The gale howled past, accompanied by a strange tearing sound. Su Xiao, hood pulled over his head, instinctively raised an arm in front of his face.
With a clatter, a shower of tiny stones struck his hood.
"How much farther?"
Su Xiao's voice sounded strange. He seemed unwilling to open his mouth while speaking. This was because of the Land of Earth's unique "rock rain"—if he opened his mouth, the wind would blow stones inside.
Rock rain was caused by the Land of Earth's unique climate. Most of the country consisted of barren cliffs, wastelands, and other terrain. It was dry and desolate, with howling winds, much like its neighbor, the Wind Country.
The Wind Country was plagued by sand, while the Land of Earth was plagued by pebbles—very tiny pebbles.
Clang, clang, clang...
Across the yellow-hued wasteland came the sound of metal being struck. An old man was carrying two buckets of water. He was a traveling merchant, selling a special kind of fruit resembling a cactus. Passersby often bought them to quench their thirst.
The Land of Earth was short on water, so traveling merchants like this were common in the wastelands.
Judging by its environment, the Land of Earth had an even worse climate than the Wind Country. Its resources were scarce, yet surprisingly, it was not poor. It was far wealthier than the Wind Country and Water Country, slightly poorer than the Fire Country, and economically comparable to the Land of Lightning.
The reason was that Iwagakure was extremely united, like a great mountain formed from rock—even more united than Kumogakure.
Unity meant everyone worked with one purpose, with no arbitrary autocracy. Besides, Third Tsuchikage Ono was a ruthless man. He knew how barren his country was, so he sent people to seize resources from the