novelraw Chapter 530 Searching for Mount Myōboku
Chapter 530 Searching for Mount Myōboku
Chapter 530 Searching for Mount Myōboku
The Land of Rivers is a country located in the central part of the ninja world, with most of its territory situated in tropical and subtropical regions.
Its territory is second only to the five great nations, and it is located between the Land of Fire and the Land of Stars, making it an important strategic buffer zone for both countries.
But strangely enough, this country, which has a considerable territory, does not have its own ninja village.
Without ninja villages, there was no organized ninja military force. So when Menma led the Three Thousand Star Ninja Army into the country, they encountered no resistance and brazenly penetrated deep into the tropical rainforest of southern River Country.
This is a forbidden zone for humans, with dense forests blocking out the sky everywhere. The air is humid and sweltering, with huge vines entwining the tree trunks and various parasitic plants growing rampantly among the branches.
Countless rivers, carrying silt and dead branches washed down from upstream, crisscross the rainforest, rushing endlessly.
This is also the origin of the name of the land of rivers, the land of a hundred rivers.
After a day of marching, Mianma landed by a large river.
This is a wide river, over a thousand meters wide, with turbid brownish-yellow water flowing swiftly, and dense tropical rainforest on both banks.
Behind him, several figures followed closely, landing steadily.
Hikaru Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Hyuuga Hizashi, Kisame Uchiha, and Kakuzu.
Then, a group of Jonin from the Land of Stars, including Haku, Yukimi, Toneri Otsutsuki, Chino Miyajo, Toshito Morishita, and Hazuki Murahashi, also arrived one after another.
And even further on, there was a Star Country elite ninja army of up to three thousand men.
Such a ninja force could easily wipe out a small to medium-sized country, and it could even shake the ninja village of any other major country.
But this time they weren't going to cause trouble for Konoha.
Mianma raised his hand and instructed Shisui and Rizashi, "Set up camp here and arrange for guards."
"Yes, sir!" Shisui and Hizashi knelt on one knee and bowed, then immediately led their respective men to make arrangements.
This unit was composed of elite troops drawn from the First Division of the Star Ninja Army by Menma, and there were over a hundred of them, including bloodline limit ninjas.
Shisui began arranging for the troops to set up camp, while Hizashi began deploying sensory ninjas, mainly Hyuga clan members, to establish a perimeter around the camp to ensure its safety.
Both were seasoned ninjas who had experienced countless battles, including the Third Shinobi World War and the War of the Land of Wind. The 3,000-strong ninja army was quickly organized into a well-organized force.
Before long, a temporary camp was gradually completed.
Mianma stood by the river, facing the wide river surface, with her eyes slightly closed.
Kagura's Mind's Eye!
With his facial senses fully activated, the tropical rainforest within a range of hundreds of kilometers slowly unfolded in his mind like a three-dimensional map.
He could sense all kinds of plants and animals in the rainforest, and even the insects crawling in the soil.
But these are not the targets he is looking for.
What he is looking for is a time-space passage leading to Mount Myoboku!
Having previously searched for a passage to the moon, Menma has become much more sensitive to this kind of spacetime barrier.
As Menma scanned the rainforest, a tiny slug slowly crawled out from behind Menma's neck and landed on Menma's shoulder, its two antennae gazing at the wide river and the dense, humid tropical forest.
"Little Mianma, is this the tropical rainforest you mentioned before?" The slug fairy's sweet, soft voice came from the little guy's body, carrying a hint of obvious joy.
Although Menma had promised to help the Slug Sage break free from the shackles of Shikkotsu Forest and let it see the light of day again when he was practicing sage techniques there, and even to designate a tropical rainforest reserve for the Slug Sage so that its true form could move freely.
But in reality, the Slug Sage didn't have much hope, after all, it had lived in the dark and damp place of Wet Bone Forest for thousands of years and had long since given up on leaving.
Now, standing in this tropical rainforest, feeling the humid climate and environment, the Slug Immortal couldn't help but think of his promise to Menma and his longing for freedom.
"Yes, this is it." Menma pointed to the wide river in front of him and said, "The rivers that flow from the high mountains of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth gradually converge in the Land of Rivers, forming a delta region of tropical rainforest. The primeval forest environment here is also the home of many animals."
He paused, then continued, "Moreover, this place is not suitable for human habitation to begin with. Only a few human villages are gathered here. Oh, right, I think there used to be a country called the Sky Country."
Menma thought of Shennong and Yuliu, whom he had met in Konoha a few years ago. He wondered if they had managed to steal the scroll that sealed the Zero-Tails, and how they were doing now.
Uchiha Hikaru walked over at that moment.
The damp environment made her very uncomfortable. She frowned slightly, raised her hand to fan away the stench of decay in front of her nose, and asked the person opposite her, "Is Mount Myōboku also like this, sticky and humid?"
Although the passage to the three holy lands is not mentioned in the original Naruto storyline, Menma speculates that the three holy lands should not be reached by means of summoning via contract scrolls.
