Itachi had not made the decision to split the team up lightly, not at all. In fact, he still wasn't quite happy with his decision personally. It had been the logical choice though, when taking into account the information at hand. Three of those were the most important.
First and foremost was the sheer vastness of the outside world. Getting from the middle of one Blue to the other took months even if you were sailing in favourable conditions, according to their samurai. While the ninjas could technically run a lot faster than that, doing so weeks at a time if there were long stretches of uninterrupted sea between them and wherever they were going, it'd take their toll even on them. So, commuting between Blues if they caught news of anything of interest would take a long time and cause them to lose a valuable clue.
Secondly, while exploring as a group was preferable and would cause them to be able to get more thorough results more quickly, it also meant they'd have no sources whatsoever in other places, which, again, would mean they could easily miss an opportunity. In addition, Mihaw's current level of training meant his fastest mode of travel was that boat of his, which, quite frankly, was really slow. The stretch of sea it took Mihawk 6 hours to travel the other day, would take them around 30 minutes at a casual pace, 15 if they hurried. Itachi estimated that if he pulled out all stops without care about tiring himself, he would take 25 seconds at most, and that was without chakra.
Besides, for a task like information gathering, the more people move together, the more easily you were found out.
The final reason was that each of the ninjas preferred a different modus operandi for tasks like this and was best at that particular one. Splitting up and leaching each to implement it properly would yield the best results overall. Sasori himself owned a vast network of informants and sleeper agents back in the Nations, Deidara was incredible at blending in and slipping into places he by all rights shouldn't be, as well as converting people to his informants without said people even being aware that's what they were.
Kisame's specialties lay as far from information gathering as it could be. Mainly due to his build being what it was, but also due to his battle-thirsty nature. The transformation jutsu helped, of course, and the man was a ninja and thus had decent abilities of stealth by default. Adding that to this world's vast waters which he could be undetectable in, he was especially adept in sneaking onto ships or other locations close to larger bodies of water.
That, combined with the fact he had a 'local' in the form of Mihawk with him who could point him in the right direction and act as a distraction or support him in other ways, Kisame shouldn't have a problem keeping his ear to the ground.
Itachi himself was, in contrast, best at observing and deduction. He could easily sneak around and squirrel out documents from fortified locations. He also had his Illusions, which made it quite easy to get information out of most people. Once he managed to master his eyes' abilities to an even larger degree, he could potentially even see people's memories if they met his eyes and if he so wished, after which he could edit himself out of them, leaving no trace behind.
He wasn't bragging when he said that as an individual, he had the greatest skillset for this task.
That was also the reason he was glad none of the others had chosen to investigate the Marines. The Marines were a power closely associated and subordinate to the world government, which held the biggest influence over the world. That made it the riskiest target out of the four and thus, would require the most caution.
In contrast, a lot of people were interested in Roger due to his recent execution, resulting in the man being a topic talked about all over the place, especially in East Blue, where his origins lay and his influence was strongest.
The revolutionaries quite openly participated in certain conflicts, and recruited victims of those conflicts quite regularly, from what the samurai had told them, so locating them and securing a place among them should not take too much effort on Deidara's part.
Lastly, the underworld. Its existence appeared to be an open secret even in the other Blues so stepping a foot into it wouldn't be too challenging, especially for someone like Sasori. It was the most fitting starting point to establish an information network, which was why he hadn't been surprised the puppeteer had picked it without hesitation. Another perk was that the Tree of knowledge, which hosted a treasure trove of historical and modern information.
A very tempting destination, indeed.
So, no, while Itachi did not particularly feel like leaving the only connections he currently had to home to traipse around the globe by their lonesome, he had still gone through with the decision.
When he was honest, they each probably needed this time to unwind a little and not snap at each other due to the uncertainty and sheer insecurity of the situation that they were in with people they didn't even trust, no place to retreat to, to relax, to be themselves and let go of their masks.
Until they had somewhat gotten used to this place, this was best.
Itachi repeatedly told himself all this repeatedly, in an attempt to talk his uneasiness out of existence. He did have a lot of time on his hands on this journey, so he held out hope it'd work eventually.
"Kreee!", Kuromu cawed loudly to get his attention, "This truly is outside the Elemental Nations, isn't it. I half-thought you were trying to be funny."
