Whitebeard in Naruto World - Chapter 92
The Land of Water! This Is the Man with a 100 Million Bounty (Part 1)
…
“What?!!!!”
The Anbu ninja’s report makes Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes widened at once.
He abruptly stands up. But he himself has only recently recovered from a serious illness, and the sudden movement is too forceful—nearly throwing out his back. The pain makes him grimace fiercely, yet his eyes remain locked on the Anbu before him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi questions, one word at a time, “Danzo lost his lower half? Is he still alive? And what about Uchiha Shisui? He tricked Shisui into leaving—does Shisui still live?”
“Lord Hokage, Danzo-sama is probably…maybe still alive, but I don’t know if he’s regained consciousness. As for Uchiha Shisui…”
The Anbu ninja replies, “I didn’t see him at all.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s pupils contract slightly.
He vaguely senses what might have happened.
“Danzo, plus all those Root members, plus one Shisui—yet they still weren’t a match for Whitebeard? That Whitebeard guy is unbelievably strong, isn’t he?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi sits back down in his chair.
He suddenly feels that the chance of Naruto and him forming a deeper bond as Hokage has dropped closer and closer to zero.
He’s even unsure if Naruto will ever return to the Land of Fire. It’s all so uncertain.
Furrowing his brow, Hiruzen Sarutobi ponders, murmuring to himself, “Danzo came back with his Root, but not Shisui. Could Shisui already be…? If it’s really as I imagine…”
“Was he killed by Whitebeard?”
“Or was he killed by…”
A meaningful glint flashes in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes.
“Let’s go!” He grabs his Hokage hat and puts it on. “We’ll go see Danzo together!”
“Yes, Lord Hokage!!!”
The moment the door to the Hokage’s office swings open, Hiruzen Sarutobi catches sight of Uchiha Itachi trembling slightly outside.
Wearing a complicated expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi says, “Itachi, you come as well.”
“…Understood.”
Itachi nods.
—
“Damn Whitebeard! Damn Whitebeard!”
“Damn Whitebeard!!!!”
In Konoha Hospital,
A series of low roars echoes through the corridors.
Danzo woke up not long after being taken to the hospital. The vitality of the Wood Release cells forcibly kept him from death.
The moment he regained consciousness, he wanted to check whether his legs were still there. The result? An empty lower body.
Nearly every part of him is wrapped tightly in bandages, leaving only one eye and his mouth uncovered.
Danzo has no idea how many bones in his body are broken; he only knows that every inch of muscle is limp and powerless—like a ruined husk. He feels like a vegetable, though at least his mind is awake. This actually makes his suffering worse.
“How…did it turn out like this…” Even his speech comes out garbled. Not a single tooth remains in his mouth. His tongue was almost sliced off by the shards of those broken teeth.
Danzo never thought this mission would fail so disastrously.
Originally, the plan was to use Shisui to kill Whitebeard, bring back the Jinchuriki, and take control of that Jinchuriki. In the end, he would then betray Shisui and seize both his eyes.
He considered the plan flawless. Danzo believed Root would achieve it with minimal effort—getting three results in one go.
But reality proved brutally different.
Once he realized that Kotoamatsukami’s cooldown was too long, Danzo intended to skip the first two steps and go straight for the last one. As a fallback, as long as he could take Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami, he would withdraw to the Land of Fire.
Who would have guessed that bastard Whitebeard would step in, cutting short any so-called “negotiation” with a sudden attack?
Damn it!
“Shameless pirate! Despicable scoundrel!” A trace of lingering fear remains in Danzo’s eyes as he recalls how close to death he came. “I was…just one step away from dying over there.”
In the end, it was selling out his Summoning Beast that gave him that tiny thread of life.
“Still…good enough,” he mutters, feeling the emptiness where his legs once were. “Even if I’ve lost both legs…even if this body is ruined…I can contact Orochimaru in secret. And at least I managed to get one of Uchiha Shisui’s eyes…”
At this moment, he hears a familiar voice outside.
That voice…
It’s Saru!
The Root members outside can block Anbu but cannot stop the Hokage of Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pushes the door open and enters, followed by an unknown Anbu member and Uchiha Itachi.
“Danzo! What have you done?!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s aged face is dark, anger brimming just below the surface. “Your every action is enough to land you in Konoha’s prison, spending your final years there in peace!”
