Orochimaru had only met the White Snake Sage once.
Ryūchi Cave had never been particularly friendly to him, either. In that respect, Orochimaru was different from Jiraiya.
At Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya had truly been taught by the toads. At least a third of the credit for how far he had come belonged to Mount Myōboku.
Orochimaru's relationship with Ryūchi Cave, on the other hand, was merely a partnership.
He needed the great snakes as fighting strength, but most of Orochimaru's training had come from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Heh. To deal with threats from outside, you first have to secure things at home. If they refuse to cooperate, wipe them all out.
"But if Ryūchi Cave behaves itself, I can't exactly do anything to them. Besides, they've already absorbed as much natural energy as they can." Uchiha Yi chuckled. He had no reason to doubt Orochimaru's position.
Ryūchi Cave had brought any trouble on itself.
"Actually, we don't need to cut through all the mountains. We just need to carve a gorge near them so moisture can pass through.
"Once some moisture gets through, we can dig a major river to carry rainwater into the Land of Wind. I doubt the Land of Wind would pass up an opportunity like that.
"If they still won't dig their own canal, then they aren't worth saving." Uchiha Yi gave a cold laugh.
Yi wasn't making that up. Some people really would act that way. You could go out of your way to help them, and they would think it was your duty while they sat back and enjoyed the results.
There were plenty of people like that.
"They need to save themselves?" Tobirama Senju nodded thoughtfully. He agreed wholeheartedly with Yi.
If those people wouldn't even try to save themselves, what was the point