Sailing a ship is never a simple task.
Take the small vessel like the Going Merry as an example. For the most basic sailing, you can't manage without at least three to five people.
This includes the helmsman, the lookout, and sailors responsible for raising and lowering the sails.
That's not even considering cannons on board. Otherwise, you'd need to recruit gunners for each cannon.
They not only have to fire but also move ammunition, and during close-quarters combat with enemy ships, they must become fighters for hand-to-hand combat.
That's why so many pirate crews recruit many seemingly useless cannon fodder.
Apart from a small number of ships with technology far surpassing most people's imagination, the vast majority of vessels on this sea must follow this principle.
Perhaps only the Groseade under Byrnndi World's flag could escape this manpower limitation.
But that was also built on Gairam's modifications to the ship. Even then, they still had four crew members.
Which is nothing like Karin now.
"This should be right... the Log Pose points this way... Ah, why is it raining again?"
The fact proves that a person with no sailing experience and no professional training cannot realistically sail a ship alone.
Even if she knows the Shadow Clone Technique.
The small purchased ship, the Stranded Turtle, circled aimlessly in a sea of nothing. Places marked on the chart as supply islands showed nothing but seawater.
"Was the island sunk?"
It was clear Karin had successfully learned the essence of Naruto's confidence.
She'd rather suspect someone used large-scale destructive weapons to sink the island than believe she had taken the wrong route.
Of course, maybe she shouldn't shoulder all the blame.
After all, who could have anticipated the magnetic field here would suddenly become chaotic, causing the Eternal Pose to temporarily malfunction.
Clones ran back and forth on the deck. Some raised sails, others went below to secure supplies, extremely busy.
It truly was a case of 'when it rains, it pours'.
Literally.
At some point, a large mass of dark clouds had gathered directly over the Stranded Turtle.
The darkening sky and the blowing wind and rain soaked Karin's white hair, finally driving the little girl to irritation.
"Ahhhh! So annoying!"
Seeing the wind and rain showed signs of worsening, and the Stranded Turtle truly couldn't sail in such rolling waves, Karin simply overturned the table.
Screech-
After a bird cry that echoed across the sky, the dark clouds reflected golden light from below.
Then came Karin's voice, made somewhat 'ethereal and divine' by her enlarged size.
"Blow, will you? I'll show you blowing!"
Garuda flapped its wings in the air. Instantly, strong winds arose. A huge tornado churned up both seawater and rainwater, rushing straight towards the sky.
How could the low-lying dark clouds withstand such hurricane-force winds? They quickly parted, making way for sunlight.
Sunlight, like holy light, precisely projected onto the Stranded Turtle, making the ship look as if chosen by God.
"Whew-"
Letting out a long breath, Karin finally felt a bit better.
But this also meant her first sailing attempt had ended in failure.
"Hah, such a poor sport of a girl."
"Insisting on pursuing a sense of ceremony yourself."
"In the end, you still dutifully used your abilities."
A certain alien tied up in a specific type of restraint mocked disdainfully.
He thought Karin's actions were unnecessary.
Having abilities but not using them, choosing to sail like an ordinary person… fine.
But this girl hadn't even done any homework in advance, completely unfamiliar with sailing and related things.
Seriously...
Even he had absorbed through constant exposure and learned quite a bit of common sailing knowledge during his time on the Gale Breaker.
"Shut up."
Karin grumpily 'muted' Momoshiki. Earlier, because sailing alone for half a day was too quiet, she had made an exception to open the 'communication channel'. Now it seemed this guy really couldn't say anything nice.
Come to think of it, was sailing really this hard?
After all, not every ship was the [Gale Breaker], capable of using wind to become a speedboat, going wherever it pleased.
Without using abilities, every captain needed to be proficient in judging weather, or have a reliable navigator.
Otherwise, an ordinary sailing ship might be unable to move an inch.
But, this also counted as a growth experience.
Karin quickly convinced herself and began piloting the Stranded Turtle again.
A gentle breeze filled the sails, slowly moving this small vessel that had remained intact under the wind and rain.
This time, Karin decided to sail slowly.
Seeing the Eternal Pose still spinning in circles, she decisively put it away, choosing to follow her intuition.
The worst case would be being lost at sea for a few days. When the food ran out, and if she truly couldn't find the way, she would decisively transform and fly.
'Was it like this for Naruto-san back then?'
Karin thought while adjusting the helm.
Based on the past experiences Naruto had told them, she knew he also had a period of sailing alone.
And back then, Naruto didn't have such convenient abilities. It must have been even harder.
'It really wasn't easy… Naruto-san.'
Thinking this, Karin silently raised Naruto's position in her heart a little higher.
…
Over twenty years ago, on the same sea.
"Ah! Which way should I sail..."
A teenage brat, Uzumaki Naruto, clutching his stomach, collapsed on the deck, beginning to regret refusing Rayleigh's kind offer to stay.
Unlike Karin, Naruto had learned quite a bit of sailing knowledge on Roger's ship.
Although his own sense of direction often led him wrong, with an Eternal Pose, he could sail independently.
Provided he wasn't hungry.
Grr-
Hunger even robbed him of the strength to maintain the shadow clone technique.
The surrounding clones all dissipated into smoke. Naruto himself could only lie on the deck, staring blankly at the sky.
'Captain Roger... sailing alone is really lonely.'
'Can I really adapt?'
Little Naruto began recalling bits and pieces of his past experiences on Roger's ship.
On that ship, he made many friends, something unattainable back in Konoha Village.
Not only uncles like Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban, but even Shanks and Buggy, who are only slightly older than him, would also take care of him from time to time.
Though Buggy was always said one thing but meant another.
He'd complain, but still take him to the storeroom for sneaking food when he was hungry and his stomach was growling at night.
Thump!
Suddenly, something hit the ship's bow. Naruto hurriedly got up and ran to the side to look down.
…
"Did I hit someone?"
Karin muttered to herself, looking at the large barrel floating at the bow of the Stranded Turtle.
More precisely, the child curled up inside the barrel.