Chapter 31: The Four Emperors, the Name of Uzumaki Shanks!

"Where's my money?" 

When Tazuna came back to his senses, he was stunned. 

The money the villagers had gathered was almost gone—only thirty thousand ryo remained. What now? 

Thirty thousand ryo might seem like a lot, but it was nowhere near enough to hire a ninja. 

"Forget it… there wasn't much hope to begin with." 

Tazuna shook his head. Things had already come to this point—there was no use worrying about it now. 

And then there was the ninja behind Gato—no, more precisely, the captain of the Blade-less Pirate Crew. 

Tazuna didn't know much, but as an old resident of Land of Waves, he had heard plenty of rumors in the bar. 

All he knew was that this pirate captain was an incredibly powerful man. Even ninjas might not be able to defeat him.

The pirates also said that their captain was an old friend of the legendary Four Emperors, Uzumaki Shanks. 

Tazuna didn't know what the Four Emperors were, but the title alone sounded impressive. It had to mean one of the strongest pirates out there. 

"With the money I have left, I can only afford to post a C-rank mission." 

Feeling a bit lightheaded, Tazuna walked out of the tavern. 

To save some money, he decided to grab a simple breakfast. 

"This should be the place." 

Seeing the sign that read "Ichiraku Ramen," Tazuna stepped inside. 

"What can I get for you?" 

The owner of Ichiraku greeted him with a warm smile, just as he did with every customer, no matter who they were. 

"Uncle Ichiraku, I want a bowl of ramen!" 

Before Tazuna could say anything, a kid ran in and placed his order first. 

"I'll have the same," Tazuna added. 

"Alright, coming right up!" 

Ichiraku got to work, feeling a sense of happiness as always. There was something truly peaceful about people sitting down to enjoy a bowl of ramen. 

"Naruto, don't you have a mission today?" 

"Those missions are boring. Even Sakura and Sasuke think so. Sasuke said he'd rather spend his time training. Doing these missions is just a waste of time." 

Naruto grumbled. 

Even though he made it sound like it was all Sasuke and Sakura's idea, he felt the same way. 

They were supposed to be ninjas of the Hidden Leaf Village, but all they did every day was find lost pets, pick up trash, or clean rivers. 

This wasn't the ninja life Naruto had imagined. 

And the rewards? D-rank missions didn't pay much, and whatever they did earn had to be split. 

The only real benefit was that Naruto got better at using his Shadow Clone Jutsu. Since these tasks were so repetitive, he relied on his clones to handle them, turning it into a small training exercise—though the progress was barely noticeable. 

Since the Sage of Six Paths founded the ninja world, centuries had passed, and the training system had become stable. 

Stability meant sticking to the rules. It wasn't like people didn't have special abilities, but compared to someone like Shanks, things like bloodlines, Kekkei Genkai, and Tailed Beasts didn't seem like such a big advantage. 

Shanks was different. He had completely broken the world's logic, training in an entirely different kind of power. 

That was why everyone saw him as the one who would lead a new era. People like him couldn't just be called geniuses anymore. 

In the ninja world, the last person to create a new power system was the Sage of Six Paths himself. 

So for an average person, just training wasn't enough to make huge progress. 

And to be honest, Naruto's talent wasn't even that great—he was below average. 

"Well, you guys only just became genin. If you want to take on bigger missions, you'll probably have to wait a few more years," Ichiraku said, trying to comfort him. 

"I'm gonna be Hokage! As the future Hokage, I can't just sit around doing D-rank missions forever!" 

"Ooh, ramen!" 

Naruto's face lit up as he grabbed his bowl and started eating enthusiastically.

Tazuna took his bowl of ramen and was surprised when he heard Naruto's words. 

But after glancing at Naruto—carefree, wearing dirty clothes—he shook his head. 

"That's quite a big dream, hahaha." 

Tazuna chuckled. Like most people, he didn't believe Naruto's "dream" had any chance of coming true. 

To him, it was just a child's wishful thinking. 

But Naruto, whose emotional intelligence swung wildly up and down, completely misunderstood Tazuna's meaning. He thought the old man was praising him. 

"Hehe, Grandpa, so you think I can become Hokage too?" 

"I think there's no way you'll ever be Hokage." 

Naruto's face instantly fell. Hugging his ramen bowl, he sulked in the corner. 

