After the battle ended, the three met up under the guidance of the insects.
While resting, Naori said, "One escaped on my side."
Miki nodded in understanding.
"Two escaped on my side," Hitomi said dejectedly.
Miki asked, "Your identities weren't exposed, were they?"
"No signature techniques," Naori said. "Our Ninjutsu should be appearing in the Ninja World for the first time. The guy from Sunagakure who uses Magnet Release was troublesome, and there was a tricky fellow from Iwagakure here who could use the Light-Weight Rock Technique."
"Then that's that," Miki said.
"What about your side?" Hitomi looked at Miki and asked.
Miki didn't speak.
She didn't want to discourage Hitomi.
"How many escaped? You weren't exposed, right?" Hitomi asked.
"Not a single one escaped," Miki said.
"As expected of you." Hitomi said dejectedly, "I'm the weakest one here!!!"
"Shut up and eat," Miki said.
"Oh..." Hitomi responded.
"Hurry up and rest; the upcoming battles aren't over yet," Miki said. "They could restart at any moment."
"Yes," the two responded.
After eating, they lay down in their clothes as the campfire burned.
It was still a bit cold at night.
Miki, however, hadn't exhausted herself much, so she took the night watch.
The next day, everyone waited for the guests to arrive.
The Shinobis of the Five Great Nations didn't appear; instead, it was Shinobis from small hidden Villages: Kusagakure, Sky Ninja, Takumi Ninja, Waterfall Ninja, and Amegakure.
Most of the Shinobis from the small Villages were Genin and Chunin; they came one after another and died one after another on the soil of the River Country.
Not a single sound was made.
For three consecutive days, there was no movement from the Five Great Nations.
For a time, Miki and the others had some leisure.
It was like the calm before the storm.
Miki watched the clouds drift across the horizon.
It was impossible to expect those Flower Prostitutess to make it out of the River Country within half a month.
Miki said, "They're here."
A large force of Shinobis.
Shinobi forces from Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and the Hidden Mist; they had come to settle the score.
The sheer numbers were enough to make one's scalp tingle.
Meanwhile, having received intelligence, Konoha began to station Shinobi forces at the border.
Naori and Hitomi stood up, and Miki said, "Let's go!"
Were they going to engage the Shinobi forces?
Doubt flashed in Hitomi's eyes.
They would die, wouldn't they?
This wasn't like a war; taking on a Shinobi force alone was pure madness, and Chakra wasn't infinite.
Even for Miki.
But Hitomi didn't hesitate and followed Miki's lead.
No matter where they went, even if it was to hell, she would accompany her.
Until the end of the world.
Naori also followed with a smile.
"Even if we die, we'll die together. How romantic."
"I don't want to die so early," Miki chuckled.
"Exactly!" Hitomi agreed. "Don't jinx us, Naori."
The Shinobi forces of the three nations arrived in the River Country.
The largest group was the Fog Shadow Anbu, with five hundred people.
Second was Iwagakure's Anbu, true elites this time: the Iwagakure Demolition Squad, three hundred people.
Third was Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade, though there were only a little over a hundred.
Nearly a thousand in total.
They entered the River Country from the west, north, and south.
Unknown Shinobis had provoked the prestige of the Five Great Nations; if they couldn't be completely wiped out this time, the prestige of the Five Great Nations would be dragged through the mud.
This was a serious political mission.
It wasn't just about giving the nobles who died within their borders a satisfactory explanation.
To this end, the three Great Nations communicated with Konoha.
The Third Hokage stated they could go to the River Country, but they must not step into the Land of Fire's territory.
And he stationed troops at the border as a precaution.
Before that, Konoha had already clashed with the Land of Lightning several times, with losses on both sides.
The Land of Lightning, which wanted to pass through, couldn't reach the River Country for the time being.
The entire River Country was under the clouds of war; Shinobis continuously crossed the cities of the River Country, traveling all the way to the Flower Street where the incident occurred.
Nothing special happened along the way.
