Winter had arrived, and Snow Country was back to its usual self.
Snow blanketed the entire land.
After helping Tsunade chase away Jiraiya and the others, Yugao returned once again to Snow Country.
Though the environment here wasn't as good as Konoha's, no one would restrict her freedom.
Better yet, she was treated like royalty in Snow Country.
Since White Zetsu was always around, she could travel freely within and beyond Snow Country's borders.
Except for the cold and somewhat dull surroundings, Yugao felt perfectly fine.
What currently occupied her attention was using the large sum of money Hiroki had given her to establish influence within Snow Country.
Her main focus was developing infrastructure—starting with railways.
Other countries hadn't widely adopted transportation systems. One reason was the fear that bandits or rogue ninjas could easily destroy them, leading to massive losses.
Another important reason was maintaining income sources for ninja.
If efficient and safe travel became common, the simple C- and D-rank escort missions that made up most of a ninja's work would vanish entirely.
But Snow Country was different—it simply didn't have many ninja.
And even fewer criminals would dare operate in such harsh conditions.
Originally, Snow Country's citizens were quite poor, so not many hired ninja.
During Doto Kazahana's rule, aiming to unite the Ninja World, he'd always been generous militarily, spending large sums maintaining the Snow ninja village.
Now, Yugao Uzuki had cut off that funding.
Let them fend for themselves!
Hiroki crunched through the snow, pausing briefly as the loud chugging of the steam-powered train echoed in his ears and steam rose into the sky:
"Once we finish laying out railways domestically, we'll send those engineers to work in Country of Hot Springs and Country of Frost."
Yugao frowned slightly nearby. "You want them to build roads there? But those two countries aren't like Snow Country—nothing here will attract outside attention. Introducing these things elsewhere is sure to provoke opposition from major ninja villages."
"The world keeps moving forward. Can ninjas continue to be the backbone of this world forever?"
At a loss for words, Yugao stayed quiet.
"What about Izumi Uchiha?" Hiroki asked.
"Always training. Nothing but training."
Yugao led Hiroki to Izumi Uchiha's training ground.
In the distance, a girl holding a long blade looked determined and cold.
Right now, in this freezing air, wearing only a thin robe, she continuously swung her sword, repeating the motion endlessly.
Whether from cold or heat, sweat lightly covered her forehead while her face showed an unhealthy pallor.
After watching her for a moment, Hiroki said softly, "She looks more worn out than before."
A helpless expression crossed Yugao's face. "I told her long ago that besides practicing sword techniques, she needs physical conditioning. But she either ignores the damage to her body as long as she gets stronger, or just flat-out refuses to listen to me."
Hiroki suddenly smiled. "Most people want to live longer, but she seems to be rushing toward the end."
"She wants to die?" Yugao looked genuinely surprised.
Hiroki stepped forward and said to Izumi Uchiha with a calm expression, "Itachi will be appearing soon. Don't you want to see him?"
Itachi?
Izumi froze momentarily. A flicker of complex emotion crossed her icy face as her originally black eyes suddenly turned red. She glared at him coldly.
"Don't you want to know how much you actually mean to him?"
Izumi clenched her fists tightly, her fingers nearly digging into her flesh.
Thinking about the fate he had given her in the Tsukuyomi world and the physical pain she'd endured, her heart trembled involuntarily.
"There's no need to look at me like that. You should direct your emotions toward the right person."
"The leadership in Konoha has changed hands. To test the Fifth Hokage's stance on Sasuke, he definitely will appear."
"After all, that's his own flesh-and-blood brother. Sasuke's importance is something no delusional woman like you can match!"
"You!" This remark struck a deep nerve within Izumi. Her anger surged up instantly, her already active Sharingan morphing into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. She shot him an extremely fierce glare.
Hiroki calmly held her gaze, though inwardly he mused: Not quite there yet. Seems like Itachi himself will have to provide the stimulus...
"He'll be back in Konoha, no doubt about it."
After saying this, Hiroki waved his hand and turned to leave.
Yugao followed closely behind him, her tone filled with confusion. "Hiroki, what exactly do you plan for her? Since you saved her life, you must care about her wellbeing, right?"
Hiroki: "..."
Care? At that time, it was just a whimsical thought. But now, after taking her eyes, what should he do with her afterward?
"It seems you're trying to drive her insane?" Yugao spoke again.
"The more unhinged they get, the stronger they become." Hiroki replied casually.
A deeper layer of confusion clouded Yugao's expression.
Alongside the news of Tsunade becoming the Fifth Hokage, two other pieces of information spread throughout the ninja villages.
One was the rumor they previously circulated in Konoha—that the Third Hokage had died long ago, replaced decades earlier by an imposter.
The second piece of news was the announcement that the Land of Fire, Country of Hot Springs, Country of Frost, Land of Lightning, and the nearly insignificant Snow Country had formed an economic alliance.
As any ordinary ninja would do, their primary concern lay in the internal power shifts happening within their own ninja village.
Itachi was no different.
Upon hearing these strange rumors about Hiruzen Sarutobi, Itachi felt deeply perplexed, struggling to understand their meaning.
However, having long been steeped in conspiracy theories, he quickly caught a whiff of something suspicious.
"It appears the new Fifth Hokage didn't take power through honorable means. Then does she know about my agreement with the Third and the others?"
Itachi murmured to himself. Suddenly, the ring he wore on his finger began to glow.
It was the Leader calling for a meeting.
Several illusions successively appeared on the pillars surrounding the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Pausing briefly on Zetsu's illusion, Deva Path Pain scanned through each present member one by one.
Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori of the Red Sands, Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame...
Everyone was here.
Without the later additions of the talkative duo Hidan and Deidara, the current mood of the Akatsuki Organization was relatively gloomy.
In fact, Kakuzu was among the more talkative members at the moment.
"Leader," he asked, "do we have another major mission?"
"No."
Pain's Deva Path shook his head. "Do we have any concrete intelligence on Konoha's Fifth Hokage?"
As he spoke, Pain's Deva Path cast a subtle glance toward Zetsu.
A chill ran through Black Zetsu's mind: Could it be that Nagato is after me? What exactly did Jiraiya say to him?
"Just a woman. Is she even worth all this fuss?"
The sharp, hoarse voice came from Sasori of the Red Sands.
Though his true form was already exposed, he still restored his original Hiruko puppet and took shelter inside it.
"Zetsu, you tell us what went down in Konoha," Pain's Deva Path called out directly.
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