This Is a Matter of Pride

The Naruto Uzumaki in the original timeline only needed thirty days to reach Mount Myoboku was because he had a traitor leading the way.

Normally, it would take a month to reach the Maze Mountain, and that's only for ninjas who specialize in traveling in straight lines. After that, it's a long journey to find the mountain. Of course, for contractors like Namikaze Minato, once they arrive at the Maze Mountain, an envoy from Mount Myoboku will come to meet them.

Clearly, Uchiha Shingen is not a contractor of Mount Myoboku, at least not at present.

When having a late-night snack with Namikaze Minato, it was obvious that Namikaze Minato felt embarrassed, because he said something like that.

"Actually, I really wanted to take you in, but you know..."

I get it, you're working overtime! Your wife's waiting at home for you to win!

At this time, Uchiha Shingen was already in the Land of Wind.

Of course, to avoid trouble, he had an entry permit from Sunagakure.

Minato Namikaze Minato handled this for him.

It's said that the Mining Shadow... well, sorry, it was the Fourth Kazekage who readily agreed.

The vast Land of Wind has a wide expanse of land to its west, but the Land of Wind has never considered expanding westward.

The First Kazekage was willing to act arrogantly and domineeringly towards Senju Hashirama, and shamelessly demand that the other four great ninja villages retain a portion of the funds intended for purchasing Tailed Beasts, even at the risk of being beaten, as long as he didn't expand westward.

The reason is simple: the further west you go in the Land of Wind, the worse the environment becomes.

The so-called Maze Mountain is probably a place like an oasis in the desert.

Fortunately, the location of the Maze Mountain is also very clear. As the most famous secret realm in the Hokage world, the Maze Mountain is renowned throughout the world, and countless people go to challenge it every year, not just ninjas.

Uchiha Shingen was even able to buy a map to the Maze Mountain directly when he passed through a town in the Land of Wind.

So he stopped thinking about it and just started following the map.

In fact, he had given careful consideration to whether he really needed to learn the Senjutsu of Mount Myoboku. After all, he had long since passed the stage of wanting to learn everything.

He has no shortage of skills now.

But after careful consideration, he still felt that he needed this system of Senjutsu.

The difference between Mount Myoboku and Ryūchi Cave lies in the fact that Dragon Cave Sage Technique utilize and manipulate Natural Energy more directly, while Mount Myoboku's Senjutsu focus more on amplifying the Chakra's ability to utilize Natural Energy.

For Uchiha Shingen, with no clue about Yin-Yang Release, the Senjutsu of Mount Myoboku was undoubtedly a safe path. Moreover, by learning the Senjutsu of Mount Myoboku, he could also draw on Natural Energy using air as a circulating medium.

After all, he is now a ninja capable of flying.

Using Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique, flying through the sky with a map in hand, comparing it with the markings on it, Uchiha Shingen flew westward. Every time he saw a town, he would land, confirm the location, rest, and then set off again.

This signature Ninjutsu of the Third Tsuchikage caused some misunderstandings on the land of the Land of Wind, but these misunderstandings were cleared up after he proved his identity and produced an entry permit issued by the Kazekage.

Later, the Sand Ninja got tired of his flying around, so after reporting to the village and getting their approval, they specially dispatched a ninja squad and provided a vehicle, offering to take him to the Maze Mountain free of charge.

Pick-up and drop-off service included.

Upon hearing of this good opportunity, Uchiha Shingen readily agreed, not even bothering to look at the map.

Looking at maps is so tiring.

Compared to Uchiha Shingen, a foreigner, the Sand Ninja were far more familiar with the Maze Mountain. Every year, a large group of people from the Land of Wind would go to the Maze Mountain to try their luck.

Among these people were adventurous commoners, nobles, and ninjas from Sunagakure. The nobles would hire Sand Ninja for escorts.

Therefore, the Sand Ninja were very familiar with the pick-up and drop-off process to the Maze Mountain; the only difference was that this time, the client didn't have to pay.

