Naruto: From Novice to Grave

A ninja must not only be good at fighting, but also at thinking and analyzing.

Hayate Gekko took out a map from his ninja tool bag and looked at the situation in the southern sea area of ​​the Land of Fire. It was a long, narrow, arc-shaped peninsula that extended from the southeast corner and plunged south into the sea.

Apart from a portion of the northern territory belonging to the Land of Fire, the southern part belongs to the Land of Tea and the Land of Commerce, and west across the sea lies the territory of the Land of Wind.

The sea area sandwiched between the two is called Chayu Bay. Apart from an island nation called Yuzhi Kingdom, the rest of the islands are fragmented and scattered with various islands of different sizes in the sea.

Hayate Gekko tries to put himself in the enemy's shoes: "Right now, the south is the battlefield between Sunagakure and Kirigakure, and the sea is not safe."

To the west lies the Land of Wind, to the north the Land of Fire, and east? Passing through the Land of Tea and entering the Rainbow Sea, that's the territory of the Land of Water.

The Sea Shark gang has committed a series of crimes recently and must have made a lot of money. At this point, the most important thing is to have the life to enjoy the money. What they should do is hide or escape from here.

A lightbulb went off in Uzuki Yugao's head: "So these bastards are either hiding on some small island in Tea Island Bay, or they've crossed the Land of Tea and run to the Rainbow Sea?"

Higashino Makoto added, "The circular area of ​​Rainbow Sea is very clean, as if it was plowed by some super explosion, and there are no islands on it at all."

Therefore, I think they should still be within Tea Island Bay, at most hiding somewhere in the Tea Country. The Sea Shark Clan are basically ordinary people; they couldn't have gone too far in a few days.

Moonlight Cloud smiled and said, "Your analysis is quite good, so what are you waiting for? Go and find a way to locate the mission target."

"Yes!" x3

With a target in mind, the three of them headed east along the coastline, gathering information in various fishing villages along the coast.

Around noon, they finally obtained useful information in a village.

Between here and the Land of Tea, in the sea, there is a place called the Dogtooth Islands. The islands there are like stone pillars stuck in the water, broken and messy, hence the name Dogtooth Islands.

Meanwhile, the nearby sea is riddled with reefs, making it impassable by ships. Only pirates knew the navigable waterways, and in fact, it was a pirate gathering place in the past.

Ordinary people can't do anything to the people inside, so they have to issue missions to ask ninjas to take action. However, the ninjas who come for C-rank missions are generally not very strong. In addition, the environment of the Dog Fang Islands is complicated, so it is always difficult to completely eliminate them. After six months or a year, they will rise from the ashes.

In the past few days, villagers have seen large ships entering the area while fishing at sea.

It seems the Sea Sharks are hiding there.

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Ninjas can walk on water, but they still travel by boat when going out to sea.

Since a person's chakra is limited, what if they run out of chakra at sea and fall into the water and drown? Wouldn't that be a joke?

As the sun was setting, the four-person team, led by an old fisherman, spotted the Dogtooth Islands in the distance.

As they approached, the old fisherman carefully turned off the boat's motor and began to row by hand to avoid the noise attracting danger.

Higashino looked at the engine on the fishing boat with a bit of a headache. Yes, such things exist in the ninja world, but they haven't been used in land transportation. Maybe they will in the future.

"How magnificent!" Uzuki Yugao exclaimed instinctively as she watched the strange island slowly grow larger before her.

It is indeed spectacular. Islands, large or small, pierce the seabed like irregular stone pillars. Some of the broad pillars even have a small forest on their tops, where flocks of seabirds rise and fall from time to time.

The name Dogtooth Islands is quite fitting, as these islands resemble sharp teeth biting into the water, looking nothing like a naturally formed landscape.

It looked like a piece of land that had been shattered by the gods.

The fishing boats sailed through it, just like sailing through a river in a rift valley, with almost sheer cliffs on both sides.

Without needing Moonlight Cloud's instructions, Higashino Shin activated his maximum perception range before entering the archipelago to avoid falling into enemy traps.

After navigating the waterway with its boat turning left and right for a distance, the old fisherman moored it in a narrow channel and said with some difficulty, "My lords, this is the only stretch of water I know. I am not familiar with the area beyond this point."

