Follow the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Kawa back to the Land of Fire, then turn due north, and walk through the fields of the Land of Fire to the country of Taki, the distance is about the same distance as the distance from Konoha to Shinobi, also about three days.

Leaving the ninja village and town and walking in the countryside is like returning to the feudal era from the modern world, with dilapidated and scattered villages, dusty and bumpy paths, bustling towns, and spacious and flat streets like two worlds.

The uneven development of the ninja world can be seen, and it is no less than the gap between the countryside in the western mountains and the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen in the previous life.

Because these areas can't afford the honorarium of the task list, it is undoubtedly a small transparent with no sense of existence in the eyes of Ninja Village. Bandits and robbers are usually active in such places, and they are inexhaustible and exterminatory, and this phenomenon is not only because of poverty, but also because the reasons behind it are worth pondering.

Sakura Haruno had previously led her class on a mission to eradicate bandits, and neither the ninja nor the ninja had received a request for the task, nor could they have received a reward for the task from the poor villagers, so it was a delicate matter whether this was a voluntary labor or a shinobi village fulfilling its duty to protect the people.

Sakura is well aware that the relationship between the country and the village at this stage is very distorted.

In her own case, although she also considers herself a member of the Fire Country, she obviously has a stronger sense of identification with the village. Basically, ninjas are much more loyal to the ninja village than to the country, and even many Konoha ninjas equate the land of fire with Konoha and several nearby big cities, and don't care about these backwoods.

On the other hand, in fact, it is the ninja village that has the vast majority of the ninja power that really holds the power and can determine the direction of the country. Taking Konoha as an example, the Guardian Ninja Twelve who protect the Daimyo are the ninjas of Konoha at all, and the army belonging to the Daimyo is ineffective in the face of ninjas.

When she and I Airo talked about the world situation, they didn't consider the position of the daimyo at all, the original intention of the establishment of the ninja village system was that the ninja village belonged to the state, in fact, how could the ninja village with power be controlled by ordinary people who had no power? The daimyo was not controlled by the ninja village with illusion is already quite a face-saving thing.

Some small countries with ninja villages simply don't have daimyos, and the top leader who leads the country is directly the "shadow" of the ninja village, and several countries around Konoha are like this.

Taki-no-kuni is a typical example of Takikage concurrently serving as a daimyo.

The distorted relationship will not last long, and the ninja village system will eventually be reformed to adapt to the situation of the village being strong and weak.

A few days later, Sakura Haruno and the two entered the country of Taki. The two deliberately slowed down their pace and marched in a way that saved their physical strength, without hurrying away. My Airo's reminder is not unreasonable, this trip is likely to meet the members of Akatsuki, and it is very dangerous to consume a lot of physical strength on the road.

Thankfully, Sakura made it safely to the borders of Takino Country, where the quiet villages and towns seemed to have a shadow looming over them.

Takinokuni, in front of a huge waterfall.

The water cascading down from the cliffs at a great height obscures the only entrance to the village, creating a natural barrier.

Takishinobu Village is hidden behind a waterfall, in a valley behind a cliff, and the entrance to the village is through a natural dark river in a cave behind the waterfall, so it is painstaking to find such a hidden place to build a village.

"No matter how hidden the entrance is, it can't be hidden from the ninja's reconnaissance. Sasuke stood in front of the waterfall and said disapprovingly.

No matter how hidden it is, it will leave clues. The ninjas of the Inuzuka family can distinguish the footprints and smells left behind by their entry and exit, and the white eyes and ninja eagles can see the valleys and villages behind the peaks, and even an ordinary dark department can track the ninjas of these small countries to find their villages.

In the ninja world, it is almost impossible to hide a huge village. As long as you have contact with the outside world, you will leave traces and expose yourself.

"And the ninja village is too hidden, how can you attract a client to commission the task?" Haruno Sakura also shook her head and said a little speechlessly, "People who want to entrust a task can't even find where to find them to post a task, and Taki Shinobu Village has never received a task order in his life." This kind of place is not bad for seclusion, and it is used to establish a ninja village, which is simply a brain show. ”

"Pursuing safety too much is putting the cart before the horse. Sasuke scoffed at this.

However, maybe the Taki Ninja Village likes such a quiet day without tasks? Anyway, the country of Taki is also under their control, and they use taxes to support a group of idle and panicked ninjas.

It's just that there is no task training, and it's also a mystery how much combat power the ninjas raised in this way have.

In short, in the end, they did not succeed in hiding themselves or making the village strong.

The only good thing is that because their village has little fighting power, and Takino Kuni has little oil and water, it is safe from many wars.

"Let's go. The girl didn't say much, chuckled, and rushed into the entrance behind the waterfall.

Diving into the underground river through the cave passage behind the waterfall, the underground journey that stretched for several miles was fleeting under the acceleration of Sakura's water escape, and soon the two of them came out of the water and appeared on the surface of the lake near the village of Takishinobi.

What catches your eye is the old wooden buildings and the people of Takishinobi Village.

"Welcome, messenger of Konoha. Takikage stood on the shore and said with a complicated face, "You guys came on time. ”

Said it was welcome, but Sakura only felt perfunctory taste in his eyes and tone.

