Uchiha's personal opinion

Furthermore, Orochimaru and Ashina Uzumaki are respectively the director of the Engineering Academy and the director of the Research Institute, so it is quite reasonable to have them in charge of such matters as they are well-suited to their professions!

Moreover, given the current strength of the Shinobi World Government, it is perfectly normal for them to conduct a carpet search and drilling operation using a large-scale human wave tactic!

After all, in order to make this drama more realistic, the political ninjas of the Northern State and the United Administrative Region issued a bounty on the mine. Anyone who could find and report a chakra metal mine could receive an astronomical reward, and there would be no tax deduction!

Therefore, even though this large-scale 'mineral exploration campaign' had just begun and disturbed Nagato and the others located deep underground in the Land of Snow, they simply moved their base even deeper underground and didn't consider it a big deal.

After the Ninja World Government was officially established and the former Daimyo of the Land of Snow and even the Snow Village were abolished, they prepared to hide in the deeper underground world.

only……

"Teacher Afei..."

Nagato used his Rinnegan's sensory abilities to find Tobi, who was still sitting quietly at the place where Madara Uchiha's coffin disappeared.

"...Oh, it's Nagato!"

Although Afei's tone remained carefree, Nagato sensed a subtle hint of melancholy within it.

This isn't like Ah Fei at all!

Besides, would a White Zetsu, even one as advanced and powerful as Tobi, possess emotions?

They don't even have brains!

However, Nagato didn't dwell on the disrespectful thoughts and respectfully asked, "We're planning to move the base deeper underground. Would it be convenient for you..."

"I'm waiting for Black Zetsu!"

Afei's attitude was very firm.

"Black Zetsu-sensei said he would be leaving for a while, and you've been staying in this ice cave..."

Nagato said hesitantly.

He assumed that Black Zetsu left the base to find rogue ninjas like Sasori and recruit them back into the organization, unaware of Black Zetsu's true purpose or that this place was where Madara Uchiha's corpse was kept.

"You're a good boy..."

Although Afei was furious, he still patiently spoke to the Rinnegan host in his eyes: "However, there are things I will do and things I won't do. I must wait for Heizi to come back! If he doesn't come here then, you must tell me immediately!"

"……OK."

Nagato was already used to the love-hate relationship between Black Zetsu and Tobi.

At worst, I'll just tell both sides; that way, it won't be considered hiding anything.

Perhaps because he had never experienced setbacks or harsh realities since growing up in the icy wilderness, and because Black Zetsu had always been intentionally trying to prevent Nagato from being influenced by political maneuvering, Nagato, despite having some experience governing the Land of Snow, was still somewhat lacking in the ability to understand people's hearts—he even thought that Tobi and Black Zetsu were just having a conflict and didn't want to see each other.

"What a pair who love and hate each other..."

Nagato, who still had a slightly naive and innocent tendency, couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"By the way, why relocate the base?"

Ah Fei suddenly slapped his forehead and discovered the blind spot.

"Recently, the Shinobi World Government has begun a large-scale mineral exploration. Due to the exploration, there is a possibility that it will have some impact on the existing base. Therefore, Mr. Sasori has also suggested that we relocate the base to a deeper underground cave to avoid any accidents..."

Nagato answered immediately.

"Searching for minerals..."

Ah Fei looked thoughtful, as if he was deep in thought.

But at this moment its mind was empty, and apart from the feeling that it was about to grow a brain, it had no other thoughts at all!

"If there are minerals, we can just dig them up from underground!"

Afei suddenly blurted out, "That way, those Uchiha lackeys will have to leave empty-handed and will never bother us again!"

"...In that case, the remaining excavation traces in the mining area will more clearly expose our presence."

Nagato said it in a very tactful way.

"That's right! Actually, I was just testing you!"

Ah Fei nodded repeatedly, looking like a promising young man.

Nagato nodded dismissively and returned to the base to continue his work. After all, Tobi had done all sorts of nonsensical things before, and this problem was already within the realm of normalcy.

……

Orochimaru was in charge of searching the area that was formerly the Land of Snow, which is now the far west of the United Administrative Region.

The chief political officer of the joint administrative region is Uchiha Yomo, the councilor of the Ninja World Federation Council and the head of the Imperial Clan. Therefore, the support forces he can mobilize are extremely large. Within half a day, he has gathered three thousand ninjas. In addition, the mercenary ninjas brought by the United Company have turned the Land of Snow upside down!

However, they unexpectedly found three or four small chakra metal deposits within the Land of Snow, which made all the effort worthwhile.

However, the extremely frozen ice that Orochimaru was truly searching for has yet to be found.

"None of these are correct! The power of ice and cold is still insufficient!"

Although the ninja army found a considerable amount of deep ice under the guise of sampling, Orochimaru immediately recognized that the 'goods were not as advertised' when they were presented to him.

