Exploring the Unknown

This is two weeks after arriving in the Land of Snow.

At dawn, the two set off from the capital and ventured deep into the inland land of the Land of Snow along the most sparsely populated route.

The climate was extremely harsh, and the temperature was extremely cold. It was an icy and snowy world that no one had ever been to before, and even the sight of animals was rare.

Just as they were advancing their second leg, the clear blue sky suddenly changed color, and a blizzard struck unexpectedly. One moment it was sunny and breezy, the next the weather changed drastically, with a fierce snowstorm sweeping across the land.

After enduring the wind and snow for several hours, the two finally stopped and found a sheltered spot to rest.

Bathed in the orange Kakkō of the Fire Style, Sasuke recalled Sakura's description of the Shikkotsu Forest and asked her about it.

"Is the Wilderness like the Shikkotsu Forest and this icy wasteland, with such harsh environments?" he asked.

"The harsh environment of Shikkotsu Forest is mainly due to the existence of the Sage Katsuyu. It has existed for countless years, and over thousands of years, it has transformed the environment to be suitable only for its survival. Originally, it should have just been a huge forest or swamp, right?" Sakura Haruno said.

She drew a sketch on the ground with an ice pop. "If we call the world outside the Five Great Nations, the worlds rarely visited by humans, the 'wilderness world,' then the corresponding area of that world is probably many times larger than the area where we humans live. The reason why humans haven't occupied those places, besides the harsh environment, might also be because the wild beasts living there are too powerful."

Sasuke thought for a moment. Taking Mount Myōboku and Shikkotsu Forest as examples, the difficulty for humans to occupy these two places was no less than conquering one of the Five Great Nations! The Sage Katsuyu's true form might be stronger than the Nine-Tails, and the Toad of Mount Myōboku were unfathomable. Gamabunta was just the tip of the iceberg of their strength...

Such dangerous and unprofitable regions are commonplace in the wild world, no wonder the Five Great Nations are preoccupied with internal strife and rarely explore new frontiers...

"That's true." Sasuke sighed.

The two terms Sakura mentioned, "civilized world" and "barbaric world," made him think about these issues from the perspective of humanity as a whole for the first time. Against this grand backdrop, his personal grudges and affections seemed particularly insignificant.

However, pondering these questions was too difficult for a boy who hadn't yet outgrown his adolescent delusions. Sasuke thought for a moment before changing the subject, "Have we gone too far in? If we just wanted to find a secluded place, the places we've been to so far are already desolate enough."

Indeed, in the Land of Snow, this frigid, ice-covered world where water freezes instantly, has probably been visited by very few people over the centuries; it is truly a deserted world.

"Actually, the location we just found was secluded enough," Sakura said calmly. "The rest of the journey is actually along the same route; we want to explore this land as deeply as possible and discover the unknown."

"Uh... I didn't realize!" Sasuke scoffed, finding it utterly pointless. "What's the point of this?"

"Exploring the unknown is the very joy of life!" the girl laughed in the flickering Kakkō. "Aren't you curious about what lies at the end of the world?"

"If the end of the world is just a frozen wasteland like this, then it's not very interesting... Besides, we're supposed to be on a spherical planet, right? There's no such thing as the end of the world!"

Suddenly, the howling wind outside the cave subsided. Sakura Haruno stepped out of the cave, and the storm outside stopped without warning.

She squinted at the sky; even at noon, the sun was only shining obliquely on the earth.

Has this meant we've entered the Arctic Circle? I wonder if there's polar day, polar night, and the aurora borealis here? Sakura wondered silently.

I wonder if, if we venture deeper, we might encounter creatures like the Sage Katsuyu? However, this icy environment is a death trap, devoid of plants and animals, and unsuitable for large creatures. In this world, even with omnipotent Chakra and Natural Energy, living beings still need to eat to survive; there are no magical creatures in fantasy novels that can live on dew and wind...

The fireball inside the cave had just run out of Chakra and went out.

