"Tap!"
On the dirt-covered road, a foot lightly touched down, kicking up a little dust that formed a ring of smoke and slowly spread outward from beneath it.
"Hah..."
Then came a breath that sounded both like a sigh of relief and one of exhaustion.
"Let's rest for a bit. The village is just ahead."
Chiba slowly straightened up and looked around. Bright sunlight poured down upon the great road built by the Land of Fire. The shade of the trees on either side held a faint golden hue beneath the sun, stretching all the way toward the turn ahead, beyond which the village walls could be vaguely seen.
It seemed the village had not suffered the ravages of war. During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha could be said to have made a sure profit without any losses. Coupled with the Third Hokage's conciliatory policies and his emphasis on development and cultivating talent, this gave rise to another of Konoha's strongest periods in the future: the early stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War, when Konoha's economic strength and overall shinobi quality were at their peak.
Although before Naruto: Shippuden, during Naruto's childhood, Konoha's talent pool was only on par with those of the other major shinobi villages, its reserves of talent were steadily growing. Whether it was the Twelve Young Strong of Konoha, the Jonin ranks, or the shinobi of its clans, all were steadily improving. Not to mention the generation left behind by the Third Shinobi World War—the Ino-Shika-Cho generation of Nara Shikaku's era—many young prodigies from that war, such as Kakashi, had survived. Under the culture that valued education, such young geniuses improved especially quickly and were bound to swiftly become Konoha's backbone.
Thus, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha's presence could be called overwhelming.