Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 288 Lanlin City

"Good morning!" The energetic girl, who had slept very well, gave her friends a big smile, then she noticed the unusual weariness on the boy's face. "Did you two not sleep last night? You look so tired."

"Haha, it's been a while since we last met, so we chatted a bit longer and I lost track of time." Naruto scratched his head and quickly darted to the stove to help serve breakfast.

Sasuke didn't react much, but his aura seemed colder than yesterday, and he couldn't concentrate, as if he had something on his mind.

After finishing their meal, the group tidied up the house a bit and set off. This mud house would remain on this mountain, and it should stand for at least twenty years without any problem. However, the empty holes in the walls might need to be fitted with windows, and the rather inhumane mud door panels would also need to be manually modified.

As originally planned, Sasuke was to travel to Lanlin City with them. Coincidentally, this city was also one of Sasuke's targets, as the best route to Hozuki Castle started from Lanlin City. Perhaps considering the special nature of imprisoning prisoners, the Five Great Nations, even though the Land of Earth was nearby, did not choose to have the Land of Earth handle resource supply matters, but instead outsourced the route to the Land of Frost, an ordinary small country without its own ninja village. Without this outsourcing, a large city like Lanlin City probably would never have existed in the Land of Frost.

"I'm not going into the city with you. My identity this time shouldn't be associated with ninjas." Sasuke stopped just before entering the city. Lanlin City is special; entry control is much stricter than in other towns. Without official identification, one needs to carefully avoid patrols, as these patrols check the identities of anyone who doesn't look like a local. While ninjas could do that, it would be too exhausting. Therefore, it's better to enter the city with official identification, one that fits the purpose of this infiltration mission.

"You wouldn't tell me your disguise yesterday, and you won't tell me today either? I wanted to see how you were disguised, just in case there were any flaws, Sakura could help me out." Naruto's tone even carried a hint of grievance. "Anyway, you're not going in yet, you'll be on the ship soon, we'll see each other eventually..."

Sasuke silently shifted his gaze from Naruto and turned to Jiraiya, saying, "You don't have as much time as I do for your mission, so hurry up and get into the city."

"Alright, weren't you the one who was in a hurry to take on the mission? There are still many people waiting for you to save them!" Sakura seemed to understand something from Sasuke's uncomfortable expression, and turned around to push Naruto away.

"I know! Hmph, just you wait, I'll see, Sasuke!"

The entry process remained the same, only this time it was much stricter. The officer checking the documents even used a magnifying glass to examine details that were difficult to discern with the naked eye. Only after confirming everything was normal and the entry documents had passed did they manage to put on a somewhat formulaic smile and hand them over to the envoy who had come to guide them.

"Welcome to Lanlin City, ninjas. My name is Ye Ming, and I am the guide appointed by His Majesty the King. If you encounter any problems in Lanlin City, you can come to me for help." The man who called himself Ye Ming kept his head down, looking cautious and timid, but he did not have a humble aura, nor did his emotions fluctuate much. He was the kind of person who was hard to fathom.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Lanlin City is the largest city in the Frost Kingdom, and therefore its capital. The city lord here is the ruler of the Frost Kingdom, and according to intelligence, this ruler is quite young, having only ascended the throne in the last two years. The previous ruler was publicly stated to have died of illness, and was also not very old, around forty or fifty years old. Because this place is so close to Akatsuki's stronghold, who knows how many White Zetsu have infiltrated the area, so Hui has been very cautious in his exploration of this territory.

They really present you with a difficult problem as soon as you walk in; whether they are friend or foe, you'll have to figure it out yourself.

Although this mission was assigned by the lord, a satisfactory answer is still required to gain an audience with him. After all, this place has received outsourced industries from the five great nations and frequently transports criminals from the ninja world, so its tolerance for ninjas is even lower than in other places.

Naruto wouldn't care about such things, but he still specifically instructed his teammates not to dress too much like ninjas during the investigation. Of course, first-hand information should be obtained from interviews with civilians, so as not to make the locals too resistant to them.

"That's all for the missing persons case. If you want more detailed information, just ask your guide. He's the person directly in charge of the case."

Although the entry inspection was very thorough, the way foreign guests were received was quite perfunctory. The diplomatic staff did not even show their faces, and no hotels or anything like that were arranged. As soon as they entered the city, they went straight to the government office in charge of the case investigation, without any detours.

"Mr. Yeming didn't tell us this." Naruto smiled and verbally punched the person next to him.

"I apologize, this case has been under investigation for far too long. I was too eager to resolve it and forgot to tell you about my other identity. But that's not important. As long as we can find the missing persons and put the public at ease, who is in charge doesn't matter." Ye Ming's smile was a little more relaxed than the city guards', but it was still a fake smile.

The high-ranking official introducing the case wore a similarly fake benevolent expression. "The young man is rather impetuous, please bear with him. The King initially thought Konoha would send an older ninja, who happens to be Ye Ming's age, making communication easier. I never expected this, hahaha..."

"Rest assured, the Hokage has certainly considered all aspects before sending us out, and we will definitely assist you in solving the case," Naruto said businesslike, defending his team.

"Of course I trust the Hokage's judgment. Not everyone has the chance to meet Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin."

That's how older people are; they believe more in experience and legends, their thinking solidified by decades of collected intelligence. His trust was based on the Three Ninja, not on the captain of this mission.

Naruto was used to this kind of disdain and turned to ask, "If there are no other questions, shall we begin the information exchange immediately? I think this mission is quite urgent."

"Of course, this way please."