Who Put Weapons in the Ninja Pouch?

The intense temperature difference between the sky and the earth, combined with the convection of cold and hot air, caused thick, dark clouds to rapidly gather in the clear sky. Before long, a drizzling rain began to fall from the heavens.

The bloodstains were washed away, and the scorching heat dissipated along with them.

The garrison troops of the Land of Grass were completely unable to resist the Susanoo. After a bout of slaughter, the group had already breached the borders of the Land of Earth.

The rain clouds in the sky spread to the border of the Land of Earth as well, the hazy drizzle seeming to mourn the ninjas who had died, or perhaps grieving their overestimation of their own strength.

The pitch-black Susanoo flickered with the dead-silent radiance of chakra, a grim reaper wielding twin blades.

How could the ghosts wandering the earth possibly resist the reaper?

The border area of the Land of Earth near the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain usually featured plenty of lush greenery, but after traveling a certain distance, the vegetation seemed to have been erased by something, disappearing entirely.

Only a few resilient plants remained, growing in the crevices of the rocks, demonstrating their tenacity to the world.

Gray seemed to be the primary color of this nation, and the numerous, towering, peculiar rock formations were the country's unique scenery.

The ground was so flat it seemed devoid of any undulations, leaving the infiltrators with only the underground as a potential area for stealthy movement.

But there was no need for that.

The Land of Earth was different from the Land of Grass; as the stronghold of Iwagakure, the country itself did not have many defensive installations.

After several days of rapid travel and slaughter, even for ninjas whose physical constitutions far exceeded those of ordinary people, their minds and bodies felt incomparably exhausted.

The primary purpose of Military Ration Pills was to replenish a ninja's chakra and restore physical strength.

The higher the grade of the Military Ration Pill, the less attention was paid to flavor, because to make the effects more pronounced, the taste became even more difficult to swallow.

If you were lucky, it tasted like chewing tree roots; if you were unlucky, well, let's just say it was garbage.

Night gradually descended. The night in the Land of Earth was no worse than in Konoha, and perhaps due to the terrain, the stars in the sky appeared even brighter.

The group jumped onto a stone pillar that shot straight into the clouds and lit a campfire at its summit.

Ordinary people lit campfires in the wild to ward off beasts, but typical ninjas did not fear such creatures; they were more concerned about their position being exposed, so they would only chew Military Ration Pills in the wild.

But Uchiha Yuji was not afraid of the problem of exposure.

He even jumped to the top of the stone pillar to light a campfire, emphasizing a sense of nonchalance, emphasizing a sense of...

I am right here! Come at me if you aren't afraid of death!

He opened a sealing scroll, took out several pieces of game hunted in the Land of Grass, and casually propped them on tree branches, placing them beside the campfire.

Hatake Sakumo watched as Uchiha Yuji continuously pulled various seasonings from the most accessible pouch of his ninja tool bag, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.

Is a ninja tool bag meant for storing spices and salt?

"Do you not have any kunai or shuriken in your ninja tool bag?" he finally couldn't help but ask aloud.

Uchiha Yuji frowned slightly and pointed to the sealing scroll on the ground, "Aren't there still sealing scrolls?"

Sealing scrolls are such expensive items, why are you using them to seal game!

Being with Uchiha Yuji, Hatake Sakumo felt his serious personality was being worn away; if this continued, he feared he would become a comic relief character.

"Lord Yuji, the Iwagakure ninjas should have discovered our position by now, right? Is it really okay for us to be roasting meat here?" Uchiha Toshihiko asked with a hint of worry.

"We don't have any sensory-type ninjas here."

On such a high stone pillar, if it were to collapse, their positioning would be disadvantageous.

"It doesn't matter, leave the next batch of Iwagakure ninjas to me! I will let them witness my burning youth!"

Having fought all the way here, the physical exertion for Might Duy was actually not very high, leaving him still looking spirited and energetic.

His bouncing posture made it seem as if he were about to unleash a barrage of Strong Fists on the Iwagakure ninjas.

Uchiha Yuji flipped the rabbit in his left hand, while his right hand slowly infused [Soul] into it. Under the scorching flames, a mouth-watering aroma wafted out.

"The defensive lines and outposts in the Land of Grass have lost contact in large numbers; I presume Iwagakure has already received the intelligence."

"The next ones to arrive should be the representative figures of Iwagakure."

"The Tsuchikage, or perhaps a Jinchuriki."

Hearing Uchiha Yuji's words, everyone's expression turned solemn.

Even after witnessing Uchiha Yuji's Susanoo, they did not believe that Susanoo could withstand the Dust Release of the Third Tsuchikage.

The [Kekkei Tōta] of Ōnoki of Both Scales, which transcended the Kekkei Genkai, was incomparably overbearing.

"Duy, you are a man I acknowledge. I do not wish for you to waste your most vibrant youth at this moment."

"Your blooming should take place on a more brilliant, more scorching battlefield. The climax of your youth, the moment of your most intense burning, is not now."

Whenever Uchiha Yuji thought of the climax of youth, that one kick that almost ended the series flashed through his mind, causing his voice to rise uncontrollably.

Might Duy's tears flowed uncontrollably, his voice choked, "Best friend! My best friend! My youth..."

"It is a pity, I am not the person you expected, but your youth will end here nonetheless." A strange voice suddenly rang out.

"Earth Release: Earth Mountain Technique!"

The roar of rising and falling rocks resonated, and massive, semi-circular stone walls rapidly merged from both sides.

Even though they were standing at the highest point of this loess plain, the height of the rocks on both sides was even greater than their own.

The ninja who used a massive amount of chakra to create the stone wall had even expended extra energy to leave the emblem of Iwagakure upon it, a testament to his devotion to the village.

Yet, love could not grant him greater strength.

The pitch-black giant swung its fists, slamming them into the stone wall with a thunderous boom, but the rock was exceptionally sturdy; after enduring the strike of the Susanoo, it showed only a few slight cracks.

Seeing that the wall could not be destroyed in a short time, the Susanoo opened its tightly clenched fist, pressing its five fingers and palm firmly against the stone to hold back the closing walls.

The stone walls continued to converge; had it been an ordinary ninja, they would have already been crushed into a meat patty.

However, the Susanoo, formed from Yin-style chakra, possessed no such thing as muscle damage, and with the support of its Chatonra, it actually forced the walls to retreat outward by a significant margin.

The Uchiha standing atop the Susanoo also discovered the enemy's position.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire!"

Precisely controlled fireballs tore through the night sky, streaking toward the silhouettes hidden in the darkness.