An unknown pirate crew? Zobei and Kotarou had no interest in that at all. After all, they were Chunin of Konohagakure now. Their status and position were on a completely different level.
Their rejection didn't bother Jigen, but he knew it was time to form his own pirate crew.
At the very least, he needed to be someone who could stand face-to-face with Shanks.
The situation in the ninja world was becoming more and more complicated, and even Jigen couldn't fully grasp it. If before, only a few ninjas were worth paying attention to, now, with Shanks ushering in this new era, countless powerful figures were bound to rise.
These strong individuals were still in their growth phase, but Jigen didn't mind waiting for them to mature.
If he wanted to stand on equal footing with Shanks, he needed the recognition of other pirates as well.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Waves, Kakashi led Naruto and Sasuke away, while Orochimaru and Kabuto boarded Shanks' ship. Both sides had their own matters to attend to, and for the foreseeable future, they wouldn't have much contact.
As for Gato, he clutched the Red-Haired Pirates' flag tightly. His estate had been destroyed, the entire port area was in ruins, but looking at the flag in his hands, he still felt it had all been worth it.
"The Land of the Sea is a nation without ninjas. Because it's close to the Land of Water, it used to hire Water Country's ninjas for protection.
But after what happened with Zabuza, the Land of Water stopped sending ninjas, choosing instead to strengthen its own defenses."
"I have a secret base in the Land of the Sea, though I rarely use it.
But more importantly, I have a friend there."
Orochimaru explained. This was one of the reasons they were heading to the Land of the Sea. If they wanted to understand the power behind all this, they had no choice but to find that person.
"A friend?"
Shanks didn't recall Orochimaru having any "friends." In fact, how many people could even be considered his friends?
"Amado may be just an ordinary person, but his intelligence surpasses mine in certain areas.
A lot of my lab equipment comes from him, and in return, I share some of my research data with him."
Orochimaru continued.
Amado—the greatest scientist in the ninja world.
To Orochimaru and Hiruko, Amado was just an exceptionally smart scientist, but his research was entirely different from theirs.
While Orochimaru and Hiruko focused on ninjutsu as the core of their studies, Amado was entirely on the side of technology.
In the current ninja world, aside from the scientific advancements of Kumogakure in the Land of Thunder, most of the strange technological developments in other nations were closely tied to Amado.
Of course, this was far from his limit. In the future, after Naruto's son was born and grew up, Amado would become the undisputed top scientist in the ninja world. He would even develop cloning technology, not to mention other things like body modifications.
Even though Amado wasn't at that level yet, he was already impressive enough to catch Orochimaru's attention—enough to be considered a "friend."
"So, we're heading to Amado next to study all this?"
Shanks looked at the Seastone crystal on the table. No one knew exactly what it was, but Orochimaru confirmed that its effects were the same as regular Seastone.
Some mysteries of the ninja world could only be unraveled through science.
"If we can confirm that the ocean is the birthplace of life in this world, or even the core of something greater, it could be useful to us."
Orochimaru said.
Even though he and Shanks weren't on the same path, for now, their goals were aligned.
As for Shanks himself, if Orochimaru could find someone to help, that would be even better.
The ninja world had its own spiritual energy and life force. It wouldn't be wrong to call it the will of the world.
But Shanks understood that this so-called "will of the world" was actually more like the world's instinct.
"Captain, is that thing you're talking about really that dangerous?"
Shisui didn't understand why Orochimaru and Shanks were being so cautious.
"It's extremely dangerous. If it were you, you wouldn't be able to handle the effects of that power. Even I can only use a small part of it. If I push past my limit, I'll suffer the consequences."
Shanks nodded seriously. The power of the world wasn't something just anyone could handle.
In fact, under normal circumstances, no one could even reach the level where they could come into contact with it. Only someone as ridiculously powerful as Shanks, who could shape an entire era by himself, could attract the world's power.
Normally, the power of the world wouldn't be drawn to any individual.
When the world's power shifts, it's usually because something has gone wrong, causing the world's "instinct" to react.
Like last time, when the will of the ninja world started to concentrate on the Sage of Six Paths.
But that wasn't because the Sage of Six Paths was strong enough—it was because the world at that time needed a "Sage of Six Paths."
In other words, even if "Otsutsuki Hagoromo" had never existed, the ninja world would have created someone else to take on the role of the Sage of Six Paths and seal Kaguya.
That was the power of fate.
The will of the world is more like a seed.
What made Shanks so unusual was that the will of the world didn't just plant the seed in him—he had already bloomed and borne fruit.
It was like he had jumped straight to the final step without following the normal process.
Of course, neither Orochimaru nor Shanks himself realized this.
Meanwhile, after hearing Shanks say he could only borrow part of the world's power, Orochimaru was already feeling numb inside.
"As expected, this guy is on a completely different level from us. Borrowing the power of the world… No matter how you think about it, it sounds crazy."
"But if I become the strongest being in the world, I should be able to do it too, right? I'd love to see what the world's power really feels like."
Orochimaru had his own ambitions. Right now, it looked like he was using Shanks' power for his own goals.
But in reality, not everyone was willing to take the risks he was taking.
Like Hiruko said from the beginning, Orochimaru was gambling with his own life, and he only had one chance.
No one knew what kind of price had to be paid to become a legendary dragon.
The first person to try something new might end up being allergic to it—take one bite, and they could die on the spot.
"Shanks really is powerful."
