Uchiha Lan's Weight

The biggest victim of Uchiha Lan's rise to fame was undoubtedly the Sand Village.

The Sand Village's emergency high-level meeting at Mount Kikyo was deathly silent. The loss of Chahachiro and a hundred elites was significant, but not unbearable.

The main issue was that they had all become stepping stones for Uchiha Lan, which was deeply unpleasant.

The greatest loss lay in the Sand Village's share of missions.

Those who issued missions saw that over a hundred people from the Sand Village could not even compare to one person from Leaf Village.

If they had an important mission, which village would they choose to hire? Anyone with eyes could tell, and even people from the Land of Wind would be no exception.

Don't talk about how people from the Land of Wind should help one another while away from home. Nobles and merchants who put profit above all else would never value such things.

As for aiding the enemy, it was not as though they had never done that before.

"It seems... Konoha has produced another White Fang."

Her voice was hoarse, and a trace of killing intent lingered at the corner of her eyes.

"No, he may be even harder to deal with than that White Fang of Konoha. An Uchiha."

Ebizo was silent for a long while before slowly speaking.

"Sister, should we... consider negotiating peace with Konoha now? As long as they fear being dragged into a three-front war, they may not reject the terms we propose."

"Never! Even if I jumped from here, fell to my death, or starved to death, I would never negotiate peace!"

This outrageous record also swept across the entire ninja world.

The Kage and intelligence departments of every nation and village were all shocked. Konoha had actually produced another terrifying genius.

If Uchiha Lan was allowed to grow, he would absolutely become Shadow Level. Wouldn't that make him another Sakumo Hatake?

Thus, the four great ninja villages all ordered investigations into his ninjutsu abilities and weaknesses, while quietly raising Uchiha Lan's bounty on the black market.

Uchiha Lan's black-market wanted poster was updated almost within a single day, his bounty soaring from fifteen million ryo to fifty million ryo!

That was equivalent to two adult Asumas.

This sum was enough to drive the ninja world's strongest rogue ninjas and bounty hunters mad, such as a certain hundred-year-old monster, Kakuzu.

At the same time, it marked "Konoha Spark" Uchiha Lan's official emergence as a rising star that the entire ninja world could no longer ignore.

At the Konoha main camp's medical area, the grave air was thick with the mixed scents of disinfectant and blood.

The largest medical tent was brightly lit, with figures hurrying back and forth.

Time passed second by second amid the agonizing wait. Inside the tent, the medical squad leader and assistants worked frantically, the sounds of various instruments mingling with urgent commands.

The pale green glow of medical chakra flickered continuously, illuminating everyone's exceptionally grim faces.

After an unknown amount of time, the tent flap was abruptly thrown open.

A tall woman with a golden ponytail and a chest as imposing as mountains emerged, followed by several elite medical ninjas whose eyes were filled with admiration.

She was Tsunade-hime, one of the Three Ninja. She should have been on the Mount Kikyo battlefield at this time, but because her hemophobia had flared up repeatedly, she had been forced to retreat to the second line to manage logistics and medical supplies.

She had happened to be nearby this time, so she agreed to Baiyun Zaojian's request and came to treat Uchiha Lan.

Uchiha Tetsuka and the others immediately surrounded her.

"Lady Tsunade, how is Captain Lan now?"

Tsunade said nothing. Her hemophobia was still affecting her, so the medical squad leader beside her immediately reported.

"Jonin Uchiha Lan has suffered severe chakra depletion, multiple lacerations and impact wounds across his body, as well as internal bleeding."

"But Lady Tsunade summoned a clone of Lady Katsuyu from Shikkotsu Forest to assist with the treatment. Jonin Lan is now out of danger, though he will likely need three months of rest and recovery!"

As soon as they heard this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Arigato gozaimasu!"

"Lady Tsunade, if there is ever anything you need from the Uchiha Clan, please give the order. I, Uchiha Daosui, will do everything in my power!"

Tsunade wearily rubbed her brow, forcibly suppressing the nausea in her stomach caused by the scent of blood. Her voice carried a trace of hoarseness.

"Hmph, brat, who do you think you are? Keeping yourself alive on the battlefield is what you should be doing!"

Tsunade snorted coldly, ignored them, and instructed the medical squad leader.

"Give him the best nutrient solution, keep the environment quiet, arrange dedicated care, and notify me immediately if anything abnormal happens."

She turned to leave. The heavy stench of blood made her desperate for some fresh air.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

In the west of the Land of Fire lay the Land of Grass, where the wind stirred the grass and revealed cattle and sheep.

A poem said: The breeze rolled green waves, fragrant flowers hid in the grasslands; red, orange, green, indigo, and violet, while chive blossoms stretched white as far as the eye could see.

According to a historical record somewhere in the ninja world, during the even more ancient Warring States Era, before the Land of Grass was founded, it had merely been a powerful regional force that acknowledged the Land of That as its leader.

Later, the western superpower, the Land of That, was destroyed by divine punishment sent down by the Rabbit Goddess. Even some of its citizens were forcibly taken to worship the Divine Tree.

Several years after the Land of That was destroyed, the Rabbit Goddess, who had ruled the western continent, also mysteriously vanished. It was said that she had been sealed away by the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of ninshu.

After this series of events, the happiest ones were not the eastern nations, but the Grass Village in the former northern territory of the Land of That.

Their cavalry galloped across the land, curved blades like crescent moons in their hands, sweeping through all before them. They conquered cities and seized territory, their military achievements glorious for a time, and even established the Land of Grass.

Meanwhile, the other nations mostly relied on lightly armored samurai. Light infantry facing cavalry naturally had only one possible outcome.

The repeatedly victorious Land of Grass kept the surrounding nations trembling every day, even forcing the eastern nations to use annual tribute and unequal trade to barely reach peace agreements with the Land of Grass.

Yet before the Land of Grass's cavalry could sit proudly in their saddles and unify the world—

With the rise of ninjas, samurai gradually withdrew from the stage of history as a combat profession, and mounted samurai were no exception.

By the late Warring States Era, hiring ninjas had become a trend throughout the ninja world. Many daimyos used money and supplies to hire ninjas to strike at rival nations.

The Land of Grass in particular, having bullied them before, was collectively targeted by the nations. They hired those ninjas one after another to teach the Land of Grass a lesson.

As a result, the Land of Grass went from dominating a region to becoming a small country squeezed between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.

The Land of Grass's national fortunes declined with it, fading amid the great nations' unending campaigns, while its reputation for bravery gradually became a thing of the past.

Many people did not even know that the Land of Grass had once enjoyed such glorious days.

Of course, the Land of Grass was not as stubbornly unyielding as the Land of Iron. It followed the trends of the ninja world as well and supported the establishment of an organization known as the Grass Hidden Corps.

They even unearthed a so-called treasure of the Sage of Six Paths—the Box of Ultimate Bliss—and once again rose to regional prominence, continuing to look down upon the Five Great Nations and the other small countries.

In truth, this so-called Box of Ultimate Bliss was merely a box the Sage of Six Paths had once used to seal away a monster.