"Thank you so much for your help. That's enough. You can go back now, sir. We'll take care of the rest."

After giving instructions to the old fisherman, Tsukikage Yunjian jumped off the boat. Then, Higashino Makoto led the way, using his perception abilities to clear the path, with Tsukikage Hayate and Uzuki Yugao in the middle. The four of them, like a sea serpent, waded through the water and headed deeper into the archipelago.

Ninjas in this world are not mysterious. The old fishermen had long been familiar with their abilities and were not surprised by their ability to stand on the water.

He only hoped that this time the ninja could wipe out all the damned bastards inside and give the people who make a living on this sea a peaceful environment.

Although the pirates of Chayu Bay mainly targeted merchant ships, they sometimes also attacked fishing boats at sea, and occasionally raided one or two unfortunate fishing villages.

Don't expect this kind of person to have any moral bottom line. He had four sons, two of whom died at the hands of pirates, which is why he was willing to risk leading the way.

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Higashino and his three companions ran along the cliff face on the water. After a moment, he suddenly stopped, and the three behind him stopped almost at the same time.

Higashino pointed to the cliff ahead, where there was a well-hidden cave entrance, clearly a pirate outpost.

Moonlight Hayate asked in a low voice, "Are there people inside? How many? Ordinary people or ninjas?"

"There are two people!"

"I'll handle it!"

With its speed at full throttle, it rapidly approached the bottom of the cliff from a blind spot, then stepped onto the cliff face as if walking on flat ground and rushed up into the cave.

Ordinary people have no way to defend against such surprise attacks and assassinations by ninjas.

Soon, Moonlight Gale reappeared and waved at the water.

When Higashino and his two companions came up, they found that the cave was not large and had been carved out by man. Inside, besides some fresh water and food, there was only a rope ladder.

The two unkempt, burly men, their faces greasy and dirty, were dead. One of them had been stabbed through the heart, his blood staining his clothes, but not spraying everywhere.

Jifeng's technique is really good.

Another person lay on the ground, his hands and feet bound, his mouth stuffed with the dead man's shoe, staring at the four people in front of him with terrified eyes.

Tears streamed down the guy's face; it was hard to tell whether it was from fear or the stench of the shoes.

"I left one alive; we can get the location of the Sea Shark Gang's lair from him."

Higashino Makoto shook his head and said, "No need, they're all within my perception range. None of them can escape."

Moonlight Gale didn't say anything after hearing this, but pointed to the survivor, the meaning was clear: who among you will take action?

He had graduated a year earlier and had already experienced killing, but his two teammates had never seen human blood on their hands.

Being a ninja is a profession that involves killing. One must learn to kill and get used to killing, but one must also respect life and not become addicted to killing.

Uzuki Yugao was mentally preparing herself. After all, it was her first time killing someone, and she was still a little hesitant. Several methods flashed through her mind, but she didn't know which one to use.

Hesitation is normal. Anyone who has killed people often knows that it's inevitable to be a little clumsy the first time, but you'll get used to it and it won't happen again.

Higashino Makoto squatted down in front of the survivor and asked, "Are you the Sea Shark Gang? Were you the ones who handled the recent cases near Hemo Port?"

The poor pirate was so terrified that he could only nod numbly.

Higashino took a deep breath, drew his sword, and slashed it, instantly cutting the man's throat.

As he watched the blood spurt out, his eyelids twitched involuntarily a few times.

Is this what killing feels like? It seems no different from killing animals before. Humans are just a kind of animal, and thinking about it this way, I suddenly feel even less.

So that's all there is to it.

It's hard to imagine that he was someone who had never killed a chicken in his previous life, yet now he has personally killed a living person. The ninja world is indeed a good place to train people, with effects no less than enlightenment in Longchang.

Looking at Higashino Makoto's expression and finding no change, Gekko Hayate put his worries about his friend to rest.

Isn't that strange? If Higashino Makoto had seen a friend kill someone and then remain expressionless in his past life, he would have just thought that person was terrifying and most likely a psychopath.

But in the ninja world, this is called a sign of maturity.