Following the Second Hokage's previous instructions, Tsunade and her companions arrived at an ancient battlefield ruin in the eastern part of the Land of Fire, near the Land of Whirlpools. This area was once the territory of the Uzumaki Clan, and a large number of Sealing Techniques remained underground. The Second Hokage had buried Uchiha Madara's body underground, not wanting anyone to find it.
Entering the tomb and opening the coffin, they found it empty.
Judging by the accumulated dust, this coffin had been vacant for at least several decades.
They found no clues related to Uchiha Madara at the scene and could only notify the Village via messenger hawk, asking them to send more professional personnel to investigate.
News arrived from Kitsuchi, the son of the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, that his father was willing to meet with Tsunade. Tsunade's team left the underground tomb and headed towards the Land of Earth.
First, they showed their faces at the border. Kurotsuchi had already returned to the Village, and the Ninja at the Iwagakure border outpost dared not obstruct the famous Sannin. They served them well with food and drink, and a day later, Tsunade and her companions successfully entered the Land of Earth.
Iwagakure is located among the mountains of the Land of Earth, with layers of peaks. After climbing one mountain, there was another, and even though Ninja could traverse mountains as easily as flat ground, they were getting a bit annoyed; there were simply too many mountains!
Tonton's excitement had long vanished; even being held by Shizune, it felt very tired.
Ino observed all along the way. Unlike Konoha Village, which is located on a plain, Iwagakure absolutely deserved the evaluation of being easy to defend and difficult to attack. The three of them were a bit tired just running all the way here, let alone ordinary Chunin and Genin. If they had to make a long-distance raid, they might exhaust more than half their stamina before even reaching Iwagakure, and then what would be the point of fighting?
For so many years, Iwagakure had never been invaded by external enemies, which indeed had something to do with its geographical advantages.
There are pros and cons to everything. With such a remote location, ordinary people wouldn't come here to commission missions. Iwagakure had a relatively small number of missions, but they had mines! The Ninja of the Village were also skilled in Earth Release, each one a good miner, so they were not actually poor.
A giant rock stood at the entrance of Iwagakure. The three stopped to observe. The Ninja guarding the gate of Iwagakure looked proud and did not stop them at all.
As expected and logically, several lines of large characters were carved on the stone.
The vigorous and powerful calligraphy elaborated on the will of the First Tsuchikage, which was similar to the will of fire in Konoha Village. Here, it was called the will of stone.
Resilience and unmovable steadfastness were the core of the will of stone. In essence, this will was not problematic, but in Ino's view, it seemed too rigid.
You don't move when old habits need to be broken, and you don't move when reform is needed to advance?
If it were a chaotic situation where those in power couldn't see the changing times, then responding to all changes with no change would be a wise choice. But in a relatively peaceful era of the Ninja World, if one still remained unmovable, that would not do.
Poverty brings change, change brings solutions, solutions bring longevity.
In Ino's opinion, the future of Iwagakure would increasingly fall behind the times, and eventually, it would be kicked aside like a stone.
It might be kicked aside in the future, but not now.
Unchanging policies naturally had their benefits; people desired stability. The environment in Iwagakure was the most stable, which was much better than Konoha Village, which lived in turmoil.
Ino carefully read the will of stone. This was like studying Shaolin's ultimate techniques requiring reading Buddhist scriptures. Now, she had more or less learned some of Iwagakure's Ninjutsu, so she read it very seriously.
The First Tsuchikage, Ishigawa, was the grandfather of the current Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki and the great-great-grandfather of Kurotsuchi. Ino could understand the thoughts of this Ninja World senior through this will of stone. While she might not agree with his path, she could learn from its advantages.
As they walked through the gates of Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage, along with several high-ranking officials of the Village, came forward to greet them.
The most striking among them was his son, Kitsuchi, a brawny man standing 2.17 meters tall.
The Third Tsuchikage, meanwhile, floated in mid-air.
This was Iwagakure's famous Light-Weight Rock Technique.
The Light-Weight Rock Technique and the Added-Weight Rock Technique involved a series of abilities like flight and were extremely rare in the Ninja World.
However, there were also some speculations in the Ninja World that this technique was not only extremely difficult to learn but also required moderation during practice.
If one practiced too intensely, they might end up like the current Third Tsuchikage and the deceased First Tsuchikage.
The First Tsuchikage, Ishigawa, was 1.45 meters tall, and the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was 1.30 meters tall.
Looking at Kitsuchi's height of 2.17 meters, one knew that their family's genes were not bad. How could a son be 2.17 meters tall and his father 1.30 meters? There was no 'neighbor's old man' involved here; it was simply that practicing the Light-Weight Rock Technique and Added-Weight Rock Technique too frequently, subjecting the body to heavy loads for long periods, led to spinal deformation and literally stunted their growth.
You see, Kitsuchi didn't practice it, and he's fine!
Seeing the Third Tsuchikage floating in mid-air like a small potato, Ino felt a chill run down her spine. Even if this technique were given to her for free, she wouldn't practice it!
Strength is temporary, but being handsome is for life. If she were really pressed down to 1.30 meters, even if she were naturally beautiful and had a graceful figure, it would be useless.
Having clay giant birds for transport was enough; she no longer coveted his Light-Weight Rock Technique!
"Tsunade! What are you doing in my Iwagakure?" The Third Tsuchikage floated to a position slightly higher than the others, looking down at the three of them.
The older one gets, the more one cares about seniority. No matter how displeased the Third Tsuchikage was, he couldn't be impolite. As the First Hokage's granddaughter coming to Iwagakure, he, as the First Tsuchikage's grandson, had to come out and meet her, even if he had to crawl.
Hearing the old man's unfriendly question at this moment, Tsunade said loudly, "My disciple Ino—"
She hadn't finished speaking when Shizune kept coughing behind her. She suddenly realized, 'Oh no, I'm not here to challenge them, am I? What was that mission we had?'
Shizune knew she had forgotten and quickly whispered, "To inquire about Iwagakure's view on the East Sea War."
"Right!" Tsunade's voice was booming: "Now the Land of Water is trying to reoccup the East Sea. Konoha, Hidden Mist, and Kumogakure have already exchanged opinions. We believe that not interfering in the wars of ordinary people is the optimal choice. We want to know Iwagakure's opinion."
After all, she was someone who had been Hokage in the original timeline, so Tsunade did possess political talent. At this moment, she was pulling out all the stops, making Konoha, Hidden Mist, and Kumogakure sound like close allies. She spoke extemporaneously, expounding on the importance of the Five Great Ninja Villages not participating in the war for ten minutes straight.
The Third Tsuchikage found it very noisy, but he couldn't tell her to shut up, so he could only listen patiently.
After listening, he refused without even thinking.
"Finished? You can leave."
Tsunade's face was stern: "So, you're unwilling to cooperate!"
The old man's eyes also widened like copper bells: "I have nothing to say! What do you want me to say?"
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