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Shanks yawned sleepily and said, "I should have asked Hiashi Hyuga for some living expenses last night."

"You have money on you, it's too late and it would be too much trouble for a whole group of them to come and say goodbye."

After glancing back at the village entrance, Haruko-sama said that she disliked the sentimentality of farewells, finding them too melodramatic, like a life-or-death separation.

"That's true!"

Shanks figured he wouldn't be back for at least ten years after this trip, so having a farewell party would be too sentimental. He hadn't cried during the war, and now that the war was over, it was a bit inappropriate to be all sentimental.

..........

The Land of Fire does a good job with environmental protection.

Leaving Konoha, they encountered lush green mountains, clear waters, birdsong, and fragrant flowers. Haruko, like any newcomer leaving the village for the first time, kept looking around, as if the air outside was fresher and the flowers and trees more beautiful than in the village. The two of them spent two whole months traveling from Konoha to the border of the Land of Fire. The weather was favorable, and they didn't encounter any of the legendary bandits or robbers. It was probably because the world war had just ended, and the bandits and robbers were still hiding in the remote mountains.

........

A certain day of a certain year and a certain month

On a small, reasonably well-furnished boat on the boundless sea, a man and a woman are on the bow, facing the setting sun and heading into the distance.

An aged and frail Shanks, carrying a large cleaver, gazes at the pirate flag atop the ship; his childhood dream has finally come true...

(Author's Note: As a newbie, I'm very grateful for your long-term support and for tolerating my various filler words. I originally planned to continue writing Boruto, but the Boruto setting is just too... I couldn't bear to watch more than two episodes, so I just couldn't keep writing this filler. *^_^*! My new book, One Piece: The Strongest Mouth in History, is underway, please support it!)