Don't Plant Flags Casually

The small Land of Cedars had always been rather unlucky.

It had the misfortune of being trapped between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, unable to move either way, and neither of those great nations was anything decent.

Of course, as far as these small nations were concerned, not one of the five superpowers of the Ninja World was any good.

Faced with pressure from both Kumogakure and Iwagakure, the Land of Cedars ultimately made a decision—to move closer to Iwagakure.

They knew full well that doing so would likely offend Kumogakure badly, and that even if they aligned themselves with Iwagakure, they still would not be able to stop Kumogakure from making deployments on their territory.

But they all understood that Kumogakure's people were truly coveting their secret techniques.

If they moved closer to Kumogakure, they would absolutely have to offer up those secret techniques.

Iwagakure, however, was very different in this regard. What Iwagakure wanted more was their markets, their share of mission contracts, and their transportation routes.

After all, Iwagakure was not as fortunate as Kumogakure, which had both the Land of Iron and the Land of Hot Water right next door.

With the Fourth Raikage involved, Uchiha Kei had no intention of refusing.

Because the Fourth Raikage had guessed correctly. Uchiha Kei and the others wanted that guy to witness all of this.

That would make it easier for them to cooperate in certain operations in the future, though there were other factors to consider as well.

As Imai Kenta had said, having a toad track someone did not seem particularly reliable no matter how one looked at it.

Now that they had confirmed that guy was heading toward the Land of Cedars, relying on Kumogakure's strength to find him would make things