It had been 19 days since he left the small boat and summoned Kuromu to fly him to his destination. On the way, he had roughly briefed the summon on the situation, especially what they knew of the geography.
The summon had been understandably skeptic at first, but had decided to reserve judgment, until they reached what Mihawk had called the Red Line.
They could've reached the south blue earlier by crossing over the Grand Line, if one simply took into account the physical distance separating the two. Yet, the weird weather phenomenons of the grand line and the windless nature of the calm belts surrounding them would have made Kuromu's flight potentially hazardous, prolonging their travel time immensely at best.
In contrast, the Red Line promised to be less trouble… if they flew high enough for the strong winds near the elevated land to have lost some strength.
Kuromu's comment made Itachi sit up from the casual way he had sprawled across the oversized crow's back to watch the clouds zip by. It was an entertaining pastime at high speeds, and good training for his eyes, trying to focus on details as much as possible.
He turned towards the front and sucked in a harsh breath at the sight.
There it was, the Red Line.
Mihawk truly hadn't done the place justice in his descriptions. Then again, even Itachi doubted he could describe it to his own satisfaction.
The continent was located around 6.000 m above sea level. There were no gentle slopes down towards the ocean, but only steep cliffs and howling winds, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other.
It was one of the most awe-inspiring things he had ever seen, even some clouds wouldn't float as high. It must be a majestic sight, looking down from above as an ocean of clouds stretched below you on a cloudy day.
Kuromu slowed his speed and instead concentrated on ascending higher. To remain undetected, they'd have to be at least a few km above the place. Even if someone saw them as the black dot they'd appear to be, Itachi hoped they'd pass fast enough to be considered a trick of the mind.
An hour later, they had passed the giant obstacle without a hitch. They had been in luck. Thick clouds were covering the sky below them, forming a layer of grey between the Red Line and them. Still, Itachi couldn't fully relax until the landmass was out of sight.
"Drop me off just out of sight of the nearest island, Kuromu.", Itachi instructed.
He would have to think of something nice to reward the summon for playing transportation for him for all this time. The crow herself had admitted shed never flown even close to as long or as far in her entire life, even on the Crow summons' own island. In comparison, she could cross the entirety of the Elemental Nations in 20 minutes at the speed they had been going at these past few days. She hadn't even taken many breaks either. Her pride hadn't allowed it.
Itachi had indulged her, but only because she had pleaded with him to. Something about making the others so jealous that they hadn't gotten to see this place first.
Finally, having glimpsed some land in the distance, Kuromu circled around and smoothly descended towards the ocean surface. With a last flap of her tired wings, she landed gently on the peacefully glittering water.
"Thank you, Kuromu. You've been a godsend these last few days.", Itachi praised honestly. He hopped off and gently patted the feathers around her beak.
"Oh, stop it, you! You're making me blush! Kreee", she cawed in embarrassment, even as she enjoyed the ministrations with closed eyes.
"Here", Itachi said instead of arguing with the bashful bird.
He took out a small storage scroll and held it out to the summon.
"It's a small gift for your hard work. It's filled with a third of the sea king meat I told you about. Some of it is already prepared, but around 2/3 is still raw. I know you'll enjoy both."
The crow cooed happily.
"Oh, wow! Kree! Your cooking always tastes amazing! And meat I've never tried before at that! The others will be so jealous!"
Itachi did not blush at the compliment. Not at all.
She was practically vibrating in excitement by the time she gently accepted the scroll with her beak.
"I hope the winds favour you until we next meet, Kuromu"
She nodded and, with a giddy expression on her feathered face, she disappeared back to her Clan with a quiet poof and a wisp of smoke.
Once she was gone, Itachi quickly formed a single hand-seal. He performed a Genjutsu he used quite a lot to remain unchallenged on occasions he had to mingle. He had developed it quite a while ago due to one of the greatest foes he had encountered back in his home village.
Fangirls.
Itachi shuddered slightly at the thought of them. They were the one enemy he had never managed to defeat. In the face of the sheer terror that were fangirls, even he could only run or hide.
It was a technique that made anyone who focused on you dismiss you as unimportant. It was mainly meant as a precaution since Itachi didn't plan to openly water-walk there openly like a moron.
No, he would mainly rely on the rebreather for this last stretch of ocean.
From the glimpses he had gotten of the island earlier, he could tell there was a decently sized town inside a bay roughly facing his direction. He had seen several larger and smaller ships in the harbour, so it seemed quite well-visited.
