We were this close to making a grand, epic, whale-assisted launch over Reverse Mountain when, of course, reality had to trip us up.
"Hold it!" Crocus shouted, waving his arms like he was trying to hail a taxi—or possibly stop a bunch of lunatics from blasting into an ocean deathtrap.
We all screeched to a halt.
Even Laboon, mid-flap, looked confused and flopped back into the water with a gigantic splash.
Crocus gave us the patented Grumpy Old Man Disappointed in Your Life Choices stare, hands on hips.
"You kids got a log pose, right?" he asked.
Everyone blinked.
Naruto scratched his head. "A log... what now?"
Kiba shrugged. "Sounds like a bathroom problem."
Choji muttered, "Maybe it's food-related?"
Hinata looked worried. Lee struck a heroic pose like it would help. Neji just facepalmed silently.
Then, as one, everyone turned and stared at Ino.
She crossed her arms. "What?!"
"You read everything," Naruto pointed out. "You always skim the important parts!"
Ino huffed. "I did skim something about 'log poses' in a brochure back in town. But it didn't sound important! Something about magnets and islands and... whatever. I thought it was just tourist stuff!"
Crocus buried his face in his hands. He muttered something about "youth these days" and "Roger would have thrown them off the ship."
When he looked up, his eyes were filled with the bone-deep weariness of a man who realized he was babysitting a small army of sugar-high dragons.
"Listen carefully," he said, very slowly.
"The Grand Line's magnetic fields are completely unstable. Your normal compass is about as useful as a wet noodle over there."
Naruto perked up. "Wait, can you eat a wet noodle compass?"
Crocus ignored him like a pro. "You need a special compass—a log pose. It locks onto an island's magnetic signature. That's the only way you'll know where you're going. Otherwise..." He waved vaguely at the endless, stormy horizon. "...you'll be lost forever."
There was a beat of silence as everyone absorbed that.
Then Kiba said, "So basically, we've been charging into one of the world's most dangerous seas without any plan or navigation."
"Yup," Crocus said cheerfully.
"And we survived anyway," Naruto said, grinning.
"That," Crocus said, "is the part that terrifies me."
He shot a judgmental look at Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai—the so-called responsible adults—who just kind of coughed and looked anywhere but at him.
Crocus rubbed his temples. "You kids. You're strong. No doubt about it. But strength without a brain is just a big mess waiting to happen."
"Hey!" Naruto protested. "I've got brains!"
"Sure," Crocus said, patting his shoulder. "And I'm the Tooth Fairy."
Ino sighed. "So... what now?"
Crocus shrugged. "You could always sail blind and hope for the best... or... you could buy multiple log poses tuned to different islands. That way, you can pick your destination—or explore randomly if you're feeling reckless."
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Random adventure!"
Ino groaned. "Controlled exploration, Naruto. Controlled!"
"I've got a log pose you can use," Crocus said, fishing out something that looked suspiciously like a chunky bracelet crossed with a snow globe.
We all leaned in like moths to a flame.
"This one's tuned to the nearest island," Crocus continued. "The island's called Whiskey Peak. It's the gathering spot for lots of pirates. Bounty hunters, smugglers, mercenaries... all kinds of scum."
Kiba looked excited. "Sounds like my kind of people."
Ino smacked the back of his head.
Crocus chuckled. "You can buy another log pose there—maybe even a few—if you've got the money or the guts to win one."
Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Pirate shopping mall! Let's gooo!"
Hinata looked worried. "Um... will it be safe?"
Crocus gave her a look that clearly said, Child, you are traveling with the equivalent of five natural disasters.
"You'll be fine," he said. "More like they should be worried about you."
We all preened a little at that.
"But," Crocus said, holding up a finger, "you've got two choices. One, you head to Whiskey Peak, get a log pose, pick your next island properly—and maybe punch some pirates while you're at it."
Naruto was already nodding like his head was on a spring.
"Or," Crocus said, "you could gamble. You could try sailing blind, and hope you wash up on another island without getting swallowed by sea kings or stuck in a storm that'll flatten your ship like a pancake."
We all collectively grimaced.
Blind sailing was fine when we didn't know better. Now that we knew the ocean was basically a living nightmare out there, it felt... less exciting.
Asuma took a drag from his cigarette and muttered, "Even I think this is a bad idea. And my threshold for bad ideas is pretty high."
"So..." Naruto said, clapping his hands together, "Whiskey Peak?"
"Whiskey Peak!" Kiba whooped.
"Shopping trip," Ino grumbled, but even she looked a little excited.
Crocus tossed the log pose to Naruto, who caught it clumsily with both hands.
"The needle's already pointing," Crocus said. "Just follow it. But remember—Whiskey Peak is friendly to pirates... until they aren't."
Naruto gave him a huge thumbs-up. "Got it! We'll be fine. We're awesome!"
Crocus smiled wryly. "Sure. Just try not to sink the place."
