The others were expecting Shanks to explain, and he actually did. He said that his entire ship wasn't made from the Divine Tree—only the keel was.
Only??
That single word completely threw Orochimaru off, and even Kabuto, standing beside him, couldn't keep a straight face.
Even though Kabuto had been undercover in Konohagakure, he had taken part in many experiments after returning to Orochimaru's side, so he knew exactly how rare and valuable Divine Tree materials were.
"I had no idea that guy used branches from that tree to build my ship. I just assumed he had a bunch of Treasure Tree Adam branches. It wasn't until I set sail that I realized my ship was made from Divine Tree wood."
Shanks looked completely innocent.
He also clarified that he didn't steal the tree himself.
Hearing this, Orochimaru quickly snapped back to his senses, his mind suddenly much clearer.
"So Shanks wasn't the one who took the Divine Tree? That means it had to be Uchiha Izuna."
Thinking back, Orochimaru realized it wasn't just Shanks who acted recklessly—Izuna had been the same way.
He had given Shanks so much material but barely left anything for him.
But wait… what was Treasure Tree Adam?
"Hold on, Treasure Tree Adam? That means there's more than one Divine Tree in the ninja world."
At that moment, Orochimaru's mind became sharper than ever. He looked at Shanks—Shanks wasn't the type to lie.
Besides, his perspective was completely different from theirs. Many things that were considered top secrets to them were just casual knowledge to Shanks.
Simply put, Shanks knew way too much, and he often let things slip without even realizing it.
"What exactly is Treasure Tree Adam?"
Before Nagato could even ask who "that guy" was, Orochimaru had already rushed forward.
His expression remained calm, carefully suppressing any emotions. Now, it all depended on how much Shanks was willing to say.
Even something like the Dragon Vein had been casually mentioned by Shanks. Orochimaru didn't need to think too hard to know that the secrets Shanks held were probably beyond anything he could have imagined.
"Treasure Tree Adam is just a special kind of tree. Its wood is extremely tough, making it the best material for building ships."
"Hmm…"
At that moment, Shanks suddenly realized something.
Back then, he had indeed meant Treasure Tree Adam's wood. But this wasn't the pirate world, so why was he even bringing it up?
"So, this has nothing to do with me."
Shanks shrugged, spreading his hands.
Seeing his reaction, Orochimaru decided not to press further.
Meanwhile, Konan turned to Nagato.
"So… the Divine Tree belongs to the Uzumaki clan?"
Konan was confused. She had seen the Gedo Statue before, but only once—she didn't exactly know much about it.
Nagato, of course, wasn't going to reveal the truth. There were too many hidden secrets in Shanks' words.
Even he wasn't sure what the Uzumaki clan truly possessed. But the most important part was that he had never formed any summoning contract with the Gedo Statue.
At this moment, the only person who might actually know the truth was Shanks.
Nagato didn't want Konan to know about this.
"You could say that."
Nagato nodded. Orochimaru noticed his expression and realized there was more to this than what was being said.
Shanks looked at Nagato and Orochimaru, feeling like all three of them had secrets they couldn't share.
Nagato knew the true nature of the Divine Tree, while Orochimaru knew exactly who had stolen it.
Shanks, on the other hand, knew both sides of the story, but now wasn't the right time to lay everything out.
It wasn't just because of Madara's involvement—saying too much now would only complicate things further.
The biggest question on his mind was who had leaked the information that the Divine Tree's remains were in the Land of Wind.
There were others behind the scenes stirring things up, so Shanks had to keep everything within his control as much as possible.
He wasn't doing this for himself—he was doing it for the entire shinobi world.
The new order of the shinobi world was still taking shape, and that process needed time.
Shanks' job was to ensure that time wasn't cut short. If things moved too quickly, the entire world might collapse under the weight of such a drastic change.
Nagato's explanation had given the others a temporary answer, but afterward, he sought Shanks out again.
