I am the most popular character in Naruto!

"???"

"ten years?!"

Chiaki almost shouted, but Orochimaru shrugged. "There's nothing we can do. The lower your strength, the slower your chakra absorption rate. You can try it yourself."

"...Snake Auntie~~~"

After assessing her own condition, Chiaki immediately resorted to acting cute towards Orochimaru.

"Perhaps you could try going to that place."

In response to Chiaki's coquettish behavior, Orochimaru handed her a tablet with a location flashing on it.

"Loulan?"

Chapter 679 Gobi Desert

desert.

Gobi.

The storm swept in, ravaging the faces of the new Class 7.

Yamato and Sai, who had prepared in advance, silently put on their masks, and Sakura also brought a scarf to protect herself from the wind and dust. Only Naruto, who was completely unprepared, exposed his rough face to the storm.

"It hurts..."

"What kind of place is this?!"

Despite his thick skin and ability to withstand storms, Naruto still felt pain when the sandstorm blew against him.

"Naruto, I told you to prepare some windproof items a long time ago, why didn't you listen?"

Sakura, with only her eyes visible beneath a veil and a sun hat on her head, spoke gloatingly to Naruto.

"Preparing in advance for a mission is a fundamental skill for every ninja. Naruto, you need to study hard!"

Wearing an animal mask, Yamato spoke to Naruto in a deep voice. Sai chuckled and added, "Naruto, keep up the good work! Once you've mastered these basics, you should be able to become a Chunin."

"……I!!!"

Naruto, deeply hurt, clutched his chest, speechless. The group had been walking across the Gobi Desert for quite some time, but still hadn't found the location of Loulan.

Yamato reluctantly took out the map, but after studying it for a long time, he gave up.

What's the point of this crappy map...?

It was just a piece of paper with the words "Loulan is in the center of the Gobi Desert" marked on it.

But who knows where they are now!

"Anyway, let's head northwest first..."

Sai looked at the sun hanging in the sky and pointed in a direction.

Looking around, the group was surrounded by the Gobi Desert. The barren ground offered no landmarks, and the only thing they could use to sense their direction was the sun.

However, the sun will eventually move, and without tools, their direction of travel cannot be guaranteed.

Well.

The technology tree in the ninja world is rather skewed; things like compasses and watches haven't appeared yet.

It did not appear in Konoha, at least.

The new seventh class kept walking in the "northwest" direction pointed out by Sai, but in the vast Gobi Desert, where could a sense of direction play any role?

As they walked, they gradually deviated from their original route and almost walked out of the Gobi Desert.

"Hey?"

"Why do I feel like the storm is getting smaller?"

Naruto, whose face was completely exposed, touched his cheek and said in confusion, "Could it be that my skin has gotten thicker and I can't feel the wind anymore?"

"No... there really is no wind."

Sakura touched her scarf, but it didn't move much, indicating that the storm had subsided.

"We must have gone the wrong way..."

Yamato pointed to the dark figures in the distance, "Based on my intuition, those should be trees..."

Do you think there are still large forests in Loulan, located deep in the Gobi Desert?

"They don't have any Wood Release ninjas..."

Sai looked up at the setting sun, scratched his head, and said, "If all else fails, let me ride a bird up and take a look?"

"No, birds fly too fast. Even if you find Loulan, you won't be able to find us when you turn around."

Yamato quickly stopped Sai, as searching for someone in the vast Gobi Desert was a difficult task.

On the vast Gobi Desert, people are like a few black dots, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Just like search and rescue at sea, using helicopters for search and rescue at sea is much more difficult than using boats.

"No way..."

Let's rest here for the day!

Naruto plopped down on the ground, adopting a posture of giving up.

It was indeed getting late, and the group had been walking across the Gobi Desert all day without finding anything, so they definitely needed to rest.

"Alright, let's call it a day for today. We'll plan how to find Loulan again tomorrow."

Yamato nodded, which was considered his approval of Naruto's slacking off.

"Great!"

Naruto jumped up. "Captain Yamato, quick, quick, release the house! Let's rest for a bit!"

"I'm starving!"

Generally speaking, ninjas do not eat when they are out on missions; at most, they will use soldier rations to replenish their body's energy needs.

However, the soldier pills are only a kind of medicine and cannot truly replace the happiness and satiety that food brings. When Sakura and Yamato heard Naruto shouting that he wanted to eat, they both felt hungry.

Sai... this child has been tortured to the point of being somewhat abnormal, and his need for food is not particularly high.

"Wood Release! The Four Pillars Technique!"

Yamato quickly formed hand seals and slapped the ground of the Gobi Desert with one hand.

Immediately afterwards, a complex wooden building suddenly appeared on the barren Gobi Desert. It looked beautiful and was quite practical.

"Wow……"

Naruto opened his mouth wide in amazement. Every time he saw this ninjutsu, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

This thing is so practical; it's like having a home with you anytime, anywhere, and it's incredibly comfortable.

Given the absurdly skewed technological foundation of the ninja world, ninjas spend most of their time traveling in the wild, as transportation in the ninja world is not well-developed.

In such circumstances, being able to comfortably camp outdoors becomes an extreme luxury.

A good rest will lead to better results in subsequent missions.

"Alright, stop opening your mouth and go inside."

Sakura kicked Naruto and ran into the house first.

As the only girl on the team, she was already at her breaking point from being battered by storms in the Gobi Desert.

It must be said that the ninjutsu that Yamato mastered were all particularly practical techniques.

Use Earth Release to create a windbreak wall, Wood Release to add some landscaping, Water Release to provide drinking water for the group, and then some versatile Fire Release. That completes the setup.

As dusk settled, the solitary wooden building on the Gobi Desert seemed to come alive, filled with laughter and cheerful voices.

Ok.

Most of the laughter came from Naruto; he could be the life of the party wherever he went.

"Alright, alright, let's go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow we'll figure out how to find Loulan's location."

As the moonlight began to completely envelop the Gobi Desert, Yamato clapped his hands, signaling that everyone could go and rest.

"If you ask me, I'd just release my shadow clones!"

Naruto clapped his hands and came up with a bold idea.

It must be said that this idea is indeed very good, and this can be considered one of the correct uses of shadow clones.

But.

"How can you guarantee that once the shadow clones find the location, we can accurately locate it?"

Sai raised a fatal problem: Shadow Clones can only transmit memories, but even with memories, they're useless on the Gobi Desert.

Just when the group was at their wits' end, there was a knock on the door downstairs.

Chapter 680 The Ghost Knocks on the Door

In the desolate Gobi Desert, in the pitch black, a knocking sound came from the door of a solitary house.

The group inside the house were terrified. Luckily, they hadn't been telling ghost stories that night, and they were all powerful ninjas, otherwise they would have been scared out of their wits and running around in panic.

"Naruto... Naruto... go!"

Sakura, trembling, kicked Naruto, who was also trembling. Yamato silently put on his mask, while Sai gave a fake smile that resembled that of a demon.

"Why...why me..."

Naruto's face was ashen. Even if he could make the Rasengan bigger and bigger, he would still be just as afraid of the unknown.

"How about I go?"

Sai stood up and smiled at everyone.

He was the kind of ninja who had no emotions, and fear was also nonexistent in his mind.

It's just opening a door, what's there to be afraid of?