Kabuto, standing nearby, smiled and threw in a compliment. But this wasn't just flattery—it was something he truly believed. Everyone acknowledged Shanks' strength.
"Kabuto, you're not bad either. With your talent, you won't stay at your current level for long."
Hearing Shanks' words, Orochimaru also smiled.
There weren't many things they could hide from Shanks.
Neither Kabuto's ambitions nor Orochimaru's were secrets in front of him.
But that was precisely why Kabuto had been chosen by Orochimaru.
And Shanks didn't mind their ambitions at all.
"The captain sure is bold. Those two guys look like walking dangers."
Shisui, standing off to the side, was well aware of how dangerous Orochimaru and Kabuto were.
Even though they were allies for now, he couldn't let his guard down around them.
If Shanks didn't want to deal with them directly, then as the "vice-captain," that job fell to him.
Shisui knew Shanks wasn't an idiot.
But as his second-in-command, he also understood how Shanks thought.
Shanks stood too high—his vision was on a completely different level.
As the strongest man in the shinobi world, Shanks focused on the bigger picture rather than on individuals.
That was what set him apart from others. Because of this, Shisui often had to step in to handle the smaller details for him.
After all, their captain didn't like dealing with these matters and just dumped them on him instead.
Just as he was thinking about this, Shisui sensed something.
"I'll be back in a bit."
"Alright."
Shanks didn't ask any questions.
Shisui stepped out of the cabin and saw a crow perched on the mast.
"Caw, caw, caw, caw!!"
The crow flew down, and its scarlet eyes revealed three tomoe.
"The Revolutionary Army has started moving? But… their actions still don't make much sense yet."
Shisui let the crow go. It had been sent by Itachi.
After returning, Nagato had immediately given orders to Kakuzu and Itachi. This was the first real "command" issued within the Akatsuki, and only those two knew about it.
The Akatsuki was full of conflicting interests, and even Nagato wasn't sure who could be trusted.
But Kakuzu was completely reliable. Both Nagato and Konan were certain of that. After all, Kakuzu had been the one funding the organization all this time. A man who only cared about money wouldn't have any hidden agendas.
As for Itachi, Nagato didn't trust him at all. Since Itachi was from Konohagakure, he would always be a suspect.
However, for the same reason, Itachi couldn't have been planted in the Akatsuki by another faction. That, in turn, made him someone they could still use.
"The Revolutionary Army is gathering information on its initial members and preparing to declare independence at sea?"
"But it probably won't happen too soon. At least not until the Land of Wind situation is settled."
Shisui thought for a moment. Since their captain had gotten so many Divine Trees from Nagato, that meant Nagato still had more.
So for the Revolutionary Army, Devil Fruits weren't exactly a rare resource.
And that was exactly the case. Nagato already had plans in place—by using the Ten-Tails, he could keep producing Devil Fruits indefinitely.
For the Akatsuki, power was the cheapest thing they had.
But how to use that power, who to trust with it, and how to distinguish those people—Nagato didn't have the answers.
If the wrong people got their hands on Devil Fruits, it would only lead to more problems.
The only ones Nagato fully trusted were the original Akatsuki members.
Most of the core members were dead, but… if he looked hard enough, he might still find a few useful people.
In the Land of Fire, Kakuzu was flipping through a stack of bounty posters.
Hidan stood beside him, curiously glancing at the papers.
When Kakuzu crossed out the name of a monk called "Chiriku," Hidan raised an eyebrow at him.
"That's our next target."
"Huh?"
Hearing Kakuzu's words, Hidan looked surprised.
"I'm not going after a monk. I'm a man of faith. If I attack someone who also has faith, Jashin will punish me," Hidan said with a smirk, refusing outright.
Despite being a devout follower of Jashin and a merciless killer, Hidan had a strict rule—he would never harm someone from any religious order.
"We're not going to kill him. We're recruiting him."
"You want a former member of Konoha's Twelve Guardian Ninja to join us? We're supposed to be…"
Hidan was about to say, "We're a terrorist group," but the words got stuck in his throat.
They weren't a terrorist group—they were a revolutionary army.
"Chiriku and Furido are close friends. He may not be a member of the Akatsuki, but he's someone we can completely trust," Kakuzu said.
"Who's Furido?"
"You don't need to know."
Kakuzu ignored him, and Hidan couldn't be bothered to press further. He just smirked—so what if Kakuzu knew a little more than him? No big deal.
As for the "Furido" Kakuzu mentioned, he was one of the early core members of the Akatsuki, but he was killed by Obito and Black Zetsu.
Kakuzu had only learned about these early members through other people.
For example, his information about Furido came from Chiriku.
Furido was a monk, and Chiriku was a monk too. It was only natural that they knew each other and were good friends.
The ninja world wasn't that big, after all. In fact, this wasn't just true for the ninja world—in any world, when you looked at the people at the top, you'd find that they all knew each other to some extent.
Orochimaru and Amado knew each other in the world of science, just like Chiriku and Furido in the world of monks.
As for the top fighters of the ninja world, there was no need to even mention them. Even if they were on opposite sides, they all knew each other.
That's how circles of influence are formed.
But this kind of thing didn't exist among pirates. Pirates didn't have circles—they were just a bunch of small-time nobodies.
The only ones who could truly be called big names right now were Zabuza and Captain Dark.
But in a place as vast as the Land of Wind, the chances of them running into each other were slim.
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