Crackle!
Rumble!
The muffled thunder and writhing silver serpents above Kumogakure proclaimed their presence, while also giving the ninja from smaller nations visiting for the first time a modest show of force.
"The weather in the Land of Lightning is pretty nice!"
An orange-haired young man in a black cloak exclaimed casually.
However, his remark was immediately refuted by the others.
A skinny young man wearing a Kusagakure forehead protector caught his breath, wiped the faint sweat from his brow, then spat and cursed under his breath, "This damn weather, and these goddamn mountain roads—this isn't a place fit for people!"
After saying that, he glared at the orange-haired youth who had spoken earlier. "If you want to suck up to Kumogakure, at least wait until we're inside the village, bootlicker!"
"What? I really do think the weather here is great! At least it isn't raining!"
Yahiko replied with a grin, seemingly not at all intimidated by the Kusagakure genin, who looked far bigger than him.
"Rain?"
The man froze, then noticed the design on Yahiko's forehead protector—four vertical lines arranged side by side.
"Someone from Amegakure?"
His face went pale. He immediately lost the courage to continue arguing, lowered his head, and hurried away.
They had certainly mocked Hanzo of the Salamander's delusional ambition to make Amegakure the Sixth Great Shinobi Village behind his back, but what ninja from a small hidden village did not wish for their leader to be such a hero?
Although Hanzo had ultimately failed, in their eyes, Amegakure had long since ceased to belong to the same tier as them. If they had to describe it, it would be [half a step into the Five Great].
Thus, when he saw ninja from Amegakure, he felt both envy and awe. Kusagakure was far too inferior