A few kilometers from the border of the Land of Iron.
Fourth Raikage A raced across the snowy plains with C and Darui.
The freezing wind and snow battered them relentlessly, yet they could not slow them down in the slightest.
"Lord Raikage, another few kilometers and we'll leave the Land of Iron and reach the border of the Land of Rice Fields," C reported as he ran. "From there, we can attack in tandem with Kumogakure's main force and secure the first victory of this war."
The Raikage nodded grimly.
The frustration of the Five Kage Summit still surfaced in his mind from time to time—the image of the Fifth Hokage casually sending him flying with a single punch.
It made him feel as though his dignity had been trampled like never before.
At that moment, the Raikage only wanted to reunite with the main army as soon as possible and wash away that humiliation with an actual victory.
Just as the three were about to cross the last stretch of snowfield, the Raikage suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
His gaze fixed on the distant border where the Land of Iron met the Land of Rice Fields. Several earthen platforms, each hundreds of meters tall, loomed indistinctly through the raging snowstorm.
The platforms had been arranged with remarkable precision, evenly spaced to form an unbroken defensive line.
"That is..." Darui narrowed his eyes. "Did Otogakure build defensive fortifications at the border?"
C immediately closed his eyes and sensed the area. A few seconds later, he opened them again, frowning deeply. "The Chakra signatures are very faint, but they are definitely there... They're Konoha Chakra signatures. They should be Hyuga Clan shinobi. There are... at least thirty of them, spread across the platforms."
"And there are a large number of shinobi on