At the center of the Land of Wind's desert, inside a massive crater, thousands of workers were busy. Towering white stone blocks stood within the enormous pit.
At the very center, white stone walls stacked layer upon layer, looking almost man-made.
Aside from the workers, numerous ninja were stationed around the perimeter, keeping a tight watch over the place.
And it wasn't just ninja from the five great nations—many from smaller villages were also present.
At the heart of it all, a tall, stern-faced man observed the entire scene.
The next moment, the man seemed to sense something and started walking out of the massive crater with his subordinates.
At the same time, Jiraiya arrived outside the crater with Naruto. Naruto looked around curiously, taking in everything.
"Sorry, Jiraiya-sama, but if you want to bring someone inside, you'll need permission from Lord Mui."
A few guards blocked Jiraiya and Naruto. Jiraiya simply smiled and nodded.
"No problem, I'll wait here for a while."
Jiraiya observed the entire crater. Not a single ordinary person could be found here—not even the workers. Each of them had been handpicked from various nations and trained as elite "soldiers" of the current Five Great Nations' allied forces.
With just a quick glance, it was easy to see that these "soldiers" were different from normal people.
Despite the scorching sun, none of them showed any signs of exhaustion. The workload here was something that even a typical genin might struggle to handle.
"The physical strength of ordinary people has already improved this much... It looks like the paths taken by ordinary people and shinobi are becoming more distinct."
Jiraiya had also noticed changes among the shinobi in Sunagakure—their chakra reserves had started increasing at an incredible rate.
Looking at the people here now, it was a similar situation. The physical strength of ordinary people had also improved drastically.
"It seems like shinobi and ordinary people are evolving in different ways. Those who train in chakra develop an instinctive thirst for more of it, while ordinary people seem to naturally focus on strengthening their bodies instead.
But what's causing this change?"
Jiraiya wondered. No matter how he looked at it, these recent developments seemed like a good thing.
However, there were things he still didn't fully understand. Maybe he could find some answers in one of the sacred places.
Before long, a stern-faced middle-aged man arrived with several guards.
"Jiraiya-sama, it's been a while."
As he spoke, his eyes locked onto Naruto.
"So this is Konohagakure's Uzumaki Naruto? I hope to see you making a name for yourself out at sea someday."
The man gave a strange smile that sent chills down Naruto's spine. It made him feel incredibly uneasy.
"Uh… I-I'll do my best."
Naruto responded awkwardly.
Jiraiya placed a hand on Naruto's head.
"This is Mui, a former jonin of Kusagakure Village.
He is now the warden of Hozuki Castle and the leader of this place. He's a very powerful shinobi."
Jiraiya explained.
Mui was the real leader of Kusagakure Village—yes, the true leader.
As for the official figurehead? No one really cared about them.
Kusagakure had always maintained a decent relationship with the Five Great Nations, and the Land of Grass had been skillfully navigating between them for years. It was one of the few nations that all five major powers somewhat trusted.
Of course, they also had ties to Orochimaru. The Land of Grass had always been known for switching sides when convenient—but who would blame them for that?
Especially in the current political climate, the Land of Grass—being on good terms with all Five Great Nations—was receiving quite a few benefits.
"Hozuki Castle…? What's that?"
Naruto asked curiously. He had never heard of this place before.
"A prison. It holds criminals from all the major shinobi villages.
For the prisoners, Hozuki Castle is nothing less than a living hell."
A shinobi standing beside Mui spoke coldly.
"But now, Hozuki Castle isn't just for imprisoning ninjas—it also holds pirates. That's the reason this place was built."
Hearing this, Naruto felt something strange about this place. He seemed to understand why Jiraiya had brought him here.
What he saw outside was the world of the living, but here—it was "hell."
"Jiraiya-sama, are you taking him inside?"
Mui asked.
"..."
Jiraiya hesitated for a moment and looked at Naruto. Naruto also raised his head, met Jiraiya's gaze, and nodded.
"Then let's take a look. But…"
"Naruto, be ready for this."
"I'll be fine."
Maybe this was too soon for Naruto, but he knew he would have to face these things eventually.
He couldn't fully understand the world yet.
The suffering civilians and ninjas outside the hospital in Sunagakure were people. And the ones imprisoned here—were also people.
Whether it was Sunagakure or this place, it was all still the same world.
Seeing their expressions, Mui nodded and led Jiraiya and Naruto toward the massive pit.
As they walked, Mui explained.
"Jiraiya-sama, is this your first time here?"
"I've only heard about the project, but it looks far bigger than I imagined."
Jiraiya listened while observing the surroundings.
"The center of this pit is one of the branches of the former Divine Tree. The entire pit spans ten kilometers in diameter and is over a hundred meters deep."
"So far, ten of these pits have been discovered. This place is a temporary holding area for pirates. Later, all of them will be transferred to Hozuki Castle."
Mui explained.
Hozuki Castle wasn't ideal for imprisoning pirates, and Mui's secret techniques didn't work on ordinary people or Devil Fruit users.
"They're all going to Hozuki Castle? That'll be difficult, won't it?"
"There's no other choice. Seastone can suppress a pirate's Devil Fruit abilities and significantly weaken their physical strength."
"But we still don't have the technology to forge Seastone weapons properly, and…"
Mui paused, thinking about some of the stronger pirates. Even he found them troublesome.
Even with Seastone, it wouldn't be enough to completely restrain them.
"Some Logia-type Devil Fruit users are incredibly powerful."
"Logia-types are the strongest category of Devil Fruits. Their potential and power range far exceed Zoan and Paramecia types."
Mui explained.
Logia users could attack Seastone without directly touching it. That was what made them different from other ability users.
