After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 218

Chapter 218: Idea Guy

"Do we really have to do this?!"

Yugito's voice cut through the howling wind, barely audible to those around her. If the wind hadn't been constant, her shout would have vanished entirely into the sky. At this moment, Naruto's group all wore parachutes provided by Jiraiya. The small packs were composed entirely of ink and held surprising durability despite their unconventional material.

Below them, Karin faithfully executed Naruto's instructions, even canceling the wind wall that usually shielded everyone. This was the opening scene of their descent.

"Stop complaining! Jump!"

"Whoooo!"

Naruto and Killer Bee, moving with the reckless enthusiasm of children who'd never quite grown up, took running starts and jumped directly from the giant bird's back. Their excitement was infectious, even from a distance. Sasuke and Jiraiya exchanged helpless looks but didn't spoil the mood, jumping after them. Four figures quickly disappeared into the clouds below.

"Yugito-san, get ready!"

Even though her tailed beast was a cat, Yugito harbored a genuine fear of heights. Hearing Karin's words, her face immediately displayed panic. The calm demeanor she usually maintained was completely shattered.

"Karin! Wait! Not yet! Let me prepare mentally!"

Honestly, this was the first time Karin had witnessed this gentle, composed big sister look so flustered. Initially, when seeing such a charming, curvaceous big sister approaching Naruto-sama, Karin's resistance had been immediate and fierce. But this cool-exterior-warm-interior character had slowly won Karin's trust through their interactions over the past days. She'd even begun using respectful terms like "big sister" with Yugito, something she didn't always do even with Jiraiya-sensei.

After all, Jiraiya's reputation needed no explanation.

Yugito's breathing grew heavy and labored. Whether the thin oxygen at this altitude caused her distress or something else entirely, her heart pounded relentlessly against her ribs.

"Prepare yourself. Three, two, one!"

As the countdown ended, Karin rapidly transformed back to human form and fell alongside the terrified Yugito. The two women plummeted toward the earth far below.

Why use parachuting for this mission?

The first reason was practical. Their destination volcano stood at an almost impossibly high elevation with scorching temperatures that would render any ground approach tedious and exhausting. Walking up from the base would consume hours and leave them sweating profusely in the oppressive heat. A direct aerial approach made far more sense logistically.

The second reason was far simpler: it was fun.

There's an old saying—when more than three men gather together, an "idea guy" automatically emerges. Someone prone to suggesting activities that test their limits. Unluckily for everyone else, both Naruto and Killer Bee qualified perfectly for this description.

So even if Karin could directly fly them to the mountain peak safely, these two had instead proposed an alternative: aerial descent.

Conveniently, several volcano peaks stretched across the region with a distance enough between them that the six could split into pairs. Each pair was responsible for searching one volcanic site. Perhaps stemming from confidence in their abilities, or simply being unafraid of death, Naruto and Killer Bee didn't open their parachutes until around two hundred meters from the ground.

Normally, the safe parachuting distance should be around 500 to 800 meters at a minimum. Of course, this was the ninja world, where few civilians understood much about proper parachuting knowledge. Perhaps the late Takigakure leader Shinnō would have understood such things, but most shinobi didn't bother learning irrelevant details like this.

Between Naruto and Killer Bee seemed to exist some unspoken, silent mutual understanding: whoever opened their parachute first was a coward.

As the smoking volcano's mouth approached closer and closer with alarming speed, finally, Killer Bee couldn't hold back any longer. He yanked open his parachute in desperation.

The canopy opened rapidly. Killer Bee's weight pulled the ink parachute strings taut with squeaking sounds, but they still held without snapping. From this, you could see Jiraiya-sensei hadn't slacked on Devil Fruit development recently. The precision and durability of the created objects had both improved dramatically.

"Hahaha!"

Naruto laughed boldly, watching Killer Bee quickly distance himself as he descended. He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction before considering his own trajectory.

Bang!

The next moment, his entire body crashed hard into the mountainside with tremendous force. Rock splintered and cracked from the impact. After the smoke and debris dispersed, one hand pierced through the rock layer. He extended it from the wall and pulled himself free like he'd simply been wading through water.

He flashed a huge smile at Killer Bee, still descending overhead.

I won!

Notably, Naruto hadn't used the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique as a cheat to reduce impact. This time, he'd completely endured the collision with his body, relying purely on his physical constitution and enhanced durability.

Slowly descending, Killer Bee grinned widely. Meanwhile, Eight-Tails Gyūki complained in his mind, his voice dripping with exasperation: "Bee, you idiot, that kid's not afraid of falling. What are you competing with him for?"

"That kid's body hard as rock, yo! Solid stone, down to the bone! Can't compete, I'm beat, yo!"

Killer Bee landed gently, then pulled out his wallet. He extracted a stack of bills and placed them in Naruto's hand without hesitation. A gambler honors their bets regardless of how ridiculous the wager seems. Sometimes men gambled in ways that defied logic or reason entirely.

Meanwhile, Karin, Sasuke, and the others landed on their respective volcanoes, each group preparing for the search ahead.

Entertainment over. Time to get serious.

Compared to Naruto's side, having already scanned the entire mountain with Observation Haki before landing, Karin and Sasuke's more limited sensing abilities proved rather inadequate for thorough coverage. As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Karin had inherited their natural sensing attributes—a gift passed down through generations. But due to short development time, or rather from focusing more intently on combat training, her sensing ability only reached a limited range. She couldn't cover the entire mountain's expanse.

Sasuke's Observation Haki may aid him in battle situations, allowing him to predict movements and sense danger. But for large-scale searching across an entire landscape? The technique proved pretty useless.

Fortunately, Naruto's arrangements were quite reasonable and strategic. Whether Yugito or Jiraiya, both possessed the capabilities to complete this task well.

"No tailed beast aura here."

During the slow landing process, finally settling, Yugito communicated internally with Two-Tails Matatabi, which was inhabiting her body. Tailed beasts possessed the natural ability to sense each other across distance, even when confined within a jinchūriki's body. Leveraging this advantage, Yugito could detect nearby potential jinchūriki with surprising accuracy.

None here on her mountain.

Naruto's side reported the same result: none there either.

"Barrier: Canopy Method Formation."

Jiraiya's hands formed seals with practiced precision. He deployed his barrier secret technique carefully. An invisible spherical barrier began rapidly spreading from him as its center point, expanding in all directions simultaneously. Jiraiya could freely control the size and scope of this barrier. Any targets existing within became visible to him through the technique's sensory connection.

In a non-combat state, Jiraiya could expand the barrier to exaggerated proportions with patience, covering an entire mountain being merely a matter of time investment and chakra expenditure.

"Such a powerful chakra signature! Found it!"

Jiraiya opened his eyes, speaking quietly to his companions with certainty.

"Where?"

Sasuke immediately entered full combat mode, ready for engagement.

In his view, meeting strangers for the first time meant testing their strength before negotiating further. One could say someone's thinking had subtly influenced him toward this approach.

"Northeast direction, drop another one hundred fifty meters down the mountainside. There's a cave."

Before Jiraiya finished speaking, Sasuke had already transformed into rapid movement. His form blurred as he rushed toward the indicated location with purpose.