In the forest, eight ninjas wearing Kumogakure forehead protectors had gathered together. A very familiar-looking girl had been knocked unconscious and tied up.
"Big Brother Toroi, we've caught her. But that beast got away. What should we do?"
"It's just a fox. Ignore it. All we need to do is take this woman back."
The speaker was a middle-aged man of around forty. He had short purple hair and three lower eyelashes beneath each eye, with several scrolls carried at his waist. He wore a black, close-fitting combat outfit beneath a white Kumogakure uniform, with a yellow scarf around his neck.
He was Toroi, the Kumogakure Elite Ninja in charge of this operation.
He alone knew that what Kumogakure's higher-ups truly wanted this time were the Land of Beasts' methods of raising and breeding ninja beasts, along with the secret beast techniques passed down through generations.
Before the Land of Beasts had been destroyed, it had possessed four great clans.
There was the Tamamo Clan, which raised ninja foxes.
The Fenglie Clan, which raised ninja boars.
The Heipi Clan, which raised ninja bears.
And the Inuzuka Clan, which raised ninja dogs.
The ninja beasts bred by these four great clans not only understood human behavior and could coordinate with their masters in all kinds of tactics, but, more importantly, could merge with them through secret techniques to greatly increase their strength.
Thus, although the Land of Beasts at its peak had not shaken the Shinobi World as the Land of Whirlpools had, it had still been an extremely renowned nation.
Unfortunately, the Land of Beasts had ultimately been only a small nation. Although it excelled at breeding ninja beasts and had produced quite a few Chunin and Elite Ninjas, it lacked a Kage-Level Strongman to guard it. As a result,