Paramecia and Zoan users, on the other hand, strengthened their own bodies, meaning their attacks had to make contact with Seastone. Because of this, whenever a regular Devil Fruit user attacked Seastone, their powers would instantly be nullified, and they themselves would be weakened.
These types of ability users were completely restrained by Seastone.
"The real maximum-security prison is still being built in Hozuki Castle. Some Iwagakure ninjas have already gone there to help expand it."
"They're using the deep sea to suppress Devil Fruit abilities?"
Jiraiya thought about Hozuki Castle, surrounded by the sea on all sides. It was indeed the best place to imprison Devil Fruit users.
The deep sea's power would strip all Devil Fruit users of their abilities, making that place the safest prison possible.
For the foreseeable future, Hozuki Castle would become a gathering point for the five great ninja villages' forces, the most heavily guarded location in the ninja world.
Previously, Hozuki Castle had been a secret prison for holding important ninjas. But now, it had stepped into the spotlight.
However, its rules remained unchanged—prisoners would not be executed. They would simply be locked up as criminals.
But for the prisoners, a life of endless darkness in prison was far worse than death.
"This is the best decision. The Daimyos of the five great nations wanted to enforce stricter laws to deter the rising pirate forces.
But the Five Kage rejected the new laws outright."
Mui led Jiraiya and Naruto to the prison entrance while explaining the situation with the new laws.
The laws had been drafted and approved by the Daimyos and nobles of the five great nations, specifically targeting pirates.
Under these new laws, simply becoming a pirate meant a death sentence. Anyone who helped pirates would also face severe punishment.
After all, this was the first time the nobles had ever felt directly threatened. In past ninja wars, the conflicts never reached the Daimyos or nobles—at least, not those of the five great nations.
But with the rise of piracy, the Daimyos and nobles found their positions under threat in a way that past ninja wars had never caused.
That was why they had pushed for such harsh laws.
And yet, the Five Kage rejected them completely.
If the Third Hokage was politically clueless, then the Daimyos and nobles of the five great nations had no understanding of politics at all.
"If this law passes, it will only make things worse. The ninja world will fall into even greater chaos, and the pirates might even start a revolution to overthrow the five great nations."
The idea of overthrowing the five great nations sounded absurd. Given their sheer size and power, the thought of a complete collapse seemed impossible.
But in reality, if such extreme laws were put in place, the pirates would have no choice but to unite, and the chaos in the ninja world would only intensify.
Besides, the pirates' influence was not as simple as it seemed.
Take the largest intelligence networks, for example—most of them had pirate connections. Even many trade caravans had ties to pirates.
The simplest example was Gato—his sources of information all came from the merchant caravans.
And many pirates had actually started out as merchants. Some of them had turned to piracy, but their families still operated as legitimate businesses.
At least for now, there was no solid proof of these families committing any crimes.
So at its core, this was still a battle between ninjas and pirates. No matter how much the Daimyos and nobles opposed it, if the ninja villages rejected their decisions, there was nothing they could do.
This was one key difference between the ninja world and the pirate world.
In the ninja world, so-called world nobles held no real power beyond symbolic importance.
The Daimyos and nobles were merely figureheads, while true power lay in military strength.
That was the reality—but some people failed to see it.
The most obvious example was the Uchiha clan, which had been wiped out. Despite their immense power, they never realized this truth. Because of that, they were ultimately destroyed by Danzo and his group's clumsy political maneuvers.
If the Uchiha had produced a few more people like Madara—not just in strength, but in sheer determination—simply having the resolve to break away from the village would have been enough to tear apart such weak political schemes.
And now, the pirates not only had that determination, but they also had the intelligence to back it up.
Many pirates were strategic thinkers. Just look at how Dark managed to gather tens of thousands of pirates to besiege Shanks—that alone proved it.
These people were the true hidden masterminds of the ninja world. Once external forces reached a certain level, the pirates would inevitably unite.
"That's true. Even though pirates have caused a lot of trouble, some of them haven't actually done anything bad. Some haven't even killed anyone."
Jiraiya sighed. From a ninja's perspective, some of these pirates were completely innocent.
Ninjas have spilled more blood than pirates. That's why some ninjas don't actually hate pirates—because they can see the blood on their own hands.
But in the end, a ninja is still a ninja.
Even among ninjas, beliefs can vary. Even those who don't want to kill will still avoid fighting pirates to the death if they can help it.
Naruto followed behind Jiraiya and Mui, listening to their conversation while recalling everything Shanks had once told him.
What Shanks had said was completely different from what Jiraiya and Mui were discussing.
Shanks had never spoken of bloodshed or harsh realities—only of people chasing freedom and the open sea.
But in Jiraiya and Mui's conversation, Naruto could feel the cold truth behind it all.
As they stepped into the underground prison, the dim lighting made the air feel even colder.
Then came the loud voices echoing from the cells.
"Mui!! Let me out of here! If you've got the guts, let me out and fight me one-on-one!"
"Hahaha! You ninjas better watch out! One day when I get out of here, I'll kill every last one of you!"
"My captain will come back to save me! You lowly ninjas don't understand—the times have changed! This is the age of pirates!"
"..."
Hearing the shouting, Mui frowned.
"Ignore them. The ones up here are just small fry. The real pirates—the ones who matter—are locked up at the very bottom."
Mui explained that if these people weren't pirates, they wouldn't even be qualified to be imprisoned here.
As they went deeper, the noise faded, and the air grew heavier.
"The ones locked up down here... These are the real pirates of this era. The ones who once dared to challenge that man."
As they reached this level, Mui's expression turned serious. No more disdain—only caution.