Passing through dense fern thickets, the air gradually grew humid, with the faint sound of flowing water audible in the distance.
"It's just ahead..."
Toby Toby's voice came from the front, carrying a hint of weakness.
The puppet pushed aside the final cluster of banana leaves, revealing a sudden open view.
A clear stream meandered through a rocky shore, with orange trees laden with fruit growing along the bank.
Sunlight refracted into fragmented golden glimmers on the water's surface, while several silvery-white small fish darted through gaps in the pebbles.
With a splash.
Toby Toby was already kneeling by the stream, burying his entire head in the water to gulp thirstily. The flowing water washed away the grime on his face, revealing his pale complexion and sunken eye sockets.
"Eat something first!"
Bai Yu manipulated the puppet Xiao Bai to pick oranges while controlling Xiao Huang to fetch water from the stream.
The babbling stream flowed steadily as Toby Toby carefully offered a broad leaf filled with water, droplets tracing along the leaf veins and leaving winding wet trails on his scraped knuckles.
"Do... do you want some?"
The wooden puppet accepted the leaf, its joints emitting faint creaking sounds.
Toby instinctively flinched, yet couldn't help stealing glances at the puppet's fluid movements.
When Bai Yu took the water, he noticed the boy's gaze fixed on the puppet, mingling astonishment with curiosity.
"They're puppets - they don't need to drink or eat, and they certainly won't harm you."
Bai Yu sipped the slightly sweet stream water, his Adam's apple bobbing with each swallow.
"Just like tools, understand? Like the knife in your hand, they're my weapons."
Toby looked down at the short blade in his hand, then suddenly reached out to poke the puppet Xiao Huang.
"You mean he can be your weapon in battle too?"
"Of course. Once I've recovered somewhat, I'll take them to your village to investigate."
Xiao Bai returned with picked oranges, their fresh fragrance permeating the air as it clumsily presented the fruits to Bai Yu.
The orange-yellow peels glistened under sunlight, with a few green leaves still clinging to the stems.
Bai Yu peeled an orange, the abundant juice nearly splashing between his fingers as the sweet-sour scent wafted into his nostrils. Mmm, truly delicious.
He noticed Toby staring at the other half of the orange while swallowing hard.
"Here."
Bai Yu tossed over half the orange.
The boy fumbled to catch it, devouring it ravenously as juice streamed down his grimy chin, staining his collar.
"Eat slowly."
Watching the child before him, Bai Yu couldn't help recalling Uchiha Itachi - by this boy's age, that guy had already been a double agent. Comparatively, the world of One Piece seemed quite benevolent.
"There are plenty more on that tree over there."
Toby Toby paid no heed, only looking up after consuming every last shred of orange pith.
His eyes sparkled as if discovering a new world: "Back in the village, I never realized oranges could be this sweet! Really, I've never tasted oranges this delicious! Normally I don't even like..."
His words cut off abruptly as the boy suddenly covered his mouth, staring in horror toward the southeast.
In the distance, several tendrils of black smoke were faintly visible, twisting and dissipating in the sea breeze.
"That's..."
"The direction of our village."
Toby Toby's voice trembled. "They're not... burning down houses, are they..."
Bai Yu narrowed his eyes.
"Take the food and some wood. I'll recover on the stretcher."
Uchiha Bai Yu wasn't a good person, but if it didn't compromise his own safety, he would still help.
Though severely injured, with the power of the Devil Fruit, he didn't need to fight personally.
While traveling, Bai Yu began continuously carving the wood in his hand.
"What are you doing?"
Toby looked curiously at Uchiha Bai Yu, not understanding the purpose of carving useless wood at such a time.
Uchiha Bai Yu used the Kusanagi Blade to shave off layer after layer of wood shavings thin as cicada wings.
The wood shavings spiraled down onto the fern-covered ground, emitting a faint woody fragrance.
"This is..." Toby Toby leaned closer, his nose almost touching Bai Yu's wrist.
He saw the originally rough wood gradually taking on a humanoid shape.
Bai Yu didn't look up, intently smoothing a carving mark on the Puppet's face with his thumb.
"This is my ability. Having more helpers never hurts."
Before his words faded, a muffled sound came from the distance. The ground trembled slightly, startling a flock of seabirds roosting in the canopy.
Toby Toby's body stiffened abruptly, his pupils contracting to pinpricks.
"Cannon fire."
Bai Yu's fingers paused for a moment, then resumed carving even more rapidly.
Toby Toby's lips trembled, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
"They'll... they'll kill everyone in the village..."
"Calm down."
Bai Yu suddenly grabbed the boy's wrist, feeling the slender limb shaking violently in his palm.
"Take deep breaths."
The boy's chest heaved dramatically, tears welling in his eyes.
Bai Yu released Toby Toby's hand and continued carving.
"Crying won't help now. But ongoing fighting is likely a good sign—it means someone's still resisting. Tell me, how many pirates are in the village?"
Bai Yu's calm tone seemed to give Toby Toby more courage.
"Twenty... no, maybe thirty."
Toby Toby wiped his face hard.
"They have guns. Firearms aren't usually easy to obtain, but a powerful gang recently emerged in the West Sea, so many guns have ended up at sea."
"Describe their equipment in detail."
Bai Yu's voice remained utterly composed. As a ninja, he'd seen too much.
"Almost every one of them carries a gun, along with a large sword on their back and their own daggers."
If that's their setup, they're all small fry. Small fry pose no threat to a ninja...
Bai Yu suddenly raised a hand to stop him, his ear twitching slightly. The gunfire in the distance was growing more frequent, occasionally interspersed with faint screams.
He accelerated his carving, wood shavings falling like fine snow.
"Take this."
Bai Yu abruptly shoved the newly completed palm-sized Puppet into Toby's hands.
The small Puppet's facial features were only vague outlines, but its limb joints were exceptionally detailed.
The moment the boy caught it, the Puppet suddenly quivered gently in his palm.
"This... it's alive?"
Toby Toby nearly dropped it but was stopped by Bai Yu gripping his wrist.
"Throw it if you're in danger."
As Uchiha Bai Yu threw out the remaining freshly made puppets, seven tall puppets wielding various weapons suddenly appeared.
"These puppets should be more than enough to deal with a few genin!"
Although Bai Yu felt these hastily crafted puppets couldn't possibly be very powerful in combat, he could still sense they possessed at least genin-level fighting capability.
Don't think genin are weak. In terms of individual assassination techniques, when fully prepared, genin can easily eliminate ordinary pirates.
Especially Konoha genin like them...
Anyone who's watched Naruto knows that Konoha's most formidable fighters are often its genin.