Danzo’s own expression is just as frigid. He glances at Hiruzen Sarutobi, then at Uchiha Itachi behind him, ignoring that unknown Root ninja entirely.
He snorts coldly.
He simply doesn’t believe that when Root launched this operation, the Third Hokage was completely in the dark. Since Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally allowed Root to act, why does he now act so indignant? Is he merely trying to maintain his Hokage persona in front of others?
Already in a foul mood, Danzo has no intention of showing Hiruzen Sarutobi any respect.
With an impassive face, Danzo says, “Everything I did was for Konoha. Being Hokage isn’t the only way to want the village to flourish.”
“Where is Shisui?” Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn’t want to get mired in this debate. “You took Shisui away—where is he?”
This question makes Danzo narrow his eyes slightly.
He seems to ponder Itachi’s reaction. Although Itachi strives to remain expressionless, the old and cunning Danzo can still sense something off in his demeanor.
A subtle twitch appears at the corner of Danzo’s mouth.
“How should I know?” he says meaningfully. “We teamed up to fight that Whitebeard, and this is what’s left of me. My Root lost more than a dozen elite ninjas. Uchiha Shisui is likely gone for good.”
“But it hardly matters, seeing as the Uchiha clan—”
“Danzo!” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s face darkens further, cutting him off abruptly.
Itachi’s eyes tremble. He steps back two paces.
“Itachi, go,” Hiruzen Sarutobi orders.
“Yes, Lord Hokage.”
The dazed Itachi turns and departs.
Once only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo remain in the hospital room,
Hiruzen Sarutobi says icily, “You butchered Shisui, didn’t you, Danzo? You’re going too far! Don’t tell me you even took his eyes?”
“No.” Danzo’s reply is swift and adamant, his face unreadable. It’s unclear which part he’s denying.
“Danzo, I can’t explain Shisui’s disappearance to the Uchiha. Everything you’ve done has already broken the rules.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn’t ask further about the eyes. Expression cold, he continues, “Your ‘hospital room’ will be transferred, starting today…to Konoha’s prison!”
“What? Saru, you can’t do that!!”
Danzo’s lone visible eye widens in shock. “This is madness. ‘Root’ will be finished without me!”
“Danzo, I am the leader.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi says coolly, “Your maimed body is no longer suitable to lead Root. Henceforth…Mitokado Homura will run ‘Root’ in your stead.”
“You’d better lie low for a while regarding Shisui’s demise. At this point, every Uchiha alive wants your head.”
“And in your current state, even a child could kill you. I think it’s time you accept the truth about your condition.”
“My condition is just fine!!” Danzo snaps, trying to defend himself. But he can’t find a decent rebuttal. His fury surges, making his blood pressure spike.
“Cough, cough—!” He spits out a mouthful of blood.
And faints on the spot.
—
> “Itachi, in truth, the future of Konoha doesn’t lie with me but with you. If I’m ever suddenly gone, please promise me you’ll protect Konoha.”
> “Itachi, the clan has been pressuring you to join a coup. Don’t stoop to their level.”
> “Itachi, don’t let the name Uchiha be tarnished.”
> “Itachi…”
Uchiha Itachi, lost in thought, doesn’t even know why he has ended up on a particular street in Konoha. His face—his usually stoic face—is blank as he stares ahead.
“Shisui…” The repeated echoes in his mind cause his fists to clench involuntarily.
“So…in the end, you couldn’t hold on?”
Itachi tries to steady his breathing.
“If…the worst really happened to you, please, believe in me from beyond. I, Uchiha Itachi, will never forget what you told me.”
A resolute light glints in Itachi’s eyes.
His clenched fists dig nails into his palms. Crimson blood drips to the ground.
Within his pupils, the three tomoe of his Sharingan are slowly beginning to shift.
“Shisui, I will carry on your will!”
“Believe in me!!!”
…
The Land of Water! This Is the Man with a 100 Million Bounty (Part 2)
…
Out at sea, on a merchant ship growing ever closer to the Land of Water,
Shisui’s condition is only marginally better than Danzo’s. He’s also wrapped in many bandages, and his face is even paler than Danzo’s.
“My nose feels itchy… Ah-choo!” Uchiha Shisui sneezes, rubbing his sore nose. Leaning on a crutch, he gazes at the distant sea with his lone eye.
