Days passed and it was time for the war to begin. Every ninja above chūnin rank left the Leaf Village in organized waves—teams marching out the gates under heavy clouds, banners snapping in the wind, armor clinking, faces set with grim determination.
The streets echoed with the steady tramp of boots, the low murmur of last-minute goodbyes, and the distant rumble of supply carts rolling behind them.
Konoha felt strangely empty—quiet, tense, like the village itself was holding its breath.
Naruto, on the other hand? He left with Kakashi and Yamato—heading toward Turtle Island for some reason that felt increasingly unnecessary.
He no longer needed to go there to get stronger; last he checked, at the moment nobody in the whole world was even close to him.
In fact, if he wanted, he could stop the war in a blink—scatter the Akatsuki, shatter Madara's plans, end it all before it truly started.
But he didn't protest. He just left with them—quiet, compliant, a small part of him curious to see how this divergence would play out honestly.
They were currently on a boat drifting in the ocean—old wooden vessel with salt-crusted railings, sails snapping lazily in the breeze, deck rocking gently on slow swells.
The water stretched endless in every direction—deep blue-green under a heavy gray sky, horizon blurred where sea met cloud.
'This kinda sucks,' Naruto thought, leaning against the metal railing (a recent addition someone had bolted on for reinforcement).
'Don't know how Luffy and them live like this.'
He raised his head, glancing across the deck. Kakashi was doing what he did best—perched on a crate near the stern, nose buried in the latest Icha Icha volume he'd stocked up on before leaving. The book's cover was worn, pages dog-eared; he turned them slowly, mask hiding any expression, but his posture screamed contentment.
'He'd be worshiped in the BookTok community,' Naruto thought, smirking faintly.
Yamato sat cross-legged near the bow—eyes closed, hands resting on his knees, meditating with perfect stillness. The faint green glow of wood-style chakra occasionally flickered around him, far better than whatever Kakashi was doing.
Naruto sighed—long, dramatic—turning back toward the ocean. He leaned forward over the railing, elbows braced, staring at the endless water.
'I should've left with Tsunade.'
Suddenly—
BOOOFF!
A cannonball screamed past him—close enough that the wind of its passage ruffled his hair and jacket. It splashed into the sea fifty meters away with a massive *gush*, sending up a white plume of water that sprayed the deck in salty mist.
Naruto turned toward the direction.
A ship sailed toward them—black sails patched and ragged, hull painted dark gray with red accents, Jolly Roger flapping high: a grinning skull crossed with kunai instead of bones.
Pirates lined the deck—rough-looking men and women in mismatched armor, weapons glinting—shouting, laughing, already reloading the cannon.
"Pirates!" Kakashi called from the stern, voice casual as he snapped his book shut and stood. "Never thought I'd see them this early."
Yamato opened his eyes, breaking his meditation as be stood up. Before either could say anything else, Naruto moved.
Whoosh.
Wind blasted right in their faces—sharp, sudden—as Naruto flew past them. Kakashi's book fluttered open again; Yamato's hair whipped back.
Naruto landed lightly on the pirate ship's deck—boots touching wood with barely a sound. Pirates surrounded him in all directions—swords drawn, guns raised, eyes wide with confusion turning to greed.
He smiled—small, sharp, almost excited.
'Now this is exciting.' The pirates froze for half a second then charged. He stepped forward casual, almost lazy and the fight began.
Boots thundered across the deck, blades flashing under the sun. One pirate swung a rusted cutlass straight for Naruto's neck while another fired a flintlock from behind him.
The sword whistled past his face—
Shhk!
Naruto tilted his head an inch to the side, letting the blade cut nothing but air. At the same moment he raised one hand and caught the pirate's wrist.
Crack.
The pirate's arm folded instantly. Naruto twisted and flipped him over his shoulder. The man smashed into the deck hard enough to rattle the boards.
The gunshot rang out—
BANG!
Naruto leaned sideways without even looking. The bullet screamed past his ear and punched through a mast behind him. He turned, grabbed the shooter by the collar, and lifted him like he weighed nothing.