Minutes later, we were back on our newly upgraded ship—Laboon now flapping his enormous wings and towing us like the world's biggest seagull.
Naruto tied the log pose to his wrist like a fancy new bracelet.
"Adventure," he declared. "Here we come!"
--------------------
Reverse Mountain loomed before us, bigger than any mountain had any right to be. The river we were sailing on charged straight toward it, a furious current that looked ready to smash us into salty mist. Waves towered on either side of us like skyscrapers having a bad hair day.
Normal people?
They would've panicked.
Screamed.
Turned back.
Not us.
Because Naruto Uzumaki, in all his infinite, ridiculous wisdom, had a plan.
"A regular ship ride is boring!" he shouted, arms thrown wide like he was announcing a new amusement park ride. "We're going in style!"
"What style?!" Ino yelled as the ship bucked and creaked under the rising pressure.
"The Flying Whale Brigade!" Naruto cried, grinning so wide it looked like it hurt.
Before anyone could stop him, Naruto clapped his hands together, and Kiba, Choji, and Shino were immediately caught in a flurry of hand signs. In a flash of transformation jutsu, the three of them poofed into...
Flying whales.
Giant, goofy, smiling flying whales.
Kiba had shark teeth and looked a little too excited.
Shino somehow wore sunglasses.
And Choji... bless Choji... he was massive, like a floating blimp with flippers.
"CHOJI, CARRY THE SHIP!" Naruto shouted with glee.
Choji-whale snatched the ship carefully in his massive fins, while the rest of us scrambled to chakra-stick ourselves to the deck before we became ocean pizza.
"Glue yourselves down, people!" Kakashi ordered from the side, casually reinforcing the hull with his chakra like he was duct-taping a water balloon.
The ship shuddered but held together as Choji lifted it high into the stormy air.
Higher.
Higher.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Naruto cracked his knuckles and grinned a grin that meant something absurd was about to happen.
"Oh, no," Asuma muttered, lighting a cigarette with trembling hands.
Naruto poofed into a transformation that was so over-the-top it could've been illegal.
He became a whale—
No.
A KING of whales.
Bigger than Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Laboon combined.
He had a massive golden crown.
A spiraling, ridiculous unicorn horn.
And a cape flapping dramatically in the wind.
"I AM THE KING OF WHALES!" he bellowed, his voice echoing across the ocean like a divine proclamation.
"Why the horn?!" Neji shouted against the roaring wind.
"WHY NOT?!" Naruto roared back, laughter booming across the waves.
And with that, our entire squad of flying whales, led by Naruto the Unstoppable, charged headfirst up Reverse Mountain.
The river's current slammed against us like an angry titan, but Choji held strong, flapping his fins like the good boy he was. Kiba and Shino swirled around us like fighter escorts. Laboon whistled and did a barrel roll for style points.
We blasted upward, faster and faster, water spraying into mist around us, the ship rattling like it was on a rocket ride.
At the peak, we broke through the clouds.
The sun hit the crown atop Naruto's head, setting it ablaze like a beacon.
It was stupid.
It was glorious.
It was us.
For one shining moment, we weren't just ninja.
We were legends.
The Royal Flying Whale Armada.
And then...
Gravity remembered we existed.
"DOWN!" Naruto shouted.
Choji flipped the ship with a surprising amount of grace, diving us down the other side of the mountain like we were riding the world's craziest water slide.
Everyone screamed and laughed at the same time.
Even Kakashi, cool and composed Kakashi, was yelling something about needing hazard pay.
We rocketed toward the Grand Line like a meteor made of pure, chaotic ninja energy.
Somewhere, probably, the gods of the sea stared at us and decided to just... stay out of it.
Because who wants to mess with a bunch of flying whales and a crowned maniac?
----------------------
With the log pose from Crocus giving them direction, the crew set their sights toward Whiskey Peak.
Of course, flying toward it was Naruto's brilliant suggestion, and no one exactly had time to say no before it all spiraled into chaos.
Kankuro, never one to let someone else hog the spotlight, stomped onto the deck and slapped a big, red button on the mast.
"Activating mechanical wings!" he shouted like a mad scientist unveiling his greatest creation.
BOOM!
Two gigantic, creaky mechanical wings unfolded from the sides of the ship, complete with sputtering steam vents and crooked metal feathers.
The ship lurched midair like a drunk seagull.
The whales cackled (yes, whales can cackle apparently).
Naruto was already posing on the figurehead like he was captain of the world.
"FORWARD, MY FLYING SHIP!" he declared.
That's when the last thread of patience snapped.
Sakura — sweet, wonderful Sakura — finally had enough.
She stomped onto the deck with the fury of a thousand tired babysitters.
Her chakra flared so violently that the ship stopped tilting out of pure fear.
"Ino, Shikamaru!" she barked.
Ino threw her hands up. "Finally! I'm tired of getting dragged into this madness!"
Even Shikamaru, lazily floating along until now, looked like he aged ten years in five minutes. "So troublesome... About time we stopped."
