Journey to the Land of Grass

"Xiaojin, if only you could talk, we could have a proper chat," Hyuga Gen muttered to himself while standing behind Xiaojin.

They were currently flying toward the Land of Grass. Hyuga Gen had gained some experience by now; just like walking on water, he focused his chakra into the soles of his feet so he wouldn't easily fall off.

Looking at the scenery below, everything was lush and verdant. This world had largely escaped large-scale human destruction, so the vegetation coverage was incredibly high, leaving nothing but green as far as the eye could see.

The Land of Grass bordered the Land of Waterfalls, and since both were small nations with limited territory, it didn't take long for Xiaojin to carry Hyuga Gen to the border of the Land of Grass.

Standing on Xiaojin's back, Hyuga Gen activated his Byakugan to scout the area. Finding Karin and her mother didn't seem too difficult to him; based on Shippuden, it was easy to deduce that they must be in the Grass Village's medical department. Therefore, he only needed to keep an eye on the movements of the Grass Village's wounded to locate them.

Xiaojin was flying very high, far from the ground—a precaution Hyuga Gen had specifically ordered to avoid being spotted by anyone below.

It was fortunate that Hyuga Gen possessed the powerful tool that was the Byakugan; otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have been able to see the situation on the ground from such a height.

"Isn't it said that the Land of Grass is often plagued by war? Why is it so peaceful?" Hyuga Gen murmured after flying for a while without spotting any anomalies. This wasn't a good sign for him.

Without war, there would be no casualties, and without casualties, there would be few opportunities for Karin's mother to make an appearance, which would make his search much more difficult.

In Hyuga Gen's view, the Grass Village relied heavily on Karin and her mother. Whenever something happened, they would immediately think of biting them to resolve the issue.

He still remembered during the Chunin Exams in Shippuden, where Karin's teammate hadn't even been seriously injured but still bit her just to recover chakra—a truly wasteful act.

Hyuga Gen wondered if Karin and her mother weren't in the Grass Village, the village would likely be in an even more miserable state, perhaps even facing extinction, which would mean the Land of Grass would cease to exist.

"What should I do? Should I go into the Grass Village and look for them?" Hyuga Gen couldn't help but frown.

Although he had Xiaojin, Hyuga Gen knew that with his current strength, infiltrating the Grass Village was still a bit of a stretch. It was a ninja village, after all, and the risks of going there were indeed quite high.

He might be able to handle one Jonin, but if he ran into two or three, he would be in danger. No matter how trashy the Grass Village might be, they surely had at least two or three Jonin.

With such a good healer, Hyuga Gen didn't believe the Grass Village wouldn't arrange for tight protection and surveillance, making it even easier for him to be discovered. If he were caught in an accident and pinned down, he would inevitably face a siege, and death would be the only thing waiting for him. It was better to play it safe.

Forget it, he would find a place to rest, have some lunch, and then continue thinking of a plan.

With that, Hyuga Gen began scanning his surroundings for a place to land that wouldn't be easily spotted by others.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Waterfalls, Might Guy and his team were searching the vicinity, but they hadn't found a trace of Hyuga Gen. Might Guy had even searched the undercurrents, but because the terrain was complex and pitch black, he had come up empty-handed.

As for why they hadn't searched yesterday, it was partly because Might Guy had exhausted himself after the intense battle, and it was already evening and turning dark, so he hadn't gone down to check.

That was why he had gone down to look early this morning, but unfortunately, there were no major findings. With no traces discovered in the surrounding area, the group knew that the chances of Hyuga Gen being alive were slim.

The results of the morning search extinguished the last faint spark of hope in their hearts. Although they had already understood that this might be the outcome, everyone still felt a wave of sorrow.

The mission was complete, and Might Guy knew it was time to return to Konoha to report. There was no point in staying here any longer. He also asked Bu Qianfan to keep an eye out and send word to Konoha if there was any news of Hyuga Gen, whether he was dead or alive.

After giving his instructions, the group set off on their return journey, though they had arrived as five and were leaving as only three.

There was no conversation along the way; the group traveled in silence, their hearts heavy as they raced back toward Konoha.

On the other side, Hyuga Gen woke up from his nap. They were currently in a cave on a fairly high mountain; fortunately, he had Xiaojin, otherwise, climbing up here wouldn't have been easy.

After arriving at this cave, he had enjoyed a hearty meal before taking a nap, as he hadn't slept much the previous night.

Of course, before sleeping, he had checked the surroundings and confirmed there were no signs of anyone within a five-kilometer radius. With Xiaojin keeping watch, he had slept quite soundly.

"Since there's no war, why don't I manufacture one?" Hyuga Gen began to ponder.

The Land of Grass had decent diplomatic capabilities and maintained good relations with Konoha. Previously, when the Land of Earth had invaded the Land of Grass, Konoha had sent troops to support them.

Come to think of it, the Five Great Nations didn't directly border one another; they were separated by several smaller countries. The reason these small nations still existed was likely by the design of the Five Great Nations.

These small nations served as a buffer zone, allowing the Five Great Nations to effectively prevent the flames of war from burning on their own soil and causing unnecessary losses.

Looking at past wars, it wasn't hard to see that most battles took place on the territory of these small nations. These countries were miserable, but there was no help for it—the law of the jungle applied everywhere.

However, miserable as they were, at least they hadn't been wiped off the map, right? Just like the Land of Grass, which knew how to use others' strength to fight its battles; when it couldn't win, it would beg Konoha for help, and Konoha naturally wouldn't ignore it, as they didn't want the war to eventually reach their own borders.

Therefore, the Land of Grass had decent diplomatic and political foresight, or it wouldn't have survived until now. He remembered that during the Chunin Exams, there were ninjas from the Grass Village participating, which showed that the relationship between Konoha and the Grass Village was quite friendly.

So, if he wanted to incite a war, he could only consider other countries that bordered the Land of Grass: the Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Earth.

The Land of Waterfalls was out of the question; even if he wanted to incite something, he wouldn't know where to start. Given its geography, he hadn't seen any defensive deployments at its borders, making it difficult to provoke.

As for the Land of Earth, Hyuga Gen didn't intend to consider it either. The Land of Earth was quite strong, and if the Land of Grass provoked it, a full-scale invasion would be troublesome.

Thus, the only option left was the Land of Rain. The two were relatively matched in strength—provided the Akatsuki didn't intervene. If Pain showed up, ten Grass Villages probably wouldn't be enough for him to wipe out.

However, Hyuga Gen figured that the Akatsuki wouldn't appear at the border. After all, they were currently in a period of slowly accumulating power and wouldn't easily expose themselves to the public.

Uchiha Itachi hadn't yet defected to join the Akatsuki, and Deidara was still just a child. The Akatsuki shouldn't have many members right now, so they likely wouldn't show their faces easily. The risk should be manageable.

Moreover, if the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass clashed, the Land of Fire wouldn't necessarily rush to help. After all, the Land of Rain wasn't as much of a threat as the Land of Earth; even if the Land of Grass were destroyed by the Land of Rain, the higher-ups in Konoha might not care.

Therefore, the best current option was to stir up conflict between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass. If he went to the border to stir up trouble and then quickly retreated from the Land of Rain, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

With this thought, Hyuga Gen made his decision. He decided to give it a try tonight.