Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

"You must be one of the bargaining chips of the Yorozuya City Flame, right?" Sasuke suddenly said, "You want to break free from his control and lead the life you desire."

Chino's eyes widened and she shook her head immediately, "No! No! No! Although I am indeed one of his ninja guards, I don't want to break free. After all, if I leave there, I wouldn't even know what to do, and finding food to eat might become a problem."

Even though Chino did think about escaping, she also really didn't know what to do after leaving Yorozuya City Flame, and would other villages accept her?

Moreover, on this ship, although she was the strongest in the merchant fleet, how could she dare to express her truest thoughts in front of everyone?

"Don't worry, we are aware of the rules of the ninja arena. We will inevitably have to fight in the arena, and if you intentionally lose to me, you can return to Konoha with us," Naruto said confidently.

"I will not throw the match because once on the arena, if one does not put in their full effort, the victory will be voided," Chino said coldly, "And besides, it would be disrespectful to us."

"And what of it if I go to Konoha?"

"Still an orphan."

"Without anyone to rely on."

Sasuke pushed Naruto away, saying, "At least, you won't have to fight to the death in the arena for someone else anymore."

"Little Sasuke..." Chino murmured.

Sasuke: "..."

Man, this guy can be annoying!

"What the heck, it was my idea to begin with, and yet this guy only thanks Sasuke," Naruto pouted, but he could still perceive Chino's emotion.

"Maybe it's because Sasuke is cute and about the same height as her," Haruno Sakura speculated, "Also, I've heard some housewives like shōta."

Seeing the two discussing such a blatantly inappropriate topic for their age, Sasuke instinctively moved away from Chino, who pursed her lips, declaring, "I'm not a housewife; I'm still a very pure girl."

"That's rare. Generally, female ninjas kept by rich merchants are expected to provide 'those' services," Kakashi mentioned, seeing that Chino was halfway one of their own, and therefore spoke more openly.

"Are these the Jōnin from Konoha? Not serious at all!" Chino put her hands on her hips, huffing.

"Sorry, when ninjas relax, they're not as serious as you might think; life occasionally needs a bit of lightness," Kakashi coughed twice and warned Haruno Sakura and the others, "You're not grown up yet; you shouldn't discuss such adult topics."

Haruno Sakura: "╮(╯▽╰)╭"

Naruto: "→_→"

Sasuke: "→_→"

Chino covered her mouth, "The ninjas of Konoha really are interesting, nothing like the rumors I heard before."

"What rumors?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Konoha's ninjas are very brutal; they burn, kill, loot, and engage in drugs, gambling, and all kinds of evil… something like that," Chino shared the rumors she had heard, "And also, I heard they eat children."

"Slander! That is definitely slander!" Naruto was indignant.

"It's normal."

Kakashi's eyes remained calm, "The Land of Fire is fertile, and other Great Ninja Villages and countries all want to capture our land. The three Great Ninja Wars you learned about in history mainly erupted because of this."

"Although there's no war right now, who knows, they might covet our land again one day. Therefore, the way other countries describe Konoha is naturally exaggerated."

This was the first time Chino learned of such things, and she had a moment of realization: "So that's how it is, no wonder the sea salt here in the Land of Fire is of the best quality."

"That probably has nothing to do with it," Kakashi added, "After all, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water can both harvest a large amount of sea salt. As for why theirs has so many impurities, it might be related to the local customs."

"The Land of Lightning is rough, the Land of Water is gloomy..."

"Compared to the Land of Fire, they don't pay much attention to quality of life, but overall, it still has something to do with the environment."

Then, Chino took Kakashi and the others to the cabin, arranged quarters for them, and then delivered food.

Kakashi carefully inspected the food, found no issues, but he did not eat it; instead, he packed it up and took out his own emergency rations.

Sasuke did the same.

However, Naruto didn't mind at all, dipping the salmon sashimi in soy sauce, paired with white rice, and eating it: "Hmm~ not as tasty as Sakura's cooking, and I don't really like eating raw fish like this."

Sakura was used to cooked food, usually preparing it as well, and Naruto had grown accustomed to it; with this kind of raw fish, it just never tasted good to him.

"Naruto, don't just eat food offered by others when you're out," Kakashi said helplessly. This was one of the basic rules for ninjas: Never eat food or drinks provided by anyone but your comrades.

They should have taught this at the ninja academy, right?

