The two groups followed Orochimaru and Kakuzu slowly into the village.
Looking at the place that had brought him so much heartache, the Fourth Raikage remembered everything he had suffered before, and a bleak feeling rose in his heart.
"After all these years, coming back to Konoha, I still have to say that it's developing faster and faster. And it's getting harder and harder for an old man like me to understand." Gazing at the Konoha before him, which seemed to have developed considerably since his last visit, Ōnoki turned to Orochimaru and sighed.
"That's not all that's changed in Konoha. Its education and healthcare have been developing steadily over the years too. Hmph, careful you don't develop so fast that you end up destroying yourselves. You'd become a laughingstock," the Fourth Raikage said coolly with a sneer.
"Healthcare..." Hearing that word made Ōnoki's old heart shudder twice.
At his age, he absolutely couldn't die in Konoha this time...
Looking in the direction where he remembered Konoha Hospital being, Ōnoki shivered violently...
Then Ōnoki turned toward the large contingent he had brought from Iwagakure and fixed them with an icy stare.
Seeing their Tsuchikage's icy gaze, everyone from Iwagakure shuddered violently. They immediately recalled what Lord Tsuchikage had told them during his pep talks over the past month.
"Safety first, competition second. Even if you come dead last, as long as you emerge without a scratch, you'll have done Iwagakure a great service."
"If any of you dare get injured in Konoha, you can just die there!"
"If any of you make me take even one step through the doors of Konoha Hospital over these next few months, prepare to spend the rest of your life as a genin when we return to Iwagakure!"
Those words kept echoing through everyone's