Then he tossed him. The pirate flew across the deck—and crashed into three others, sending them tumbling into a pile of limbs and weapons.
More rushed him.
A massive brute swung a spiked club down toward Naruto's head. Naruto stepped inside the swing. His fist drove straight into the man's stomach.
THUD
The pirate's entire body folded around Naruto's punch before he launched backward like a cannonball, smashing through a stack of barrels that burst open in a spray of fish and saltwater.
Naruto didn't even pause.
Two pirates lunged from both sides.
He ducked under the first blade, grabbed the second pirate's arm, and used the man's momentum to spin him into his partner.
CRASH!
Both men went rolling across the deck. Another pirate jumped from the rigging above, daggers aimed downward.
Naruto glanced up. "…You guys really should think these things through."
He stepped aside at the last moment.
The pirate stabbed straight into the deck.
Before he could pull the blades free, Naruto tapped him lightly on the back of the neck.
Thunk.
The man collapsed instantly.
Across the ship, pirates began slowing down. Their earlier confidence vanished as they watched their crewmates drop one after another without Naruto even breaking a sweat.
Naruto stretched his shoulders.
"You guys done?" he asked casually.
One pirate tried to fire a cannon point-blank in desperation.
BOOM!
The recoil blasted the cannon backward—
Naruto had already moved. He appeared beside the cannon, grabbed its barrel with one hand, and shoved it upward.
The cannonball shot into the sky instead of the deck.
WHOOOOOM!
It vanished into the clouds. Naruto looked around at the pirates still standing. Some were holding swords. Most were already backing away. A few simply dropped their weapons. Naruto cracked his knuckles.
"Come on," he said with a grin. "You guys were real loud a minute ago."
Suddenly a shadow fell over him.
Naruto raised his eyes just in time to see a massive pirate dropping from the rigging above. The man was enormous—easily twice Naruto's size—with arms like tree trunks and a huge spiked club raised high over his head. The weapon whistled through the air as he brought it down with both hands.
"DIE—!"
Naruto didn't move.
At the last second, he flicked his wrist.
A razor-thin blade of wind snapped outward from his hand.
SHHHHKKK—
The air itself split. The pirate was hit mid-swing and blown sideways as if struck by a giant hammer, his body spinning uncontrollably through the air before flying straight over the railing.
SPLOOOSH!
He vanished into the ocean below. Naruto watched the splash for a second.
'Alright… this is boring now.'
He exhaled slowly. Then chakra surged into his palm.
WHIIIIIRRRRRR
A Rasenshuriken formed instantly, spinning violently with a piercing shriek as compressed wind blades carved through the air around it. The pirates still standing froze, staring in horror at the glowing technique.
Naruto casually dropped it onto the deck.Then he vanished.
Whoosh.
He reappeared on Kakashi and Yamato's ship just as the Rasenshuriken detonated.
Behind him—
KRRRSHHHHH—BOOOOOOM!
The pirate ship exploded into splintering wood and shredded sails as the Rasenshuriken tore through the hull like a storm of invisible blades. The mast snapped in half, the deck split apart, and the entire vessel collapsed inward before the sea rushed in.
Within seconds, the ship tilted sharply—Then sank. The pirates bobbed up moments later, coughing and shouting as they floated helplessly in the water among broken planks and barrels.
Naruto stood on the railing of their ship watching the wreck disappear beneath the waves.
"Well," Kakashi said casually from behind him, flipping a page in his book, "I guess we won't need to do anything with you here, Naruto."
Naruto smiled faintly.
"Nah," he replied. "You'll handle whatever comes next."
He stretched his arms lazily.
"I'm going to sleep."
He walked past them and headed down into the cabin below deck.
The wooden stairs creaked quietly as he descended, the rocking of the ship steady beneath his feet.
'We better arrive soon…' he thought as he dropped onto the small bunk.
'This trip is hell.'
TO BE CONTINUED