Libra Clan
After sailing northeast for many days, the temperature began to drop steadily, and the cold, damp air began to seep into people's clothes. According to Shuichi's previous life, this was an irresistible magical attack.
"Hoo..." Shuichi, wearing a thick cloak, exhaled a large cloud of air that was clearly visible in the air. "Uncle Kazuhiko, how much longer until we reach the Land of Snow?"
Asama Kazuhiko replied, "Soon. The fact that we're experiencing this kind of weather at this time of year means that this area has already been affected by the Land of Snow. We'll be able to land soon."
"You must have spent a lot of your life traveling around, especially after seeing the environment of the Land of Fire. Didn't you ever think about settling down there?" Shuichi asked curiously. Living in snow for most of the year must be unbearable to think about.
"I'm a little embarrassed, but I have indeed had those thoughts," Asama Kazuhiko replied somewhat sheepishly. "Even someone like me has had such ideas, which is why many people from the Land of Snow who went out never returned, making the country's livelihood extremely difficult!"
"However, no matter what, the Land of Snow is still my hometown, and I can't help but miss it after being away for so long. The higher-ups sent me here this time because they want to change the domestic environment. The Daimyo really wants to improve the lives of his people, and I hope we can succeed this time."
"Awesome!" Shuichi quite impressed with this, because the fact that the Chinese people had embarked on the path of becoming a scientifically strong nation despite the hardships they faced, instead of abandoning their country, was quite inspiring.
It's a pity that this country has too few resources and a rather poor geographical location; otherwise, it might have had a chance to rise to prominence in the Shinobi World.
After another half-day's voyage, the ship finally arrived in the Land of Snow. After carefully docking at the glacier-covered pier, the long and arduous escort mission was essentially over.
Shuichi and Orochimaru dutifully escorted Asama Kazuhiko for the last short distance. The surroundings were covered in snow, and they hadn't seen many people after walking for a while, indicating that the country was indeed very poor.
Braving the blizzard and crossing several mountain ranges, they came to a rather old ice city. Although it didn't look good on the outside, it was unusually tall.
"Thank you both so much!" Asama Kazuhiko formally bid farewell to the two at the castle gate. "This trip was made so smooth thanks to your care. We shall take our leave now."
"Okay, Uncle Kazuhiko. You can come visit me in Konoha in the Land of Fire again if you have the chance." Shuichi concluded the conversation perfectly with the best attitude.
This country is indeed very desolate now, and nobody wants to stay here to enjoy the scenery.
On the way there, out of boredom, Shuichi carefully recalled the original Land of Snow storyline and discovered that the ruler of this country had unusually unique ideas.
"Besides a few ninja tool technologies, should we invest the main resources in a floor heating system?" He thought the idea was indeed a bit outrageous. If it wasn't a one-time effect, the people of his country would indeed be much more comfortable. In any case, using it to strengthen military power wouldn't change the country's situation.
After completing the escort mission, Shuichi suddenly realized something, "That's right! We've traveled so far to complete the escort, but we still have to go back to Konoha. Teacher Orochimaru couldn't have forgotten that, could he?"
Following behind Orochimaru, seeing him head towards a secluded snowy mountain, Shuichi felt he had figured out the truth and immediately asked, "Sensei, you took this mission just to use your free time, right?"
"Hmph!" Orochimaru chuckled. It was quite obvious; otherwise, why would he do such a pointless mission? Of course, it was to shut the Third Hokage up.
"Because the weather is too cold, no ships have been coming and going to the Land of Snow for several months, so we can only wait here. What do you think of this excuse, Shuichi-kun?"
"..."
Shuichi is impressed. It seems Jiraiya learned those tricks from Orochimaru. Even a smart person can come up with a perfect excuse to sneak away.
He arrived in the Land of Snow just as the year was drawing to a close; the timing was perfect. He could already picture the Third Hokage's expression when the two of them disappeared for so long, wanting to curse but unable to.
Arriving at an open space, Orochimaru bit his finger, "Boar-Dog-Rooster-Monkey-Sheep, Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant python appeared in the snow-covered landscape, unnoticed by anyone around. "I don't think you're in a hurry to go back to the village to see your companions, Shuichi-kun. You have time to think it over."
After saying that, the giant snake opened its mouth to its widest extent, Orochimaru stood inside the snake's mouth, looking at Shuichi, and said with a smile, "If you want to return to Konoha on your own, I have no objection."