"That person you mentioned… who is it?"
By the port, Nagato and Shanks spoke alone. No one else interrupted—after all, this was a matter of the Uzumaki clan.
"I can't say just yet," Shanks replied. "But as a shinobi, you should understand what summoning jutsu requires."
"Before you take any action, think carefully. If you're unsure, let Yahiko decide."
Nagato was strong, but neither he nor Konan were suited to be leaders. Only Yahiko had that potential.
Right now, Yahiko might not seem particularly special.
But anyone who gave it some thought would realize just how strong his leadership qualities were.
Once upon a time, Hanzo the Salamander was feared across the shinobi world.
Compared to him, what were Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan?
Just a bunch of rookies.
Yet somehow, these rookies had gathered enough people around them to stand against Hanzo.
If that wasn't proof of Yahiko's leadership, then just compare him to the elders of Konohagakure.
Take the Third Hokage, for example. He was a legendary figure in the shinobi world, a Hokage, and a student of the previous Hokage.
Yet in the end, he had no true supporters in his own village.
Sure, the Third had only recently died, and Danzo's body wasn't even cold yet—
But in today's shinobi world, could anyone be more deserving of criticism than those two?
Not really.
In fact, the only major difference between Yahiko and Minato was their strength.
In every other way, Yahiko wasn't far behind.
"Yahiko is already dead," Nagato replied.
"Bringing him back shouldn't be too hard for you. At least for Orochimaru, it wouldn't be difficult."
Shanks pointed into the distance.
Dead? Just use Edo Tensei.
Of course, this kind of thing was still controversial—some would call it disrespecting the dead.
But during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kabuto mass-revived people on a massive scale.
At that point, no one cared about disrespecting the dead—
That whole war turned into a big family reunion.
They called it a great battle, but as soon as the older generation saw their juniors, they just started slacking off, chatting while fighting.
The only one actually fighting seriously was Madara.
The whole scene looked just like the Summit War, where only Akainu was really going all out, while everyone else was just fighting for show. Even Sengoku was like that.
So, Edo Tensei had nothing to do with disrespecting the dead, because even the resurrected didn't seem to feel insulted by it.
"Edo Tensei?"
"For Yahiko, something like this probably wouldn't mean much," Shanks added. Compared to Edo Tensei, turning Yahiko's corpse into a puppet seemed way more like an insult to the dead.
"I'll think about it."
Nagato let out a deep sigh. If reviving Yahiko was possible, that would, of course, be the best outcome.
Right now, he couldn't see through the situation at all. There were too many secrets surrounding him, and even though he couldn't figure out what was hidden behind them, he knew for sure that he was being manipulated.
He needed Yahiko's help.
"Do you know Akatsuki's plan?"
Nagato looked at Shanks. Shanks was without a doubt the smartest strategist in the ninja world. But more than his intelligence, what made him truly stand out was his character.
Because Shanks never lied. Or rather, everyone in the ninja world highly respected his integrity.
A man who could carve out a path for the weak. A man who, even after being surrounded and attacked by countless pirates, could still call them great warriors.
The only Four Emperors of the ninja world—Shanks.
This man had an undeniable power that made people trust him. That was the presence of a true Four Emperor.
"Are you talking about Yahiko's plan or your organization's plan?"
Shanks asked. It wasn't that he looked down on Akatsuki, but with Yahiko around, they could have truly accomplished something.
Now, though? Akatsuki was nothing more than a child's game.
To be honest, right now, Akatsuki was just playing pretend.
"Our plan," Nagato said.
"I know it. But to me, you guys might as well just become a real revolutionary army. If you really want to change the world, this is not the way to do it."
Shanks tapped his own head and shook it at Nagato.
At that moment, Nagato felt completely and utterly looked down on by this carefree man in front of him.
The worst part was—he had no way to argue back.
"Captain really isn't giving Nagato any face," Shisui remarked from a distance, even though he wasn't sure what had just happened.
