Konoha's Mission Master

The ocean holds countless secrets, waiting to be explored.

Crack! A crack appeared on the surface of the barrier. The old man behind him was completely dead. Yakumo officially stepped into the final sinking ship.

Mori Masako and Yuuki Chiyuki had already put away the treasure, leaving only the somewhat empty cabin, three wooden chairs with missing legs, and... three dusty coffins.

These three coffins were quite simple, as if they were randomly pieced together from wooden planks, and had become dilapidated due to the erosion of moisture.

At this point, all of them had been opened. One of them contained no skeletons, clearly the original location of the gaunt old man. The other two contained two skeletons covered in knife wounds.

“Master, both of these skeletons are human.”

Yakumo nodded. Beside the shipwreck, he discovered a large number of snake-people skeletons, haphazardly piled at the bottom of the pit.

From this perspective... those snake-people and these three elders should be enemies, or even pursuers.

Another piece of evidence is that this last undamaged shipwreck is completely different in style from the other shipwrecks.

The surfaces of those shipwrecks can be seen with serpentine patterns or wood carvings, and even though the color has faded considerably, the characteristics of snakes are still faintly visible.

The last ship lacked any snake-like features and was much smaller, completely outclassing the other shipwrecks in terms of craftsmanship.

These clues led Yakumo to deduce the general truth: one of the three was on the run, and the snake-people did not have a single pursuer. They had no choice but to rely on the ability of one of their companions to escape to the bottom of the sea to avoid disaster.

The plan was excellent, and they also dealt with the pursuers.

Unfortunately, their partner, who was skilled in deep-sea navigation, died at the hands of the enemy, which resulted in... them being trapped at the bottom of the sea.

And so it goes...until death.

"Yakumo, we can retreat now," Mori Masako said.

The two had packed up everything that seemed interesting, and even the burial items of the three old men had fallen into Mori Masako's storage scroll.

"Okay, let's go."

Yakumo carried the two of them and flew toward the cracked barrier. In almost a second, they had already touched the cracked barrier.

With a pop, the three reappeared in the dark seabed.

Masako Mori: "I really want to go back to the sea and sort out the harvest right now."

Yakumo grasped their hands. "Then surface quickly!"

Crimson vines enveloped the three of them, and after expelling the seawater, they formed a streamlined wooden cocoon. Yakumo used Water Release chakra to connect with the seawater, creating the propulsion for the wooden cocoon to float upwards.

The surging seawater formed a storm hundreds of meters high, and the sound of the rushing water could be clearly heard. At the center of the whirlpool, the wooden cocoon floated upwards rapidly like a cannonball.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Yakumo and Muto secured the three of them to the inner wall of the wooden cocoon before they felt safe to increase their speed, with electric arcs and gales creating upward momentum.

In the fifth second, the wooden cocoon broke through the sea surface and floated to the surface.

"Ugh, that's stimulating... Ugh."

Mori Masako's face turned pale, and she knelt on the ground, gagging. Although Yuuki Chiyuki next to her did not gag, her face looked extremely pale.

"It seems like we've gone a bit too far."

Yakumo felt a little guilty, and his gaze gradually became evasive. Fortunately, the two quickly recovered and returned to the deck in high spirits, taking out many spoils of war from their storage scrolls.

Several large wooden crates. Two long knives.

Yakumo's eyes flickered slightly as he took the long sword. A thousand years had passed, yet the blade still exuded a chilling aura, its slightly purple tip seemingly stained with blood.

"These weapons are all of the good quality, so they can be considered a decent haul."

After discovering that his weapon was only a good grade sword, Yakumo lost interest, since even the worst one he had was comparable to a great grade sword.

Then he picked up a second weapon.

This is actually a broken sword, but it's still a Great Grade Sword. You can imagine how dangerous the battle must have been, that even a weapon of this caliber ended up broken.

"A great-grade sword, but unfortunately it broke."

"Oh my god, what a pity!"

Yakumo explained the weapon classifications in the One Piece world to Masako Mori, and the Great Grade Swords were considered relatively rare weapons, swords that only the truly strong on the sea could carry.

"Now we'll look at these wooden crates."

After obtaining the wooden box, Yakumo did not force himself to examine it with his Soul Eye, since opening the box was... a ritual in itself.

"I'll go first!"

Masako Mori, her face full of anticipation, reached for the first wooden crate.

The box was just an ordinary box, made of wooden planks and sheet metal, with nails driven into many of the joints, and it was now covered in rust.

The first box was opened.

A golden luster caught the three people's eyes. Inside the wooden box were a golden crown and golden armor. Even though they had been placed in a damp place for nearly a thousand years, they were still brand new and radiated a lustrous glow.

In particular, the crown is simply set with three egg-sized natural diamonds, the red, yellow and blue colors making it look extremely noble.

"I love this!" Masako Mori's eyes were full of excitement.

"From today onwards... you are a noble yellow diamond, blue diamond, and red diamond aristocrat," Yakumo replied with a smile.

