Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 344 New Year's Eve

The phrase "brightly lit" can be used to describe Orochimaru's underground fortifications.

When Sasuke first stepped down, he almost thought he'd entered the wrong room, and even had to shield his eyes from the light with his arm to continue. Were all the lights on? And they were warm lights, not the cool white of a lab setting. Had this ever happened at this time before? No, right?

What on earth is Orochimaru doing? Never mind, what does it have to do with him? Luckily, the lights in his room aren't on, he seems normal... what a load of rubbish!

The aroma of food wafting out the door made him frown. The downstairs wasn't well-ventilated, and he was somewhat of a germaphobe; even if everyone was watching, he absolutely refused to eat in his room. Was this the surprise they had prepared?! All the clothes in the closet would have to be washed again!

Sasuke was so angry he was practically spitting fire. He suppressed his rage and turned on the light, intending to roll up his sleeves and clean out the source of the smell, when he caught a glimpse of something moving on his bed out of the corner of his eye.

Awakened by the sound of the light being turned on, Naruto rolled over, barely opened his eyes, stretched his hand out from under the covers and waved it, then quickly withdrew it back in. The Land of Rice Fields was even colder than Konoha; standing outside for a while, one could feel the chill seeping into their bones.

Since his health deteriorated, concealing chakra has become incredibly difficult; he can barely control the amount of chakra protecting his body while suppressing his own. Even in Konoha, he had to restrain himself, because the inherent pressure he exuded was too overwhelming and could easily cause panic. In the Land of Rice Fields, he had to exert even more effort to control himself. The end result was that it was too cold, and he wasn't wearing enough, so he had to wait for Sasuke to return while warming himself in bed.

"You've come." The Kusanagi sword was casually tossed aside, and Sasuke even used his Instant Transmission technique to walk those few steps to the bedside, bringing with him a gust of wind full of snow and cold.

"You're only wearing this much? Don't you know this winter is the coldest in ten years?" Naruto sat up, curled up in his blanket, and immediately noticed the numerous water stains on Sasuke's clothes. This kid, he went out in just a single layer of clothing? He should have braved the cold wind and landed outside.

Sasuke chuckled softly and said, "Ninjas can use chakra to protect themselves."

"Who was it that used to tell me I shouldn't do this all the time?" Kids really do become rebellious as they grow up. The more rebellious Sasuke became, the noisier Naruto got. Even though he was worried about Sasuke's health, he still habitually started arguing with him.

"Enough said, the food's all cold. Who cultivates like this? Three meals a day are the most important thing! You don't usually do this, do you? You just do whatever you want because nobody's watching you in this base, do you? You're developing bad habits..."

Having been a father himself, he was an adult who, once he got into a heated argument, would talk incessantly without stopping for a moment. However, Sasuke strangely didn't refute him, but instead silently moved the table to the bedside.

The base mostly used tatami mats, but Sasuke couldn't get used to it, so Orochimaru added a mattress for him. The low bed and low table were a good match, but the fire under the table had long since gone out, and there wasn't a trace of warmth under the mat. Naruto's incessant talking gave Sasuke enough time to pull out some charcoal and light a fire. He even showed off his fire control skills, using his battle ninjutsu to breathe out a tiny flame that wouldn't even burn the food.

Naruto's face was brushed by a small flame, but he wasn't burned; he just felt a little warm. He finally stopped talking and watched the flames continue to burn until they went out.

"Hmm, your chakra control has improved a lot. It's starting to resemble mine."

Sasuke wasn't angry at all. Instead, he placed the reheated soup in front of him and said, "Let's eat."

Naruto glanced at the soup, then at the handsome face that remained calm and unchanged, and said helplessly, "Don't you want to talk to me anymore? I came right on time this year, and I've been waiting for ages."

"You know it's cold, why don't you eat quickly? Are you going to heat it up later?"

Naruto shut up because... he really couldn't heat up the food right now.

"The fact that Beichen is experiencing such heavy snowfall means that the possibility of a snow disaster at the beginning of the year is now 100%."

"Won't the snowy weather affect your operations?"

"This little bit of snow isn't enough to melt it. It'll melt with a little chakra. Our Uchiha's specialty is fire-style jutsu."

"Tobirama~ The legendary man who made a pact with the sea~ You're not going to freeze up while you're walking, are you? Do you need my help~"

"...Could you please stop spreading such outrageous rumors?"

Izuna laughed heartily, "Are you shy? I think they're absolutely right!"

Hashirama coughed several times, trying to get the people on the other side to behave themselves, after all, they had a "kid" with them.

"Uncle Hashirama, can even Edo Tensei cause throat congestion? Have you been too tired from reinforcing the house lately? It seems it's making me..."

"The Impure World Reincarnation doesn't get tiring!" Hashirama interrupted Naruto with a booming voice. What was he risking his life for? Wasn't it just to keep Naruto from going to the front lines? How could this kid withstand such strain? He's practically taking no care of himself!

This shout was so exaggerated that the Uchiha grandfather and grandson, unaware of its reason, both looked on with inquisitive eyes.

The unsuspecting "child," still full of doubt, said, "Didn't Uncle Tobirama do research? The reanimated body doesn't get tired, but it still has its spirit. If you collapse, who will take responsibility for our early rice planting? So, let me..."

“Most of the houses in the disaster-prone areas have been upgraded, thanks to the ‘New Housing Construction Plan’.” Tobirama interrupted him again. “Our resources are already tilted towards the north and coastal areas, since these are the places most prone to extreme weather. However, the production of firewood and charcoal does need to be increased. This year, the south may not get much snow, but there will always be times when it gets cold enough to need heating.”

The clear and logical analysis overshadowed Hashirama's loud and boisterous words, and no one had the mind to investigate why Naruto wasn't sent to the front lines of disaster relief, even though his Lava Release was indeed a good material for building sturdy houses.

Winter is a major hurdle for people in the north. Without sufficient heating and resources, people can truly freeze to death. Therefore, few people dare to venture into those harsh environments unless absolutely necessary; who wants to live in the freezing cold?

Hui's development in cold regions is very limited, after all, his impure body is not well adapted to that environment. Under normal weather conditions, their preparations would be more than sufficient. However, this year's trend is clearly not right, so they have to make plans early, stock up on all the supplies they can think of, and do their best to avoid any deaths from freezing on the roads.

They also issued early warnings to various countries via radio, though it's unclear how many rulers heeded them.