The gale howled by, accompanied by a strange sound of breaking through the void, and Su Xiao, wearing a hood, instinctively shielded his face with his arm.

With a crashing sound, countless tiny pebbles pelted against the hood.

"How much further?"

Su Xiao’s voice sounded somewhat peculiar; he seemed reluctant to open his mouth while speaking. This was due to the ’Rock Rain’ peculiar to The Land of Earth. Opening one’s mouth while speaking would result in pebbles being blown into it.

The so-called Rock Rain is caused by the unique climate of The Land of Earth. Most of The Land of Earth’s territory consists of desolate rock faces and Gobi Deserts, with dry and barren land. The winds howl akin to its neighbor, Wind Country.

While Wind Country blows sand, The Land of Earth blows pebbles — very small pebbles.

Thud, thud, thud...

Amidst the yellow-hued Gobi Desert landscape, a clashing metal sound can be heard — an elder carrying two buckets. This is a traveling merchant whose goods are very special and include something akin to cactus fruit, which passersby often purchase to quench their thirst.

The scarcity of water in The Land of Earth makes such traveling merchants a frequent sight on the Gobi Desert.

From an environmental standpoint, The Land of Earth’s climate is harsher than Wind Country’s, with scarce resources. Surprisingly, The Land of Earth is not impoverished. It’s richer than Wind Country and Land of Water, slightly inferior to Country of Fire, and economically comparable to The Land of Thunder.

What leads to this situation is the extreme unity within Iwagakure Village, akin to a mountain formed from rock that is even more united than Hidden Cloud Village.

Unity signifies internal solidarity, absent of autocracy. Additionally, the Third Tsuchikage Onogi is a ruthless figure, aware of his nation’s barrenness. Thus, he dispatches troops to seize resources from surrounding small nations. He solely cares for his governorship’s civilians, while deliberately ignoring the civilians of other small nations.

Fortunately, The Land of Earth is surrounded by numerous small countries, including Country of Waterfalls, Land of Frost, Grass Country, and Land of Birds — among seven small countries that must annually offer resources to The Land of Earth, thus transforming the resource-scarce nation into a wealthy one.

If comparing the happiness index among the residents of the Naruto World, undoubtedly, The Land of Earth would top the list, as the country’s resources are ’seized,’ and citizens enjoy these resources at very low costs.

If a Country of Fire civilian earns enough in a day’s work to buy five days’ worth of provisions, a civilian of The Land of Earth can at least earn enough to buy half a month’s worth of provisions in a single day’s work.

War, to the residents of The Land of Earth, seems more like leisurely entertainment amidst meals. As long as large-scale wars don’t erupt, they remain unaffected, unlike the suffering civilians of Wind Country.

Greater happiness indexes mean The Land of Earth’s civilians cherish their Daimyo and Iwagakure Village more, and are more willing to become an Iwagakure Ninja.

Shuyan Village, a small village nestled amidst mountains, surrounded by mountain ranges. The village has a population of around a thousand people. Due to its proximity to Iwagakure Village, its economy is more developed than some towns.

Dusk’s sunset bathes Shuyan Village, with smoke curling slightly from kitchens. Unoccupied civilians either sit by their doors chatting idly or children giggle, playing chase along the street.

An elder sits at his doorstep on a piece of Qing Shi, a long-stemmed smoking pipe between his lips. His wrinkled face shows a smile, with age spots indicating he is over seventy years old — such healthy elders are rarely seen in the Naruto World.

Caw~ caw~ caw~

The cawing of crows resounds from the sky, halting the elder’s hand. His rich life’s experience recognizes this as a crow; yet, The Land of Earth has no such bird.

Under the sunset, several figures stand atop the eastern mountain wall of Shuyan Village.

"Make it quick and decisive; that old man Onogi is already being stalled."

Obito speaks as chaos ensues several kilometers away in Iwagakure Village, due to Bai Jue infiltrating it.

"There are at least 8 Jonin here, rumor has it Huang Tu is among them. That guy is known as the Iwagakure Wall, an Earth Jutsu expert whom even Onogi highly trusts." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The Jonin Huang Tu mentioned by Obito is far less renowned than Kakashi or Asuma, but Huang Tu’s strength might exceed that of Kakashi and Asuma.

In the original series, Su Xiao once noted this ninja named Huang Tu. A low-profile Earth Style ninja, his appearance was very ordinary, resembling an averagely overweight middle-aged man, but with a towering presence of at least over two meters tall.

Su Xiao pays attention to Huang Tu because, in the original series, he used a single large Earth Jutsu to suppress the Ten-Tails — yes, this low-profile Iwagakure ninja without Bloodline Limit did.