But that's not a problem. Getting the White Ghost of Leaf Village safely to the Maze Mountain is more important than making money.

Along the way, Uchiha Shingen didn't put on any airs of a high-ranking official. He started chatting with the Sand Ninja and learning about the Maze Mountain.

Unfortunately, the Sand Ninja didn't know much about this. In their words, the Maze Mountain wasn't hard to find, but once inside, it was up to each person's own fate.

It is certain that those who fail to conquer the Maze Mountain will be returned unharmed to where they entered.

The Sunagakure even built a special outpost there to handle their shuttle service.

This decision was made by the Mining Kage, which not only generates a significant amount of extra money each year but also increases the number of missions available to the Sunagakure ninjas.

This greatly changed Uchiha Shingen's impression of the Mining Kage.

It turns out that Mining Shadow is not only good at mining and screwing over his son.

This mining expert might not be able to beat the moldy expert, but he's definitely better at developing the economy than the moldy expert.

After all, Uchiha Shingen had not only met the then-childish Ukyo during his first playthrough, but also during his second playthrough, Ukyo was in power in Sunagakure. It is said that you can see a person's future from the age of three, Uchiha Shingen felt that this saying was absolutely true.

This batch looks exactly like the First Kazekage; they're incredibly fierce.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps because he traveled by car for the latter half of the journey, it took Uchiha Shingen a full two months to arrive at the "Maze Mountain Station" specially set up by Sunagakure. He had set off from Hidden Leaf Village.

He also realized just how bad it got the further west he went.

Especially in the very last town, he felt like he had arrived at Hokage version of Dragon Inn.

That can no longer be called a town; it's just a small gathering place.

Compared to the west, the location of Sunagakure is considered a good place.

Ordinary people who dare to venture into this place are truly fearless.

To sum it up: scorching sun, raging winds, and dust filling the air.

It's still raining here; within an hour, it can form torrents on the ground, carrying sand and gravel that wash away everything in their path.

However, even encountering a rain shower was considered a stroke of good luck for Uchiha Shingen.

He could only travel at night most of the time, because the daytime temperature here would soar to over 70 degrees Celsius.

Not to mention Uchiha Shingen, even the Sand Ninja couldn't stand it.

Most of the so-called towns here are not for living in; they were built by Sunagakure) to provide shelter from the sun during the day.

Don't ask, the answer is that Mining Shadow has a long-term vision, and all of this comes at a price.

However, all the misery came to an end when Uchiha Shingen arrived at the Maze Mountain.

It was as if we had crossed some kind of barrier and arrived in another world.

A massive mountain range with towering cliffs came into view, lush and green as far as the eye could see.

Chapter Twenty: This is a matter of face.

"So, you really don't plan to change careers?"

After getting out of the car, Uchiha Shingen mentioned this to a few of his Sand Ninja friends.

"To be honest, being a ninja isn't my main job. My main job is investment review. The car dealership market in the Land of Fire is booming right now, with a lot of vacancies. I can help you apply to open a pilot car dealership in Leaf Village. I can also introduce you to investors, none of them are the kind who are greedy. You can decide whether to base it on expected returns or net worth. I guarantee they won't be betting against you."

He rattled off a whole bunch of things, and the Sand Ninja felt that a very imposing aura emanated from the White Ghost, but this aura was different from the Jonin they had seen before.

It was very shocking, but not because of life and death, but because of other aspects.

Although they couldn't understand a whole bunch of terms, the Sand Ninja could roughly tell that the White Ghost wanted to recruit them to do business in the Land of Fire.

That won't do. They're just a group of ordinary puppeteers that you can find anywhere in Sand Village. They wouldn't dare answer to White Ghost's words.

The group of Sand Ninja chuckled dryly, hoping the old man would stop reciting, since they couldn't understand it anyway.

"Sigh, you really shouldn't underestimate yourselves like that." Seeing the expressions on the faces of the Sand Ninja, Uchiha Shingen understood their thoughts, and he felt extremely regretful about it. "You are outstanding talents who shoulder the mission of advancing the times."