"Shisui, what's Shanks saying?"
Naruto, standing beside him, asked curiously.
"He's saying Nagato isn't very smart."
Shisui answered without hesitation. His captain was really blunt.
"Uh…"
Naruto went silent after hearing that.
Thinking about himself for a moment, he realized… he wasn't exactly the smartest either.
Would Shanks look down on him too? This was his first time meeting him, after all.
"Don't worry, the captain doesn't always think things through. Naruto, you don't have to worry."
Seeing Naruto's reaction, Shisui smiled gently and ruffled his hair.
Then, Shisui turned his gaze to Sasuke.
"Shisui, about Itachi..."
"Sasuke, this whole thing is complicated. Back then, we didn't have the power to handle something like that. Not everyone has the kind of ability that the captain does."
"So if you want to know the truth about what happened, focus on getting stronger first."
Shisui interrupted Sasuke, cutting off his question.
Besides, Shisui himself didn't know what had happened after he fell off the cliff. Because of that, Sasuke didn't hold any resentment toward him.
To Sasuke, he was still the same Shisui.
"I understand," Sasuke said.
He then fell silent, shifting his gaze toward Shanks.
The moment Shanks appeared, everyone's attention turned to him. Even Sasuke couldn't help but be drawn in.
But Sasuke knew—he wasn't ready yet.
He wasn't ready to stand alongside Shanks. Even someone like Shisui could only say that he was Shanks' one weakness.
But even as a so-called "weakness," he still had the power to instantly defeat Danzo. The power to wipe out the elders of Konohagakure in an instant.
Sasuke had no idea when he would be strong enough to face Itachi openly.
Unlike many others in the ninja world, Sasuke and Naruto, despite their young age, had already seen the strongest figures of their era.
It was like how Shanks and Buggy were in "One Piece"—even when they were young, they had been on Roger's ship.
Their perspective was simply different.
Just look at the people gathered here—Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin, who once launched the Konoha Crush plan.
That very plan forced the Third Hokage to take his own life in Konohagakure.
It also led to Kakashi and the Ino-Shika-Cho clans taking control of the village leadership.
Reputation aside, Orochimaru's actions alone had already placed him among the top figures in the ninja world.
And Kakashi? Though he was still their teacher, he was already the next Hokage. Not to mention, he was stronger than Danzo, even with Danzo's Izanagi and Wood Release.
Then there was Nagato, standing in the distance—the leader of the revolutionary army, the leader of Itachi's organization, and someone with pure Uzumaki blood. His power was likely unfathomable.
Faced with these overwhelming figures, Sasuke had long abandoned his arrogance.
Every single person here was someone he had to look up to.
As for Kakashi, he didn't overthink things.
He was just taking notes on everything that had happened in the Land of Waves so he could hand the intel over to Shikaku for analysis.
It wasn't something he needed to think too much about.
Before long, Nagato seemed to finish his conversation with Shanks. He waved at Konan, and the two of them left the Land of Waves that same day.
Back at Gato's ruined estate, Shanks noticed something missing from the crowd.
"Where's Gato?"
"He's tied to the mast at the port. Orochimaru found out he was trying to sell off scraps from the shipbuilding materials and gave him a beating."
Shisui pointed toward the execution platform in the distance. Orochimaru couldn't take out his anger on Shanks, but there was no way he was going to let Gato's stupidity slide.
If Zabuza had been around, Orochimaru probably would have beaten him up too—though whether he could win or not was another question.
"This is a letter from Nagato and Konan for Jiraiya."
Shanks took out a letter and handed it to Kakashi. The envelope looked old, as if it had been kept for a long time.
"A letter for Jiraiya-sama?"
"For Jiraiya?"
Kakashi, Orochimaru, and even Naruto looked over.
Nagato had a connection to Jiraiya?
"They could be considered Jiraiya's students too."
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