Close Enough?

The Land of Iron was a nation of samurai, with no ninja within its borders. Thus, when faced with certain natural disasters, its ability to survive was far inferior to that of ninja.

For example, if a storm struck at sea and a merchant ship was destroyed, a samurai who fell into the ocean could basically only wait to die. A ninja, however, could tread on the seawater and search for islands in every direction. The disparity was clear enough.

The sea was perilous, and the Land of Iron had no ninja. As a result, the sea routes it had opened up had remained limited to the same few routes over the years.

The two most important ones naturally led to the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.

However, whether traveling to the Land of Lightning or the Land of Earth, there was no need for anything as extreme as hijacking a merchant ship. Both nations had long coastlines, and even in the coldest winter, it was impossible for their entire coastlines to freeze over. As long as the price was right, any merchant ship would be willing to set sail!

Unless it was the Land of Snow.

Every year in late autumn, cold air currents blowing down from farther north froze all the waters near the Land of Snow's coastline, only slowly thawing in early spring of the following year.

Under such circumstances, no merchant ship would choose to go to the Land of Snow at this time. Of course, there were exceptions—such as offering an irresistible amount of money, or... taking the ship by force.

Thinking of what Yakushi Kabuto had said earlier, Houka faintly formed a bold suspicion.

Orochimaru might already know that he had "hidden" Minato Namikaze and Kushina in the Land of Snow!