Menma remembered that when Jiraiya first went to Mount Myōboku, although he went there in a daze using the Reverse Summoning Technique, Jiraiya encountered a giant snake on Mount Myōboku that was about to eat Gamabunta.
As everyone knows, Mount Myoboku is a sacred place for toads, so there shouldn't be any snakes there. Therefore, that snake must have come from outside.
Therefore, when Mianma communicated with the Slug Immortal and inquired, it indeed confirmed this point.
Even the Slug Sage didn't know where the passage to Mount Myōboku was.
Menma's certainty that the passage to Mount Myōboku was in the Land of Rivers was merely a guess based on the surrounding environment.
"Mount Myoboku has abundant natural energy, and the vegetation grows very lushly. Hmm—how should I put it?" Menma pinched his chin with his right hand, recalling Mount Myoboku from his memory, and slowly said, "The Araceae plants there can grow to hundreds of meters tall, and the insects are also very large."
"Araceae family?" Xiao Guang tilted his head, looking puzzled.
"You can think of them as some low-growing herbaceous plants," Menma explained.
"I don't quite understand it, but that's just how the environment is." Xiao Guang turned slightly to look at an unidentified plant by the river.
It was a huge herbaceous plant with thick roots and stems, large leaves, and clearly visible veins.
"Yes, that's it—oh, found it." Menma had just finished speaking when he sensed a strange fluctuation of natural energy.
Then, Menma instantly appeared, stepping on the river surface and quickly heading downstream.
Seeing this, Xiao Guang followed.
Not far away, Shisui, who was directing the construction of the camp, saw the two leave. He tightened his right hand on the hilt of his ninja sword at his lower back, turned around and instructed the others: "The engineering team must finish building the camp before dark. The cooks, speed up your work and ensure the safety of food and water."
"Yes, Lord Shisui!" everyone replied in unison.
On the wide river, two figures waded through the water, speeding downstream.
With Mianma in front, Xiaoguang kept a half-body distance to his side.
The wind howled across the river, the water receded rapidly beneath our feet, and the trees on both banks became blurry green afterimages.
The slug fairy perched on Mianma's shoulder, its two tentacles fluttering in the wind.
It sighed softly, looked at Mianma's resolute profile, and asked with mixed feelings, "Little Mianma, is this battle unavoidable?"
After all, they are old friends from over a thousand years ago. There are only a few of them left who survived from that era, so the Slug Immortal still has some affection for the toads.
"I warned them not to get involved in ninja affairs, but they wouldn't listen." Menma recalled the artificial humans Onoki Sora and Kirara that he had encountered during the Chunin Exams, as well as the wisps of natural energy and Sage Mode aura flowing from their wounds.
He had seen this kind of sage-like aura on Jiraiya before, which is why he was certain that Mount Myōboku had intervened in Iwagakure.
To be honest, Menma wasn't surprised that Onoki created an artificial human more than 20 years ahead of schedule.
After all, artificial human technology was a forbidden technique that was sealed by Iwagakure. It is understandable that Onoki took the risk of starting research on the forbidden technique of artificial humans when Iwagakure was facing a life-or-death crisis.
Menma just didn't expect the toads of Mount Myōboku to get involved, otherwise Ōnoki's artificial human technology wouldn't have progressed so quickly.
Clearly, the changes brought about by Menma have affected the entire ninja world. It is unknown what kind of crisis Mount Myōboku and the toads encountered in the future that the old toad dreamed of, which made it decide to interfere in the ninja world.
But in any case, Mount Myoboku has already crossed that red line.
"By the way, I remember toads are the natural enemies of slugs, right?" Menma tilted his head slightly, looking at the slug on his shoulder, and asked curiously, "Why are you pleading for them?"
"It's not about pleading for mercy." The slug sage gently shook its tentacles. "After all, we don't have much of a relationship. It's just a sentimental remark."
It paused, then mentioned Ryuji Cave again.
"So, what are you planning to do with Ryuji Cave?"
Menma said casually, "As long as they don't interfere with the ninja world and don't come out of Ryuchi Cave to eat people, I don't actually want to take action against the three holy lands. In fact, it's not impossible for them to obtain a protected area like you by paying some price."
After all, the actions of Mount Myōboku have crossed Menma's red line, constituting interference by foreign forces in the ninja world.
We must strike hard!
While we were chatting, we heard the sound of rushing water from ahead.
As Mianma and Xiaoguang swam further downstream, the sound of the water grew louder, like muffled thunder.
The water beneath Mianma and Xiaoguang's feet became increasingly turbulent.
The two of them leaped up at the same time and landed steadily on a huge rock by the river.
Before them, the riverbed suddenly broke, forming a huge waterfall thousands of meters wide!
The entire waterfall presents a huge arc shape, with the river water cascading down from a cliff hundreds of meters high, crashing into the valley below and producing a deafening roar.
White mist rises gently from beneath the waterfall, refracting into a magnificent rainbow under the sunlight.
"Found it!" Menma's lips curled up slightly as his Kagura Mind's Eye locked onto the natural energy fluctuations beneath the waterfall.