NARUTO: THE STRONGEST UZUMAKI

In the late afternoon, the wind had decreased considerably, reducing the speed at which they sailed toward the eastern coast of the Land of Fire.

Meanwhile, under the dim light of an oil lamp, Tanaka was quietly reading a book. As long as he didn't feel bloodthirsty or see enemies on the map he constantly kept open, he wanted to try to further increase his INT and, if possible, his WIS.

══════

A few meters away from Tanaka, Shiori was reading the information related to Tanaka once again. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

'The information about him doesn't match what he has shown,' she thought. 'Was he hiding, or maybe he became stronger after recovering?'

The information about him even described the jutsus he had recently acquired. Although it was quite surprising to see him use these jutsus with considerable mastery, that wasn't what surprised her the most.

There was also the calm he maintained, even when he got hurt.

Even though she was focused on her own battle before, Shiori never forgot to observe her allies in case they needed her help. After all, she was the leader and the only Jonin of the team. When she saw him get hurt, although he initially showed a glimpse of panic, the speed at which he recovered surprised her greatly.

And, the way he acted on the battlefield, especially luring the enemy towards her knowing she was the strongest in the group, she approved of it greatly.

Facing an enemy beyond one's capacity without necessity, to her, was nothing but a foolish act.

'Besides, his sensory perception is quite sharp...' she thought.

When she saw him attack towards the sea for the first time and mainly seeing that it was just a 'shark', she felt disappointed. However, when she realized it was an enemy disguise, it was her turn to be disappointed in herself for being deceived by such a trick, but she admitted it was quite ingenious of the enemy to transform into a shark.

If it weren't for Tanaka, they might have been fooled and fallen into a trap.

'He is Akane-san's nephew, right?' she thought. 'Tanaka Uzumaki... I will remember this name.'

══════

Later, after eating, they took turns sleeping while another group kept watch.

Tanaka volunteered for the first watch. With him were Hisashi and Takashi.

The ninja controlling the sailboat wasn't going to sleep; he was prepared to stay up all night.

"Hey, Yūgi."

══════

[You gained 1 INT for reading continuously]

══════

Closing the book, diverting his attention to the owner of the voice, he saw Hisashi standing in front of him.

"Yes?" He raised his eyelids and asked, "Did something happen?"

"No, everything is okay," Hisashi said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm just curious about something."

Standing up, Tanaka stretched a bit. "Tell me?"

Going to the boat's rail, leaning while looking at the sea, Hisashi asked, "You seem quite young, but I noticed today that you are very strong and seemed used to fighting. You see, unlike other villages, we don't engage in many conflicts, and the only reason we are partially participating in this war is because of our alliance with Konoha."

"I understand where you are going with this," Tanaka placed the hand holding the book and his free hand on the boat's wooden rail, turning to look at Hisashi, he said, "Instead of satisfying your curiosity, I have a question."

"Sure, what is it?" Hisashi looked at him.

"The strength of our village lies in Fuuinjutsu (Sealing Techniques)," he said slowly. "But why limit ourselves to that? Take Onimi, for example. She didn't rely on Fuuinjutsu to kill a Jonin; only when the other Jonin tried to escape did she use the adamantine sealing chain and seal the enemy in a scroll. Do you think she followed the wrong path?"

"No, of course not." He shook his head.

"Then there is my answer," Tanaka said. "Even though I understand the importance of Fuuinjutsu, I believe our village should learn more combat jutsus. Take today as an example, when your sealing technique together with Kiichi didn't work, the two of you couldn't do anything against the enemy while the enemy came after me."

"That..."

"Look, I'm not trying to blame you or anything," Tanaka interrupted. "I'm just saying that if you knew more offensive or even defensive jutsus, you could have helped more, plain and simple."

Hisashi fell silent while he turned back to look at the sea.

"Maybe you're right, after all," he murmured softly with a sigh a few minutes later before heading towards Takashi.

Looking at his lonely back, Tanaka didn't think much of it.

He understood very well the character of the ninjas of the Whirlwind Village. They prided themselves on being the best in Fuuinjutsu but ignored everything else. There were few who really tried to learn different techniques other than Fuuinjutsu.

This was his own perspective after living for 15 years in this village. Even in the ninja school, everything revolved around Fuuinjutsu.

Maybe that's why they are so good at it, but it also made them quite limited and although powerful, their destruction was imminent unless something unforeseen happened.

Looking at the horizon, he thought randomly, 'I wonder why we from the Whirlwind Village, who are important allies of the Leaf Village, never received a Bijuu?'

In the books he read, he found no information about this, and when he tried to bring up the subject with Akane, she simply changed the topic. It was clear that it was a sensitive issue.

'Did the Uzukage of the time refuse when the First Hokage offered a Bijuu as a gift or even tried to sell it to them, or was there never such a proposal?' he tried to guess.

Knowing that no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come to an answer, he stopped thinking while enjoying the gentle and slightly cold breeze.

Opening the book, noticing that Hisashi and Takashi weren't looking at him, Tanaka made the lamp float to his hand and hooked it on a catch behind him, letting the light partially illuminate, just enough for him to continue his reading.

A few hours later, Umiko and Shiori woke up. It was their turn to cover the watch.

During this time, Tanaka managed to gain 3 points of INT and 1 of WIS.

MP: [2,978/2,978] -> [3,033/3,033]

'I reached 3,000 MP,' he thought happily.

══════

January 7, Sunday. Storm.

Tanaka, Hisashi, and Takashi woke up to the sound of the storm.

Upon waking, they had to help lower the sails, close hatches and doors, tie down equipment, among other tasks.

The boat itself was protected with Fuuinjutsu, so there wasn't a great real danger. However, these measures were necessary in such a strong storm.

In the cabin, Shiori complained, "Damn, it had to be a storm right now."

"There's not much we can do, while it's raining like this, we'll have to wait while the boat is anchored," the Skipper said with a sigh.

Filling a cup with coffee, Tanaka said before partially removing his mask to drink, "I hope it doesn't last long."

Looking at him, Shiori agreed with a hum.

Umiko did the same as Tanaka and poured herself a cup of coffee. She then asked, "Leader, do you want me to get you a cup?"

"No, thank you."

"I want one," Takashi requested.

"Get it yourself," Umiko said coldly.

"Haha," Hisashi chuckled.

Embarrassed, Takashi went to the coffee pot and got it himself.