Naruto: From Novice to Grave

How many countries are there in the ninja world? Probably no one can know for sure.

Unless we drag that dead Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo out from the edge of the Pure Land and make him update today's ninja world country changes.

The five major powers are located in the four central areas, interspersed with countless medium, small and micro-sized countries.

Some of the more famous ones include the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, the Land of Hot Water, the Land of Waterfalls, and the Land of Bears.

These are all powerful countries that have their own independent ninja villages.

With the establishment of the ninja village, the small country developed an ambition to become the sixth largest country, just like Ah San's dream of becoming a permanent member of the ruling society in his previous life.

The Land of Waterfalls was once powerful, and even acquired a tailed beast, the Seven-Tails, Chōmei. However, after being thoroughly defeated by Kakuzu, it became docile and now hides in a corner, taking advantage of its geographical location, occasionally venturing out to reap some benefits.

The Land of Rain produced a demigod, Hanzo the Salamander, who attempted to challenge for the position of the Sixth Great Nation, invading neighboring countries and initiating the Second Shinobi World War. He was then defeated by the combined forces of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha.

He has already behaved himself and is begging for mercy.

There are also some countries with large territories but no ninja villages, such as the Land of Rivers, the Land of Fields, and the Land of Demons. They delegate all their entrusted tasks to the neighboring major powers.

These countries, together with the Five Great Nations, form the present-day ninja world. Since the establishment of the one country, one village system, although the various ninja wars have been brutal, they have not changed the territorial structure of these countries.

What most people don't know is that nestled among these large and medium-sized countries are countless tiny nations, such as the Land of the Pupil, the Land of the Claw, the Land of the Fang, and the Land of the Vegetable, some of which may only be the size of a single city.

These small countries are established and destroyed on a daily basis, and nobody cares.

Famous ninjas in the ninja world, such as Sasori of the Red Sand, often claim that they single-handedly destroyed a country, usually referring to such a country.

It sounds impressive, but it's not a big deal. Plenty of people in the five great ninja villages can do it.

Big countries bully small countries, small countries bully even smaller ones, and so on... There's nothing left to bully, so they can only endure it, or bully their own people for fun.

Of all the countries, the Land of Fire, where Konoha is located, is not the largest in area, but it has the best natural conditions, with most of the country covered in dense forests and rich in resources.

The country has excellent rainfall and heat conditions, fertile land, and is very suitable for agricultural production. At the same time, it has a developed commercial sector and a prosperous economy.

No wonder they always get attacked first in every war. They act like rich guys, so who else would they attack if not them?

----------

Is the ninja world large? For ordinary people, yes.

But for ninjas, the ninja world isn't that big. One of Madara Uchiha's boastful quotes is: "The ninja world is too small for me to mess around with."

In the forest of the Land of Fire, four figures leaped forward at great speed, their feet making a soft "tap-tap" sound as they touched the tree trunks.

This is how ninjas travel: high-speed, efficient, and able to ignore any complex terrain.

Ninjas don't use light-footed techniques; they rely on bursts of chakra to jump. So, they inevitably make noise when they land. The stronger a ninja is and the more perfect their control over chakra and their body, the less noise they leave behind.

However, among the four figures today, one was clearly different from his companions. His figure was like a gust of wind, elegant and graceful, but extremely fast. When he landed, there was hardly any sound.

This unique art style is naturally Higashino Makoto.

Wind-attribute chakra possesses a light and fluid nature. In order to realize his wish to fly, Higashino Makoto has devoted a great deal of effort to training in this nature transformation over the years, relying on his superb chakra control ability brought about by the modification of natural energy.

Therefore, he also divided it into three stages.

The first stage, Wind Release: Light Air Technique, utilizes the light and flowing nature of the wind attribute to increase movement speed and achieve maximum silence.

The second stage, Wind Release: Levitation Technique, allows the user to remain suspended in the air for a short period of time and perform various maneuvers, catching the enemy off guard.

At the same time, it can be said that the dream of flying has been realized in its first stage. When it moves, it makes almost no noise, like a ghost.

He is currently in this stage. A few days ago, during the strength test battle with Moonlight Cloud, he used this technique. He was clearly in the air in front of Moonlight Cloud, with nowhere to get support, and it looked like he was about to be grabbed by Moonlight Cloud and lose his strength in an instant, but he suddenly appeared behind Moonlight Cloud and almost succeeded in killing him.

The third stage, Wind Release: Flying Technique, is named after the world of Doragonpolo. At this stage, one can fly freely like a bird.

At the same time, Higashino also felt that the third stage should also be a wind-style chakra mode, similar to the lightning-style chakra mode of the Raikage.

Moonlight Clouds led the way, his face expressionless.

As Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate hurried along, they watched with envy Higashino Makoto's uniquely styled moving figure. So handsome, they wanted him too.

Higashino Makoto naturally didn't hold back his knowledge from his friends, but knowing something is one thing, being able to do it is another; it requires talent.

Ordinary people have limits to their control over chakra.

As a Jonin, Gekko Unmi secretly tried it out in private, and then discovered that it was damn difficult. It would take at least ten years to reach the so-called first stage. His disciple was not human, but a chakra monster.

Come to think of it, if it were that easy, then the ninjas of Sunagakure and Iwagakure would all be in the sky, and there would be no point in fighting them.

----------

"Da da da!"

Moonlight Cloud took the lead and landed: "Let's rest here for a while. When ninjas are traveling, they should try not to overuse their chakra, so as not to be unable to resist when they encounter danger."

Upon hearing this, Uzuki Yugao wiped the sweat from her face and nodded in agreement. It was the first time she had traveled at such a high intensity, and she was indeed quite tired.

Moonlight Gale didn't sweat, but he let out slightly heavy breathing. His physical condition was severely hindering his strength; it was congenital and there was no way to fix it for the time being.

Only Higashino Shin landed lightly on the ground as if nothing had happened.

The three of them glanced at each other, but didn't want to say anything.

Moonlight Cloud winked at Higashino Makoto, who scanned the surroundings and returned a safe gesture.

After seeing this, Tsukikage Unkan nodded and said to the three of them, "Although it is just a mission to track down and eliminate bandits, we are currently in a period of war, and a large number of rogue ninjas and intelligence teams from other countries are roaming the ninja world. Therefore, we must be especially careful when we are out there. The mission may be upgraded from C-rank to B-rank or even higher at any time."

Uzuki Yugao asked curiously, "Are there still bandits who dare to cause trouble in the Land of Fire? Aren't they afraid of dying?"

Moonlight Cloud sighed slightly and said, "They are mostly people from neighboring small countries. It's wartime now, and Konoha is short-handed, so they're thinking of taking advantage of the situation to make a quick buck."

There's one more thing he didn't mention: there are also people in the country who can't survive and turn to banditry. After all, the ninja world is a distorted world. It seems to have entered the electric age and has advanced technology, but in essence, it is still a feudal system of daimyo and lords.

Some lords did not treat their subjects as human beings at all, which naturally gave rise to a large number of bandits.

This is a bit too dark. The disciple is still young and doesn't need to know these things yet.

After resting, the four set off again, and after spending most of the day, they arrived at the port city of Hemo, a coastal city in the southwestern corner of the Land of Fire, in the evening.

This is a major port in the southwest of the Land of Fire, bordering the Land of Rivers to the west. It is connected to the Land of Islands at sea, the Land of Tea and the Land of Commerce on the peninsula, and the Land of Wind to the west via the sea route through Chayu Bay. It is one of the important sea outlets in the southern part of the Land of Fire.