Chapter 36: Arrival in the Land of Rivers

"Big Brother Kaito, look! That's land up ahead, right?"

Kushina excitedly shook Kaito's arm. In the direction the ship was sailing, a distinct black line separated itself from the sea.

"Mm, it's definitely land. We're almost there."

Kaito gripped the helm, locking their course.

Sailing a ship was something even an elementary schooler could learn with ease, so it was naturally no trouble for him. After two days of Ruri's instruction, he had become proficient. The key was understanding the compass and navigating; small waves were hardly an issue for ninja who could walk on water.

Hearing Kushina's shout, Ruri and the others came out from the cabin. When they saw the distant horizon, joyful smiles spread across their faces. The ship's limited space had grown tiresome after so many days.

"Kaito, let me take over now. Bringing a ship to shore is a delicate task," Ruri said as she walked over.

"Alright."

Kaito relinquished the helm, intending to stand by and learn from Ruri's maneuvers, but she immediately gave him a task.

"Go furl half the sails. We need to slow down in advance, or we'll crash."

"Got it!"

As the sails were reefed, the ship's speed gradually decreased. But because they had been moving quickly, it wasn't long before the scenery on the shore became clear.

"Whoa, it's a jungle! Look, there's a monkey climbing a tree over there!" Ryunosuke exclaimed, leaning over the railing with wide eyes.

"Be careful, don't fall in," Ruri reminded him, her attention still fixed on judging the distance to the shore.

"Big Sis Ruri, see if you can find a large river mouth," Kaito said. "It would be a waste to just abandon this ship on the coast."

"Hmm. It's broad daylight, and the wind is good. But we'll need to find a pretty big river, or we'll run aground quickly." Ruri had no intention of abandoning the ship either, so she changed course and began to follow the coastline.

The Land of Rivers, as its name implied, was a country with many rivers. Of course, the closer one got to the Land of Wind, the more the rivers would shrink due to the climate.

Fortunately, they were sailing on the side closer to the Land of Fire. Before long, they found a river wide enough for ten large ships to pass through side-by-side.

Under Ruri's skilled hands, the large ship sailed perfectly into the river mouth.

However, against the current, their speed was greatly reduced.

Kaito had to unfurl all the sails again and even jumped into the water, acting as a human propeller to push the ship forward.

The further inland they went, the narrower their view became.

Both banks were lined with dense jungle, showing no signs of human activity.

After traveling about two kilometers inland, the jungle began to thin, and they finally saw an open clearing.

"Alright, Kaito, let's stop here!"

"Right!"

Kaito took a few deep breaths. Once the ship was alongside the bank, he jumped aboard and helped drop the heavy anchor into the river.

"Kaito, you rest for a bit. I'm going to go ashore and check things out," Ruri said. "If this spot isn't suitable, we'll have to find another."

"Your injuries?"

"My injuries are fine, they're pretty much healed." Ruri stretched her arms and said with a smile, "Don't underestimate me. I'm a proper chunin, you know. I might even be stronger than you."

"I can't agree with that." Kaito wagged a finger at her. "I've taken down at least two chunin just like you."

"Hah. Once I'm fully recovered, how about a spar? I'll show you who the real 'big sis' is around here."

"You're on."

"Keep an eye on the kids. I'm off." Ruri waved and leaped ashore, her figure quickly disappearing from sight.

Ryunosuke wanted to follow, but a single glare from Kaori made him behave.

"Big Brother Kaito, is there anything for us to do?" Kushina asked, leaning over the railing, bored.

"How about we catch some fish for dinner tonight?" Kaito suggested.

"Eh, fish again? I'm so sick of fish. How about we eat monkey instead?"

"Dame! Virus warning."

After an hour of Kaito's persistent lecturing, Ryunosuke and the others finally abandoned the misguided notion of eating the small monkeys. The ordeal, however, came with side effects like dizziness and fatigue. Even Kaori couldn't maintain her elegant smile.

"That was terrifying… much scarier than Ruri-sensei," Ryunosuke said, covering his ears with a look of horror.

"Idiot. You're supposed to call her Big Sis Ruri from now on," Kaito said, patting him on the head with a chuckle. "If you dare to be mischievous again, I'll punish you by making you listen to me lecture on Linear Algebra for two hours."

"I won't, I won't!" Ryunosuke shook his head so hard it looked like a rattle drum.

Although he had no idea what "Linear Algebra" was, it sounded dreadful.

"Hmph. It's just listening to Big Brother Kaito talk. I'm not afraid," Kushina said, lifting her chin with a forced smile. "But I'm so well-behaved, I'll probably never have to face such a punishment."

"Is that so? Then let's have a nice long chat by candlelight tonight."

"No, thank you!"

Teasing the children for a bit lifted Kaito's spirits considerably. These past few days, he had been constantly on edge, worried that Konoha's ninja would find them. He had been on the verge of becoming a nervous wreck.

It's really a pain not having any sensory-type skills. Speaking of which, there don't seem to be many tracking or enemy-finding skills in Pokémon. Does Psychic count as one?

Just as he was lost in thought, Ruri returned.

"Our luck is pretty good. There's a small village nearby, about ten kilometers from here. It's not too far."

Ruri took a sip of the hot water Kaori handed her, her breathing evening out.

"So, Big Sis Ruri, are you leaning toward settling here, in the village, or do you think neither is suitable and we should look for a larger town?" Kaito asked.

"What do you think?" Ruri tossed the question back to him.

"Well, we should analyze this carefully," Kaito began. "If we settle here in the wilderness, it will definitely be very difficult and unfamiliar at first. We'd have to build our own house and buy food and daily necessities from the village. For the long term, how to earn money would also be an issue."

"A large city would be much more convenient. Besides having to be vigilant about our identities being discovered, there wouldn't be any major problems. The small village falls somewhere between those two options."

"Ugh." After thinking for a while, Ruri still couldn't make up her mind and finally turned to Kaito for help.

"If it were up to me, I'd prefer to live in the village. It wouldn't be too harsh, nor would it be too dangerous. After a few years, when things have cooled down, we can move into a city and enjoy a better life."

Kaito's reasoning was sound, and Ruri was quickly convinced. They decided to settle in the nearby village.

Of course, Kaito had his own selfish reasons for this choice.

Although it was still early—more than thirty years before the story's conclusion—and he had plenty of time to develop his own power, he wouldn't mind using this village as a pilot project for establishing his own faction, if the conditions were right.

With his abilities, Kaito believed he could easily shape the village to his will. Doing the same in a large city would be much more difficult.

In time, Ruri could teach ninjutsu and Kaito could teach swordsmanship. It wasn't impossible to turn it into a new ninja village.

But what would actually happen… that would depend on what he found when he saw the village for himself.

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