"Kakashi-sensei, Chino's our comrade too, right? There's no need to be so cautious," Naruto said carelessly.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei, as long as it's not some heavy metal toxin, it shouldn't be much of a problem for Naruto. At worst, it'll just give him a stomachache," Sakura said with a chuckle, "His constitution is second only to mine."

Kakashi was at a loss for words.

However, this was the most peculiar point.

The great Kyubi Jinchuriki of the Uzumaki Clan should have a weaker constitution than Sakura, a civilian ninja? Wasn't that a most strange occurrence?

After dinner, Haruno Sakura and the others split up, heading back to their respective rooms to rest early, preparing for the ninja gladiator arena competition at night.

As evening approached, the ship finally arrived at a small island. Spot an error? Visit the original post on M&VLEMPY&R.

At this time, the sky was dimming, but the island was brightly lit, with people coming and going, most of them dressed ostentatiously—many were rich merchants and nobles, and amongst the goods for sale were even slaves.

The slaves were in tatters, mainly females, with shackles around their necks and limbs, looking pitiful.

"This is too much." Naruto wanted to do something but was stopped by Kakashi, who shook his head, "Let's finish our mission first."

"Don't be impulsive, Naruto," Sasuke also advised.

Sakura placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder, patted it, and said, "Trust me, Naruto, they will be alright."

In the end, Naruto chose to trust Sakura and suppressed the anger brewing inside him; he had never known that this place would sell slaves.

The group was heavy-hearted as they arrived at the outskirts of the arena, lining up to enter, but Kakashi noticed a familiar person—Orochimaru.

"Why is that guy here?"

Orochimaru seemed to sense someone watching him and turned around. Licking his lips, he said cheerfully, "Isn't this Kakashi who once pursued me? I didn't expect you to come here too. What a rarity."

"Fall back!"

Haruno Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi immediately retreated to the wide street on the outskirts, and the pedestrians, sensing trouble, quickly scattered.

"You don't need to get this agitated, Kakashi," said Orochimaru leisurely as he walked onto the street, laughing insidiously, "Although I'm a renegade from Konoha, I'm quite amiable, especially when dealing with children, very gentle indeed."

"I can't trust a word you say," Kakashi was extremely alert, "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, be prepared to fight at any moment. This guy is not a good person; he's used the villagers of Konoha for human experiments and is a vicious renegade!"

"To use the villagers for experiments! Unforgivable!" A hint of disgust appeared in Naruto's eyes.

"So you are Naruto Uzumaki, the Kyubi Jinchuriki. You've grown quite well indeed." Orochimaru first sized up Naruto, nodding with satisfaction before turning with interest towards the girl with cherry blossom-colored hair, smiling, "So, you must be Haruno Sakura, truly gifted."

"Hey! I'm Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasuke was not pleased, why had this guy ignored him? That was unforgivable.

"The Uchiha Clan, I remember it well, indeed a superior source of experimental material, especially the Sharingan worth studying. Sadly, despite hearing about you, you seem to be the less talented brother of Uchiha Itachi, not having awakened your Sharingan yet," Orochimaru taunted, "Without the Sharingan, you don't hold much value."

"What?!"

Sasuke trembled with rage!

It was one thing for Naruto to joke about it, but for this renegade in front of him to mock him too? It was as if he wasn't taken seriously at all.

Sasuke raised his hand and instantly took out the Fūma Shuriken from his backpack, unfolding it and aiming it at Orochimaru; "Take back what you just said, or I'll cut you down!"

"Heh, not much strength but a big mouth," Orochimaru didn't take him seriously, "If you think you can, then try."

"Sasuke alone won't do, but what about with us?" Sakura stepped forward, clapping her hands. Spores too minute for the naked eye fell from her hands as massive Chakra surged through her body. Just standing there, she disturbed the airflow within a thousand meters, sending an invisible pressure towards Orochimaru.

"Sbalasy!" Orochimaru's eyes filled with greed, his long tongue licking his own cheek, "Perfect Chakra, perfect body!"

"Don't forget about me!" Naruto crossed his arms; crimson Chakra surged around him, an ominous aura permeating the air, instilling a deep sense of oppression in Orochimaru.

"To think that you can already extract Chakra from the Kyubi, quite impressive. You indeed live up to being that person's child," said Orochimaru, not surprised but also not revealing Naruto's parentage.

"What do you mean? You know my parents?" Naruto keenly picked up on this.

"I do, one could say everyone in Konoha does, but I sure won't tell you," Orochimaru chuckled coldly, "Though I'm not particularly fond of the Konoha under Hizashi-sensei, I don't actually bear any malice towards you, Naruto Uzumaki."