Who said Ninjutsu can only be used for fighting?

Each country has its own unique "technology" based on Chakra techniques.

The Land of Wind is characterized by its bureaucratic system.

Although these Sand Ninja were only Chunin at most, the craftsmanship of the puppet vehicles they made was quite impressive.

The people were all sitting inside the car, operated by a puppeteer; only the puppeteers of Sunagakure could do something like that.

Uchiha Shingen knew that when the Sand Ninja went on missions, they prepared their own supplies. The puppeteers were even more typical; no two of them had the same equipment, and they made everything themselves.

There are many puppeteers in the Sand Ninja, but most of them don't live very well.

Why suffer a miserable life in Sunagakure? In Leaf Village now, public transportation is all animal-powered, so a special team of animal caretakers has to be formed.

This is a promising opportunity; we can think of a way to do it later.

First, find Mount Myoboku.

With a stride, Uchiha Shingen walked towards the mountain before him, disappearing from the sight of the Sand Ninja in the blink of an eye.

"Phew... They're finally gone..." A Sand Ninja breathed a sigh of relief.

The pressure from the White Ghost of Leaf Village was immense. Even though he had been very friendly and kind throughout, every time he started talking about those things, it felt like he was giving a work report.

As expected, he was still too weak.

"Yes, yes," another Sand Ninja said. "Actually, the White Ghost is quite kind to us lower-ranking ninjas. I've heard people say that the White Ghost even Genin."

"This must be the demeanor of a true powerhouse; no wonder he's Five Kage level expert."

"He's friendly, but he can really talk a lot..."

At this point, all the Sand Ninja showed expressions of disappointment.

He's such a White Ghost; he talked to them the whole way, even getting them to reveal how they failed to woo girls in the past, and then turned around and taught them how to flirt with girls.

The level of embarrassment is off the charts.

This is just the journey here; the rest of the way back will be filled with more teasing...

Five Kage -level powerhouses, terrifying indeed!

At this moment, Uchiha Shingen, who had already entered the Maze Mountain, began to understand the meaning behind the name of the Maze Mountain.

It really is like a maze.

It's a huge maze.

Uchiha Shingen entered a canyon that looked like it had been formed by the erosion of flowing water over many years. Once put together, it resembled a man-made maze, and the visibility was poor, with mist shrouding the valley.

Whether this is a masterpiece of nature or Toad added later, we don't know.

Uchiha Shingen awakened his Sharingan.

Byakugan would definitely be more effective here, but he's not without them.

In the Hokage world, Mount Myoboku is portrayed as a very prestigious and lofty place.

In the comics, it also occupies the position of a righteous ally, especially given the Great Toad Sage's prophecy of being the "Child of Destiny," which carries a high-class connotation.

Unfortunately, in Uchiha Shingen's eyes, Mount Myoboku was not high-class at all.

Perhaps due to preconceived notions, Uchiha Shingen preferred Ryūchi Cave.

At least Ryūchi Cave is quite honest.

And Mount Myoboku...

The world seen by the Sharingan is the world of Chakra.

Uchiha Shingen's face remained expressionless, but he sneered inwardly.

The mountain may be a masterpiece of nature, but this fog is definitely caused by Toad.

Moreover, there was something mixed in with the fog.

The power system of the secret realm is based on Natural Energy, which is very different from that of humans.

Uchiha Shingen couldn't tell the difference, but he was prepared.

He took out the sealing scroll and pulled out a gas mask from it.

We sourced top-tier goods from the Land of Rain through the association's channels; they're simply unavailable on the market.

Hanzo is wearing this one.

Donning the mask, Uchiha Shingen stepped into the thick fog.

The term "Senjutsu" actually has a strong marketing flavor.

In this world, the only one who could be called an immortal was Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

Without reaching the Six Paths level, one is not qualified to be called an immortal.

After Ninshu, Senju Hashirama was probably the first person to have one foot in the Six Paths realm.