The Land of Waves was a small country with no hidden village and a weak military. It was also wedged between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, making survival extremely difficult. Unlike the Land of Tea and the Land of Whirlpools, which were also countries near the Land of Fire...
The daimyo of the Land of Waves was a cowardly man who was afraid of getting into trouble. For years, he had been caught between two great powers, afraid to offend either one. He'd deluded himself into thinking everything was fine and lived one day at a time. Under the rule of this supposedly "wise and mighty" daimyo, the once-prosperous Land of Waves had gradually fallen into ruin.
Nearly all the wealth of the Land of Waves had fallen into the hands of a merchant named Gato, and the people of the country lived in great hardship.
The people of this country had become just as timid as their homeland grew weaker.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! How about we wipe out a few bandit hideouts? That guy just now wasn't nearly enough to satisfy me," an orange-clad figure said arrogantly.
"Idiot, Naruto!" said a handsome young man with a cool air about him. Well, if Ueno Kei had been there, he wouldn't have called him cool. He would've called him expressionless!
Sure enough, the orange-clad figure heard that and immediately bristled. He shot back, "Hmph! You expressionless Sasuke, what are you talking about?!"
"Hmph." The expressionless handsome guy curled his lip in disdain and turned away, refusing to answer. It was as if saying one more word might rub off some stupidity on him.
That orange-clad figure was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, a Konoha Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy. By coincidence, the graduation exams