PS: I recommend a book by an author friend. Unlike me, this guy is a genuine Naruto expert. He has written three Naruto fanfics about Minato, Itachi, and Hashirama Senju. His new book is about the young heroic Jiraiya, titled "Konoha's New Heroic Tale." If you're interested, go check it out. It's already over a hundred thousand words, so you can dig in!
They raced onward, heading slightly southwest.
As one of the smaller nations in the shinobi world, the Land of Bears was actually in a terrible geographical position. The Land of Earth lay to its north, while the Land of Wind lay to its south. It was already trapped between two major powers, and there were also medium and small countries such as the Land of Demons, Land of Birds, and Rain Country to its east and west. Once war broke out, the Land of Bears would be squeezed like filling in a sandwich.
But that was simply how small nations survived in the shinobi world. At the very least, the Land of Bears had its own shinobi village, which gave it some degree of self-defense under normal international circumstances.
Over the years, the Land of Bears' upper echelon had tried every possible means to support Hoshigakure within its borders. They did not expect it to reach the level of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but if it could grow stronger and rival Amegakure or Takigakure at their peaks, the daimyo, nobles, and officials of the Land of Bears would have been more than satisfied.
Yet even that proved impossible. Amegakure had only prospered somewhat because it produced Hanzō of the Salamander, while Takigakure had enjoyed a period of glory in its early days. Otherwise, the First Hokage would not have assigned a Tailed Beast to Takigakure.
That