After arriving at the mountain pass, Uchiha Madara found that they encountered far fewer spirit beasts. Black mist still spread across the horizon, but it had not yet drifted quickly toward Sifru.
However, Woodru Kingdom had still deployed many soldiers, many of them newly recruited. Officially, they had been enlisted to eliminate spirit beasts, but in truth, Sifru did not have that many spirit beasts. They were simply reinforcing their troops so they would not lose too badly in the arms race across the entire continent of Tirasweel. In a sense, they were barely holding on.
Woodru Kingdom did not possess Falutia's financial strength. As a small nation, all it could do was avoid falling too far behind in the arms race.
They were not primarily defending against spirit beasts. More accurately, their troop buildup was meant to defend against Falutia Kingdom—the nations across the continent had gradually begun to sense Falutia's schemes and ambitions. Falutia was aggressively strengthening its border defenses, placing heavy siege weapons near cities along every border. Along its coastline, it was deploying a navy. Although naval power was not particularly formidable in Tirasweel, Falutia had assembled dozens of warships and transport vessels, huddling within its own harbors as it waited for an opportunity to strike...
What Uchiha Madara and the others saw were only Woodru Kingdom's soldiers. They had no idea what Falutia had become, but the Woodru soldiers already made their movements extremely difficult. To guard against spies, Woodru had set up checkpoints on every street in its capital, Sifru, carrying out security inspections. Anyone carrying weapons, explosives, or similar items had to explain themselves. Those who could not provide a detailed explanation would be arrested.
Among Uchiha Madara's group, aside from Yerudu, who did not carry weapons? They could only explain themselves in