Learning from Kuan about the Dragon Vein deep underground—violent and destructive, unruly and uncontrollable—Rikusei glanced at the scroll behind him and thought, The Nine-Tails is easier to control than that.[1]
In front of Konoha's two legendary heroes, any Tailed Beast would become reasonable and easy to talk to.
The Land of Wind?
They had indeed passed through it on the way from the Land of Demons to the Land of Fire, but Madara was eager to return and had grandly chosen to ignore it. He had too many surprises he wanted to share with Hashirama.
Traveling day and night, they finally reached their homeland in the Land of Fire. The three slowed down and stopped in a small town to satisfy their hunger.
Though Hashirama had transformed the area around Konoha into a towering forest, plains and hills remained the Land of Fire's main terrain.
Wheat was such an excellent crop, perfectly suited to growing across the endless plains. Ramen was a common dish throughout the Land of Fire.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, guests."
The ramen shop owner set steaming bowls on the table and smiled at the famished customers before him.
The well-traveled owner recognized their identities at once.
Ninjas.
They were probably ninjas heading to Konoha after hearing about it.
The little town had few customers that afternoon. Bored, the owner adjusted his slightly crooked hat. His eyes passed over the fierce-looking man and settled on the boy holding the condiments. "Are you heading to Konoha?"
Rikusei set down his chopsticks and glanced at Kuan, who was busy eating, signaling him not to say too much. Then he nodded to the owner and slurped up his noodles, answering indistinctly, "I heard Konoha is the strongest in the Shinobi World now. We wanted to see it for ourselves."