“Probably just weak from the poison… Maybe I’ve caught a cold.”
He feels his life has taken on a strangely dramatic twist.
“This is just too dramatic…” A teenager like him can’t help but sigh, which sounds a bit out of place—but indeed, Shisui’s life is very theatrical.
First, he was naïve enough to be deceived by Danzo. Then, Danzo and Root ambushed him. Even though he’d been on guard against Danzo, Danzo’s Izanagi still took him by surprise.
In the end, he lost one eye.
Then, Whitebeard saved him.
“Lord Whitebeard.” Shisui steadies himself on his crutch and looks at Whitebeard with a complicated expression, unable to resist asking, “Though I was tricked by Danzo, my mission was genuinely to assassinate you. Why would you choose to save me?”
Shisui doesn’t understand at all.
“Gulp, gulp, gulp—” Whitebeard leans against the merchant ship’s wall, raising a large wine jug and pouring it into his mouth. This merchant vessel is one Whitebeard “borrowed” from that coastal town.
After placing the jug on the ground, Whitebeard glances at Shisui and grins. “Gurararara! Didn’t you already explain? You were just fooled by ‘Root.’”
Shisui hesitates. “But, by a ninja’s logic, you and I stand on opposing sides…”
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a giant wine jug flies at him, and Shisui’s pupils contract. He quickly dodges. From the corner of his eye, he sees the jug drop into the sea.
“What’s with you ninjas, always so uptight?” Whitebeard opens a new keg of strong liquor and guzzles half of it in one go. He plops onto the deck, his grin bold and unrestrained.
“I’m Whitebeard! I’ll save whomever I want to save! What’s that? You Uchiha brat—if you don’t want saving, should I just toss you overboard?”
“Eh? N-No!” Shisui breaks into a cold sweat. Given his current state, getting thrown off the ship would be a death sentence, drowning in the ocean.
Just as Shisui is about to say something else,
Naruto’s excited yell comes from the other end of the merchant ship’s deck:
“Dad! There’s land ahead!!!”
He runs over, shouting with excitement. He’s strapped with lots of training weights, bruises mottling his skin. Apparently, today was another day of brutal self-training for Naruto.
“Land! Dad! It’s land!” Naruto rushes up to Whitebeard, pointing in one direction. “Dad! Look, over there!”
“Oh?” Whitebeard ignores Shisui and looks to the distance.
“Gurararara!” The grin on Whitebeard’s face broadens. “It’s indeed land—and not some uninhabited island but a stretch of land where plenty of people live.”
Kakashi, who has been leaning against the rail reading his little book, now puts it away.
“That should be the Land of Water.”
Kakashi’s tone grows serious. “We’ll need to be extra cautious. I’ve heard the Land of Water hasn’t been peaceful these past few years. Inside the Land of Water, Kirigakure has been implementing something called the ‘Bloody Mist Policy.’”
“I’m not too sure of the details. Either way, it’s definitely less stable than the Land of Fire. They might even be worse than the Land of Grass in that regard.”
Kakashi turns to Uzumaki Fushi. “Since the Land of Whirlpools is close to the Land of Water, you should know it better than I do.”
Fushi shakes her head. “I only knew the Land of Water from over ten or twenty years ago.”
Kakashi realizes his mistake.
Right… The Land of Whirlpools had already been destroyed many years back, and Fushi was just a child at the time.
“I’m sorry,” Kakashi says, realizing he just touched upon a painful memory.
“It’s all right. I’ve come to terms with it long ago,” Fushi replies with a gentle smile.
Suddenly, Shisui’s somewhat weak voice arises: “The Bloody Mist Policy is really just within Kirigakure Village. I once killed a Mist ninja, and from what he revealed, in their village, ‘Bloody Mist’ means forcing comrades to kill each other. They also target bloodlines with Kekkei Genkai.”
“However, as far as I know… ever since a ‘Demon’ named Zabuza Momochi appeared in Kirigakure years ago—massacring every other student in his class—the Bloody Mist Policy has eased a bit. Currently, Kirigakure acts much like an isolationist state.”
“You saved my life, so consider this information a form of repayment.” Shisui forces a weak smile.
“‘Demon’ Zabuza…” Kakashi muses. “Sounds familiar—I think I’ve heard about him somewhere.”
