A few days later, in the Land of Waves—
"Captain, Shanks has been locked in his room for three days now. Other than Gato going in once, he hasn't come out at all."
The crew member speaking was Zabuza, someone who looked very familiar—the same guy who was always eyeing his Kubikiribocho.
"Where's Gato?"
Zabuza asked. In just a few short days, the entire ninja world had fallen into chaos.
Somehow, rumors about the old site of the Divine Tree had started spreading on the underground black market. Even Gato himself had no idea how this information got out.
"You were looking for me, captain?"
Gato squeezed his way through the crowd. The past few days had been rough on him—his hair was practically falling out from stress. Shanks had too many questions, and Gato had to handle the entire underground intelligence network.
Of course, this network wasn't something Gato controlled on his own. The only reason it expanded so quickly—
Was because everyone involved had worked together. Gato was just one of them.
Not to mention, he had the "Blade-less Pirates" as a powerful backer before. Plus, with the amount of "Divine Wood" he had sold, Gato had already secured a strong foothold in the underground market.
That was the weight of his reputation. Though, the price of that reputation was being tied to the ship's mast for several days.
"Has Shanks been gathering any specific intel lately?"
Zabuza asked.
"No idea. Shanks is looking at all sorts of intelligence. I've already sent over almost everything I could collect."
Even Gato didn't know what Shanks was up to. Ever since arriving in the Land of Waves, he had been focused on understanding the ninja world.
Which was odd—because everything they knew about the ninja world, they had learned from Shanks in the first place.
And now, Shanks was turning around and studying the current state of the ninja world himself.
"There must be some clues hidden in all that ordinary information."
Haku spoke calmly. He had no idea what Shanks was doing, but that was normal. If he could easily understand it, then Shanks wouldn't be Shanks.
This man was known for having the most unpredictable genius in the ninja world. Trying to figure him out? Only someone with a few screws loose would even try.
"Even though the Five Great Nations haven't made a move yet, the smaller nations are already starting to stir.
A lot of pirates have secretly entered the Land of Wind, and rumors that the Divine Tree's old site is located there are spreading fast."
Haku explained. Compared to the chaos outside, the Land of Waves was surprisingly peaceful, as if everything happening in the world had nothing to do with it.
The Blade-less Pirates hadn't made any moves either. One reason was Shanks. The other—Haku's Devil Fruit still wasn't ready.
Zabuza considered himself a man of principle, but when he thought about his vice-captain still not having a Devil Fruit, he decided to put his principles aside for now.
He cut a piece of Divine Wood from Shanks' ship's bow. As for how he would explain it to Shanks later?
If worst came to worst, he'd just take another beating.
And if that wasn't enough… well, they could always string Gato up to patch the hole in the bow.
"It's not time for chaos just yet. Haku, how much longer until your Devil Fruit is fully grown?"
Zabuza asked.
"About twenty-five more days. My power seems to be a bit unusual, so the growth cycle is longer than normal."
Haku replied. He had directly converted it using his Kekkei Genkai power. As for Ninjutsu—Haku had no particular attachment to it.
All of his abilities were developed through his own Kekkei Genkai. Using Devil Fruits would actually help him develop his power even further.
"At this rate, within a month, there will be a lot of Devil Fruit users in the ninja world. By then, the Land of Wind probably won't be peaceful anymore."
"Captain, we can set sail when the time comes. There's no need to rush now."
Haku knew that Zabuza wouldn't let this opportunity slip away. Most of the crew on the ship were just ordinary people.
Even though they had learned the Six Powers and were stronger than regular people, the only one who had truly mastered it was "Jin."
The physical limits of regular people in the ninja world were clear. Except for a few rare talents, an average person couldn't compare to those in the world of pirates.
That's why Zabuza also needed Devil Fruits. As the captain of the Blade-less Pirates, he had to take responsibility for his crew.
"But... there's still one problem..."
Haku suddenly thought of something.
"What problem?"
"Captain, you don't really know much Ninjutsu, do you?"
Haku's words made Zabuza freeze in embarrassment.
It wasn't that he didn't know much Ninjutsu—it was just that most of the ones he knew were Water Release techniques.
And the weird part was, for some unknown reason, Water Release couldn't be converted into a Devil Fruit power.
Of course, it also had no effect on Devil Fruit users.
Zabuza didn't fully understand the reason behind it.
"I still know a little, and besides, it's just Ninjutsu. I can still learn it now."
After all, Zabuza was once an elite Jonin. Learning Ninjutsu wasn't hard for him.
Though mastering it? That was another story.
Meanwhile, in another room, Shanks had been going through intelligence reports for days. By now, he had a good grasp of the current situation in the ninja world.
He had pretty much figured everything out.
The changes in the ninja world weren't entirely the fault of the Toad Sage—part of it was on him too.
But since he was an Uzumaki, he wasn't about to take the blame for it.
If there was an Uzumaki problem, then Konoha should be responsible for it. And if Konoha was responsible, that meant Danzo was the one to blame.
So when it came down to it, everything happening in the ninja world now was still Danzo's fault.
"I can't believe I actually managed to use the Uzumaki clan's sensory abilities like Observation Haki."
"And this ability to sharpen my external senses by focusing inward… How did I even come up with that? I must be a genius."
"Orochimaru even managed to reverse-engineer Devil Fruits through my transformation… using Ninjutsu to recreate them."
Shanks finally understood, but even though he figured it out, he still felt speechless.
As for that 'Madara' from back then—who else could it be? It was obviously Uchiha Madara. Shanks couldn't think of anyone else in the ninja world who could have cut such a huge chunk off the Gedo Statue.
"But that really fits his prideful style—never owing anyone anything."
"At this rate, the ninja world is already turning into a pirate-style ninja world. I need to think about what to do next."
"Once the first batch of Devil Fruit users appears, the Land of Wind will definitely become the center of the chaos."
"This kind of mess… I think I'll just stay out of it."
Shanks shook his head.
Who knows which genius got hold of this information?
Back then, the Divine Tree did cause the loss of life energy in the ninja world. Looking at it this way, that vast desert in the Land of Wind could very well be its former site.
So there's no way Shanks would get involved. Now that the ninja world has entered an uncontrollable era of great pirates…
"Should I… start my own pirate crew too?"
---
You can read 50 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu