Paradise Life on a Boat

The Adventures at Sea Arc is the fifth filler arc from Part II of the series, and spans from episodes 223 to the current of the Naruto: Shippūden anime. This arc shows Naruto and his team on their journey to the Land of Lightning by sea, to confine him from Akatsuki during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

The Giant Marlin
A team consisting of Yamato, Aoba Yamashiro, and Might Guy and three other unknown shinobi, set off with Naruto to the Land of Lightning, to confine him in an isolated location from Akatsuki in preparation for the Fourth Shinobi World War. The team travels to a harbour in the Land of Fire to travel by sea. Tsunade ordered them to take the long way so Akatsuki wouldn't attempt to capture Naruto. The boat the team takes is rather small one, so they won't get noticed. Some fellow Konoha ninja warn them about a sea monster that attacks any ship that goes into open water. Guy decides to sail out with Aoba to the water to fight the monster. Suddenly, the monster attacks Guy and Aoba, and they learn that it is a Giant Marlin summon from the Third Shinobi World War, roaming around the waters of the Land of Fire. As the marlin swims towards Guy, a fisherman named Yūsuke, tries to capture it. The fish destroys Yūsuke's boat and the fisherman is saved by Naruto. Holding Yūsuke prevents Naruto from performing any techniques and is left open. Yamato shields Naruto and Aoba distracts the marlin with the Scattering One Thousand Crows Technique while they all escape. At Yūsuke's hut, the Konoha ninja try to figure out why the marlin did not return home after the war. Yūsuke tells them to not interfere as he wants to capture the fish himself, to avenge his father who died trying to capture it. As the team is about to depart, Naruto wants to help Yūsuke avenge his father to which everyone agrees. The next day, Yūsuke comes out to see a new boat and fishing rod made by Yamato. The team sails out with Yūsuke to search for the marlin. The marlin appears and Guy opens the second of his Eight Gates to keep up with the fish's speed. Yūsuke uses a large fishing lure resembling Naruto to catch the marlin. The fish eventually gets exhausted from pulling on the lure and Yūsuke finally captures the marlin. Afterwards, Naruto notices a fūma shuriken on the marlin's forehead and pulls it out. The marlin returns home shortly after and the Konoha sail on a new boat, waving goodbye to Yūsuke.

The Ninja of Benisu
While on the way to the Land of Lightning, Naruto and his bodyguards stop off at a nearby island, due to all his bodyguards becoming seasick, Guy in particular. While there, they see Sakura, Ino and Chōji picking up medicinal herbs on the orders of Tsunade and Naruto decides to help them, although he does not fare well, from eating poisonous herbs to being paralysed on a bridge. As Chōji spots one of the medicinal herbs, some ninja from the Benisu Island appear and make the Konoha ninja waste their time, while collecting the exact same herbs. However, they have a change of heart and give Sakura, Ino and Chōji all the herbs they picked up, as Naruto saved them from a monster protecting the Elixir Mud. With Guy feeling better, they head off towards the Land of Lightning and Tsunade's team back to Konoha.

The Ghost Ship
As they continue their voyage towards the Land of Lightning, Naruto, Aoba, Guy and Yamato sail through a thick fog. To pass the time, Yamato tells Aoba and Naruto some ghost stories (much to Naruto's dislike). One of which tells the story of a ship whose crew is comprised entirely of ghosts, which appears in thick fogs such as the one they were sailing through at the time, and can be identified by the flocks of crows that follow it. As Yamato tells the story, a seemingly abandoned ship which meets the exact same characteristics and conditions appears next to their ship. Yamato, Aoba and Naruto board the ship to investigate and Naruto comes across a young boy who says his name is Hishaku. He apparently lived alone on the ship and tended to it but he was once one of the crew of the ship until they were wiped out by a creature Hishaku called the "Skeleton Crab". This creature then attacks the boat, capturing Yamato. Naruto then tells Aoba to warn Guy and the rest of the crew. Naruto, with the help of Hishaku, defeats the Skeleton Crab, and Hishaku then reveals that he is, in fact, a ghost. When the crab attacked the first time, the captain told Hishaku that he was young and to save himself and ever since then, Hishaku's soul couldn't rest, because it felt guilty at letting its crewmates die. When the crab was defeated, Hishaku's soul, and the souls of the rest of the crew members who couldn't rest either, left with the ship, which really was a "ghost ship".

Episodes