Land of Earth

After killing Yagi Nobuto, the three of them did not immediately return to the convoy.

After standing there in silence for a long while, Nawaki finally spoke.

"Th-this... we just killed four ninja like that? Weren't they way too weak?"

"No, one of them seemed to be a Chunin—the one Kiyoshi dealt with."

"That makes it even harder to believe. Killing them was way too easy. I feel like they weren't even as tough as the Matsuoka Brothers last time."

"That's true."

Uchiha Kiyoshi had figured it out as well, and he explained it to the other two.

"It's different. Those four were Rogue Ninja. Their Ninjutsu was terrible. The three Genin probably knew nothing but the Three Basic Techniques, and I doubt they had even mastered those properly. They had merely refined Chakra, making them stronger than ordinary people, and they were more ruthless when they attacked. Compared to them, the Matsuoka Brothers had started out as samurai. They had plenty of real combat experience and fighting skills, and after switching to Chakra cultivation, they became even stronger."

"They were that pitiful? They didn't even know any Ninjutsu? They hadn't mastered the Three Basic Techniques, yet they still dared to come out and rob people? And they tried to rob us Konoha Shinobi?"

Nawaki found it hard to believe.

Uchiha Kiyoshi gave him an annoyed look.

"Do you think Ninjutsu grows on trees? That you can have it whenever you want? Only people like us, with villages and clans behind us, can obtain quite a few powerful Ninjutsu. Out here, Ninjutsu is extremely difficult to acquire. I had only read about it in books before, but now I understand just how hard it is. Even a Chunin only had a trashy C-rank Ninjutsu. Sigh! Rogue Ninja really do have it rough. They have no systematic guidance, and Ninjutsu is so hard to obtain. Compared to them, we're much luckier."

"Yeah, it isn't easy for them. That's why we should be even more grateful to the village, train hard, and grow strong as soon as possible. Only then can we protect the village better."

Sarutobi Saku sighed as well.

Caught off guard by Sarutobi Saku's Will of Fire indoctrination, Uchiha Kiyoshi muttered to himself.

Just how did Sarutobi Hiruzen educate Sarutobi Saku? The Will of Fire has sunk in way too deeply. He has to mention it every chance he gets. But if the Third is so good at raising kids, how did that Konohamaru from the original story end up with that kind of personality?

After complaining inwardly, Uchiha Kiyoshi stopped dwelling on it. None of that was his concern.

Once they returned to the convoy, the group set off again, heading for Great Tree City in the Land of Earth.

They encountered bandits a few more times along the way, but no ninja were involved. When the bandits saw the Konoha Headbands on Uchiha Kiyoshi and the other two, they wisely chose not to fight and retreated on their own.

A ninja's destructive power was no joke. Ninja might look frail, practically made of paper, and in battle, getting hit often meant severe injury or even death. But that was only when their opponents were also ninja.

Ninja possessed Chakra, which could greatly enhance their physical abilities for short periods. Their strength, speed, and defense all far exceeded those of ordinary people. Even a samurai's martial techniques might not be able to hit them, and even if they did, they might not have much effect.

That was why ninja could replace the samurai system. Aside from how quickly they could be trained, Chakra's enhancement of the body and the various miraculous Ninjutsu it enabled were also key factors.

Unfortunately, Chakra is always an unstable factor. Chakra originated from the Otsutsuki Clan, and it could be "reclaimed" at any time. If possible, I need to find a way to deal with that.

This was another reason Uchiha Kiyoshi feared Chakra. Aside from damaging the body, its origin itself was a problem.

It came from the God Tree of the Otsutsuki Clan. If he encountered a true Ōtsutsuki, he would be completely countered. As long as they could touch him, they could absorb his Chakra. It was simply too overpowered.

Uchiha Kiyoshi had always been searching for countermeasures, but he was still too weak to explore that field. For now, he could only continue using Chakra. Fortunately, Kaguya Otsutsuki's appearance was still a long way off, so he had plenty of time.

Besides, I'm an Uchiha. I already have Ōtsutsuki blood. If it comes down to it, couldn't I keep purifying my bloodline and undergo an ancestral reversion?

Shaking his head, Uchiha Kiyoshi rejected the thought. Unless he had no other choice, he did not want to use special methods such as bloodline purification or cell transplantation—things that required technology and involved all sorts of modifications to his body.

Uchiha Kiyoshi was not opposed to science, but he did not want to use too many artificial modifications in his cultivation. He preferred his growth to be more natural. Only power cultivated entirely by himself would be easy to control.

Otherwise, transplanting someone else's cells or organs into his body would definitely make him uncomfortable.

Unlike the fertile Land of Fire, the Land of Earth was mostly rocky terrain, and its soil was comparatively poor. However, trees that grew in such harsh conditions were generally of better quality.

Otherwise, why would they travel all the way here to purchase timber when the Land of Fire had vast forests?

Of course, harsher growing conditions could improve the quality of wood, but there was a limit. If the trees lacked nutrition, they would not grow tall or well. If the environment was too bad, then even if the trees grew well, there would never be enough of them.

Therefore, most timber came from the relatively better lands in the part of the Land of Earth closest to the Land of Fire. Great Tree City had been built there as well.

The Land of Earth was one of the Five Great Nations. It had Iwagakure, a powerful ninja village, and its overall strength was not weak.

Iwagakure had always produced talented people without ever suffering a gap in its generations. It had constantly been guarded by multiple powerful ninja. Both the Four-Tails and Five-Tails were in this ninja village, and each had a corresponding Jinchuriki. Throughout the entire anime, they had remained combat-capable forces, unlike Uzumaki Kushina or Uzumaki Naruto, who had periods when they could not control their Tailed Beasts.

Aside from its two Jinchuriki, Iwagakure also possessed what was likely the only Kekkei Tōta in the entire Ninja World: Dust Release. It was a type of Ninjutsu formed by fusing three Chakra natures, with power far surpassing that of a Kekkei Genkai.

In short, Iwagakure was very strong. Even as Konoha Shinobi, they had better keep a low profile while on its territory.

However, Team 3's destination this time was only Great Tree City, located on the edge of the Land of Earth rather than deep within it. They probably would not provoke any Iwagakure ninja... right?

Three more days passed, and Uchiha Kiyoshi's group finally arrived at Great Tree City.

Great Tree City lived up to its name. The entire city made its living through buying and selling timber. Aside from several indispensable inns, nearly every other shop dealt in wood.

It was the first time Uchiha Kiyoshi and the other two had seen such a distinctive city. A whole city selling timber was quite novel to people like them, who had only left the village once before.

During the two days the merchant caravan spent purchasing goods, Nawaki dragged Uchiha Kiyoshi and Sarutobi Saku around Great Tree City for a good look. There was not much to see, but it was still a fresh experience.