There was a forest growing right up to the shore a few km west of the furthest building he had been able to make out from Kuromu's back.
That would be where Itachi would aim to enter. He would then stay hidden for a while to ascertain the general style of dress and looks, before using the trusty transformation technique to blend in.
The plan was simple, almost boring, really. As long as it worked though, Itachi didn't care.
He stretched one last time before once more sealing away his clothing and diving into the water below. It was colder than in the East Blue. Visibility also wasn't quite as clear, which may be because the island was nearby. He assumed fisher boats would have a lot to do with it. That didn't really matter to him though. He didn't plan to dive deeply this time, just low enough for him to be hard to see from above. The sea was quite reflective by itself, so him staying out of sight even just 5m below the surface was already a near certainty.
Thus, Itachi steadily swam his way towards his first town outside the Elemental Nations. Inwardly he was quite curious just how different it'd be from their towns back home. The people, the architecture, the atmosphere…
Truthfully, Itachi found himself enjoying this little adventure of theirs more and more, regardless of his best efforts not to. Don't get him wrong, he'd never stop searching for a way back. He owed his little brother that much. He just… something inside his chest, something hard, tired and sad, had started to loosen since they had come here.
Itachi didn't dwell on it. Much.
He had finally found a suitable point of exit. Itachi carefully surveyed the surrounding area one more time. It couldn't be seen from the sea but from his back, Trees and bushes grew quite thickly. The forest's growth didn't seem to be controlled. Visibility was low.
Everything checked out.
With one last careful survey and a glance behind, Itachi stretched his hands out of the water and heaved himself on land, disturbing the water surface as little as possible.
Itachi was hyper-aware of the feeling of the grass beneath his feet as he quickly straightened up and jumped onto a nearby tree branch.
The trees here weren't as tall as he was used to, but they enabled him to get quite a few meters above the ground regardless. After a minute of moving inland, Itachi felt safe enough to stop for a few moments to dry off and get dressed in his old clothes. He wrinkled his nose.
He would have to locate a source of freshwater before even thinking of heading into town. He smelled like a weird combination of chicken coop and seaweed.
And if his crows ever heard that comparison, they'd probably drop him into an active volcano.
It didn't take long for Itachi to find a small stream to clean off in. Finally, he felt clean again. Salt and sand were a pain to get off of one's person on open waters.
He remembered this location in case he hadn't managed to establish a base in time before he needed another scrub.
By the time Itachi was crouched near the edge of the forest, overlooking the surprisingly large coastal town, it was close to sunset. He hadn't dared to summon his nin-animals quite yet. This mission required him to stay undetected. He couldn't afford to summon his companions if birds like them had never been seen in the area.
So, he chose the most well-concealed location he could find and settled in for a few hours of people-watching. After concealing his hiding place even better, of course.
Yes, Itachi was a paranoid bastard. Sue him.
Over the next two hours, Itachi did nothing but watch, analyze and deduce. The buildings were clearly foreign, all white with rust coloured tiles covering the pointed roofs. A lot of them were near-exact copies of each other but for small personal touches of the residents. Even inns and stores seemed to follow this pattern. They could only be distinguished by a sign or occasional glass front, as well as the inside of course. He had gotten a rough idea of the clothing normal civilians wore, of the ones the merchants wore, could point out the scarce pirates he saw around and knew exactly who amongst the people visiting the evening market was a traveler and who wasn't.
While the aesthetics of everything were new and strange to Itachi, people themselves and their habits were still the same. So was the language. He felt relieved at that. He didn't know what he'd do if he had to learn a whole new set of habits and mannerisms again.
By the time Itachi felt he was ready for an appearance in town, night had fallen already and only the bars were still open. Arriving now would be too suspicious unless he replaced one of the already present customers.
That's exactly what Itachi decided to do. He moved like a ghost through the night, melting into the shadows as he closed in on the first bar.
First, he had to pick a target. Someone without companions. It was best if it was a stoic or shy person. Someone who didn't seem the talkative type, definitely not one of the natives. Someone with similar height and build as himself would be ideal but wasn't a requirement.
If he did not find someone suitable, it was best to wait for another ship to arrive before entering town under a generic transformation.
That night, Itachi didn't find anyone. Not the next night either.
On the third day, a new ship finally arrived. It was time.