The Land of Waves was an insignificant little island nation in the Shinobi World.
It lay directly east of the Land of Fire, separated from the mainland by only a narrow strait. Its territory was small, its population sparse, and its Daimyo terribly poor. Naturally, it couldn't afford to maintain Ninja or a Ninja Village for its own protection.
During the Shinobi World War, it was like a frail young woman whom any strong man could bully.
Faced with the surging tide of Kirigakure, the Land of Waves was powerless to resist. It simply lay down and became one of the bridgeheads Kirigakure used to invade Konoha.
The people and Daimyo of the Land of Waves: What could we do? We were desperate too!
The section of Konoha's front line resisting Kirigakure that faced the Land of Waves.
In the forest, Higashino Makoto sat cross-legged at the top of a tall tree, working through his daily training.
Not long after he'd turned down Orochimaru's offer to become his assistant that night, Third Squad had begun its frontline garrison duty. A month and a half had passed since then.
Orochimaru wasn't so petty at this point that he'd make life difficult for their squad just because Higashino Makoto had refused him. Each squad rotated its garrison post every week, and theirs was no different from the others.
He didn't need to assign Higashino Makoto's squad a deadly mission just so he could watch his comrades die. There was no point. Death was like the wind, always at a Ninja's side. It could come without warning, no special arrangements required.
Just as Orochimaru could never have imagined that on a simple mission leading a squad, his disciple Nawaki would leap straight into an Explosive Tag Array trap.
Nawaki: "..." Are we done