Land of Grass.
Compared to the Land of Wind, this place was no more than a tiny patch of land.
However, its environment was more than ten times better than the Land of Wind's.
The climate was humid, the land fertile, and the vegetation thrived. It was a natural storehouse of medicinal herbs.
By selling medicinal materials, Kusagakure was considered one of the better villages beneath the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Although Konoha and Sunagakure had gone to war, the conflict had not yet reached great intensity.
The other villages were all watching and waiting for intelligence.
Kusagakure had been an important battlefield during the three Great Ninja Wars. Uchiha Obito had died there—or rather, gone missing.
Kusagakure shinobi had participated in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, and they excelled at studying the ninjutsu of other nations.
Kusagakure shinobi were adept at using diplomatic means to maneuver among the major powers, allowing them to grasp shifts in the situation early and protect themselves.
As a result, they were exceptionally skilled at gathering intelligence.
Over the past two days, Konoha's demand for Sunagakure to ransom its captives had spread far and wide.
Every village could see that Sunagakure was having a difficult time now.
The war had only ended not long ago, yet they had already suffered such a huge loss.
If not for the intelligence Konoha had released, Sunagakure would not even have known that so many of its people had been captured.
Now that Konoha was beginning to exert its strength, Kusagakure was even more sensitive to such matters.
Having received the news earlier, they began holding a meeting as well.
Two political factions controlled Kusagakure.
One was Grass Fruit, and the other was Grass Flower.
Grass Fruit was the hawkish faction that advocated war, while Grass Flower was