"Is this… a treasure map?"
Yahiko held the old oil-paper map in both hands, his eyes widening with curiosity.
It was something Kizaru had produced using a Transformation Technique.
The moment Yahiko unfolded it, however, the excitement in his eyes instantly sank by more than half, as if someone had poured cold water over his head.
There was barely anything on it.
Only the rough outline of the Land of Rain and a simple route drawn across it.
Then Yahiko's gaze moved down and landed on the words written in the blank space at the bottom.
They were supposedly left behind by the great pirate named Roger.
Do you want my treasure? If you want it, I'll give it to you. Go and find it. I left everything in the Land of Rain.
Yahiko stared at the words in silence.
Then he slowly turned his head toward Kizaru.
"Uncle… is this really a treasure map?"
"Ohhh ho ho…" Kizaru scratched the back of his head with a lazy smile. "I hope it is."
Yahiko's shoulders dropped.
"Uncle, you're way too casual about this!"
"Ohhh ho ho ho…"
Kizaru only laughed even more happily.
Konan took the map from Yahiko and studied it carefully.
"Uncle, do you have a proper map of the Land of Rain?" she asked after a moment. "If we compare the marks and route here with a real map, we might be able to find the place."
Yahiko's eyes lit up again.
"That's right!" He clenched his fists in front of his chest and looked at Kizaru excitedly. "Uncle, you came here to find treasure, so you must have a map, right?"
"Nope."
Kizaru lowered the hand scratching his head and answered with the same carefree smile.
The atmosphere that had just risen instantly died.
Yahiko lowered his head in defeat.
"No map…?" Konan blinked, confused. "Then how were you planning to find the treasure?"
"Intuition." Kizaru raised a finger lazily. "My intuition is pretty accurate, you know…"
Then, as if even he found that funny, he started laughing.
"How can anyone find treasure just by intuition?!" Yahiko jumped to his feet and shouted at him.
"How scary…"
Kizaru pouted slightly, looking completely unbothered.
"Ahhh!" Yahiko groaned, both angry and helpless.
"Yahiko."
Konan reached out and tugged lightly on his sleeve, silently telling him to calm down.
Yahiko sat back down with an irritated huff. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, and stared at Kizaru.
"Uncle, if you keep doing things like this, how are you ever going to find the treasure?"
"By the way…" Kizaru's gaze shifted lazily toward the campfire. "Your fish looks like it's about to burn."
"I'm talking to you—my fish!"
Yahiko's expression changed at once. He hurriedly grabbed the branches holding the grilled fish and corn away from the fire.
After checking them carefully, he let out a long breath of relief.
Thankfully, they were not burned.
"Yahiko, let's eat first," Konan suggested softly, seeing that he was getting too worked up.
Yahiko nodded.
He looked down at the food in his hands, then glanced between Konan and Kizaru.
"Uncle…"
"I want the grilled fish."
Kizaru shamelessly pointed straight at the only piece of meat.
Yahiko froze with his mouth half-open.
He had originally planned to split the food fairly. Faced with Kizaru's completely blunt request, he really wanted to refuse.
But then he remembered that this uncle was supposedly terminally ill.
The kind-hearted Yahiko hesitated.
He knew Konan liked grilled fish the most, so he looked at her with some embarrassment.
Konan understood what he meant immediately.
"I'm fine with corn," she said gently, giving him a small smile. "Give the grilled fish to Uncle."
Yahiko nodded.
He took the branch with the grilled fish from his right hand and handed it to Kizaru.
"Here, Uncle. You can eat it."
"Ohhh ho ho… then I won't hold back."
Kizaru accepted it with a smile and immediately took a bite, showing no politeness at all.
Watching the plump grilled fish being eaten bite by bite, Yahiko and Konan, who were orphans and rarely got to eat anything oily or filling, could not help but swallow quietly.
"Eat, Konan."
Yahiko handed one piece of corn to her and tried to sound cheerful.
"I'll catch a big fish for you tonight."
Konan smiled and nodded.
She accepted the corn and began eating slowly.
On the surface, Kizaru was focused on eating the grilled fish.
In truth, his eyes had been quietly observing the two children the entire time.
A faint trace of admiration flashed through his gaze.
After their simple lunch, Yahiko put out the fire, stood up, and turned to Kizaru.
"Uncle, we'll help you find the treasure!"
"Thank you very much…"
Kizaru slowly rose to his feet, still smiling lazily.
"We should go to town first and buy a map," Konan said, standing beside Yahiko.
Yahiko nodded in agreement, then looked at Kizaru.
"Uncle, do you have money to buy one?"
"I do."
"Then let's go!"
Yahiko raised his right hand high and shouted with full energy.
Konan stood quietly beside him.
She still felt this uncle was strange.
Very strange.
After hesitating for a moment, however, she chose to support Yahiko's decision.
Meanwhile, hidden in a nearby tree, Matatabi watched everything with growing disgust.
This guy really has no shame.
He stole food from two children and even tricked them into helping him hunt treasure.
Watching Kizaru and the two children head toward town, Matatabi silently complained in her heart.
Only after they had walked a good distance away did she sigh helplessly and follow them.
An hour later, inside a bookstore, Kizaru and the two children bought a fairly detailed map of the Land of Rain.
Using the table and chairs provided by the shop, Konan held a pencil and leaned over the table beside Yahiko. She carefully compared the treasure map with the map they had just bought, then began marking the same locations and route onto the real map.
Yahiko stood beside her, pointing and discussing things seriously.
Kizaru watched the two small figures working so earnestly.
Then, without making a sound, he secretly formed a shadow clone.
The moment the clone appeared, it disappeared from the bookstore.
In a remote alley not far from the shop, Kizaru's shadow clone found Matatabi hiding on top of a cabinet.
"How long are you planning to keep lying to them?" Matatabi asked angrily, glaring down at the approaching clone.
"I want to use the treasure to test them."
Facing Matatabi's anger, Kizaru placed both hands in his pockets and answered with a lazy smile.
"Boring."
Matatabi snorted, then looked at him again.
"So why did you send a shadow clone to find me?"
"I want you to play the monster guarding the treasure."
"No."
Matatabi immediately turned her head away.
Elegant and proud by nature, she rejected him without hesitation.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Matatabi."
Kizaru nodded to himself, as if he had not understood a single word of her refusal.
"Hey, you bastard—"
Before Matatabi could finish, Kizaru's clone dispersed with a puff of smoke.
"Damn it, you annoying man!"
Even with her usually calm temper, talking to Kizaru was enough to make Matatabi want to spit fire.
Author's Note: Yoho, Arthorain here!
I'll keep it simple and won't babble. I've started a new novel, and honestly, I could use some help with it. Since it's still new, every bit of support matters.
Naruto: Dracule Mihawk Template is now live—packed with aura farming, elegant disrespect, and an MC who handles problems the Mihawk way: stare first, slash second, explain absolutely nothing.
A Power Stone or even adding it to library would help more than you'd think. Doing both is, of course, highly encouraged. Tagged below 👇