"You must be here in Konohagakure to request a mission, right?" 

Teuchi, The Sage of Six Bowls changed the subject, turning to Tazuna. There weren't many outsiders in Konohagakure, and unfamiliar faces like Tazuna's usually meant they had come to hire ninjas for a job. 

"Yeah, I'm here for a mission request, but… I don't have much money left. I only have 30,000 ryou." 

Tazuna also wanted to gather some information while he was at it. He knew that amount wasn't nearly enough to hire a ninja. 

"30,000? That's about the price for a C-rank mission." 

"C-rank mission?" 

Hearing this, Naruto's interest spiked. 

"Grandpa, I… I'm a Genin from Konohagakure! I can take C-rank missions too!" 

Naruto looked thrilled. 

Finally, this was his chance. No more boring little errands. 

"…" 

"Naruto, missions like this aren't for you guys yet." 

Teuchi rubbed his forehead. Genin could take C-rank missions, but Naruto and his group were still too young. Forget missions—just leaving the village at their age was already dangerous. 

"Yeah, kid, you better just stay in the village where it's safe." 

Tazuna had no intention of hiring a "ninja" like this. Looking at Naruto, the kid didn't seem much older than his own grandson. And this was supposed to be a ninja? 

"…" 

Seeing both Ichiraku and Tazuna dismiss him, Naruto pouted again, sulking with his bowl in the corner. 

Completely underestimated. 

Damn it! He, Uzumaki Naruto, was going to be the future Hokage! 

And yet, he couldn't even take on a C-rank mission. 

After finishing his meal, Tazuna didn't linger. He got up and headed straight for the Hokage's office. 

But Naruto followed right after him. 

No way—this was just a C-rank mission! If he had to, he'd go beg the Third Hokage! 

Naruto didn't bother hiding his intentions and walked right beside Tazuna. The old man's face twitched in annoyance. 

"Grandpa, don't be fooled by my age! I'm Konohagakure's ninjutsu genius!" 

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 

In an instant, several clones of Naruto appeared, making Tazuna jump in shock.

But then he calmed down. 

"Even if you really are a ninja, you can't handle this." 

Tazuna shook his head. Against the "Blade-less Pirates," an ordinary ninja was useless. 

"Grandpa, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?" 

"I'm really strong, you know! You don't even realize it, but I'm—" 

Five or six voices kept chattering nonstop, making Tazuna's head spin. 

"Kid, have you ever heard of the Four Emperors? On this mission, we might have to face one of them." 

To get Naruto to back off, Tazuna could only throw out whatever he knew, trying to scare him. This trick always worked on kids. 

"F-Four Emperors?" 

Naruto froze, stopping in his tracks. 

The shadow clones around him also disappeared. 

Like Tazuna, Naruto didn't know what the Four Emperors were, but just hearing the name made them sound like a big deal. 

"That's right, the Four Emperors— the strongest pirates ruling the seas, the emperors of the ocean." 

Seeing the shock in Naruto's eyes, Tazuna also stopped. 

The two of them stood under a big tree by the roadside. 

"Actually, my request is a protection mission—to keep us safe until we finish building the bridge." 

"The Land of Waves' sea routes are controlled by our ruler, Gato. He controls the whole country through trade. If we can finish the bridge, we'll finally have hope." 

"Who's Gato?" Naruto asked curiously. 

"Gato? He's just an ordinary man. A pirate." 

"But here's the thing—Gato is part of the Blade-less Pirates. That crew mainly operates between the Land of Waves and the Land of Water. They're the most powerful pirate group in that part of the sea." 

"So, do the Blade-less Pirates have anything to do with the Four Emperors?" 

Hearing all this for the first time, Naruto's curiosity kicked in. Pirates? He had heard about mountain bandits in the Land of Fire, but pirates on the ocean? 

"The Four Emperors aren't a single person. The Four Emperors are the four rulers of the New World." 

"The captain of the Blade-less Pirates is a close friend of one of the Four Emperors." 

"And that man… is the strongest of them all." 

Tazuna's words were half true, half made up—mostly things he had heard from others, with a little creative exaggeration. 

Still, the main story wasn't far from what the pirates themselves had said. 

"T-The strongest?" 

