The borderline between Land of Fire and Land of Earth is a winding scar, forcibly torn apart by the rolling rocky mountains. There is no gentle wind like Leaf here, only dry airflow mixed with gravel, which blows on the face like sandpaper.
Naruto leaned behind a leeward boulder and poured the last bit of water in the water bag into his mouth without any image.
"Not here yet?" He wiped the dust off his face, "I used to think that Land of Earth was next door, but why are we still wandering around in the ravine after running for two days this time?"
Sasuke stood on a high rock, his cloak rustling in the wind. He lowered his head and glanced at Seventh Hokage who was lying on the ground, without any sympathy in his eyes.
"In the past, you had Nine-Tails Chakra supplies, and you didn't need to rest or even sleep when you were on the road." Sasuke pointed out the fact coldly, "Now, your physical fitness is only Elite Jonin at best. In addition, the previous injury has not healed well, so it is a miracle that you can get here in two days."
Naruto was choked, and wanted to refute but couldn't find a reason. In the past, it only took half a day to turn on Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and the golden light flashed at this distance. Now, we have to measure the land step by step, and also consider what to eat for dinner, where is the water source, and whether the soles of the shoes will wear out.
This long-lost "sense of being human" made him both nostalgic and annoyed.
"Stop talking about it." Naruto stood up with his knees on his knees, making a heartbreaking clicking sound from his knee joints, "I can still run. If that guy Kurotsuchi knew that we were taking such a slow time, he would definitely laugh at my weak legs again."
"It's normal for her to laugh at you." Sasuke jumped down and landed silently, "Ahead is the "Broken Tooth Valley", and beyond that is the Land of Earth boundary. Be careful, it's not peaceful over there lately."
"How to say?"
"Because there was trouble within Iwagakure, border control failed. Today's Broken Tooth Valley is a paradise for wandering ninjas and smugglers." Sasuke pressed the Kusanagi Sword on his waist, "The Black Oil that Enen'suke provided was probably shipped out from here."
The two lowered their bodies and got into the shadow of the canyon.
The rock walls on both sides of the canyon towered into the clouds, and a ray of skylight shone palely on the bottom of the canyon. The air was filled with a rotten Machine Oil smell, mixed with the smell of blood.
Not far away, noisy voices came from ahead.
"Tolls have increased! Don't you understand? The current price is two gold bars per truckload!"
A rough voice echoed. Naruto poked his head out from behind the rock and saw a simple checkpoint set up in the middle of the road. A dozen ninjas wearing messy protective gear stopped a caravan. The leader was a bald man, and his left arm was a huge mechanical prosthetic leg, spewing black smoke. He was obviously some kind of crudely made Scientific Ninja Tool.
"That... that's the food we want to send to the orphanage..." the owner of the caravan knelt on the ground and begged, "Please..."
"Orphanage?" The bald man laughed ferociously, and the mechanical arm slammed into the ground, causing gravel to fly. "That's just right. Send them to the Paradise and they won't be hungry!"
He raised his mechanical arm, and the muzzle in his palm lit up red.
"Hello."
A hand was placed on the bald man's shoulder.
The bald man was stunned, and turned around to see a face covered with a band-aid, with messy short blond hair. Although the Sacred Robe on his body was worn out, the words "Seventh Hokage" on the back were still clearly legible.
"Bullying ordinary people is not your skill, uncle." Naruto grinned, although his smile was full of exhaustion.
"Fire...Hokage?!" The bald head took two steps back in fright, and then saw Naruto's embarrassed appearance clearly, and laughed again, "Hahahaha! The rumors are true! Uzumaki Naruto is useless! Since it is delivered to my door, your head is worth much more than gold bars!"
"Brothers! Kill Hokage and become famous!"
More than a dozen wandering ninjas immediately surrounded him, and all kinds of ninjutsu and hidden weapons were overwhelming.
"Sasuke, don't interfere." Naruto shouted lowly, but instead of Hand Seals, he rushed directly into the crowd.
There was no golden flash, no huge Chakra arms. Naruto sidestepped a kunai, grabbed the opponent's wrist, and threw it over the shoulder to another enemy.
"Earth Release·Split the Earth and Turn the Palm!" An enemy slapped the ground.
The ground beneath Naruto cracked. In the past, he could just fly up or resist, but now he had to add a few more dust to the famous "Seventh" Sacred Robe in embarrassment, rolled to avoid it, and picked up the sand on the ground and threw it in the man's face.
"Despicable! Is this also Hokage's move?" The enemy screamed, covering his eyes.
"This is called tactics!" Naruto punched the opponent in the abdomen, then jumped up using the force, putting his knee on the bald man's robotic arm joint.
Click.
The robotic arm is stuck.
"What?" The bald head was shocked.
"I've seen a lot of Scientific Ninja Tool. This kind of thing is not even considered rubbish with Orochimaru." Naruto didn't use Rasengan because Chakra wanted to save it. He took out a Explosive Tag from the ninja bag, accurately attached it to the heat dissipation port of the mechanical arm, and then kicked the bald head away.
Boom!
The sound of the explosion echoed in the canyon. The bald man screamed and flew out, and the mechanical arm exploded into a pile of scrap metal.
When the remaining soldiers saw this, they were so frightened that they dropped their weapons and ran away.
Naruto stood there, gasping for air, sweat dripping down his chin. The combo just now wouldn't even be considered a warm-up, but now it made his heart beat faster and his lungs hurt.
"Is this a battle without Nine-Tails..." Naruto looked at his palms and smiled bitterly, "It's really tiring."
The caravan owner trembled Earth Flow came over. "Thank... thank you Lord Hokage! Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Naruto waved his hands, but his stomach made a loud noise at an inappropriate time.
Gu--
The air froze for a second.
"Um..." Naruto scratched his head, his face flushed, "If you have extra rice balls, can you give me two? I forgot to bring dry food."
Sasuke walked out of the shadows, holding two stunned fish that had slipped through the net, and looked at Naruto with a look of disgust.
"Shameful."
"It's up to you to take charge! People are like iron rice and steel!" Naruto took the rice ball handed by the boss and stuffed it into his mouth hungrily, "Let's go Iwagakure. I have a hunch that after this meal, there will be harder bones to gnaw on."
Iwagakure is located in a basin surrounded by mountains, covered by gray rock dust all year round. There is no bustling commercial street like Leaf here, only cold stone buildings and tall chimneys, and the smell of sulfur and metal is always wafting in the air.
Naruto and Sasuke stood on a cliff outside the village.
"Go in directly?" Naruto wiped the rice grains from the corner of his mouth.
"You don't have the ability to sense malice now, nor do you have that exaggerated speed." Sasuke looked at the heavily guarded entrance below, "If you break in, you will be regarded as an intruder and cause a diplomatic incident."