Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 235 The Land of Snow

"The Snow Country Special Seminar has officially begun."

The largest conference room in Beichen is rarely used and is rarely full, but today there are an unusually large number of attendees, and everyone has a pair of bright and energetic eyes.

The Land of Snow is a remote and frigid country, separated from the mainland for far too long, and unknown to the outside world for countless years. Tobirama placed markers there for strategic reasons; he marked all known territories, even more comprehensively than Naruto, so that when needed, he could reach any place as quickly as possible.

The one who initially carried the mark to the Land of Snow was Tobirama's clone. Due to chakra limitations, the clone completed its mission upon landing and returned to report, without exploring further. Had he walked just a few more kilometers into the snow, he would have discovered a completely different world.

The people here eke out a living in caves, surviving on fish caught under the ice and fruits and vegetables stored up during the brief thawing period. But right near their caves, the train tracks, still in the design drawings of the research and development department, lie there quietly.

Continuing along the railway tracks, they discovered a remarkably sturdy and magnificent fortress. A conspicuous object, resembling a hot air balloon but many times larger, was the most eye-catching feature of the entire fortress. The interior of the fortress itself was unremarkable; even the chakra armor was only glanced at and then discarded.

That thing can indeed absorb a little chakra and has a support function, but its weakness is also obvious: it becomes useless once the core is destroyed. Moreover, the core is probably made of some special material; there aren't even double-digit numbers of armor pieces seen in the entire fortress, so it's probably impossible to mass-produce. They currently have no intention of alerting the enemy and plan to study the armor more carefully after it becomes spoils of war.

As they ventured deeper, even more bizarre things appeared. At the summit of the central Snow Country stood four opposing, abnormally regular, sheer cliffs. Analyzing them with their instruments, they discovered that the upper and lower ice layers were significantly different in age. The lower layer of the upper ice wall was far younger. To ensure the rigor of their research, Izuna spent some time burning through a section where the surface and underground met, uncovering something even more bizarre.

The thing beneath the ice layer above wasn't rock, but rather something with a slightly frosted surface that was very smooth; even a group of top researchers couldn't figure out what it was made of. The rock beneath the ice layer below looked normal, but things changed a little further down.

“I channeled a large amount of chakra into the ground and discovered that these so-called ‘ice walls’ actually extend downwards for a considerable distance. Chakra cannot penetrate or infiltrate anything underground, but… I’m certain it must be enormous.” Tobirama frowned throughout this passage. The Second Hokage rarely showed confusion, and this confusion remained lingering.

“We extracted rock layers from ten meters underground and found that the rocks at this depth are at least a thousand years old. We can be certain that what lies beneath is definitely not what the current Snow Country was built.”

After these words, the entire hall fell silent. Even Naruto, who considered himself worldly-wise, was stunned. They had never encountered anything like this in their previous lives! Was this the downside of being too far from the mainland?

"Hmm, I understand what you're saying. Who do you think is most likely to have built this 'building'?" Jinlun maintained his composure and decided to leave the professional matters to the professionals.

Tobirama's gaze shifted to him, and he said slowly, "If this isn't a building from an ancient human civilization, then it could only have been built by aliens."

The venue immediately erupted—not a physical explosion, of course. The gasps and murmurs nearly blew the roof off; no one could believe this outrageous speculation.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. He really didn't like hearing the word "aliens" anymore; those aliens had caused the world far too much pain. But how long had the Land of Snow existed? So far, they hadn't encountered any major threats; on the contrary, they were technologically ahead of the entire continent, which was highly unusual.

So, Jinlun clapped his hands, signaling everyone to be quiet for the time being, and said, "Let's put this issue aside for now. We have too little information. Either possibility would overturn the entire world's understanding. Let's focus on what we can currently explore, such as trains. Have you traced the technology back to its source?"

"That's the strangest thing. We consulted all the history books in this country, but we couldn't trace the development of 'trains' back to the present day. Even if we included the missing years, it's not enough to show how 'trains' came about from nothing. In fact, many technologies there are like that; they suddenly appeared without any prior accumulation."

Tobirama abruptly changed the subject, revealing his true intentions: "This is also why I believe we must take over the Land of Snow. If the ancestors of the Land of Snow could obtain technology through some means, then it's possible that we can find that means as well. The leaders of that country are ignorant and foolish. They possess the most advanced technology but only know how to cling to their own corner of the world, and are even unwilling to share the technology with the people so that they can live a better life. Aren't these the rulers we must defeat?"

"Now, the heir to the throne is about to return, and that person has never been involved in politics since fleeing her country; she's just an actress. I don't think she can use these skills well, nor do I think she can defeat those old politicians who have been entrenched for many years. She does have a group of supporters, but they are a mixed bag, full of hot-blooded but foolish courage. Their firm belief is that once the usurper is overthrown, their princess will surely lead them back to a better life."

"Forgive my bluntness, but it is the most foolish thing to place your hopes on external things, especially external things whose nature you don't even know. No wonder they have been living in caves for so many years, with hardly any resources except for a few cold weapons."

"Tobirama," Hashirama finally couldn't hold back any longer, "Don't let personal emotions get into your reports."

Being singled out like that, his terrifying aura subsided somewhat, but his sharpness was still evident. Tobirama sat down below the stage and said, "My report is complete."

"Thank you, Tobirama. And thank you to everyone in the intelligence and R&D departments for their hard work, which allowed us to obtain first-hand resources in the shortest possible time." After Tobirama left the stage, it was Kinrin's turn. Naruto had chaired countless meetings and was already very adept at handling this situation.

"However, the Land of Snow has a unique national situation, and they have to do everything they can to survive. They eventually thought of overseas help and invited Konoha ninjas to escort the princess. Isn't that a kind of wisdom for survival? Don't be too harsh on them."

Faced with Kinrin's smile, Tobirama finally calmed down and nodded slightly in agreement.

After receiving a response, Jinlun continued, "Next is the time for discussion about whether we should conquer this country."