The unwelcome expression of the Shinobu was simply written on their faces, and their wary and nervous expressions showed their distrust of Sakura Haruno and Sasuke.

Fortunately, Sakura's appearance is still very confusing, and seeing that the person who came was just a beautiful girl, the shinobi unconsciously slowed down a lot.

It seems that she is just a weak girl who is not very good at fighting.

Shinobu Aritaki thought so.

What they didn't know was that Sakura Haruno was now silently assessing in her mind how long it would take her to take the village......

An hour?

Or less?

Anyway, it seems that these ninjas are not the best among ninjas in terms of vigilance, strength or observation, probably because they have experienced too few life-and-death battles. It's normal that the long-standing Takishinobi Village can't produce any powerful ninjas.

In short, it's all a bunch of weak chickens.

The girl walked over generously, came to the group of weak chickens, and shook hands with Takikage: "Hello, Takikage-sama." ”

Takikage nodded, the expression on his face still noncommittal, and the girl's hand was scattered as soon as he touched it, and then led the two of them to a stately building.

Takikage Office.

"So, why did Konoha come to our Takishinobi Village?" Takikage said as he sat high in a luxurious chair with a smug face, looking like he wanted to send them away as soon as possible.

Sakura Haruno can probably understand how they feel when they find their hidden place being detected. Looking at their appearance, I guess I thought that I was completely hidden, right? But I didn't expect that in fact, with a little effort, the five ninja villages could find out their rat holes at any time. This kind of psychological gap is manifested on the face of Takikage, who is not very deep in the city.

The so-called temple is a small demon with a big wind, and there are many shallow kings in the pool. In this kind of closed village, Takikage was able to make this kind of precious wood custom back chair, and put it on the steps one level higher, posing as if he was on the top, and even the shadow of the five major villages did not have his kind of shelf.

With that squinting look and a strength comparable to Sasuke at most, it's just laughable.

"This is an invitation to the Chunin Exam, and this year's summer Chunin Exam will be held in Konoha. Sakura sneered at him as she quietly took the scroll out of her pocket and handed it over.

"It's about the middle ninja exam, I'll take a look......" Takikage squinted his eyes and looked at the girl, glanced at the scroll and said, "Is the limit still three shinobi and a leading teacher?"

"Then let's let Ryoko Shiraishi's class go over this year. He said after a moment's silence. Then he closed the scroll and put it aside, and asked, "Didn't the invitation from previous years be passed by the ninja eagle? Why did your village send someone here this time?"

"Yes, because things have changed a bit this year. The girl nodded and said bluntly, "Today's middle ninja exam, the Misty Ninja Village will also join it, and the dignitaries and nobles of the Water Country will also come to watch the ceremony, the scale of the exam will be unprecedentedly huge, and the competition is also quite fierce, so please prepare your village." ”

She deliberately put the words "ready" a little heavier, and the implication was not to pull out the crooked melon and crack dates to embarrass people. Otherwise, when the time comes, it won't be Konoha who will be ashamed!

Takikage understood her subtext, the expression on her face stiffened slightly, her smile froze on her face, and she replied, "Your envoy, please rest assured, the students in Ryoko's class are very good......"

Sakura's eyes flickered a few times when he looked at him, and his tone sounded a little stiff, shouldn't this guy just think about sending a class with average strength to deal with it before?

The small ninja village is actually quite embarrassing.

It's not that they don't want to send out excellent ninjas to show off on the stage of the middle ninja exam, gain the attention of the audience, especially those nobles, and win back more task lists for the village. It's just that the overall strength of the lower ninja cultivated by the small ninja village is weaker than that of the big ninja village, and their excellent seeds are only at the middle and upper level outside, and it is not easy to compete for a good rank;

Even if you put in the best efforts, it is difficult to achieve good results, and if you are not careful, you will let your genius be lost in another country. Considering these problems, over time, the small ninja village also began to realize that they were just a character to accompany the prince to study in the middle ninja exam, and the ninjas sent out were mostly made up. Those who are really capable of competing are the lower ninjas of the Great Ninja Village.

This kind of passable mentality, Haruno Sakura did not comment, and the survival of the small ninja village is probably so helpless.

If you don't see through it, she has no intention of piercing the screen paper with this kind of unspoken rule.

Takikage could see from the girl's flowing eyes that she could somehow know what she meant, although she was a little annoyed, but after all, the other party was standing behind Konoha and her tone was a little heavier, it was also a lesson from the kingdom.

Dissatisfied?

"Ahem. He quickly straightened his mind, cleared his throat and said, "Is this the only thing?"

Sakura shook her head, "There's one more important thing. ”

"Speak. ”

"I don't know if you've heard of it...... There have been signs of activity in the vicinity of your village lately?" Sakura Haruno stared at him closely, "In other words, after a year of silence, the activities of the Akatsuki organization have revived, and it is likely that their purpose this time is no longer limited to gathering intelligence......"

Takikage's face was truly frozen this time.

"This thing ......"

（2/2。 There is also a shift in the evening. ）