3.36

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After two weeks of travel, I was now in the Land of Whirlpools, my last stop before the Land of Water.

The Land of Whirlpools was right next to the Land of Waves, where Team 7 would one day face Zabuza and Haku, although I guess that might never happen with the changes we brought and I intended on bringing.

Compared to its neighbor, the Land of Whirlpools was never really explored in the manga, as all we knew about it was that the Uzumaki lived there, but they were wiped off in a mysterious event.

Here, the country used to be very influential, despite its small size, but with the destruction of the Uzumaki, the country lost all its power. The Whirlpool Daimyo ended up fleeing to the Land of Fire, while the people were left to fend for themselves.

But now that I was in the country, I must say I am quite impressed by what they did. I expected ruins and poverty, but they had managed to somehow land on their feet, and turned into a city-state of kind.

Officially, the Land of Whirlpool was still as large as it always was, but every inhabitant now lived in a single city, which had been built off the ruins of Uzushiogakure. As for the rest of the land, some of it was used for crops, but it was mostly deserted, as nothing could be grown on most of the land for some reason.

I wouldn't linger long into the city though, as I had something to do, and would rather do it sooner rather than later. For now, I needed a ship, and a captain, and the best place for that is the bar.

As I walked into the wooden bar, I was assaulted by the stench of alcohol. Stopping my Force Stealth for a moment, I cleared my throat and announced, "I am searching for a ship that goes to the Land of Water. The closer to Kirigakure, the better."

The bar turned silent as every pair of eyes turned to me. I took out a small gem, of which I still had plenty, and added, "You will be well paid."

I expected them to jump on the opportunity, but while their gaze held some greed as they looked at the gem, they still ended up turning their heads away, ignoring my request.

That… is odd.

Pocketing the gem, I approached the counter, where the bartender was looking at me. Leaning over, I asked, "Can I help you?"

The man stared at me for a moment, before saying, "You must be a foreigner. No one has taken the sea for months now."

I looked around and commented, "Isn't the whole economy of this place reliant on the sea?"

The man shrugged, replying, "We still get to use the Suiro. Things are a little harder than they used to, but we survive."

The Suiro was the river that split the Land of Whirlpools in half. It also passed right through the city.

Half interested and half bothered, I asked, "What is so fearsome you would rather slowly die here than take the sea? The weather has gotten worse?"

The bartender shook his head, while the woman sitting next to me said, "It's those bloody pirates."

Turning to look at her, she was surprisingly young, she couldn't be older than 25, and adding to that that she was a woman, it was indeed quite odd to see her here. She didn't seem to bother anyone though, and seemed to know what the problem was, so I asked her, "Pirates?"

She nodded, cursing, "It's that damn Funato clan. They've been hiding in the Land of Water for years, but they've gathered their forces. Pirates from all over are swarming over, and now you can't sail without bumping into a couple of pirate ships, and that's if you're lucky."

Jibiki Funato was the name of the Third Mizukage.

She looked at my coat, and added, "I don't know who you are, but no one's taking the sea. Especially to send you to Kiri out of all places."

I pointed at the clouds, and asked, "Do you know who I am?"

She narrowed her eyes, and replied, "I have heard a thing or two about the red clouds."

"Good. Would you happen to own a ship?"

She drank a mouthful of sake, before replying, "A ship that does not sail on the sea is no ship."

Rolling my eyes, I asked, "Do you have a boat? Something that floats on water."

She snorted in amusement and nodded, so I took out a handful of gems and said, "This is yours if you lead me to Kiri."

Her features remained impassive in the face of the gems, but looking into her eyes, I could feel her getting excited. She was quite the good actress. I would have searched deeper, but my mastery of the Mind Arts of the Force weren't good enough to read minds without damaging them.

So I simply said, "I will also be handling protection. But we must leave as soon as possible. Today, if possible."

She did not immediately answer, and after sharing a look with several other men spread through the bar, she asked, "Before we make a deal, may I know who I am dealing with?"

I offered her a handshake, presenting myself, "Alexander, Chief Enforcer of the Akatsuki."

This was the official position I had been given in the Akatsuki. As the organization of peace, we had a whole division of enforcers, whose job was to intervene to stop any conflict if necessary, or stop ones already happening.

I had been named the head of the division, although most of the work was done by my second in command, whom I did not even know. Well, not for long, as they were waiting for me in Kiri along with a few other enforcers and some of Kiri's forces.

Apparently, the woman hadn't just heard a thing or two about the Akatsuki as I felt a tremor in her mind. Even her eyes widened for a moment, before she returned to normal and enthusiastically shook my hand, "Captain Sumichi, proud owner of the Flower Princess!"

"You called your ship Flower Princess?"

"Damn right I did. Now, we can leave in a couple of hours. You okay with that?"

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, questioning, "That fast? Not that I'm complaining, but I expected to wait till the end of the day, at least."

She shrugged, replying, "Not really anything holding us back. It's mainly to find everyone and sober up a little."

She slammed her glass against the counter, nearly breaking it as she shouted, "To the sea!"

Everyone in the bar cheered as she and the men she had a shared a look with earlier ran out of the bar, out to find their comrades. They sure are a merry bunch.

I was about to leave, when the bartender whispered, "You said your name was Alexander?"

I was about to nod, when I felt a warning from the Force. It was quite weak though, so I turned to look at the bartender, who had a hand under his counter now.

"I am. Do you think you are tougher than Hanzo of the Salamander?"

The man froze, his eyes widening. I snorted and slightly titled my head to the side, using the Force to send the man flying into the back wall. His back slammed into the wall, destroying the bottles exposed as the glass cut into his flesh. As he flew out, the dagger in his hand was also sent flying.

Rolling my eyes at the weapon, I sent a last look at the whizzing bartender and walked out.