The trio journeyed through the Land of Rain, the Land of Fire, the Land of Iron, and the Land of Waves, finally reaching the outer seas of the Land of Lightning. Under the azure sky, the vast, boundless ocean stretched endlessly, a grand and rare sight for shinobi accustomed to life on the mainland.
As their long and gradually monotonous journey continued, Deidara's thoughts began to wander. What lay on the other side of this endless sea? A new continent? Or would it simply circle back to the opposite side of the shinobi world?
Moreover, the shinobi world should be a planet, right? If the westernmost part of the Land of Lightning could directly connect to the easternmost part of the Land of Earth, it would have been discovered long ago. Yet, no one in the shinobi world has realized this. How could that be?
"We're here!" Sasori stopped at a desolate island, checking the map to confirm that this was the location of the rare turtle.
This area was a wild, uninhabited region, so remote that even merchants traveling by sea wouldn't pass through. Perhaps this isolation was why some rare creatures could still be found here. In the past, the ninja continent was home to many exotic and summoning beasts, but their habitats had long been encroached upon by humans, forcing shinobi to rely on summoning techniques to encounter them.
"Water Man, go check underwater," Sasori instructed Water Man, who was now dressed in blue.
"Yes, Lady Yūmei," Water Man replied before seamlessly merging into the sea, as if melting away.
About half an hour later, Water Man resurfaced, climbing onto the sandy shore. Squinting slightly against the glaring sunlight, he approached Deidara and Sasori.
"How is it?" Sasori asked.
"I searched a large area nearby but found no trace of the rare turtle," Water Man replied.
"Sasori, are you sure the intel is correct?" Deidara questioned, eyeing the rough map with some skepticism.
"Of course, the intel came from a spy in Kumogakure. Kumogakure has a secret base offshore where each generation's Jinchūriki trains, so they have intelligence on this area," Sasori explained, confident in the accuracy of his information.
"The intel states that in April and May each year, a rare turtle can occasionally be spotted in these waters. Its shell is extremely tough, capable of withstanding Tailed Beast Balls to some extent. This information was left by a former Two-Tails Jinchūriki who went berserk," Sasori added.
"Then let's expand the search area. If we can't find it, we'll stay here for a few days," Deidara suggested.
"With Water Man's abilities and my clay creatures, we should be able to find this rare turtle," Deidara said, spitting out a swarm of clay sea snakes and sending them into the water.
However, Deidara's clay creatures were not autonomous, lacking independent thought and intelligence. They couldn't stray too far from Deidara, so the main effort relied on Water Man.
For several days, the trio caught many turtles but none were the rare ones they sought.
Just as they were about to give up, a small black dot appeared on the horizon, shrouded in mist and difficult to discern.
"Something's coming. Is it a ship?" Water Man asked, puzzled.
"It can't be a ship. Who would sail to such a godforsaken place?" Deidara replied.
"But didn't Lady Yūmei say that Kumogakure has a secret offshore base nearby? Maybe it's someone from Kumogakure?" Water Man speculated.
"Have you ever seen a ship with special effects?" Although unclear what it was, the mist surrounding it suggested it wasn't ordinary.
"Sasori, let's go check it out," Deidara proposed.
"Alright," Hiruko nodded. Curiosity often accompanies fear when faced with the unknown.
With a puff, a clay bird appeared, and Deidara leaped onto it with ease.
"I'm heading over first. You guys better keep up," he said, flying towards the black dot without looking back.
"Tch! That brat Deidara!" Sasori snorted, guiding Hiruko to sprint across the sea surface.
"Hey! Lord Seiryū! Lady Yūmei! Wait for me!" Water Man shouted from behind. Although he could merge with water, his movement wasn't fast enough to catch up with the others.
The phenomenon known as "mountain running kills horses" occurs when one is in a flat, unobstructed environment, leading to an illusion of proximity to distant objects due to the wide field of view.
Deidara and the others experienced this firsthand, flying on the clay bird for quite a while, yet the black dot on the horizon grew only slightly larger, still indistinguishable.
This continued for about an hour before the full view of the black dot finally appeared before Deidara.
Lush trees, towering peaks, rocky shores, and occasionally colossal beasts reminiscent of the Jurassic era—all these details indicated that the black dot was a vibrant island of considerable size.
But why could an island move? No, this must be Kumogakure's secret offshore base, the training ground for successive Jinchūriki.
Deidara suddenly recalled that Naruto had once trained here in the original series to become a perfect Jinchūriki. This seemingly vibrant island was, in fact, a giant turtle, with all these features growing on its back.
So, could the rare turtle Sasori was looking for be related to this giant turtle?
Deidara lowered the clay bird's altitude and approached Sasori.
"Sasori, it's hard to believe, but this large island is actually a turtle."
Faced with such a massive creature, Sasori was momentarily stunned. From his low vantage point on the water, his view was limited, and he had guessed that the island was Kumogakure's secret base but hadn't realized the island itself was a living being.
In comparison, even the size of a Tailed Beast seemed insignificant.
"Maybe the rare turtle you're looking for is connected to this sea turtle. Let me search around here," Deidara suggested, releasing another swarm of clay sea snakes into the water.
This time, the search was unexpectedly simple.
"Got it!" "They're all following this sea turtle, and there are quite a few of them."