Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Choose one task from Chapter 156

The Land of Iron is named for its abundant iron ore reserves. In every war, this country has always maintained a neutral stance, trading with multiple nations while relying on its unshakeable iron ore supply. Its ruler has cleverly maintained a defense system primarily based on samurai, neither appearing too overwhelming to put pressure on the Five Great Nations, nor too weak to allow ninjas to move freely. Given enough time to react, they can threaten to cut off the supply of raw materials, forcing other countries to come to their aid.

Due to its irreplaceable status on a global scale, the Land of Iron is a wealthy and powerful nation, making it extremely difficult to intervene. To date, the Hidden Army there has only managed to gather intelligence personnel and has yet to find a suitable breakthrough. Therefore, whether as the future Hokage of Konoha or the leader of the Hidden Army, Naruto needs to make this trip to experience the local customs and traditions.

Before setting off, Naruto wrote a letter to Sasuke as usual, and also received a two-page reply.

Sasuke's trip to Fukushu Castle seemed to have unlocked his potential; he actually started mentioning a bit of his daily life in his letters, detailing his experiences there, though he didn't mention his encounter with the leader of the East Wind Clan. Naruto wanted to laugh at the repeated emphasis in the letters against casually revealing one's surname, because there really were members of the Uzumaki clan who paid a heavy price for that surname. Sasuke's replies were still infrequent, but at least he was willing to share some daily life. When he saw Orochimaru ordering a reinforced platoon of ninja to spar with Sasuke, he deeply felt the power of money. Orochimaru certainly invests heavily in raising his children, but isn't this training a bit too extreme? Won't they get hurt?

Naruto placed the reply into a personal storage scroll, which contained every letter and note Sasuke had given him, as well as the first agreement signed after the founding of Hira. According to the timeline written on it, the information blockade against Sasuke would be lifted in two years. At that time, Sasuke could beat him up without any problem, as long as Sasuke could be given a happy home again.

"Is everyone ready?"

The three boys and girls, who were still growing up, nodded in bewilderment. It was indeed quite shocking to suddenly see the legendary Sannin, and these Sannin looked... rather unreliable.

Jiraiya skillfully placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. He knew, of course, that Naruto planned to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel, as Minato often did the same. However, the battlefield was unpredictable, and long-distance teleportation was not allowed to prevent him from running out of chakra. But Naruto didn't need to worry about that at all; he had never seen the kid run out of chakra.

Naruto extended his hand forward, and Lee, understanding perfectly, placed his hand on it, as he often did this with Guy. Neji and Tenten resisted, but Naruto's smile was far more infectious than Guy's, and they couldn't refuse, so they also placed their hands on his.

"You might feel a little dizzy and bumpy upon landing, but I believe you can overcome that~"

Before they could finish speaking, the scene before them shifted from the forest outside Konoha to a place where snow was falling. This was the highest outpost in the Land of Fire, with an altitude of nearly four thousand meters, keeping the temperature around zero degrees Celsius, and everywhere they looked was covered in white snow.

"This is... Flying Thunder God Technique?" Neji's eyes bulged with veins as he looked around in disbelief.

"...What amazing space-time ninjutsu." Tenten glanced around and decisively pulled out her cloak for warmth from her pocket.

"That's amazing!" Li's starry-eyed expression never faded.

Jiraiya, of course, wasn't as excited as the three children who were experiencing the Flying Thunder God Technique for the first time. He calmly caught a snowflake and asked, "Have you been here before?"

Naruto had already prepared his explanation: "I've been to the foot of the mountain before, but I was curious about what this place was like, so I climbed up to take a look."

"Alright, we still have a long way to go, so remember to wear warm clothes. Let's go!"

Meanwhile, far away, someone finished a training session, and on a whim, summoned a communication frog, receiving a new letter. The date and location on the letter made him narrow his eyes slightly. He didn't bother resting; he turned and ran towards the location where missions were issued in Otogakure. He almost never appeared there; Orochimaru usually chose missions for him personally. But he had beaten up every Chunin and above ninja in Otogakure, and the crowd made way for him as if avoiding a plague.

Here, he had high-level access, bypassing the administrator to browse the mission manual, eventually settling on a mission closest to the Land of Iron. Although separated by sea and the mission reward wasn't high, the mission involved investigation, offering a high degree of freedom. Moreover, he had a gut feeling this mission might be related to Naruto; even if it wasn't, they could complete it together, which would surely be more efficient. He took the mission scroll directly; the increasingly immobile Orochimaru couldn't stop his eagerness.

"You seem very happy. Did something happen?" Orochimaru asked abruptly, a playful smile on his face.

Sasuke didn't answer him. He picked up his luggage, turned around, and left, leaving only the words, "I will come back."

Ninjas are fast runners, but even traversing the plateau is more strenuous than traveling on ordinary roads. Fortunately, this stretch of road isn't too long. Naruto, accustomed to putting himself in others' shoes, easily grasped the inconvenience of transportation for the people living here, and consequently, the extremely backward state of their means of transport. He imagined electric trains appearing twenty or thirty years from now, but building such a thing on the plateau was clearly no easy feat. Even the roads here were riddled with potholes; constructing a railway that climbed thousands of kilometers would be a revolutionary leap forward. Let's think practically; isn't solving the problem of individual transportation more important? At least think about how to build a smooth road on the plateau first.

As Naruto walked, his mind wandered, his attention naturally drawn to the towns and villages he passed. However, he didn't forget his mission and even glanced out at the sea, quickly locking onto a giant, living creature possessing chakra. "So this really is Turtle Island of Kumogakure. Are they managing it so carelessly?" Then, a chakra forcefully announced its presence and rapidly approached.

"What's wrong?" Naruto's pause was noticed by Tenten, who was following behind him.

"Nothing much, just sensed something interesting." Naruto's lips unconsciously curled into a slight smile, and he quickened his pace a bit, leaving the team completely bewildered. But what could they do? That was their captain.

So they had no choice but to speed up and try their best to keep up.