Dragon Release Village bustled with the activity of its early days.
With a gentle smile on her face, Nonō patiently taught a group of young children to identify basic medicinal herbs.
Most of these children were orphans who had wandered in from neighboring countries or been abandoned, and Dragon Release Village had taken them in.
Kimimaro and Haku were among them, listening with particular attention.
Elsewhere, Miyamoto Ichirō was run off his feet.
After word spread that Dragon Release Village was recruiting ninja, it had indeed attracted some wandering ninja and people whose talents had gone unrecognized.
He needed to carefully investigate their backgrounds and intentions and conduct an initial screening.
The work was quite tedious.
But it was also extremely important.
"Behave yourselves! Line up according to the rules!"
The enormous Manda lay coiled in the open space near the village entrance like a gatekeeper, his vertical pupils sweeping over the newly arrived ninja.
His terrifying size and undisguised ferocity left these people, most of whom were only at Chunin level, silent as mice, not daring to make the slightest suspicious move.
A few of them could also sense even more powerful presences lying dormant deeper inside, filling them with awe.
At that moment, the White Snake Sage, coiled in an underground cavern at the center of the village, slowly raised her serpentine head.
She had sensed an unusual disturbance.
To the north... powerful chakra is approaching rapidly... full of aggression.
She closed her serpentine eyes, sending her mental power spreading along an invisible network.
Far away in the waters north of Dragon Release Village, an unremarkable sea snake surfaced, sharing its vision with the White Snake Sage.
Through the sea snake's eyes, the White Snake Sage "saw" the streaks of lightning racing toward them.
Especially the mountain-like, muscular