In perfect synchronization, Neji leaped off the ship's railing, flipped midair, and landed right onto Kiba-whale's back.
"Hey, what are you—" Kiba started, but Neji calmly tapped his tenketsu points, blocking his chakra.
Poof!
Kiba was human again and falling face-first toward the deck.
Meanwhile, Kurenai — ever the cool-headed adult — walked to the edge and called, "Shino, that's enough. Return."
Shino, who had been twirling in the air like a giant whale ballerina, immediately turned around and floated back, shrinking back into human form as he landed with a tired sigh.
Gaara, still seated like a king, simply turned his head to his brother.
"Kankuro. Stop," he said.
One word.
Immediate silence.
Kankuro groaned but obediently shut down the mechanical wings with a wheezing, sputtering noise. The ship sagged downward, now just riding the natural flow of the Grand Line currents.
Naruto, standing on the railing with his cape still dramatically fluttering, looked at all of them.
And he... laughed.
"Okay, okay! My fault, my fault!" he said, jumping back onto the ship and canceling his transformation, becoming his normal chaotic human self again.
He rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "You know, we've been so busy lately, and now that there was a little break... I guess I went a little crazy."
"A little?!" Sakura snapped, cracking her knuckles.
Before she could introduce Naruto's face to the deck with extreme prejudice, Kakashi stepped in, hands tucked lazily in his pockets.
"You're right about one thing, Naruto," Kakashi said, his visible eye smiling lazily. "We've been busy. And we are still in unknown territory."
He looked out over the sparkling but dangerous sea.
"We don't know how strong the people here are. We shouldn't draw too much attention until we understand the rules of the Grand Line."
Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Yeah... okay, fair."
"And if you really want more fun..." Kakashi tilted his head, almost innocently.
"...there's a whole ocean out there. You can swim until you're tired."
Naruto perked up like a dog hearing the word "walk."
"Really?!"
Kakashi shrugged. "Sure. Just don't get eaten."
Naruto considered it very seriously.
Laboon even looked tempted.
Sakura facepalmed. "We're going to need a bigger crew of medics at this rate."
Still, even though the insanity had been reeled in (for now), laughter echoed across the ship as they continued toward Whiskey Peak — the first real step into the mysteries, dangers, and adventures of the Grand Line.
They were ready.
(Well... mostly.)
----------------
Unknown to the young and chaotic crew sailing toward Whiskey Peak, the island was no longer the friendly den of bounty hunters it used to be.
With Crocodile locked away after his defeat at the hands of a mysterious enemy, his sprawling underground network had crumbled like a sandcastle against the tides.
And where there was a power vacuum, there was always someone ready to fill it.
That someone was Donquixote Doflamingo.
The flamboyant warlord, amused by the chaos of Crocodile's downfall, had sent his people scattering like seeds across the Grand Line.
He didn't even need to fully conquer it; just planting his seeds of influence was enough. The weak bowed. The desperate obeyed. The strong... were recruited.
Whiskey Peak was one of the many islands now unofficially under Doflamingo's "guidance."
It wasn't worth a top officer's time, though.
Instead, a discarded underling had been thrown onto the island like an afterthought — a man who once dreamed big but had been cut down to size:
Bellamy the Hyena.
Once full of pride, now brimming with bitterness, Bellamy had been downgraded by Doflamingo after failing spectacularly in the New World.
His orders were simple: Watch the Grand Line entrance. Gather rookies. Find potential among the new blood. And don't mess it up.
Bellamy hated every second of it.
He sat slouched at a bar in Whiskey Peak, gulping down mug after mug of cheap beer, his laugh — that annoying hyena-like cackle — echoing in the half-empty tavern.
"Heeheehee! Kids these days! Thinking they can conquer the Grand Line! Let's see how long they last before I break their spirit!"
His men lounged nearby, grinning viciously.
The tourists and merchants who once found Whiskey Peak a lively stopover now stayed clear unless they had no choice.
Bellamy cracked his knuckles.
There were rumors of a weird ship approaching — one that flew for a bit, apparently, and carried strange kids with even stranger powers.
Ripe for the picking.
"New blood, huh..." Bellamy muttered, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips.
He slammed the mug down and stood, swaggering toward the town square where he could see the docks.
"If they're strong, I'll recruit 'em.
If they're weak... heeheehee... I'll crush 'em."
The salty wind howled through the dusty streets as the island of false welcomes prepared for its newest batch of visitors.
Meanwhile, on the ship, Naruto — completely oblivious to the trouble brewing — was hanging off the figurehead, staring eagerly ahead.
"There it is!" he shouted. "WHISKEY PEAK! LOOKS FRIENDLY!!"
Sakura sighed deeply.
Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome... nothing that looks that nice ever is."
Kakashi, calmly reading his book, didn't even look up as he said, "Remember, team — appearances can be deceiving."
But of course, no one could have imagined just how much trouble was waiting for them.