At the Flower Street, the three parties met and looked at each other; after a period of tense confrontation, they rationally departed and began searching for information and traces of the unknown Shinobis using their own unique methods.
Soon, two days later, they met again in a wooded area.
Although those Shinobis had hidden their tracks, they were Shinobis of the Five Great Nations; it was impossible to hide from them.
Not to mention the tracks of so many Flower Prostitutess.
It was impossible for them to vanish into thin air.
But!
They had vanished!
A large group of people had completely disappeared!
The last clues ended in this wooded area, with traces of a large gathering nearby.
The Shinobis of the three nations looked at each other.
They didn't know how they had vanished.
The mission was a failure!
Never mind the Flower Prostitutess, they hadn't even seen those Shinobis.
"Search! Turn everything upside down! Find them all!"
The Hidden Mist Shinobi leader roared irritably.
This time, the Hidden Mist had suffered heavy losses, including over a hundred people, many of whom were important members of Bloodline Limit Clans.
The Hidden Mist would not rest until they were found.
The stubborn Iwagakure felt the same; besides, the Village had so many people it was almost unable to support them.
Sunagakure was a bit hesitant; to be honest, their losses weren't that great, and it was a blessing that the Village's important genius had escaped back.
Even better, that genius had started working desperately hard, which was a good thing.
So this time, they were only here to regain some face.
Mainly, the Puppet Masters collectively felt their classmates had died too pitifully and wanted the other side to see what a real puppet show was like.
With hundreds of puppets rushing in, let's see how you cut the puppet strings.
You like cutting strings, don't you?
"Search!" the Iwagakure leader declared as well.
"We'll search too!" Sunagakure decided. Ordinary Sunagakure Shinobis didn't know, but the higher-ups were all aware that the Village's relationship with the nobles was currently very dangerous and could break at any moment.
For the nobles of the Land of Wind, they were already dirt poor, and there was nothing in their desolate land worth stealing by other nations.
Starving themselves to support Shinobis was no way to live.
After reflecting, they realized it was the same whether Sunagakure existed or not.
Their performance in the First Shinobi World War was poor, and the hope of victory in the Second Shinobi World War was almost zero; it would be better to change nationalities and continue being nobles.
With their family assets, any option was better than the hope of striking it rich through Sunagakure.
The Shinobis of the three nations began their operations, spending five days turning the River Country upside down.
They still found nothing.
No one could understand it.
What kind of Ninjutsu was this, and how was it done?
Was it from the air?
The Iwagakure Shinobis were lost in thought.
The Land of Birds was an inconspicuous country, right next to the Land of Rain; unlike the war-torn Land of Rain, this place was relatively peaceful.
Because the Land of Birds had no hidden Village, the whole country was in a passive state, so the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth didn't bother with these sensible folks.
On the contrary, the country seemed quite peaceful.
Here, peaceful greenery surrounded everything, and migratory birds nested everywhere.
The city by the lakeshore was beautiful and serene.
Miki gazed at the city, having no intention of dragging it into the flames of war.
She clapped her hands, and a summoning formula spread out.
A massive swarm of Summer Red Soldiers flew out continuously like a fountain.
It obscured the sky for dozens of kilometers around.
Instantly, the whole world darkened under the cover of the insect swarm.
Nearby migratory birds took flight in terror, avoiding the massive and dangerous swarm.
People in the city stared at the sky and hid indoors in a panic.
Beneath the swarm, Miki waved her hand and pointed in the direction of the River Country.
This was an insect plague.
The most classic insect swarm tactic: the Insect Sea Tactic.
To overwhelm the opponent with overwhelming numbers.
The Summer Red Soldiers flew toward the River Country, blotting out the sun.
Insect Secret Technique: Dance of the Insect Plague - Fireworks Festival
The summer festival had begun.
"Everyone, let's play together."
"Laugh heartily."
Miki chuckled.
I gave you a chance and you didn't run!
Then don't even think about running!
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