"How could that be? Of course I'll go too." Shuichi had already guessed Orochimaru's intentions during his operation; this was clearly a pretext to travel to the vicinity of Ryūchi Cave, since it was too far away and returning to Konoha would take a long time. "I think you must have discovered something good, Master. How could I possibly refuse your kind offer?"
Then he leaped into the snake's mouth. After the snake's mouth closed, it turned into a cloud of smoke and disappeared on the spot.
After emerging from the snake's belly, Shuichi found himself in a dark snake pit, surrounded by round, hole-like paths of varying sizes. A strange, fishy smell permeated the air, making him feel slightly uncomfortable.
"This is Ryūchi Cave? No, it should just be a large snake cave on the outskirts of Ryūchi Cave." According to the memories in the original work, Orochimaru is still a long time away from discovering Ryūchi Cave where the White Snake Sage is located, probably around the time after he completes his reincarnation or even before the start of the story.
"Come with me, Shuichi-kun."
Orochimaru gave a signal and began to walk through the snake pit. Judging from his familiarity with the route, he had obviously been here many times before. Shuichi silently followed behind him, taking a few steps along the same route.
After walking for more than ten minutes, a bright light suddenly appeared ahead. They continued to approach in that direction and soon emerged from the exit.
"This is... a forest." The surrounding environment told Shuichi that this should be one of the exits of the snake pit, and there should be similar places elsewhere.
Orochimaru didn't say anything, but instead sped up and ran. Shuichi followed suit, and the two soon burst out of the vast forest.
What appeared before Shuichi was a quiet little village. The houses looked very old, but the surrounding area was beautiful with clear water and lush mountains, and the lovely pastoral scenery was pleasing to the eye and mind.
"Teacher, there are still people living in such a faraway place." This is a remote area far from the center of the Shinobi World; these ordinary people may never have been to such a far place in their entire lives.
Orochimaru replied, "Hundreds of years of war have caused countless people to lose their homes. To escape the calamities of war, many people constantly migrate to distant places. Although the meaning of living in these places is unknown, at least they are alive, which is better than dying."
"..." Shuichi did not refute this.
Everyone lives differently. A ninja who is exhausted from fighting in the Shinobi World may yearn for such a life, while the young people here may also think about achieving great fame in the center of the Shinobi World and living a short but brilliant life, instead of repeating the same things day after day.
As the two approached the village, a villager at the entrance spotted them and immediately came to greet them.
"Sir, you've finally come again! I'll go inform the village chief right away." He seemed very excited, speaking quickly with a strange accent.
According to Shuichi's guess, this might be an accent from the Shinobi World many years ago, passed down from generation to generation in this remote village.
While the villager ran to the village chief, Orochimaru and Shuichi explained the situation of the village.
"All the villagers living here belong to one clan, which they call the Libra Clan. Although they are all ordinary people, their vitality is much stronger than that of ordinary people in the Shinobi World."
When Orochimaru first came, the villagers were very wary. When they saw him Earth Flow the village so brazenly, a large group of people rushed at him with all sorts of crude weapons.
The result was obvious; even if the entire village attacked together, they couldn't even touch Orochimaru's clothes. After being beaten into submission, and seeing that he hadn't killed anyone, the village chief came out to talk to Orochimaru.
The reason the villagers were so excited when they saw Orochimaru was because he had helped alleviate a disease in the village a few years ago.
"A disease?" Shuichi asked curiously. He once again displayed his acting prowess, knowing countless details yet failing to detect even Orochimaru's flaws. Perhaps Konoha's Root needed someone like him.
The fact that a village so close to Ryūchi Cave has a name like Libra suggests that the villagers are unknowingly troubled by Natural Energy.
"Yes, most of them have mental illnesses," Orochimaru explained. "This usually happens to adults, and the older the person, the more frequently they experience these problems, such as talking nonsense or exhibiting strange behavior that is incomprehensible to others."
After Orochimaru discovered it, he studied it for a period of time and then prepared some medicine for them to take. The elderly people in the village tried it with some skepticism and found that the frequency of their attacks had indeed decreased.
After that, Orochimaru's status among all the villagers immediately rose, and everyone placed their hopes for completely curing the disease on him, so they were quite accommodating to requests for blood tests and samples.