"What bad things are you saying now?" Masako Mori rolled her eyes.

"It's nothing."

Masako Mori reached out and took out a neatly folded armor.

The whole thing looks like it's made of gold, with the inner layer resembling gold armor, and it also has great hardness due to the addition of other metals.

The inner layer of the golden armor is extremely soft and fluid, as smooth as silk, while also possessing exceptional toughness.

This is an outfit that's not only aesthetically pleasing, but also provides excellent protection during combat. Inside the box, there are also two golden wristbands and two pairs of golden gloves.

The gloves are mostly made of flowing gold, except for the knuckles, where several pieces of metal are inlaid to increase the impact of a strike.

Would you like to try them on?

Yakumo asked Mori Masako if this golden armor was designed specifically for women, as it not only had a prominent breastplate but also a flowing gauze skirt at the hem.

While possessing both magnificence and powerful defense, it also retains its aesthetic appeal, clearly representing the pinnacle of human craftsmanship.

"No."

Masako Mori shook her head. Wearing such clothes would definitely make her the center of attention on the street, not only ruining her ability to hide but also contradicting the low profile that a ninja must maintain.

In the end, Yakumo sealed the golden armor with the Yin-Yang Seal and then stuffed it into a storage scroll.

"The second box will be given to You Gu Qianxue."

"it is good."

Mori Masako looked expectant, and Yakumo was also a little curious. After all, the first box yielded a very good profit, enough to sell for a large sum of Beli, which could then be exchanged for gold to take back to the ninja world... and make a fortune.

Yukotsuki opened the second wooden box very decisively... The group immediately leaned over to look, and inside the box was a large number of gold coins. The patterns and words on these gold coins were completely unfamiliar to Yakumo.

This is clearly a box of... antiques.

Yakumo transferred these antique gold coins to a container.

Masako Mori had already reached for the third box and opened it directly.

This time, there was no golden light to catch the eye, only a few very heavy books. These books, which had been stored in a damp environment for nearly a thousand years, could not possibly be made of paper, but rather some kind of metal.

Only metal can withstand thousands of years without decaying.

Yakumo picked up a book and flipped through it casually. The book had about twenty pages, and each page was engraved with extremely unfamiliar tiny characters.

In short, it wasn't very meaningful, but Yakumo still preserved it using a storage scroll, intending to hand it over to the Revolutionary Army for research.

You Gu Qianxue reached into the fourth box and opened it directly. Inside was a piece of ore about thirty centimeters in diameter. Within this piece of ore... there was a powerful life force and an explosive energy.

When Yakumo saw the light green ore, he immediately thought of how to use it.

“This ore should be perfect for forging the gauntlets that Mori Masako uses. This explosive energy... should be able to serve as a source, making the already terrifying attacks even more explosive,” Yakumo said.

"This is fantastic! My weakness in attacking is finally compensated. Now you can watch me dominate the battlefield."

Masako Mori clenched her fist and exclaimed with some excitement.

"Your attack power is insufficient?" Yakumo asked in surprise.

"Am I wrong? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"You're right, your girlfriend is always right!"

Yakumo stored the ore in a storage scroll, and Yukotsu Chiyuki had no objection to this.

After all, he already possessed a sorrow for the Nile River that was infinitely more precious, but to this day... he still couldn't figure out where the Nile River actually was.

"The fifth one, the fifth one!" Masako Mori was still very excited, as if girls were born with an unparalleled love for unpacking boxes.

“Come on, Masako Mori,” Yakumo said.

"it is good!"

This was also the final result of this exploration activity.

Masako Mori opened the box with utmost care.

Yakumo immediately looked over, but unfortunately it wasn't a Devil Fruit. Instead, it was a black crystal filled with an ominous aura, giving off a very oppressive feeling.

"Don't touch it, this black crystal can devour life."

Yakumo could clearly feel that when the box was opened, the activity of his own cells seemed to be gradually drained away. Although the speed was not fast, one day spent next to this crystal would consume two days' worth of life.

“Master, I feel the sorrow of the Nile River is about to devour this crystal.” You Gu Qianxue suddenly spoke, the weapon in his hand trembling slightly, as if the weapon’s own will was being revived.

"Then I'll leave it to you. Mori Masako, step back a bit." Yakumo waved his hand. If there was any danger during the absorption process, he could immediately take Yukotsu Chiyuki and evacuate.

But in that instant, he could only take one person with him.

"Okay, you two be careful."

Mori Masako obediently moved away from the deck. When she reached a safe position, Yukotsu Chiyuki drew the Nile's Sorrow and touched the tip of the blade to the surface of the black crystal.

The two reacted violently upon contact, with thick black mist gushing out from the crystal and seeping into the Nile River's sorrow.

Yakumo was observing and thinking.

This energy is very similar to the black aura on the snake people. It is an energy crystal created by that gaunt old man. If it is a Devil Fruit, could it be the Death Fruit?