"That's right. He's the youngest of the Four Emperors and a pioneer of the New World. Among pirates, he's believed to be the most powerful in the New World." 

"They say… with a single slash, he can cut a whole mountain in half. A ninja like you wouldn't even survive one strike from him." 

Tazuna spoke with a serious look. 

Naruto broke into a cold sweat under Tazuna's gaze. 

Cutting a mountain in half with one swing? No way. Absolutely no way. 

That couldn't be true, right? 

There was no way someone like that actually existed.

"Old man, you must be making this up! Even Hokage-sama couldn't do something like that. I don't believe it." 

"You little brat, do you think I'd lie to you? I heard this straight from those pirates. It's absolutely true." 

"No way! It has to be fake." 

Naruto stood up. He wasn't going to be scared that easily. 

"Then tell me, what's the name of this Four Emperors guy? You can't expect me to believe you if you don't even know his name." 

Naruto might be a bit slow sometimes, but he wasn't stupid. This sounded like one of those stories meant to scare him, and he wasn't going to fall for it. 

After all, he was going to be Hokage one day. How could he get scared so easily? 

"His name?" 

"Heh, you mean the youngest of the Four Emperors?" 

"His name is Shanks—Uzumaki Shanks." 

"Even the captain of the Blade-less Pirates couldn't take a single strike from him. So, kid, you'd better not get any ideas." 

Tazuna took a deep breath before saying the name, as if just speaking it carried an immense weight. 

"Uzumaki… Shanks?" 

Naruto froze when he heard that name. 

Uzumaki? 

That person was called Uzumaki Shanks? 

A strange feeling stirred in Naruto's heart, like something deep inside him had shattered. A heart that had always been filled with darkness suddenly had a small sliver of light. 

For as long as he could remember, he had always been alone, hated by the entire village. 

Every time, he would stand at the edge of the crowd, watching as other kids were taken home by their families. And he—he was always the last one left. 

He never did anything wrong, yet everyone blamed him for everything. 

He wanted so badly to be accepted because being hated hurt more than anything. 

That was why he wanted to become Hokage so much. If he became Hokage, then even if he died, people would acknowledge him, accept him, respect him. 

All he had ever known was loneliness and darkness. That was why he craved recognition so desperately. 

But now, for the first time, a small light had appeared in that darkness. 

"Uzumaki Shanks… the youngest of the Four Emperors, the one who shaped the New World." 

"He has the Uzumaki name too?" 

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and realized it was already getting dark. 

He had been sitting under this tree all day, lost in his thoughts. 

Right now, only one thing mattered to him. 

He had to find out the truth. 

Naruto hurried off. 

Before long, he found Sakura. 

"Sakura, do you know about the Four Emperors?" 

"The Four Emperors? What's that? Naruto, what's wrong?" 

Sakura noticed that something was off about him. He looked like he had just found out something amazing. 

"It's… Uzumaki Shanks."

"Uzumaki Shanks? Never heard of him." 

"Sasuke… Sasuke might know." 

Naruto immediately thought of Sasuke. He should still be training at this time. Sure enough, it didn't take long for Naruto to find him. 

When Sasuke saw Naruto and Sakura following behind him, he had no idea what was going on. 

"Uzumaki Shanks? Four Emperors. 

Naruto, you didn't just make this up, did you?" 

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances. It seemed very likely. 

"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei should know. It's evening now. He'll be here soon, so just ask him directly." 

Sakura spoke up. They had a mission today. 

But even after the mission was done, Kakashi hadn't come to dismiss them. He always took his time showing up. 

And sure enough, just as the sun was setting, Kakashi appeared, looking half-asleep. 

The moment Naruto saw Kakashi, it was like he had found hope. 

"Kakashi-sensei, have you ever heard of… Uzumaki Shanks?" 

"Never heard of—" 

Kakashi started to answer casually but suddenly stopped. 

His sleepy eyes snapped open. Uzumaki? 

Why would that name come up here? 

Seeing Kakashi's reaction, Sasuke and Sakura immediately realized that Naruto hadn't just made it up. 

Kakashi quickly regained his composure. 

"I've never heard of him." 

The moment he said that, he felt three pairs of eyes filled with suspicion and frustration. 

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were all staring him down, as if they were ready to fight him. 

"Alright, Naruto, tell me what's going on." 

At this point, Kakashi had no choice. 

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