"You handle the Jonin outside; I’ll quickly infiltrate the prison beneath the village and withdraw once Deidara is rescued."

Prior to reaching Shuyan Village, Su Xiao and his team had already strategized. First, Bai Jue was responsible for infiltrating Iwagakure Village several kilometers away, creating chaos and stalling the Tsuchikage Onogi.

Obito would handle the ninja stationed within Shuyan Village, while Su Xiao would penetrate straight to the underground prison in Shuyan Village, swiftly locating Deidara — rescuing him if possible, and providing a merciful end if not.

Deidara had been captured for a few days, during which he might have been interrogated. Even if Deidara were reduced to a barely human state, Su Xiao wouldn’t be surprised — such is standard procedure.

"Fire Style: Impatiens Jutsu."

Obito rapidly creates a seal, then brings his hands together. Chakra bursts forth from within him, generating over a hundred small fireballs before him. This is just a C-level ninja technique; the effectiveness of ninjutsu doesn’t depend on rank but on the timing in its execution.

Over a hundred small fireballs fly toward the sky, gradually dispersing. Seconds later, these small fireballs descend upon Shuyan Village like a fiery rain.

"Ah!!"

A woman’s scream breaks the tranquility of Shuyan Village as fireballs crash into individual homes within the village. Moments later, flames emerge from various rooftops.

Dozens of figures ascend the rooftops; they are Iwagakure Village’s ninja, consisting of several Jonin, though Chunin are the majority.

"They’re coming. Act according to the planned schedule. Within five minutes, the main force will arrive."

The Iwagakure ninjas remained calm, as if they had anticipated this attack all along.

Swish, swish, swish...

Dozens more figures appeared. In this village with only about a thousand residents, there were unexpectedly over a hundred ninjas stationed. In the past, even as a secret prison of Iwagakure Village, there would at most be 2 to 3 Jonin and a dozen Chunin stationed.

Although Onogi didn’t quite believe that the Akatsuki Organization would come to rescue Deidara, his cautious nature led him to make arrangements in case the Akatsuki really tried to snatch him away.

Fierce flames erupted within the village, and a strange scene unfolded. After the initial panic, the civilians orderly retreated towards the west side of the village. Surrounded by mountains, that was the only exit.

"That old fox, the Tsuchikage."

Upon seeing the civilians’ reaction, Obito knew that today’s affair wouldn’t go as smoothly as anticipated.

"Moo!"

The roar of a bull echoed by Obito’s ear, causing him to turn his head slightly.

A Mu let out a mighty roar and leaped from a cliff dozens of meters high, crashing onto a burning house below.

Boom!

It was as if a bomb had exploded inside the house—burning debris flew, and sparks scattered everywhere.

Crack, crack...

The shattered wood broke apart. A Mu swung his massive hand, pushing aside the burning planks around him, and emerged from the ruined house.

"Moo!!"

A Mu roared again. His main task was to draw fire, colloquially known as taking a beating.

In the village, on the rooftop of a stone house, over a dozen Iwagakure ninjas crouched, watching coldly despite the chaos around them, because they had a mission.

"Hold this position at all costs."

A Jonin spoke up.

"Understood."

"Clear."

"Those Akatsuki scoundrels are insane to dare attack this place."

A young Chunin spoke, and as he finished, the leading Jonin gave him a sharp look.

Suddenly, there was a faint whooshing sound, and the young Chunin turned his head in confusion.

Zing!

The dazzling blade aura reflected in his eyes, and he still didn’t know what had happened.

Blood splattered, limbs rolled off the rooftop, and several Chunin were sliced to pieces in an instant. Su Xiao stood on the blood-stained tiles.

"So this is the entrance."

Su Xiao gazed at the stone house beneath his feet. According to Shinfuru’s perception, this was the entrance to the underground prison.

Several pairs of terrified eyes looked at Su Xiao. Blood was still trickling down some of their faces, and among them, a young Chunin’s leg began to tremble uncontrollably. He recognized Su Xiao, and it was no wonder; Su Xiao’s deeds in the Naruto World had made him a notorious villain.

Before meeting Su Xiao, the young Chunin thought that if he could take down Su Xiao himself, his reputation would spread throughout the ninja world. Maybe he could even be promoted to Jonin? No, he definitely would be.

But after seeing Su Xiao, the young Chunin’s thought was whether he could escape.

"Stay calm. Hold him off for a little longer, reinforcements will be here soon..."

The rooftop Jonin’s words trailed off as he realized a pair of eyes were locked onto him.

"Earth Jutsu..."

Zing.

The sharp sound of a blade’s cleave echoed. The Jonin leaped aside with a face full of pain, a severed arm flying through the air.

"The speed... it’s terrifying."