“But anyway,” Kakashi wipes some cold sweat from his brow, “we sailed a ship from the Land of Fire all the way here, and now…how do we stop it? If we don’t slow down soon, this boat will crash right into the dock!”
From the group’s vantage point, the merchant ship is racing toward a dock in the Land of Water.
In the distance, the once-faint outline of the Land of Water grows clearer, more distinct by the second.
“Karin, hold onto Mom’s hand,” Uzumaki Fushi says, face solemn. “We may need to jump off soon.”
“Okay, Mom.” Karin nods quickly, clasping her mother’s hand.
“…This is bad,” Shisui mutters as cold sweat gathers on his forehead. He’s not sure he can even walk on water in his current condition. If the ship slams into the dock, he might die along with it.
“Must I force my Sharingan open again…?”
He touches the one eye he has left.
“Wahh! Dad!” Naruto’s face scrunches in alarm as they approach the dock, panic setting in. “We’re about to crash! What do we do, what do we do, what do we do?!”
“Gurararara!”
Of everyone present, only Whitebeard’s expression stays composed, that confident grin still on his face.
Whitebeard grabs a large jug of wine and rises from the deck.
“At last, land. After being stuck on this broken little ship for so many days, I feel like my bones are about to rust!”
He pours down the final gulps from his jug, face slightly flushed. Tossing aside the empty container, he grips the massive naginata Murakumogiri.
He bends his knees a little.
Boom!!!!
The deck beneath him explodes, sending tremors through the entire ship.
—
Meanwhile,
On the dock,
A group of fishermen in the Land of Water, who only recently returned from sea, are busy dealing with the catch in their nets. Suddenly, they realize something is off with the waves. Peering through the Land of Water’s signature thick mist, they see a dark form getting closer.
Squinting, it appears to be…
A ship?
Wait, a ship!
“Not good!” one fisherman yells, tossing his net aside and shouting to those around him in terror, “There’s a ship out there that can’t slow down! Run! It’s about to crash into the dock!!”
His shriek draws the attention of the other fishermen.
They look out at sea, and their expressions change dramatically.
“Run!”
Their panicked cries fill the air.
No one wants to imagine how catastrophic it would be if that big ship slams into this small pier.
“Argh! That hurts!”
One fisherman tries to dash off but steps onto a line of fishhooks. The hooks pierce his foot, and he howls in pain as he tumbles to the ground.
“N-No…!” He turns back to see the shadow in the mist becoming ever clearer, the ship now plainly visible.
It’s over!
Just as he thinks all hope is lost, it’s as if a meteor crashes down close by.
Boom!!!
That part of the pier is instantly shattered. The ground shakes fiercely.
“What… is that?” The fallen fisherman sees an impossibly tall figure standing before him. The person’s silhouette must be several meters in height. A large cloak billows in the sea breeze.
It is Whitebeard!
“It’s Dad!” Naruto suddenly notices his father missing from the ship—and then sees him on the dock. Naruto’s eyes widened. “Dad! Watch out! The ship— The ship is about to hit you—aaaaaah!!!”
At that moment,
Whitebeard still sports his heroic grin.
As the ship closes in to just a few meters away, he raises one hand, reaching toward the merchant vessel, as though he intends to stop it with his palm alone!
Boom!!!!
When the merchant ship collides violently with Whitebeard’s right hand, Whitebeard’s body doesn’t move an inch. Only his crescent-shaped mustache quivers slightly.
But the ship that was about to smash into the pier…
Jerks to a sudden halt—stopped by Whitebeard’s single hand!
“Ah—!”
Under the jolt, Naruto cries out, stumbling head first onto the deck.
Kakashi stands firm, and Uzumaki Fushi manages to keep herself upright, still holding her daughter’s hand so Karin doesn’t fall.
“Not good!”
Shisui fares no better than Naruto. He also falls. The impact aggravates his still-unhealed injuries, forcing cold sweat to break out on his forehead.
But that’s not the main shock. Everyone stares in disbelief at the ship that just came to a halt.
Even Uchiha Shisui and Kakashi—both Konoha Jonin—find Whitebeard’s feat inconceivable.
“This…is the man with a 100 million ryo bounty in the ninja world?”
Shisui whispers in awe.
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