Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 285 On the Way to the Mission

Ghost Lantern Castle is actually a prison.

This is a prison built by the Land of Grass under the commission of the Five Great Nations, specifically for imprisoning ninja criminals. Ordinary prisons cannot truly confine ninjas, but here, there is a castle lord who can use a special ninjutsu, Fire Release: Heavenly Prison. This technique can inscribe a special cursed seal into the ninja's body, restricting the ninja's chakra gathering. Once the limit is exceeded, the cursed seal will ignite a great fire, burning the person to ashes. Moreover, this technique also has the effect of drawing a circle around the area, so once the person leaves the Hozuki Castle area, they will also be burned to death.

It is precisely because of the special nature of the Heavenly Prison that it has become a special prison independent of the Five Great Nations, where only ninjas who have committed serious crimes are imprisoned. It is said that this is a place from which there is no return, but in reality, most of the ninjas imprisoned here have extremely long sentences, and the environment there is terrible. They must work every day, which is not a place where they can live well. Therefore, many people die far from home before they have completed their sentences.

This mission is extremely difficult. Orochimaru, the rogue ninja, can't easily interfere in a prison supported by the Five Great Nations. So, at most, he can offer some convenience in getting to the island. As for what the situation is on the island and how to get close to Wuwei, that's the mission executor's business. The rear can't help at all.

Resources on the island are inherently scarce, making self-sufficiency impossible. Therefore, ships transporting supplies must make regular trips. The reason for sneaking onto the supply ships even with a map in hand is that the weather in that area is consistently harsh, with countless reefs and undercurrents. For an inexperienced captain to attempt this would be tantamount to suicide.

After figuring out the resource ship's docking location and departure time, Sasuke set off alone. This was his usual practice on missions; bringing someone along would actually disrupt his plans.

"Sasuke! I accepted a mission from the Land of Frost, and I brought Sakura and the Perverted Sage along. Unfortunately, Kakashi-sensei is on another mission and couldn't come, but he asked me to bring a gift. We're going to Lanlin City in the Land of Frost to investigate a mass disappearance case. How should we meet? Should we meet while passing through, or at our mission location?"

[I'll go to your place first. My mission is to infiltrate Hozuki Castle. There's no rush; we need to wait for an opportunity.]

"Sasuke received a special mission, also near the Land of Frost." Once outside the gates of Konoha, Naruto dropped the act and stated one of the purposes of his trip directly.

"Heh, I knew you guys were having a team-building event, around the same time as last year." Jiraiya wasn't surprised at all, and was even bursting with sarcasm. This time last year, he was also that unlucky team supervisor. That year, Naruto and Sasuke left the team for two or three days, leaving them only a shadow clone that looked like it could disappear at any moment. Miraculously, this clone stubbornly persisted until the ship docked. Perhaps Naruto replaced it midway through the journey; after all, the Flying Thunder God Technique is just that unreasonable.

This guy, as the captain, only left a shadow clone for his team members, while he celebrated his birthday with Sasuke using his real body—it's absolutely outrageous! He's got some nerve; he must have done this a lot before! Who knows if the person he's actually in Konoha is his real body or a shadow clone!

"Will it delay his mission?" Sakura was used to it; she wasn't worried about her own mission, but rather about the mission of a certain "missing person."

“Infiltration missions shouldn’t have such strict time limits, right? I suspect Orochimaru didn’t even think Sasuke could complete it, and deliberately sent him out to undermine his confidence.” Naruto’s guess was actually much darker, with a lot of scheming involved, but he didn’t say it to his teammates.

Jiraiya grew increasingly uneasy as he listened. "He told you the details of the mission?"

"Oh, I'll tell him too."

"So, where is his mission to infiltrate?"

"Ghost Lantern City."

Jiraiya slipped and nearly fell off the tree, but thanks to his strong ninja reflexes, he managed to grab the trunk and avoid losing face.

"Orochimaru dared to issue the order, and he dared to accept it! Is he eager to go to jail?"

In short, the group set off smoothly, though Jiraiya, who had been traveling by public carriage for some time, was starting to miss the days when he didn't have to walk. They entered the Land of Frost directly from the Land of Fire, and then met up with Sasuke on their way to Lanlin Castle.

"Sasuke! He's here!" In the desolate wilderness of the Land of Frost, a sturdy mud house with three bedrooms and a living room stands out conspicuously.

Although Naruto doesn't know Wood Release, he's incredibly skilled in Lava Release and Earth Release, making building a one-story house on flat ground a piece of cake. Their meeting time was perfect; it was just getting dark, and camping in the middle of nowhere was certainly not as comfortable as staying in a house.

It's worth mentioning that shortly after entering the Land of Frost, Naruto caught and killed a White Zetsu who dared to spy nearby, and after that, no White Zetsu dared to approach. However, this was, after all, their lair, and who knew if there were other "eyes" among the crowd? So their final plan was to avoid populated areas as much as possible, since it wouldn't take too long to reach their final destination anyway.

The white figure swiftly flashed up from the bottom of the cliff not far away, its speed dazzling.

"Hmm, the speed is much faster than last year. It seems he's been training hard under Orochimaru." Jiraiya, not forgetting that he still had a disciple, naturally began to examine him. He wasn't good at Lightning Release, but his Fire Release, which he was better at, was mostly used in conjunction with toads. Before Sasuke had that chakra to summon giant toads, he couldn't really teach him much, but now he should be almost there.

"Of course, Sasuke has always been amazing," said the guy who always had the upper hand in the fight.

Jiraiya was a little speechless, yet simultaneously felt a familiar sense of déjà vu. A long, long time ago, a young, lovesick apprentice had similarly praised his crush in this way, hadn't he? Only that apprentice was even younger... Wait, what was he even thinking? While he knew there were indeed people with unusual sexual orientations, Naruto, who could read erotic novels without blushing, wasn't just undeniably straight, but also completely clueless about what love was!

As a master, of course, he should teach his disciple to understand emotions correctly, but the child is still young... It's best not to follow Minato's example of early romance.