Gaara and his team came prepared.
It was no secret that the ocean could strip Devil Fruit users of their powers, and Ranke wasn't the first one they had encountered.
They had previously considered using Water Release to fight Devil Fruit users, but it had proven completely ineffective.
That's why Kankuro equipped his puppet with a large amount of seawater, even ensuring it stayed fresh so its effect wouldn't weaken.
On Ranke's side, her group had just returned from overseas and had no clue about the situation in the ninja world.
In the original timeline, when Temujin first fought Naruto, he was shocked by Naruto's chakra power and even wanted to recruit him into their "Utopia" plan.
Simply put, these people were from an outdated era. Forget about the current "Ninja-Pirate World"—they didn't even understand the original ninja world.
They had simply gotten lucky, arriving at the right time and not only encountering ninjas but also running into powerful pirates—people who looked normal but could somehow fight toe-to-toe with ninja elites.
"Damn it!! What kind of power is this? Could these people have also obtained the power of the Greil Stone?"
Ranke dodged Gaara and Temari's attacks in a panic.
Under their combined assault, she had no chance to counterattack.
In fact, if Temari and Gaara hadn't been holding back, she would have already been dead.
"Sand Release: Sand Burial Wall!"
Just as Ranke dodged, Gaara unleashed another jutsu. Towering sand walls rose from the ground, closing in on her.
On the other side, Temari's fan gathered a powerful gust of wind.
"Kankuro!!"
"Wind Release: Air Current!"
Hearing Temari's cue, Kankuro's puppet opened up, releasing a massive wave of seawater from inside.
In the next moment, the water was swept up by the "Air Current" and surged toward the sand wall.
Inside the sand wall, Rank, now in her ape-like form, was crackling with electricity. She used the lightning surging through her body to boost her physical abilities, allowing her to sprint across the shifting sands with sheer force.
Then—!!
Boom!!
The seawater crashed into Rank. The impact itself wasn't much of a threat, but…
*Sizzle!!!*
The electricity running through her body instantly went out of control, sparks flying everywhere.
"D-… Damn it! These sneaky pirates!"
First, she had been knocked out with poison, and now, they were using water to disrupt her Inazuma ability. The frustration boiled over, and Rank could only let out two final words.
Then… her massive body swayed backward and collapsed.
As the sand walls crumbled, Gaara and his team saw Rank lying there, back in her human form.
The three of them exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.
"Seawater really does work against Devil Fruit users."
Kankuro felt relieved. Luckily, they had good intel. But in the Land of Wind, finding and storing seawater was a real challenge.
"No chakra in her body… she really is a pirate."
Gaara checked Ranke's condition and nodded at the other two.
Ever since Gaara returned from Konohagakure, he had changed a lot.
The Konoha Crush plan had cost both Sunagakure and Konohagakure dearly, but it also helped Gaara see himself more clearly. At least now, he wasn't the crazed killer who would have taken Karin's life just by locking eyes with her.
"Kankuro, lock her up with your puppet."
Temari spoke. If a pirate had shown up here, there was no way she was alone.
"Should we report this intel first, or take action ourselves?"
Temari looked at Gaara. He was their squad leader. The old Gaara might not have been suited for the role, but now, he was more than qualified.
"We'll wait for her to wake up and gather some intel first."
"Judging by her reaction, she doesn't seem to know much about us."
Gaara frowned. Rank had mistaken them for pirates—that made no sense.
And judging from her demeanor, she didn't seem like a seasoned pirate at all.
Even an ordinary pirate, if underestimated, could take a genin's life in an instant.
Although Ranke had Devil Fruit powers, she lacked both combat experience and the kind of desperation pirates had when fighting for their lives.
The three of them rested while waiting for Ranke to wake up.
An hour later, she finally regained consciousness.
When she opened her eyes, she realized she was trapped inside a puppet, with only her head exposed.
Gaara and the other two had already surrounded her.
"You despicable people!! I won't tell you anything! I don't know anything about some 'Divine Tree,' and I'm not a pirate!"
Ranke shouted angrily. She had answered this question countless times.
"We don't need you to talk. We'll just ask in our own way."
Gaara remained expressionless as Kankuro quickly moved in, sticking a needle into Ranke's neck.
"The drug lasts for thirty minutes. It won't work on someone with strong willpower, but…"
Seeing Ranke already dazed, Kankuro nodded in satisfaction.
"It works just fine on her."
They were ninjas, after all. Gaara's team didn't resort to torture—it was too crude. As for Genjutsu, none of them specialized in it.
So Kankuro's drug was their best option.
"I'll do the questioning."
Gaara nodded at Kankuro, who gave him a slight smile in response.
The bond between the three had grown stronger than before.
As Gaara asked his questions one by one, Rank spilled everything she knew under the drug's effect.
But the more they listened, the more serious their expressions became.
Because they hadn't learned anything useful—and they were sure Ranke was telling the truth.
After questioning everyone, they summed up everything Rankee knew.
"As I expected, she's not a pirate.
What's even trickier is that she doesn't even know she's a Devil Fruit user."
"Before we left, Granny Chiyo already told us—pirates are harder to deal with than ninjas. Unlike ninjas, pirates are warriors of the sea, and each of them has their own great ambition.
They're better at using their wits than ninjas. Take that Captain Dark, for example—he even put together a fleet of over thirty thousand to attack Shanks."
Hearing this, Kankuro and Temari also realized the situation was more difficult than they had thought. At first, they hadn't taken pirates too seriously, but after questioning Ranke, it was clear—these pirates were not easy to handle.
