Naruto: Orochimaru's Disciple

Chapter 247 - 248

Chapter 247: Prestige

"You want to set up a laboratory in this country?"

When Kenichi found his teacher, Orochimaru was calmly drinking tea. Amado sat beside him, also with a cup in hand.

The capital of the Land of Snow was quiet now. Most civilians had no strong opinion about the change of daimyo and kage. To them, as long as their daily lives were not affected, it hardly mattered who sat on the throne.

That was how most ordinary people were. Unless the new ruler did something truly unbearable, they would not care much about a shift in power.

It made things far easier for Kenichi. He only needed to intimidate the shinobi who had participated in the rebellion. And since Koyuki was the daughter of the former daimyo, she still held the advantage of legitimacy.

More importantly, some of the Hidden Snow shinobi were still loyal to the previous ruler. Kenichi judged that stabilizing the Land of Snow would not take too long.

His eyes flicked toward Amado. While Kenichi had been handling matters outside, Amado had clearly reached some kind of cooperation with Orochimaru. Otherwise, his teacher would still be locked in an endless discussion of scientific theory.

"No, Teacher. This place is too remote," Kenichi said, shaking his head. "Coming here every time would waste too much time."

He had invented hot air balloons and airships. Travel by air was already far faster than before. But the reality remained that the Land of Snow was simply far from the Land of Rice Fields.

Once or twice was fine. But doing it repeatedly would become unbearable.

It reminded him of commuting in his previous life. When the travel time was too long, going to and from work every day felt like torture.

Even with an airship, it still took two full days to travel from the Land of Rice Fields to the Land of Snow.

There was no way around it. Kenichi wanted to go faster, but the Land of Snow was too far, and the conditions were harsh. The flight path was brutal. He did not even dare use Wind Release to accelerate, afraid the airship would be torn apart by the strain.

Falling would not kill him, but rebuilding an airship would be a headache.

And the Land of Snow was isolated across the sea. Setting up a laboratory here for long term use had some appeal, but the center of the shinobi world was not here. Building a full research base in the Land of Snow would also take a long time.

In the end, the Land of Rice Fields was still the better choice.

Consumables, materials, and new scientific tools could all be replenished smoothly there. In the Land of Snow, everything would have to be shipped in by his own transport or by sea routes. Either way, it was a grind.

In Kenichi's eyes, the Land of Snow was positioned a bit like Big Mao in his previous world. A vast region with a harsh environment. Sparse population, and naturally fewer organizations or hidden villages targeting it.

Kenichi even suspected that even Black Zetsu would not feel motivated to come all the way out here.

Orochimaru took a sip of tea. He was not forcing the idea, only offering it. "Isn't a deserted place safer for certain experiments? I also investigated. This country rarely suffers major geological disasters. If you set up a laboratory here, safety is easier to guarantee."

There was another benefit he did not say aloud.

This place was quiet. Undisturbed.

Unlike the Land of Rice Fields, where Jiraiya was always searching for Orochimaru's whereabouts across the world like a stubborn hound.