Land of Rice Fields.
The Land of Rice Fields was a small country bordering Konoha. It had not possessed a ninja village in the past, but it still had several Ninja Clans.
So-called Ninja Clans were not necessarily clans with dozens of ninja.
Rather, if one or two skilled Ninjutsu could be passed down to descendants, if they possessed a particularly outstanding fighting style, had once enjoyed glory before declining, or if ninja deliberately sought to establish a clan, then that counted as a Ninja Clan.
At the same time, a clan did not need many ninja. Even one or two people could be called a clan based on certain distinctive traits.
The Land of Rice Fields had once had a talentless yet arrogantly self-important Daimyo who attempted to expand its territory and launched wars against neighboring countries. This caused the ninja clans within its borders to decline and flee. The Land of Rice Fields could only accept its fate, but it had never given up on establishing a ninja village of its own.
After Orochimaru left Akatsuki, he bribed the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields. The two immediately hit it off, and the Daimyo permitted Orochimaru to establish Hidden Sound Village within his country.
However, Hidden Sound Village was not employed by the Land of Rice Fields and obeyed only Orochimaru's orders.
In the forest along the border between the Land of Rice Fields and Konoha, a standard squad—temporarily assembled from two Chunin stationed at the border and one Jonin—was pursuing an intelligence ninja from another village who had defected from Konoha.
This intelligence ninja had been hiding in Konoha all along. On the surface, he was a Chunin, but in truth, he was an intelligence ninja with Jonin-level strength. He raced through the forest atop tree