Entering the Land of Lightning

The Land of Lightning.

The mountains soared into the clouds, and the continuous rumble of thunder echoed through the valleys.

Clumps of shrubs grow tenaciously on the bluish-gray rocks, adding a touch of green to the barren mountain peaks.

This is a view completely different from anything I've seen before.

"The mountain is so high!"

Naruto tilted his head back, craned his neck, and gazed up at the mountain peak that pierced straight into the sea of clouds, uttering a simple and profound sigh.

The Land of Fire doesn't have mountains that high, and the mountains behind Konoha aren't even a thousand meters high. But after they entered the Land of Lightning, the average altitude of the mountains they saw was over two thousand meters.

"Naruto, stop looking at the mountain and come eat. We need to continue our journey after we finish eating."

Shuyuan and Sasuke were sitting on a long, narrow blue stone, eating their dry rations.

They are currently on a large platform halfway up the mountain. There are more than a hundred people here, but it doesn't feel crowded. There are also many long blue stones placed on the platform. This place was specially opened up by the Cloud Ninja for travelers to rest.

Everyone was eating dry rations to replenish their strength.

"They're here, they're here."

Naruto quickly walked back, sat down next to Shuyuan, took the rice ball, and began to eat it heartily.

Chewing on a dry rice ball, Naruto looked melancholy.

Or rather, most of the young Genin had the same expression.

Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to chew the rice ball, but his slightly distorted face showed that it didn't taste good.

They had been traveling for several days, and unless they encountered a large market town, they could only eat dry rice balls and drink cold tea, which was truly unpleasant.

How much longer are we going to have to eat this stuff?!

Not far away, Choji let out an extremely heavy sigh. He had finished all his potato chips and other snacks. Because they had been traveling as a group, they hadn't had a chance to replenish their supplies along the way.

This put Choji in a predicament where he had no snacks.

"Alright, Choji, hurry up and eat. I've already asked the Cloud Ninja's leading the way, and we should be able to reach Kumogakure today. Then we can finally relax."

Shikamaru comforted him, Choji lowered his head, trying to swallow his rice ball.

"Ugh! Choji, that glutton!" Asuma slapped his head helplessly. "What a bunch of little brats who've never known hardship."

"Asuma, don't talk like we suffered so much at their age," Kakashi laughed.

Asuma was speechless upon hearing this.

That's true. When they were twelve or thirteen, Konoha was already at its peak, and they didn't suffer much hardship. They only grew up after experiencing more hardships later on.

"Speaking of which, who do you think will pass the exam and become Chunin this time?"

Kurenai put away her empty lunchbox and looked at the Jonin around her, asking a question.

"That's hard to say! We don't know how the Cloud Ninja will conduct their assessment this time... But my subordinates are not easy to deal with," Obito said.

"That genius girl from the Senju Clan?"

Obito is a graduate of last year's class, and has already carried out many missions, so many people know about the active performance of his subordinates.

In particular, the genius girl from the Senju Clan was one of the rising stars at the time, and Jonin knew her.

"Speaking of which, Shisui, aren't you guys in a bit too much of a hurry? This year's students have only graduated for less than two months, and they're already taking the Chunin Ninja Exams. It's really a bit early," Obito said bluntly.

"Haha, don't worry, my subordinates are extremely strong. If even they can't pass this exam, to put it arrogantly, no one else is qualified to become Chunin."

His words were like a thunderbolt, leaving everyone bewildered and at a loss.

I don't remember Shisui being this arrogant. That's a bit too domineering, quite unlike Shisui's usual style.

"That's true."

Kimimaro nodded calmly, agreeing with Shisui's words.

"Oh! Is it because of Shuyuan?"

Although Kakashi's voice wasn't loud, the Jonin present were all sharp-eared and sharp-eyed, and they clearly heard Kakashi's whisper.

"Shuyuan?"

Hong frowned. "Is he Senior Katsuki's son?"

"Hey, are you kidding me? So what if he's Katsuki- senpai's son? It can't be that exaggerated, can it?" Asuma looked incredulous.

Genin; how strong can he really be?

Let's wait and see.

Shisui's face was beaming with confidence.

"Hahaha! My lovely subordinates are all very strong too!"

Might Guy is doing a handstand, his free right hand pointing out a thumbs-up, his smile radiant, his snow-white teeth reflecting a dazzling light.

"······"

"I've finished my meal, so I'm leaving now. If I don't keep an eye on those little brats, who knows what trouble they'll cause next."

A Jonin ninja nimbly stood up and quickly left.

"I also·······"

"... How about we go together?"

The Jonin all left, leaving only Might Guy and a few others behind.

On the other side.

"Your Excellency, how much longer until we reach your village?"

Minato also sat on a large blue stone, with neatly arranged plum rice balls in a lunchbox on his lap.

Despite being the leader of the team, Minato wasn't one to seek special treatment; his rations were the same: rice balls and cold tea.

His gaze fell upon the blond-haired Cloud Ninja sitting diagonally opposite him.

"We'll set off after lunch. At our previous pace, we should reach the village before four o'clock."

Xi thought for two seconds, took out a pocket watch, checked the time, and then gave his answer.

Minato nodded upon hearing this, then stopped talking and quickly ate his rice ball.

"Yellow Flash? That's a troublesome fellow!"

On a platform halfway up the mountain, the head of White Zetsu silently emerged from a bluish-gray rock.

He surveyed the more than one hundred Konoha Ninja on the platform from his vantage point, gathering intelligence.

"Who cares about the trouble? Our mission is just to gather intelligence; we don't need to rush in and fight that Yellow Flash."

Another White Zetsu has appeared.

"How's it going on your end? What's the situation with the Sand Ninja?" White Zetsu Number One asked.

"It's not as exaggerated as Konoha's. There are only about thirty people, led by Rasa. Apart from that, there's nothing else to pay extra attention to. They're just a bunch of small fry, easy to deal with." Number Two was in charge of scouting the situation of the Sand Ninja.

"Is that so? Then that means the most dangerous thing this time is this Yellow Flash."

Space-Time Ninjutsu was something even Black Zetsu found extremely troublesome.

"Hey! Forget it, forget it, let's not worry about how dangerous they are. Once we've gathered the intelligence, let's get out of here. We don't need to worry about countermeasures," Number Two said.

"Almost there, damn it, too many people from Konoha are coming. It won't be as easy as you did over there." (To be continued)