Rescue Mission, Land of Frost

The sun rose slowly in the east, and the entire land began to bathe in the morning light.

Konoha Hospital.

Despite not sleeping all night, Naraku still looked very energetic, a smile playing on his face.

The reason Naraku was so happy was that after a night of experimentation, he had finally found a way to increase the strength of his Adamantine Sealing Chains.

That method was to compress the density of his chakra.

The Adamantine Sealing Chains were formed from chakra; to give an example, if one unit of chakra could produce a ten-meter-long chain, what would happen if the length of the chain were shortened while the chakra remained the same?

Naraku discovered that the strength of the chain would increase accordingly.

Once he found the cause, the rest was much easier to solve. After all, as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Naraku was certainly not lacking in chakra.

All that remained was for him to continuously train his control over his chakra so that he could freely distribute the amount used when performing various ninjutsu.

"Ha!"

Naraku stood up, let out a yawn, and stretched his body. Just as he was preparing to catch up on some sleep, he muttered, "Is it time to get to work?"

He opened the door and walked out. Naraku noticed a figure dressed in Anbu attire standing above the hospital.

"It really is you, Yamato," Naraku shook his head slightly. Because of Kushina, he had set up numerous barriers within the hospital; he could sense anyone approaching, and he had just detected Yamato's presence through his formations.

Swish!

With a Body Flicker, Naraku vanished from where he stood, reappearing right beside Yamato.

"Captain Naraku, the Third Hokage has summoned us," Yamato said respectfully upon seeing Naraku.

Yamato held deep respect for Naraku in his heart. Although Naraku was younger than him, he was far ahead in terms of strength.

At this moment, Yamato had already set Naraku as the target he wished to surpass.

Naraku was not at all surprised by Yamato's arrival; he knew it meant a new mission.

The two of them arrived at the Hokage's office together.

"Naraku, Tenzo, I'll have to trouble you both," after some brief pleasantries, the Third Hokage handed them the scroll containing the mission details.

The two then departed.

"Go back and prepare. We meet at the village gate in half an hour," Naraku said to Yamato before vanishing with a Body Flicker.

Since he was going out on a mission again, Naraku naturally had to return to the hospital to prepare.

At this moment, Naraku thought of Shisui, who had taken him on his first mission. He hadn't seen him for a while, but Naraku had heard a few things over the past two days. The first was Orochimaru's defection, which had caused quite a stir in Konoha, though it was quickly quelled under the Third Hokage's handling.

The second thing was that the Uchiha Clan had produced another genius, Uchiha Itachi. Relying on his outstanding strength, he had joined the Anbu at an age when he should have been in the Ninja Academy, and he had already successfully completed several missions.

Even Naraku had heard news about Itachi in the Anbu a few times.

In fact, Naraku's experience was somewhat similar to Itachi's; neither of them had attended the Ninja Academy, and both had joined the Anbu directly.

However, their public profiles were completely different. Although Naraku had also successfully completed several missions, he kept a low profile; very few people in the entire Konoha Village even knew he was employed in the Anbu.

Compared to him, Uchiha Itachi's name was very prominent. Naraku knew that the Uchiha Clan might have had a hand in that, but it was likely more the work of Danzo and the Third Hokage behind the scenes.

The two great geniuses of the Uchiha Clan, Shisui and Itachi—the two most tragic characters from the original story.

Naraku shook his head, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. "Everything can be changed now, can't it?"

Soon, Naraku arrived back at the hospital. This time, Gamayan seemed to have grown accustomed to this life. After Naraku summoned him, Gamayan lay down beside Kushina without a word and closed his eyes to sleep.

"Uh," Naraku was slightly taken aback, but he didn't say anything. Gamayan's actions saved him the trouble of wasting his breath.

He checked the various barriers around the ward, and finding no issues, he left behind two Shadow Clones and departed.

At the Konoha village gate, Naraku and Yamato gathered and set off together toward the outskirts of the village.

Their mission this time was to go to a place called the Land of Frost. The Land of Frost was located at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning; it was a tiny country, even smaller than the Land of Snow.

Because it was situated at the intersection of two great nations, whenever war broke out between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, the Land of Frost essentially became the battlefield.

As a result, most of the locals had migrated elsewhere, with only a few remaining to continue their lives there.

The main objective of Naraku and Yamato's trip to the Land of Frost was a rescue mission.

It turned out that some time ago, Konoha had sent a three-man squad to the Land of Frost to execute a mission. Because it was a long-term assignment, they hadn't returned to the village in a long time, but they had been sending reports back every few days.

Recently, however, the village had not received any communication from them for a long time. Based on past experience, something must have happened to them, which led to Naraku and Yamato's current mission.

A day passed quickly, and by late night, the two hadn't even covered half the distance.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, followed by a heavy downpour.

The sudden rainstorm prevented them from continuing their journey.

"Tenzo, it's your turn to perform," Naraku said, turning to look at Yamato.

Yamato was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood what Naraku meant.

"Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique!"

Yamato pressed his palms together, and a deep rumbling echoed from the ground as a dense thicket of wood surged upward, interlocking to form a shelter capable of keeping out the rain.

Looking at Yamato's handiwork, Naraku offered him a rare smile. "The village's future construction really can't do without you!"

The two rested inside for a while, only resuming their journey once the rain had ceased.

It was not until the following evening that the pair stood at the border of the Land of Fire. One more step forward would bring them into the territory of the Land of Hot Water, and once they crossed that entire nation, they would reach the borders of the Land of Frost.

After another day and night of travel, the two finally arrived at their destination: the Land of Frost.