The Land of Earth

"Since Matsuri has woken up, let's set out tomorrow," Jiraiya said.

"Understood."

Early the next morning, after breakfast, the caravan departed ahead of schedule.

Two days later, the caravan finally reached the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth.

Over the past two days, the caravan had encountered several waves of rogue ninja and bandit attacks. However, without Jiraiya needing to lift a finger, Uchiha Matsuri and his two companions easily repelled the enemy assaults.

The border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth was a sheer cliff face. On one side lay the lush, verdant vegetation of the Land of Grass, while the other side consisted of barren, jagged, and rocky precipices.

"Finally, we've reached the Land of Earth."

Looking at the iconic, desolate rock formations of the Land of Earth in the distance, Uchiha Matsuri and the others felt a sudden surge of relief.

Once inside the Land of Earth, the caravan was one step closer to its final destination.

Furthermore, the danger to the caravan was significantly reduced within the Land of Earth. Thanks to years of governance by the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales, the Land of Earth—while perhaps not as safe as the Land of Fire—was far more stable than the war-torn Land of Grass.

"Let's go. We need to reach the next village before dark," Jiraiya said, taking a deep breath of the Land of Earth's air, his mood lightened.

After entering the Land of Earth, the roads were no longer as easy to traverse as those in the Land of Fire or the Land of Grass.

After five full days of travel, the caravan finally arrived at their final destination: Iwagakure.

Iwagakure was a ninja village surrounded by natural barriers like sheer cliffs, renowned for its formidable defenses. At the same time, the village was a natural fortress composed of countless rocks and high mountains, granting it a significant geographical advantage that made it easy to defend.

There is a saying: "When God closes a door, He surely opens a window for you."

The terrain of Iwagakure dictated that it would inevitably be isolated from the outside world, which in turn resulted in the conservative mindset of its people and the lagging development of its town infrastructure.

"Is that... a rock shower?" Jiraiya gazed into the distance, watching as granular rocks drizzled down from the sky in the distance.

The saying "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man" could well be adapted in the world of the Hokage to: "He who has not seen a rock shower has not truly visited the Land of Earth."

Just as they entered Iwagakure, Jiraiya quietly said to Uchiha Matsuri, Minato Namikaze, and Kiba Inuzuka, "Minato, Matsuri, Kiba, you three go into the village with Mr. Moriya. It's better if I don't go in."

"Understood." The three nodded.

After entering the village, Kiba Inuzuka couldn't help but feel curious, his mind still on Jiraiya's words.

"Why do you think Master Jiraiya didn't come in himself?" Kiba Inuzuka asked, puzzled.

"It's probably because Master Jiraiya is too conspicuous," Uchiha Matsuri replied. "After all, this isn't the Land of Fire. If something were to go wrong, it would be difficult to handle."

"I think so too," Minato Namikaze agreed with a nod.

At the same time.

Inside a bathhouse on the outskirts of Iwagakure.

"Wow, look at those curves, what a figure—simply magnificent." Hidden in the bushes beside the women's bath, Jiraiya stared with rapt attention at the dozen or so women bathing.

"Young man, what are you doing crouching here!" A gravelly voice suddenly came from behind Jiraiya.

"Don't ask stupid questions, obviously I'm peeping," Jiraiya replied casually, without thinking.

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiraiya broke into a cold sweat.

Jiraiya turned his head stiffly to look, only to see an elderly woman in her sixties glaring at him while brandishing a broom.

"Waaaaah!"

In an instant, Jiraiya's heart-wrenching scream echoed through the sky.

As the elderly woman swung her broom toward Jiraiya in the bushes, he jumped up in a panic.

"Ahhh!!!"

"Pervert!!!"

Seeing a man suddenly pop up beside the women's bath, the dozen or so women in the pool shrieked and ran toward the changing rooms.

In the bushes.

"You little pervert, I'll beat you to death!" The elderly woman chased after Jiraiya with her broom.

"Ma'am, I won't ever do it again!" Jiraiya, ignoring his own embarrassment, shouted as he ran.

Inside Iwagakure.

After safely delivering the caravan to its destination, Uchiha Matsuri, Minato Namikaze, and Kiba Inuzuka walked out onto the main street.

"Since we've completed the mission, let's head back and find our teacher now," Minato Namikaze said with a long sigh of relief, followed by a smile.

"Don't be like that, Minato! We've finally made it to Iwagakure, we have to at least hang out for a while before we leave!" Kiba Inuzuka said, clutching his ninja dog, Ono, and rubbing his hands together.

During the half-month spent escorting the caravan, Uchiha Matsuri and the others had to keep their nerves taut, constantly on guard against enemies lurking in the shadows. Now that the escort mission was successfully completed, they could finally relax.

"I agree with Kiba. Since we've traveled thousands of miles to get here, it would be a pity not to look around properly," Uchiha Matsuri said casually.

"I really can't do anything with you two." Minato Namikaze sighed.

Since both of them had expressed a desire to look around, Minato Namikaze found it difficult to object further.

Unlike Konoha, which was as large as a city, Iwagakure was not very big, and it was far less prosperous than Konoha.

After half an hour, Uchiha Matsuri and his two companions had finished touring the entirety of Iwagakure.

"Ugh, Iwagakure isn't fun at all," Kiba Inuzuka complained unhappily.

"Plus, the architectural style here is similar to Kirigakure; it feels incredibly oppressive," Uchiha Matsuri added.

Hearing their complaints, Minato Namikaze offered an awkward smile, as if to say, "Who was it that insisted on looking around in the first place?"

"Since there's nothing much to see, let's just..."

Before he could finish, a heated argument suddenly erupted from a noodle shop beside the trio.

What's going on? Uchiha Matsuri wondered to himself.

A few seconds later, accompanied by a shout of "Get out!", an elderly woman in tattered clothes was thrown out of the restaurant by a large man.

Seeing this, Uchiha Matsuri and his companions immediately rushed over.

"Ouch..." the old woman groaned incessantly as she lay on the ground.

"Grandma, what happened?" Kiba Inuzuka was the first to reach her, helping her up.

"They... they hit me..." The old woman's voice was clouded with a hint of sorrow and indignation.

After the old woman's explanation, Uchiha Matsuri and the others gradually understood the sequence of events.

It turned out that the elderly woman was a beggar. Four or five years ago, all of her children and grandchildren had died in the Second Shinobi World War, and having lost the ability to work, she had been forced to beg from door to door.

Today, she happened to be begging at the noodle shop beside them. However, when the shop owner saw the woman, he feared that her foul, sour odor would drive away his customers and demanded she leave.

Having not eaten for two or three days, the old woman's intense hunger made her refuse to budge. In a fit of rage, the shop owner began to argue with her, leading to the scene they had just witnessed.