Li finally showed a bit of kindness. In the end, he found a village and rented a room at an inn. He tossed Itachi inside to warm himself up properly, then left.
Itachi had no complaints. Before setting out, Li had already said that no matter what happened during the mission, Itachi had to listen to him. When Li returned, he brought back a very large bundle containing a standard set of outerwear from the Land of Snow—mostly cotton-padded clothes, fur hats, and the like.
Though such things undeniably hindered movement, they were necessary. Itachi's body could not compare to Li's. Those exercises could indeed improve one's resistance to the cold, but the temperature had now plummeted. Relying on that alone, Itachi truly felt as though he could freeze to death at any moment.
"Put them on. We're getting ready to leave. The road ahead is where the real trouble begins." Li's order sounded simple.
Yet Itachi sensed something different in those words. After all, they had encountered nothing special along the way, nor had there been any danger. It had made him feel as though he had come out on a trip. Like most children, Itachi was very curious. "Then... where are we going?"
After glancing at him, Li said, "Further north than the Land of Snow."
Itachi did not waste any words and immediately put on all the equipment. He did not know what lay north of the Land of Snow. In his understanding, north meant cold, and somewhere even farther north meant a place cold enough to freeze people to death.
Itachi followed Li out of the room. His legs were still somewhat unresponsive, like the aftereffects of Sasuke and Naruto repeatedly using the tree-climbing technique in the anime. After using chakra for so long, his legs