A few more days passed.
Orochimaru continued taking Gojo Yoru from place to place, and Yoru hadn't seen a populated area in a long time.
But compared to the Ryūchi Cave contract scroll, this hardship wasn't worth mentioning.
That day, Orochimaru brought Yoru into a cave on a snowy mountain.
"Release—"
Finding a section of rock wall carved with strange symbols, Orochimaru formed hand seals and pressed his palm against it.
As tadpole-like seal markings spread outward, the rock wall beneath his hand actually sank inward—opening like a hidden compartment.
Orochimaru reached inside, pulled out a palm-sized scroll, and opened it to read.
By now, Yoru wasn't surprised at all.
Even though he didn't know what those scrolls contained, he could guess they were left here by Konoha spies planted in various countries.
Orochimaru's mission was to wait for those spies to deliver intelligence to designated locations and then retrieve it.
This time, though, something about Orochimaru felt off. He stood in place, rereading the scroll over and over.
Unfortunately, Yoru didn't have the Observation Haki from the pirate world, so he couldn't sense Orochimaru's emotional shifts.
Only after nearly ten minutes did Orochimaru put away the scroll, then took out another scroll and placed it back into the hidden compartment, restoring the rock wall to normal.
"Let's go."
Orochimaru led Yoru out of the cave, and they left the snowy mountains that very day.
Even more unusually, Orochimaru didn't travel on foot this time—he carried Yoru with Body Flicker the entire way.
Once they left the snowy mountains—likely the Land of Iron's territory—he still kept using Body Flicker to travel.
In the end, the two arrived at a small town.
After nearly a month, Yoru finally saw a place where humans lived again, and for a moment he felt almost dazed.
Orochimaru took Yoru to a shop and said to the owner, "Two sets of raincoats and straw hats."
"One thousand ryō. Thank you for your patronage."
After buying the rain gear, Orochimaru led Yoru out of town.
On the road, Yoru took his set and couldn't help asking, "Orochimaru-sensei… is our next stop the Land of Rain?"
"We're already in the Land of Rain," Orochimaru said, gaze deep. "Next, we're going to… the Hidden Rain Village."
Yoru clicked his tongue silently.
Amegakure—this small place was etched into his memory almost as deeply as Konoha, the protagonist's birthplace.
Aside from the First Great Ninja War, it practically never lacked screen time.
One of the main battlefields of the Second Great Ninja War; then in the Third, although it didn't participate directly, it was manipulated by Shimura Danzō into attacking Yahiko's Akatsuki, leading to Nagato's fall.
After that it became the Akatsuki's headquarters—Pain's "divine" domain.
Even in the Fourth Great Ninja War, Amegakure still showed up; the Rain shinobi even took part.
At this time, Amegakure's leader was Hanzō of the Salamander at his peak—regarded by shinobi as a pinnacle of the world. Not one of the Five Kage, but unquestionably Kage-level.
Why was Orochimaru taking him into that man's territory?
But since the Second Great Ninja War hadn't broken out yet, and Amegakure hadn't declared war on Konoha, Yoru didn't dwell on it too much.
…
Amegakure was a village of steel structures.
Because it rained year-round, the most common sight was enormous drainage pipes everywhere.
On the streets, nearly everyone—locals and outsiders alike—wore raincoats and straw hats.
Only the patrolling Rain ninja wore breathing masks.
Located at the junction of the three great nations—Wind, Fire, and Earth—Amegakure had no barrier. Hanzō, who sought to let small nations stand against great ones, also didn't isolate the village.
Because Amegakure's assassination arts were highly developed, it was beloved by criminals and gangs.
So at this time, Amegakure was a chaotic, mixed-blood place—anyone could come and go.
Orochimaru, disguised with the Transformation Technique, brought Yoru into Amegakure. Yoru had only tucked away his genin forehead protector and didn't disguise himself at all.
Orochimaru said to him, "From here on, you're free to move around. Watch your safety."
"Uh… yes."
Yoru couldn't quite understand it. If Orochimaru wasn't going to involve him, why bring him into Amegakure at all?
Wouldn't it be better to have him wait outside?
But as a "good kid," Yoru still nodded obediently.
So the two split up.
Walking alone beneath the rain, Yoru saw customs and scenery unlike Konoha's.
The villagers were just as simple and honest, but compared to prosperous Konoha, the conditions here were leagues worse.
Most "shops" were nothing more than crude rain canopies.
Restaurants and stores were few and far between—almost no one invested here.
Many outsiders on the street looked vicious. If not for patrolling Rain ninja and the deterrent of Hanzō's reputation, the order here would likely collapse into chaos.
Passing an alley, Yoru suddenly stopped, his attention caught by something at the entrance.
There, under a similarly shabby rain canopy, the "shopkeeper" was a girl even younger than Yoru.
Short, straight blue-purple hair. Amber eyes.
Though she looked much younger than the girl in his memories, Yoru recognized her at once.
One of Amegakure's "three kids," the future Akatsuki White Tiger—
Konan.
At this moment, little Konan sat on a small stool, her face propped in her hands.
Sensing Yoru's gaze, she looked over, and a faint hopeful light appeared in her eyes.
Yoru walked over, examined what she was selling, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Because she was sitting, Konan's upturned face let her see Yoru clearly. She froze slightly.
Such pretty eyes… and he's handsome, and his skin is so pale… is he a foreigner?
Coming back to herself, Konan lifted a bunch of flowers and spoke softly. "Onii-san, would you like to buy flowers? It's only ten ryō."
"Selling paper flowers in heavy rain… what were you thinking?" Yoru finally couldn't help complaining.
"I see… no wonder nobody's buying my flowers," Konan said, looking suddenly enlightened—so much so that in Yoru's eyes it was practically a character-break moment.
But seeing how innocent and airheaded the girl looked, it was obvious she hadn't been crushed by war yet—meaning her parents were probably still alive.
As for selling flowers at this age… that was entirely normal.
After all, some people dared to wander the streets alone at age three on a snowy night.
Yoru himself had lived independently since three, and the village never interfered.
"I'll buy everything on your stall. Go home early."
Out of fondness from canon, Yoru took out a hundred ryō and placed it in front of her—taking only a single dyed blue-purple paper flower.
Then he disappeared into the rain.
By the time the girl snapped back, he was already gone.
But she remembered those ice-blue eyes…
and that pale, handsome face.
~~~
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