The next stretch of time was pure suffering for Xing Ran. The Anbu duo had come with a special mission from the Hokage, and they took turns lecturing him on ideology and politics, starting right on the street and continuing at the inn. They did not even spare him while he bathed. Before bed, they went on and on like they were telling him bedtime stories.
The next day, Xing Ran set off once more for Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, dark circles hanging under his eyes.
They crossed the small nations surrounded by vast wilderness, including the Land of Grass, the place most suitable for establishing a "secret base."
Xing Ran's group soon entered the Land of Earth.
Just after crossing the border, the Land of Earth's Iwa Ninja patrol stopped the three of them.
The Land of Earth had declared its defeat early in the Fourth Hokage's tenure, and the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth were now in a state of relative peace. Thus, although both sides drew their weapons and remained wary, they exercised restraint. The Konoha side also clearly explained the purpose of their visit.
As neighboring envoys visiting to discuss peace, the Iwa Ninja took them very seriously. Konoha's visit had also been officially notified and placed on record, so Xing Ran's group was quickly "invited" by the Iwa Ninja to rest at a nearby outpost.
Their documents were complete and their purpose was friendly. Everything pointed to the three of them being friends, but this world had never believed in friends. Betrayals by comrades from the same village happened every year. No matter how carefree the Iwa Ninja were, they could not allow three Konoha Ninja to wander freely through the Land of Earth without supervision. Temporary house arrest—though it was currently called hospitality—was unavoidable. The village would soon arrange for Anbu to "escort" the three Konoha Ninja to Iwagakure to meet the Tsuchikage.
The Iwa Ninja worked efficiently. After lunch, two Iwa Anbu wearing the Land of Earth's distinctive red short-sleeved tops and painted-face masks came to find Xing Ran's group.
These two were the Iwa Anbu assigned to escort them to meet the Tsuchikage. Since his first interrogation, Xing Ran had developed a habit: no matter who someone was, as long as they wore a mask, he would see through it and memorize their face. So after the two Anbu stated their purpose and the five prepared to leave, Xing Ran began observing the two Iwa Anbu.
They were a man and a woman. The man was huge, nearly two meters tall, with solid muscles and a broad jaw that made his teeth seem slightly underbitten. If his hair had not carried a faint brown tint, Xing Ran would have suspected he was a younger version of Kitsuchi.
The woman was a beautiful, mature lady. She was not tall, less than one meter sixty, but her long blond hair was exceptionally lovely. Even with her mask on, the expression beneath it was smiling. Her dark green eyes were slightly hazy, so she was probably wearing contact lenses. The combination of her eye and hair colors strongly resembled members of the Yamanaka Family, giving Xing Ran an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Xing Ran looked at the female Iwa Ninja with deep, questioning eyes. It was strange. Why would a foreign ninja he was meeting for the first time give him such a familiar feeling? Had he unknowingly fallen under genjutsu again?
"What are you thinking about? Let's go." The Konoha Anbu duo had already finished preparing. Junpei was speechless when he saw Xing Ran staring at another village's female ninja. Were kids nowadays really maturing this early? Afraid that Xing Ran might develop problems with women after gambling, one of the ninja's three taboos, he shoved Xing Ran. The five then left the outpost and headed for Iwagakure.
As they ventured deeper into the Land of Earth, the green in Xing Ran's field of vision gradually vanished, replaced by rocks and earthen hills.
More than half of the Land of Earth consisted of desolate rocky cliffs. The rocks within the country seemed to stretch along its borders, obstructing travel between the Land of Earth and other nations. Moreover, winds from the north crossed the high mountains and blew fine stones from within the country into other lands. This natural phenomenon, known as "rock rain," was especially famous.
There was not much water here, only slightly more than in the neighboring Land of Wind. There were many hills, but most were bald and ugly. Ambushing people here was far more difficult than it was in the forests of the Land of Fire.
To set traps and ambush enemies here, one could almost only rely on Earth Style ninjutsu. Along the way, Xing Ran and the other two Konoha Ninja remained extremely cautious, afraid of being ambushed by rogue ninja again like they had been at the Land of Fire's border.
Yet until the five arrived at the gates of Iwagakure at midnight, they did not encounter a single attack. The entire journey had gone so smoothly that it felt unreal.
Xing Ran quickly figured it out. If the enemy really came from the Land of Lightning or the Land of Water, then their purpose in disguising themselves as Iwa Ninja and attacking Konoha Ninja would be to drive a wedge between the two nations. Provocation required extreme caution. If it was not handled properly, the two sides being provoked could easily join forces against the instigator.
Therefore, the brainless act of provoking both sides at once would not occur in this deceitful ninja world. Everyone had been attacked by unidentified forces. We discovered they were your rogue ninja, and you discovered they were ours. Even if the two sides only exchanged insults on the battlefield, they would realize something was wrong. Only by targeting one side alone could the matter be made truly confusing.
The Land of Earth had suffered no harm at all, so it could not truly empathize with Konoha's complete annihilation. Looking at the incident from the outside, it would be difficult to imagine a third party intervening. The first suspicion would be that Konoha was staging the whole thing itself, with the goal of targeting them. They absolutely could not let down their guard.
Thus, it made sense that the three Konoha Ninja had not encountered any attacks after entering the Land of Earth.
At midnight, Iwagakure's gates would normally have long since been closed. But diplomacy was no trivial matter. Although Xing Ran's group were not famous figures, anyone representing Konoha on a diplomatic mission received the highest level of treatment. Besides, even if they insisted on keeping the gates shut, the Tsuchikage would fear something happening to these Konoha envoys outside his own village. After rigorous security checks, the group entered Iwagakure.
The darkness greatly affected everyone's vision, but it was not much of a problem for Xing Ran. His lively eyes curiously surveyed this city, whose style was entirely different from Konoha's.
It was quite interesting. Although every hidden village in the various nations was a massive city-scale settlement, their administrative designation was still "village." Iwagakure was enormous; calling it a city was no exaggeration.
The streets here were broad, and the buildings were mostly low earthen structures. Tall buildings usually appeared only in especially grand places, which were clearly either the estates of powerful families or government offices.
Xing Ran's group hurried through street after street before quickly arriving at their destination.
In the middle of the night, they naturally could not meet the Tsuchikage. The meeting was scheduled for the following morning, and the two Iwa Anbu brought Xing Ran's group into an earthen building.
"This is the guesthouse for foreign visitors. The staff here will handle the rest of your reception. Rest early. Goodbye." Of the quiet Iwa Anbu, the tall male ninja gave that brief greeting, then led the blond, green-eyed female ninja away. Their self-directed style left the Konoha group somewhat unaccustomed to it.
To be continued. Thanks to readers Feng Erdan, Tiger Whip Picture, Silence and Death, and Sisi 420 for their support and recommendations. Special thanks to Brother Erdan for his daily support. Thank you, everyone!
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