Sasuke stepped out of the cave and tucked his cloak under a rock.

"My Chakra is running low, so let's stop here for today. My main body is still training your Super Electromagnetic Cannon technique! If you want to explore the world, let's wait until we're strong enough."

"Hmm... I don't have much Chakra left either, so let's leave it at that!"

The two then Hand Seals together.

"Shadow Clone, release!" "Ice Clone, release!"

They turned into two wisps of smoke and disappeared into the snow, leaving behind only two lonely trench coats.

At the same time.

In a remote corner of the Land of Snow, Sasuke was struggling to control the electric current in his hands, forming the rails for his Railgun.

There are several ways to implement Railgun. The method Sasuke used was the simplest yet most powerful: the electromagnetic railgun!

This form differs from the complex coilgun and the multi-stage acceleration reconnecting gun.

The practitioner only needs to create two parallel current rails in the air with opposite current directions, and then clamp the Kunai or bullet between the rails.

When Ninjutsu is activated, a powerful electric current created with Chakra flows into the kunai through one rail, then through the steel Kunai, and out through another rail. The powerful electric current generates a powerful magnetic field, which in turn interacts with the electric current to produce a tremendous thrust, propelling the Kunai forward and launching it at high speed.

The key to this Ninjutsu lies in the electric current rails.

The intensity of the electric current directly affects the force exerted on the Kunai; therefore, the greater the current, the greater the power of Sasuke's Ninjutsu!

Condensing such a powerful current is extremely difficult in itself, let alone Shape Transformation to make it a perfectly straight current conductor.

This is an extremely difficult task for any Lightning Release ninja.

However, what's interesting is...

Sasuke's Lightning Release: Chidori Short Sword perfectly fulfills these two conditions.

It contains a powerful electric current and has a straight, upright shape.

At first glance, the so-called current rails look like two Chidori Short Sword joined together!

It was precisely because Sakura Haruno had this in mind that she handed over the Super Electromagnetic Cannon to Sasuke and Kakashi shortly after learning that they had mastered the Chidori Short Sword Ninjutsu.

Judging from Kakashi and Sasuke's naming habits, perhaps they would call this move --

"Lightning Release: Chidori Super Electromagnetic Cannon!"

From this perspective, it seems reasonable that Sakura Haruno's new Ninjutsu, the Railgun, which she taught them, is considered an advanced version of Chidori with added Shape Transformation, and Lightning Release Ninjutsu with long-range attack power.

Of course, there are still some differences between the Chidori Short Sword and the Super Electromagnetic Cannon in terms of specific Ninjutsu details.

Biri Biri--

The powerful and unruly electric current, under Sasuke's Chakra control, was gradually bound into two straight and slender rails. Seeing the prototype of the Railgun taking shape, Sasuke suddenly froze.

"Hmph!" The long experience of Shadow Clone suddenly flooded into Sasuke frowned, his Ninjutsu dissipated, and he involuntarily pressed his forehead.

He searched through the memories brought back by the Shadow Clone, and Sasuke paid attention to the part about his thoughts on the world, but skipped over the rest.

"Human civilization..." the black-haired boy murmured to himself in the snow.

He quickly shook his head, stopping his wandering thoughts, and continued practicing his Ninjutsu.

In the Land of Snow Castle, in Sakura's laboratory.

The pink-haired girl was carefully operating the equipment, observing a heart that was gradually taking shape floating in the nutrient solution in front of her.

The message from the Ice Clone startled her for a moment.

"We only went that far?" Sakura's lips curled slightly as she muttered to herself, "What a pity, we didn't find anything more... But the snow scene was still quite spectacular!"

After savoring the magnificent view outside the cave once the storm had subsided, she quickly turned her attention back to the instruments.

"It seems... there have been some results."

(Guaranteed minimum, bonus chapter)

(An extra chapter for Lu Ban's Three Sources.)

(That concludes today's fourth update!!! Please subscribe! Please vote with monthly tickets!)