In the early morning, Naruto and Hikari walked side by side along Kusagakure's uneven streets.
The air carried a mingled scent of damp earth and cooking smoke. The doors and windows of the low houses on either side were tightly shut; occasionally, a timid gaze peered through a crack, then quickly vanished into the shadows.
They had come to inspect the village's defenses and living conditions firsthand, but what they saw was far more run-down than they had expected.
Hikari stopped and looked toward the remains of several isolated watchposts on a distant ridge.
"This defensive system might as well not exist."
Naruto followed her gaze.
The watchposts, which should have been manned in shifts, now had crooked wooden beams and shattered roof tiles. The cords for their warning bells had long since snapped, swaying silently in the wind.
Those watchposts had already been in that state before they arrived.
Not to mention the complete absence of a sensing barrier. It was as though the village had never had any defenses at all.
"The only ones who could count as fighting strength are probably Mui and those few elders."
Naruto's tone was level.
"The elders have lived in comfort for too long. Their taijutsu is rusty, and their actual fighting strength probably falls short of some hardworking chunin.
"As for the others... most are at chunin or genin level. Back when they wanted to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the elders nearly sacrificed the village's entire guard force."
Not every ninja could stay at their peak as long as Ōnoki or the Third.
"But even if they had guards, it wouldn't have made any difference against our attack."
An absolute gap in strength was not so easily bridged. Even when the Allied Shinobi Forces swarmed Six Paths Madara, everyone