"Their leader, Haido, purposely brought them back from overseas. That means they have nothing in the ninja world—no attachments, no roots.
And people like that make the perfect tools. Even if they get captured, they won't give away much information."
Temari spoke up. From this, it was clear that this pirate named Haido was no ordinary man—his planning was incredibly thorough.
"Yeah, this kind of scheming and manipulation… it has to be pirates."
"And they've attacked multiple villages. We haven't been able to get much useful information from the ones they raided. Since they've come to the Land of Wind, they're definitely after the Divine Tree organization."
"The only way to find it is through luck or by going to villages, gathering information about Poneglyphs, and then tracking down the Divine Tree."
Gaara analyzed. Everything Haido had done was incredibly precise.
So precise that even knowing his plan wasn't enough to stop him.
Because they still lacked the details.
As for all that talk about some 'utopia'? That wasn't even real intelligence.
And the Gelel Stone? That was probably just something Haido made up to fool his disposable pawns.
"Send her back to the village and lock her up.
She's a Devil Fruit user, after all—there's still research value in her."
"But if the first Devil Fruit user has already appeared, then more pirates will probably start showing up in large numbers."
"There seem to be quite a few pirate crews around here. We should request reinforcements from the village—we need at least two jonin-led teams for backup."
Gaara carefully assessed the situation. He couldn't afford to be careless.
Taking on a whole pirate crew with just three people? That could easily get them killed.
And it seemed like there was more than one pirate crew here.
At that moment, near the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, a ship slowly emerged from the sand dunes.
On its massive sail was a skull symbol, with two black rifles crossed behind it.
Standing at the bow of the ship was Kagero Peak—once the biggest arms dealer in the underground black market and the head of the Peak family.
After the battle with Shanks, he was the one who told Kidomaru to bring the remaining pirates with him.
"Captain Kagero, our ship can move through the desert, but isn't it too big of a target?"
A middle-aged man with glasses spoke beside Kagero. The Peak family specialized in arms smuggling, so modifying ships was easy. But if their ship caught the attention of ninjas, it would be a huge problem.
"Don't worry. Even if we do run into ninjas, you'll be fine.
For now, the most important thing is getting control of the Divine Tree organization."
"Captain Kagero, you don't have to worry about that.
According to the records on the stone tablet, thousands of years ago, a village suffered from a water shortage because the Divine Tree's roots spread too far. Rikudou Sennin sent his child there.
Even if the landscape has changed, my calculations won't be too far off."
The middle-aged man with glasses spoke up.
Kagero nodded. This man was a historian he had recruited.
It was clear that the man was truly skilled and fully capable of taking on the role of vice-captain.
As for the other pirates? There wasn't much to say.
Some were busy searching for clues, while others were simply digging blindly, hoping for luck.
Of course, not everyone relied on luck.
For example, there was that one pirate who had already arrived at the Land of Wind while Shanks was still busy fighting elsewhere.
At this point, he had already gathered more than three pieces of sacred wood.
Some pirate crews with better luck had also obtained sacred wood and had already moved on to the next step—cultivating Devil Fruits.
But the unluckiest of them all was Haido.
Not only was he being hunted by pirates, but now the ninja of Sunagakure were after him as well.
Haido himself was completely unaware of the danger he was in.
He still believed in an outdated version of events surrounding the "Gelel Stone."
But Haido didn't have to wait long.
On the third day, Temujin returned—this time, with a snow ferret by his side.
The moment Haido saw the snow ferret, a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Temujin, you're finally back.
That injury on you… don't tell me the pirates did this?"
Haido found it hard to believe.
Even Temujin wasn't a match for the pirates?
"I ran into a really strong pirate. I couldn't dodge his attacks at all, and…"
Temujin thought back to the man he had faced.
The guy looked weak, but when Temujin fought him, he had no advantage whatsoever.
He was even shot in the chest.
"Forget it. At least you made it back."
"This country is overrun with pirates. Once we gather enough soldiers, we'll be able to build our ideal nation here."
Hearing Haido's words, Temujin nodded in agreement.
This country was beyond saving.
Not only had a pirate wounded him, but even the person who saved him was also a pirate.
Given how absurd this country was, Temujin felt that creating their "ideal nation" was the only right path forward.
"Yes, Haido-sama."
"Alright, go get ready.
Once Kamira and Kazawa return, it'll be time for us to move out."
Hearing Haido's command, Temujin nodded and left.
But as he thought about the strength of the pirates he had encountered, and then compared it to Kamira and Kazawa's abilities, he couldn't help but worry.
"They probably won't run into them… right?"
Temujin felt uneasy.
Meanwhile, Kamira and Kazawa had become much more cautious after realizing the power gap between themselves and the pirates.
As soon as they left, they disguised themselves as ordinary people.
After a few days of gathering information, they finally figured out what was going on in the Land of Wind.
"The Land of Wind… is a ninja nation?"
"But not long ago, the Five Great Nations were defeated by that big-time pirate, Shanks.
They say ninjas are a thing of the past now—this era belongs to the pirates."
Fugai and Kamira compared the information they had gathered.
In an instant, they understood.
No wonder they lost so badly—it turned out they were up against the strongest ones in this version.
"The ones wearing those headbands are ninjas, and the ones without them are pirates.
Since the pirates were able to defeat the ninjas, it means pirates are far stronger. We just need to keep an eye on the pirates."
"That's right. Attacking ninjas shouldn't be risky."
As Kamira and Fugai whispered to each other, two figures appeared in the distance on the street—one tall, one short, both wearing black cloaks with red clouds and headbands.
It was none other than Kisame and Itachi, sent by Nagato!
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