Chapter 138: Hidden Agendas
A thick mist blanketed the sea as a lone passenger ship cut through the waters.
On deck, the captain chatted cheerfully with Naruto and the others.
"You kids are lucky, you know," the old captain said with a sigh as he looked out over the fog. "This route used to be busy, but not anymore. Most people won't even dare sail through weather like this. Good thing you ran into me!"
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned brightly. "I spotted you the moment I saw the crowd. I didn't expect you to be this friendly—or willing to give us a ride!"
"Haha! It's fate, that's what it is!" the captain laughed. "You happen to be looking for someone I know, and you're heading somewhere I'm familiar with. I've got a ship, you've got a destination. Might as well make some friends, right, Naruto-kun?"
"Absolutely! Couldn't agree more!"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically.
Hinata sat quietly beside him.
At first glance, it looked like a young couple simply enjoying each other's company.
In reality, she was carefully observing every movement aboard the ship.
At the bow, Sasuke and Mei Terumi were watching the ocean, while Kakashi stood nearby, casually observing the unusually large number of sailors and crew members moving around the vessel.
"Captain," Naruto continued, "how do you know that guy named Jiraiya?"
"Haven't I already told you?" the captain replied with a laugh. "That's old history. Besides, he's on the island we're heading to anyway. No need to rush."
Then he smoothly changed the subject.
"Speaking of that island... it used to belong to a rather famous country."
The captain and Naruto had been talking nonstop ever since departure.
"It just isn't what it used to be. Ever since the country was destroyed, hardly anyone visits anymore."
"Destroyed?" Naruto blinked. "Why?"
The captain shrugged.
"Why? Because that's how the world worked back then. Countries fell. New ones rose. It happened all the time during the wars."
He pointed toward Kakashi and the others.
"You kids from the great shinobi villages don't really understand. Ask your grown-ups over there. They probably know all about it."
"Hahaha."
Kakashi chuckled awkwardly.
"To be honest, I don't know much myself."
"Is that so?"
The captain smiled meaningfully.
"Well, good thing you ran into me then. Otherwise you probably would've returned to the Land of Fire through the Land of Bears and completely missed the person you're looking for."
When Kakashi didn't continue the conversation, the captain let the topic drop.
"What's the island called?" Naruto asked curiously.
"The Land of Whirlpools."
That night...
The captain's warm smile had completely vanished.
Gathered around him were the sailors and crewmen, all of whom now wore expressions far darker than those they displayed during the day.
"Everything go smoothly?" the captain asked.
"Perfectly. They didn't suspect a thing."
"One of them even thanked us when we brought dinner."
The sailor scratched his head.
"Though I don't know why their cabin smelled strongly of ramen."
"That's irrelevant."
The captain waved dismissively.
"At sea, they have no choice but to eat what we provide."
He sneered.
"Just make sure the dosage stays low. We don't want them realizing anything is wrong too early."
"Boss," one of the men asked, "do we really need to be this careful?"
"You idiot."
The captain's eyes narrowed.
"Those are forty-million and fifty-million ryō bounties."
"There is no such thing as being too careful."
"Boss, don't forget the blond brat worth five hundred thousand!" another sailor chimed in. "You promised we'd get him!"
"Relax."
The captain laughed.
"That's just a bonus."
"You'll get your share."
His expression darkened.
"But don't let our numbers fool you. Fighting famous ninja on a ship is dangerous."
"People like them have countless ways to take us down with them."
He grinned.
"So I hired another group of shinobi waiting on the island."
"Some of them are locals."
"When the time comes, we'll attack from both sides."
"They'll never see it coming."
The crew burst into laughter.
"Boss, what about the woman in blue?" one sailor asked with a lewd grin. "Maybe we keep her alive for a while?"
"She'd fetch quite a price."
"Not a bad idea."
"Boss, I want the younger one."
The man laughed unpleasantly.
"No problem. She isn't worth much anyway."
"Boss, I want the younger one too."
The entire group turned.
The sailor pointed casually.
"The black-haired boy."
The captain stared at him.
"...You're a freak."
"Stop laughing like that and get back to work."
Meanwhile, inside the passenger cabin...
Naruto and the others were happily eating fresh Ichiraku Ramen.
The food supplied by the crew had long since been dumped into a trash bag back in Konoha by one of Naruto's Flying Thunder God trips.
"Haa..." Naruto sighed between bites. "All this just to save money on tickets. Kakashi-sensei is seriously cheap."
"Saving money is important," Kakashi replied calmly. "Travel expenses add up."
Notably, he wasn't eating.
Carrying emergency rations everywhere remained one of his long-standing habits during missions.
It absolutely had nothing to do with avoiding situations where people might see his face while eating.
"Cheap men aren't popular with girls, you know."
Mei smirked.
"Right, Hinata?"
Hinata instinctively glanced at Naruto.
Then she remembered that her boyfriend wasn't exactly generous with money either.
She immediately shook her head without saying anything.
Sasuke silently finished his soup.
As usual, he had no interest in joining the conversation.
He climbed onto his bunk and began his nightly meditation training.
The ship itself was quite large.
Though there was only one passenger cabin, it could comfortably hold seven or eight people.
Honestly, it looked less like a transport vessel and more like a pirate ship.
Of course, everyone had noticed.
They simply chose not to mention it.
Originally, Kakashi's plan had been for Naruto to use Flying Thunder God to return the team to Konoha before traveling to the Land of Wind.
Then they had met this overly friendly captain.
The man had immediately claimed to know Jiraiya's whereabouts.
Since there was a chance the information was genuine, Naruto and the others had decided to play along despite sensing the group's hostility.
After all...
They weren't the ones likely to suffer from the arrangement.
Meanwhile, at the former site of the Land of Whirlpools...
"They should be arriving soon, right?"
"Based on the timing, yeah."
"This job better be worth it."
"We came all the way from the Land of Grass."
"If we've got the wrong location, this whole thing will be a disaster."
One of the Grass ninja turned toward a red-haired girl nearby.
"Hey, brat."
"You checked everything, right?"
"You know this place better than anyone."
"Besides this beach, are there any other places they could land?"
The red-haired girl flinched.
Adjusting her glasses nervously, she quickly answered:
"N-No..."
"When I escaped from the Land of Whirlpools years ago..."
"This was the route I used."
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