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The Land of Rain, in the Shinobi World.
This area could be considered the most chaotic, whether it was during peacetime or wartime.
Let's not talk about peacetime. During the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, it was a mess of chaos.
If we were to say which country experienced the most war, the Land of Rain would probably win by a landslide. This was also due to its geographical location.
The surrounding powers of the Land of Rain were very complex.
If we're talking about major countries, the Land of Rain bordered the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Fire. Rain, the ninja village of the Land of Rain, couldn't really fight against these countries, but it would occasionally provoke them.
If we're talking about smaller countries, the Land of Rain bordered the Land of Birds, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Grass. These countries couldn't really defeat the Land of Rain, let alone a country like the Land of Rivers, which didn't even have a ninja village.
But when the major countries fought against the Land of Rain, these smaller countries liked to get involved…
If we were to conduct a strength assessment, although Amegakure was a small ninja village, under the leadership of its current leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, in terms of overall strength, it was the strongest ninja village besides the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Amegakure could easily defeat other small countries' ninja villages, but they had a large gap with the Five Great Nations. They were better than others, but not as good as the best.
Hanzo of the Salamander was a ninja with both strength and ambition. He was dissatisfied with his own position and Amegakure's position in the Shinobi World.
Hanzo and Amegakure's activity in the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars could actually be seen as his pursuit of the "Kage" position, wanting to make Amegakure equal to the Five Great Ninja Villages.
But this was very difficult to achieve. If we were to say it from an ordinary person's perspective, Hanzo's ambition was actually a delusion.
The "Five Kage" were the five people at the pinnacle of the world, surpassing nearly 100,000 ninjas. The leader of a small ninja village could never be called a "Kage." Even if a leader of a small ninja village with delusions of grandeur called himself a Kage, the Five Great Nations wouldn't acknowledge it, let alone the ninjas of their own village.
The difficulty of what Hanzo wanted to do was evident. He failed in the Second Shinobi World War. And looking at the Third Shinobi World War now, he was about to fail again.
The border between the Leaf Village and the Land of Rain.
It was always raining, and the atmosphere wasn't friendly—because it was a downpour. The Land of Rain would have downpours every few days.
In a certain dense forest, there was a very thick tree. From the outside, this tree, except for the fact that it had lived for a long time, was no different from the surrounding trees.
But in reality, this tree was hollow.
It was a secret base. At this moment, three Leaf Village ninjas were inside.
Then, the camouflage outside the tree hollow was lifted, and a fourth ninja walked in.
They were one of the reconnaissance teams of the Leaf Village. They could be temporarily called Team Haori.
This was the seventh day that Haori and his friends had been at the front line.
"There's really no danger. It was just a wild rabbit that triggered the trap."
Asuma walked in from the entrance of the tree hollow. Then, he carefully re-camouflaged the entrance. Only after he was done did he speak.
As he spoke, he also raised the gray rabbit in his hand.
The gray rabbit was fat. Maybe these guys could improve their meals.
The tree hollow's interior space was quite spacious, and the location was very hidden. After being discovered by these four, it became one of their active bases.
In the end, Team Haori was still carrying out reconnaissance missions at the front line according to the Hokage's arrangement. Even though there weren't any professional reconnaissance ninjas among them, they could only rely on their two legs to carry out reconnaissance missions. This mission couldn't be refused.
Actually, it wasn't like they didn't have any reconnaissance abilities at all. Of the four, Haori had a certain mid-range reconnaissance ability. But in terms of long-range reconnaissance, he was basically useless. Even if he used a summoning beast to fly up, it wouldn't help.
His eyesight had its limits. Besides, it rained every few days in the Land of Rain. The naked-eye visibility was imaginable.
Another ninja, Yamakage Aoba, had a certain degree of long-range reconnaissance ability, but he also relied on the Summoning Jutsu. The reliability was severely insufficient.
So, to ensure that the reconnaissance mission was completed with quality, this team had to run back and forth in the mission area.
Reconnaissance, and even infiltration reconnaissance, was always one of the most dangerous missions. In ordinary human wars, scouts and reconnaissance soldiers who carried out these missions were the most elite individuals.
Reconnaissance ninjas were the same. While having reconnaissance abilities, they often also had to have corresponding combat abilities.
So, the Hyuga clan was the most suitable for this kind of mission. Not only could they see far and see through things, but they were also very good at fighting.
But Haori's team was composed of Yūhi Kurenai, a Genin specializing in genjutsu, Yamakage Aoba, a newly promoted Chunin, Sarutobi Asuma, a newly promoted Chunin, and Haori himself, the captain.
Reconnaissance missions were very dangerous for them. Maybe these people would all have Jonin-level combat power in the future, but now they were still young ninjas.
The Third Hokage's willingness to put his own son on such a team to carry out reconnaissance missions close to the enemy country showed his attitude towards the Shinobi World War.
He was willing to fight to the death himself, and his son was no exception.
The tree hollow contained some of Team Haori's supplies: food, medicine, ninja tools, etc. After completing a reconnaissance mission, they would return to this place to rest.
They had several such bases in their reconnaissance area. To prevent them from losing all their supplies if they were exposed, these things were stored in batches.
It was raining heavily outside. The sound of raindrops hitting the canopy, the trunk, the ground, and the water surface constantly reached their ears.
The temperature was very low.
So, there was a fire burning in the tree hollow. The smoke was treated to be very faint and drifted into the downpour through the gaps in the tree hollow. Unless someone was extremely close to this place, they wouldn't be able to discover them.
And if someone could get that close, Haori and his team's perimeter security alarm arrangement or Haori's personal perception ability could detect the enemy.
The rabbit had just wandered into the trap they had set. Otherwise, would Asuma have the time to go out hunting to improve their meals while carrying out this kind of mission?
Go back to Mars. Ninjas aren't for you.
"Check your equipment, put out the fire, and then we'll leave soon." Haori didn't pay attention to Asuma and his rabbit. He emphasized that the mission was about to begin.
Team Haori's mission today was very dangerous. According to the mission requirements, they would first move parallel to the border, then turn ninety degrees at a suitable location and quickly enter the Land of Rain.
Although they wouldn't go deep into the Land of Rain, they would indeed be entering enemy territory.
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