Not only are there stone sculptures of Jiraiya and Tsunade, but there is also a stone sculpture in the central square of the village.
This time it was built according to Orochimaru's current appearance. As the Kage of a village, it shouldn't be too much to have a statue of himself erected, right?
These three statues were meticulously crafted after research by puppeteers and stonemasons, and each one captures a part of the spirit of its creator.
Without exception, they all use the power of Mōryō as their power source and can be controlled by Miroku, which can be considered a kind of protection for the village.
Miroku and the Mōryō are essentially one entity, so controlling these Human Puppet is naturally not a problem.
Of course, the prerequisite is that she has to become one of their own in the Northern Lands, or rather, one of Orochimaru's people.
Meanwhile, while the stonemason had some free time, he also carved nine divine dragons on a mountain wall on the edge of the village.
Unlike Konoha, which has a rich history and features portraits of past Hokage, Northern Land Village is just starting out and has to find a different path.
Therefore, he had no choice but to settle for second best and carved the mountain wall into Nine Dragon Wall, with nine dragon heads protruding out, symbolizing the transformation into dragons and ascending to heaven.
It must be admitted that the stonemason's craftsmanship is excellent. This was a rough model he built using his maxed-out Earth Release, which was then modified and polished by the craftsmen.
Otherwise, how would people in this world know what a dragon actually looks like?
It just so happens that this stone wall was carved from one side of that dragon Dragon Vein, which complements it perfectly.
The Nine Dragon Wall is located on the east side of the village, with its nine dragon heads facing the Golden Kage Building. Its imposing presence is no less than that of the portraits of the Hokage of Konoha.
As for the other demon valley that breeds Mōryō, Orochimaru placed it to the north of the village. It's better to keep a distance between the two places, in case something happens and it becomes a disaster.
Orochimaru even gave them apt names: Dragon Transformation Mountain and Soul Severing Valley.
If the stone man were added to the mix, he'd almost recited a poem if it weren't for the fact that he was in the wrong world. "A cold wind blows through the Soul Severing Valley, a rascal hisses as the young man returns..."
Just as Orochimaru was enjoying a rare moment of peace in the Northern Lands, a sudden message shattered his tranquility.
"Lord Gold Kage, our shipment of goods bound for the Land of Earth has been attacked!"
In the Golden Shadow Office, a ninja knelt on one knee in front of Orochimaru's desk and reported his work to him.
This ninja belongs to the Shadow Guard and is responsible not only for the security of the Northern Lands, but also for contacting spies in various countries, who are the superiors of the Net.
"What exactly happened?"
Orochimaru, sitting in his office chair, immediately took the news seriously. Anyone who dared to cause trouble at this time was definitely one of the Five Great Nations.
He only has one of these ninja villages, but he won't be so peaceful.
"The attackers were ninjas from Hoshigakure, but according to the news from the Net organization, Hoshigakure has always lived peacefully in one corner of the world and rarely takes the initiative to invade other countries!"
Upon hearing the name of this ninja village, distant memories of Teruaki surfaced in his mind.
This small village doesn't have high combat strength, but it has its own Hoshikage. Logically speaking, only the Five Great Nations can be called Shadows, but this small village is either arrogant or ignorant.
Perhaps the existence of this small ninja village was insignificant to the Five Great Nations, so Five Great Nations turned a blind eye.
"Hoshikage Village, who gave them the audacity? They're utterly absurd!"
If I'm not mistaken, the current timeline should still be under the rule of the Third Hoshikage. That old man won't live much longer. Could it be that he's trying to make a quick buck before he dies?
The idea flashed through Orochimaru's mind; it was possible, but he couldn't be so sure.
"Which of the Five Great Nations' ninja villages has been particularly active lately?"
Orochimaru had a feeling that things weren't so simple about this attack. He believed that there was no conflict of interest between the Northern Lands and Hoshikage Village, and he was more inclined to think that some major ninja village was behind it all.
"Recently, the ninjas of Konoha and Iwagakure have been quite active, and both sides have issued a number of missions related to us!"
Since the opening of the Northern Lands, it has traded with many ninja villages, which in turn issue various missions, such as escorting caravans and escorting Daimyo.
Normally, the country from which the supplies are transported will issue the corresponding escort mission. However, this time the supplies are being transported from the Land of Gold to the Land of Earth, so the chances of Ōnoki causing trouble are relatively low.
Comparing them all, Konoha is the most suspicious.
The reason they were able to reach a conclusion so quickly was because of the intelligence support from the Net (Net of Heaven), coupled with Orochimaru's bold conjecture.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that other countries are interfering, and their actions are so secretive that they have not been discovered by the members of the Net.
Orochimaru, however, leans more towards Konoha, because the darkness of the Ninja World is there, Ōnoki is also a possibility; that old guy was bold enough to hire the Akatsuki as his henchmen.
The Land of Lightning cannot be ruled out as a suspect either, after all, they also suffered losses at Orochimaru's hands.
"Go get Kakuzu... never mind, just call Hidan over here!"
No matter who's behind this, Hoshikage Village can't escape responsibility. There's really no need for this small ninja village to cause him so much trouble.
The Shadow Guard, having received the order, bowed in agreement and then withdrew.
Not long after, Hidan, appeared in front of Orochimaru.
"What's wrong, sir? Is it another mission?"
Upon arriving at the office, Hidan was not reserved at all. He sat down on the sofa next to him with an air of nonchalance, casually placing his large scythe aside.
Seeing his listless appearance, Orochimaru didn't waste any words and directly stated his plan.
"Tomorrow you'll come with me to Hoshikage Village. I've heard the people there are still living in dire straits, and I'm planning to have them relocate!"
Upon hearing that he could leave the village to carry out a mission, Hidan immediately perked up and jumped up from the sofa in excitement, not even caring that the scythe beside him had fallen to the ground.
"Finally, I can go out for some fresh air. My bones have been practically rusting these past few days. The Lord Jashin hasn't eaten in ages!"
I don't know if he heard the details of the mission clearly, but he was so excited when he heard that he could go out. It seems that he has been really bored these days.
"Hehe... Go back and get ready. We'll meet at the village entrance tomorrow!"
As he spoke, Orochimaru waved his hand, showing that he didn't take this ninja village, which dared to call itself an Orochimaru, seriously.
In the Original Work, Neji and Naruto's team solved the village's problem, so having Hidan go with him was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
However, on the one hand, there was the need to relocate the other party's personnel back, and on the other hand, there was the meteorite.
Legend has it that the meteorite from outer space possessed the power of the Ten-Tails, and it is very likely that it was tissue that detached from the Ten-Tails.
Orochimaru is quite interested in this, so I'll take it over and study it.
According to his conjecture, regardless of whether the meteorite was a piece of the Ten-Tails' flesh, it possessed strong radiation. The ninjas of Hoshigakure also used the energy emitted from it to train for many years, which eventually led to the premature death of many of them.
Hidan was brought along because he wasn't afraid of this kind of damage. Of course Orochimaru, Kakuzu be an option, but that guy is a bit opportunistic and always asks Fudō for his heart.