Book of Thunder

After arriving in the Land of Thunder, Oguri Hayashi stopped his training.

He needed to maintain his optimal state at all times to deal with the situation in the Land of Thunder.

The Land of Thunder has a high elevation, with mountains in all directions. These aren't mountain ranges, but rather individual, standalone mountains.

The people of the Land of Thunder connect two mountains with chains, then nail wooden planks to them. They travel and move along these chain roads.

The Land of Thunder is a country that naturally possesses a defensive barrier.

With cliffs a hundred zhang high and sheer rock faces a thousand feet tall, only High Ninjas could climb them.

What was the point of dozens of High Ninjas in a country-level battle like this? Thus, the Land of Thunder was the least invaded. However, from Oguri Hayashi's perspective, these chain roads, which made it impossible to transport large quantities of food and supplies, were likely the biggest reason for the Land of Thunder's poverty.

As the saying goes, to get rich, you must build roads first. If transportation capacity can't be improved, the Land of Thunder still wants to escape poverty? What a joke.

However, he was here for the Book of Thunder, not to help the Land of Thunder get rich, so he bypassed those "transportation arteries." Cloud Ninjas were stationed at the end of each chain road, serving as necessary scouts or defenses. They could block the main routes with very few troops and immediately warn the village if a large enemy force invaded.

Stationed on the cableways, they were like watchtowers. As soon as enemies appeared, they would cut the cables, light signal fires, and retreat.

The cost of maintaining the cableways and the constantly lit signal fires would make any invasion extremely difficult. It could be said that the Land of Thunder was a country with scarce resources and natural defenses.

Such a country clearly couldn't have large plains to produce food. The absence of plains for agriculture meant a smaller population, and thus, a fierce populace.

History had long proven that countries without agriculture couldn't guarantee population growth, primarily because productivity wouldn't allow it. Therefore, Cloud Ninjas possessed a strong desire for territory and offensive capabilities. Throughout the Shinobi World Wars, it was the Cloud Ninjas who emerged from the deep mountains and forests to attack other countries, not the other way around, because the output from the Land of Thunder was simply too low to be worth invading.

He didn't take the usual path, using his Omni-directional Mobility Gear to insert anchors directly into the cliffs and slowly pull himself up.

Moreover, the Omni-directional Mobility Gear had a dual anchor configuration, one on each side. After reaching a certain height, it could shoot out the other anchor and secure the steel cable to another cliff.

Relying on the Omni-directional Mobility Gear, he slowly traversed the mountains and ridges, heading towards Kumogakure by a route no ordinary person could ever imagine.

Kumogakure was located on the summit of the highest peak in the Land of Thunder. The surrounding terrain had been altered by Earth Style Jutsu, transforming the peak into a series of platforms for the Cloud Ninjas to live and reside.

Why didn't they just do this to all the peaks in the Land of Thunder earlier?

Oguri Hayashi pouted as he stood outside Kumogakure. The Land of Thunder lacked arable land, yet the ninjas preferred to go to war rather than use their ninjutsu as a tool for national production.

He couldn't understand the pride of these ninjas.

He covered himself with an Invisibility Cloak and lowered the display from his forehead. It was now a very dangerous area.

He wore a Konoha headband on his waist. If he were caught, there was absolutely no way he could survive the pursuit of the Cloud Ninjas and return.

Kumogakure was almost entirely populated by ninjas, with civilians being rare. This was related to the Land of Thunder's small population and Kumogakure's warrior culture.

Without knowing the opponent's Chakra levels, he could only dodge everyone he encountered along the way, while also planning a reasonable escape route. This was difficult.

But it was no match for Oguri Hayashi.

Oguri Hayashi had prepared two escape routes and was very calm.

He used thermal imaging to see people in advance and then used his Invisibility Cloak to avoid them. He didn't even use Chakra along the way, relying solely on his agile movements to make his way to the Raikage's Office.

If he guessed correctly, it was now the late stages of the Second Shinobi World War. The Land of Thunder and the Land of Earth were about to engage in a major battle, meaning the Raikage should already be at the border between the Land of Thunder and the Land of Earth.

He wasn't someone who would come to the Land of Thunder to steal secret techniques without knowing anything.

Based on his speculation, if the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, whether it was Fū or Killer B, were to go berserk within the village, no one could control it. Therefore, it would be taken to the battlefield by the Third Raikage.

Here, at most, there would only be the immature Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, and the not-yet-fully-matured Fourth Raikage, A, as the primary high-level combat forces.

Of course, neither of them was someone the current Oguri Hayashi could contend with.

Once he had an impression of the high-level combat power here, he knew how to proceed.

At this time, Kumogakure was short on high-level combatants, with at most only some Genin, Chunin, and a small number of High Ninjas. The success rate of his mission was even greater.

He made his way to the Raikage's Office. There were seals here, and anyone who touched them carelessly would immediately trigger the seals and the alarm.

With the Raikage absent, there was no Shadow Guard here. The Shadow Guard had to be around the Kage at all times to protect their safety. After the Raikage went to the front lines, besides the seals, this place was just an empty shell.

"This is actually easy..." He triggered the seals and the alarm without hesitation, then rushed out of the window of the Raikage's Office.

This was the highest point in all of Kumogakure, as there was no Konoha's Hokage Rock here. The moment the alarm sounded, it perfectly matched his audacious act of breaking through the window, like a scene from a blockbuster movie.

All the ninjas in Kumogakure looked up the instant the alarm sounded, gazing towards the center from which the alarm originated – the Raikage's Office.

They saw him brazenly charge out of the Raikage's Office, carrying a giant scroll as tall as himself. He instantly spread his limbs.

Webbed wings, like those of a Winged Suit, were unfurled. Taking advantage of the height of the Raikage's Office and the mountain peak, he shot downwards like an arrow loosed from a bow, flying towards the base of the mountain right before the eyes of all the Cloud Ninjas.

"Damn it! The enemy broke into the Raikage's Office and stole the Book of Thunder!!" This was a secret technique of Kumogakure, a forbidden scroll that even most Cloud Ninjas weren't qualified to learn, and it had been stolen?!

And judging by his build, he was just a child?!

The Cloud Ninjas exploded into chaos. Countless High Ninjas, Chunin, and Genin leaped onto the rocks, sprinting across them, occasionally using vines to aid themselves, all in pursuit of the figure who was several times faster than them.