Although the other man wore no forehead protector, after exchanging blows, Uchiha Gen could infer from his commonly used Ninjutsu and combat habits that he was likely a shinobi from Iwagakure.
His Ninjutsu were not particularly high-level, mostly C-rank techniques centered on Earth Release. He was versatile, fought in an orderly manner, and had a steady, seasoned style. He was probably a fairly capable Chunin.
While it was not impossible for a shinobi of such caliber to come from a small village, he was more likely from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Among them, Konoha and Iwagakure had the deepest foundations in Earth Release.
Iwagakure was also the major shinobi village that most enjoyed spending money to hire ninja organizations outside the village to do its work.
"Bang!"
Another heavy side kick slammed into the tall Hidden Rock ninja.
With Uchiha Gen's current strength, even while completely suppressing this Iwa Chunin and pursuing him, he still had the spare capacity to observe his teammates.
Since Orochimaru had chosen this place as a training ground for young shinobi, its overall average strength naturally would not be too high.
Most of the rogue ninja had merely been recruited from the Underground Bounty Office with money. In terms of raw strength, they generally could not compare to shinobi trained by the Five Great Shinobi Villages, nor did they have effective formation coordination among themselves.
However, these young Konoha shinobi had mostly graduated from the Ninja Academy less than two years ago. Even if some had accumulated a degree of combat experience, it could not be called especially extensive.
The rogue ninja who dared make their living this way—especially under Konoha's nose in the Land of Fire—might not necessarily be extraordinarily powerful, but every last one of them was a ruthless figure