows his eyes.
A faint red glow appears deep in his pupils, unnoticed by anyone, then swiftly fades.
“And four elite Chunin were also killed—Kurosuki Raiga’s subordinates,” the Mist ninja continues. “The merchant Tomoto Aomizu at the shipyard was killed too! The entire shipyard is now under Whitebeard’s control.”
“So arrogant!” Yagura’s killing intent swells. “He slays a member of our Seven Ninja Swordsmen and takes by force a shipyard jointly owned by Kirigakure and Gato’s group. Whitebeard… must think the Bloody Mist Village is nothing!”
“As for Kurosuki Raiga, he was a disgrace anyway. During the ninja war years ago, he fled in terror from one Konoha ninja. Now, he’s been killed by this Whitebeard as well.”
“That sword was wasted on him!”
The surge of killing intent sends faint gusts swirling through the office.
The Mist ninja, head bowed, is drenched in sweat.
“Lord Mizukage, how do we handle this Whitebeard?” he dares to ask.
“An eye for an eye.”
Yagura’s voice is icy.
…
Elsewhere in Kirigakure:
“Whitebeard? That man actually arrived in the Land of Water?” Mei Terumi, with auburn hair, grows tense.
She’s quite young at the moment, not yet the mature woman she will be later.
“And he even killed Kurosuki Raiga!” Mei says gravely. “I was thinking of recruiting him, but he’s dead just like that.”
“‘Dead men’ do not make alliances,” says the ninja next to her. He’s wearing an eyepatch.
It’s Ao, also known in Konoha’s records as the ‘Byakugan Killer.’
“Kurosuki Raiga wasn’t really good,” Ao says calmly. “Whether we recruit him or not makes little difference.”
“True.” Mei muses.
Then she suddenly brightens. “Think we might bring Whitebeard in as our ally? If we can make him our powerful partner, maybe we can put an end to the Bloody Mist once and for all!”
“Recruit Whitebeard?” Ao is stunned. “As far as I know, that guy’s a wanted criminal. Can we really trust him?”
Mei grows even more enthusiastic. “It’s worth a try. They say he doesn’t belong to any ninja village. He’s roaming this world as a pirate!”
“The Land of Water, a pirate—doesn’t that just click? Maybe we really can invite him here!”
Ao’s brow furrows more and more, finding the idea naive and unreliable.
Still, it might be worth an attempt.
Become a Patron read up to 30 chapter ahead public release ^_^
Please join Discord Server so we can talk ^_^