The mysterious ice that Uchiha Tokumitsu showed him left a deep impression on him, and he had also obtained a small 'sample' before this trip. Even though the sample in his hand was only a small piece the size of a fist, the icy power contained in it was much greater than that of these millstone-sized old ice blocks!

"Basically... we sampled all the ice blocks within the Snow Country."

The ninja in charge of the exploration also looked troubled, but dared not directly refute him, so he could only defend himself by saying, "Perhaps the special ice you mentioned is not produced in the Land of Snow..."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Orochimaru flatly denied it.

The reason he chose to be in charge of the search in the Land of Snow was because he subconsciously felt that the ice that Uchiha Tokumitsu displayed was produced in the Land of Snow!

If it's denied now, wouldn't that be a slap in the face for ourselves?

It's important to understand that while the two research institutes of the Shinobi World Government are ostensibly sister organizations working together, they actually engage in constant competition behind the scenes for research projects and funding. As the director of the research institute, Orochimaru naturally didn't want to lose to Ashina Uzumaki, who was in charge of the engineering institute!

Although Orochimaru knew that Ashina Uzumaki and the entire Uzumaki clan were going to great lengths to make their clan a 'clan' that was inextricably linked to the Uchiha Dynasty, and that their minds were not really on research and projects, he couldn't afford to lose because of that!

"But……"

The senior ninja in charge of leading the exploration team looked distressed.

"Use well exploration to drill deep wells beneath the snowfield!"

Orochimaru decisively said, "If you encounter resistance, the drill bit will go straight ahead; if the resistance increases, the drill bit will be thickened!"

"Ah, this..."

Upon hearing this, the Jonin was completely stunned!

Although we did prepare drill bits and other equipment before setting off, this is, after all, a frozen wasteland! A place where a slight mishap could trigger an avalanche, and yet we're setting up equipment to drill a deep well!

"Half the day is already over. Our task is to find ice blocks that meet the specifications within the day!"

Orochimaru snorted coldly and said in a sinister tone, "You know the consequences of failing the mission if you continue to waste time!"

The jonin in charge dared not say another word.

He was just a lucky ninja who was recruited into the ninja army. His status was worlds apart from that of Orochimaru, a true-blue shogunate veteran and high-ranking official of the dynasty. Naturally, he didn't dare to say anything more.

The task was indeed quite difficult...

"Also, this map has the locations I marked. You can just follow those locations to dig deep wells!"

Orochimaru handed over a map.

The Jonin immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Also, I know digging deep wells in the snowfield is dangerous, but this time I don't want to know the casualty figures. I just want to find the Xuanbing!"

Orochimaru turned his back, his already sinister tone turning chilling: "If anyone dies, you report it, and I'll provide compensation!"

"Yes, sir..."

Having said all that, the unlucky Jonin could only bow and accept his fate before leaving.

……

Ah Fei, who was still sitting blankly in the ice cave, felt increasingly uncomfortable!

After swarming across the snowy plains like ants, the Dynasty's ninja army returned less than two hours later.

Moreover, no one knew what was going on this time. Hiding in the underground ice cave, Afei felt that the noise coming from the ice layer was like countless drills trying to drill into his head, which made him extremely irritable!

"What the hell are these crawlers doing?!"

Furious, Ah Fei scratched his head and forehead, barely able to contain himself!

If it didn't still have some semblance of rationality, it would have rushed out of the ground and used its Wood Release technique to teach these 'reptiles' a lesson!

"Oh!"

Just as Afei was getting increasingly agitated, an extremely large drill shattered the ice above its head. Four grappling hooks then popped out from around the drill, securing a section of the ice before pulling it upwards.

"..."

Ah Fei was almost stunned!

That's almost 200 meters underground!

When did the Shinobi World Government's mineral exploration methods become so advanced?

"oops!"

Suddenly, Ah Fei slapped his forehead.

"Kuroko must have known that someone might disturb Lord Madara's rest, so he brought up moving the coffin!"

That makes sense!

Feeling that he had finally grasped the brilliance of Black Zetsu's actions, Tobi was in high spirits. He then wagged his tail and disappeared deeper underground. After chatting with Nagato for a while, he announced that he was going back to the secret base in the Land of Birds and that Black Zetsu didn't need to notify him when he returned.

Although Nagato didn't know how Tobi-sensei had changed so much in just half a day, he didn't ask any questions based on his understanding of White Zetsu's unconventional personality.

Therefore, among the men left behind by Madara Uchiha, Tobi, the most powerful Wood Release user, quickly fled back to his secret base, feeling guilty and ashamed towards Black Zetsu.

"It seems I misunderstood Xiao Heizi before!"

Along the way, Afei also began to "deeply" reflect on his past actions and increasingly felt that he had done many things wrong.

So, Afei found a cave underground and stopped there. He took out "The Sayings of Tokugawa (Top Secret Internal Edition of the Shogunate)" from his body and started reading it again.

Its memory isn't very good, so it needs to be reviewed frequently to 'learn something new by reviewing the old'.