As ti passed, ninja teams finally began arriving at Konoha.
The first to arrive were squads from the small nations surrounding the Land of Fire.
First, their proximity to the village made the journey shorter, and second, their hearts were filled with anxiety. Compared to the four great ninja villages, these smaller nations bordering the Land of Fire felt the most pressure.
They were close—too close—to Konoha.
If Konoha were to unify the entire ninja world, there was no doubt that they would be the first to bear the brunt. However, none of them dared to send scouts to investigate the situation in Konoha. Now that the opportunity presented itself, they advanced without hesitation.
Upon stepping through the gates of Konoha, their first reaction was shock.
They were stunned by everything they saw upon entering the village. This sense of awe lingered, refusing to dissipate.
After the initial astonishnt ca deep self-doubt and confusion.
If a village like this were to launch a war against them, could they even put up a fight?
In fact, could the entire ninja world resist such a force?
Such thoughts began to swirl in their minds, leaving them despondent.
They could only cling to the hope that the other four great ninja villages were similar to Konoha in strength. Only then could they believe that they weren’t just weak, but that Konoha wasn’t disproportionately powerful.
But after that brief flicker of hope ca an even deeper despair.
If all five great ninja villages were like this, what path forward remained for the smaller ninja villages?
Were they truly destined to be forever insignificant?
Ti continued to pass, and more and more ninja teams arrived at Konoha.
Without exception, every team that entered the village was overwheld by the sight and plunged into self-reflection.
It was a clear, sunny day, with a gentle breeze in the air.
A new team appeared outside the gates of Konoha.
Judging by their forehead protectors, they hailed from the Agakure.
Leading the group was a tall ninja wearing a mask, none other than the leader of Agakure, Hanzō of the Salamander.
“We’ve finally arrived,” he murmured, staring at the towering gates of Konoha, feeling an imnse weight in his heart.
Before reaching Konoha, he had passed through two or three towns that rivaled the size of Agakure.
These towns were spread across various parts of the Land of Fire, all situated near Konoha.
They encircled the village like planets orbiting the sun.
What Hanzō didn’t know was that these towns were referred to as Konoha’s suburbs.
And now, he had reached the core district of Konoha.
Once he passed through these gates, he would officially step into the true Konoha.
The thought of comparing himself to Hui was slowly dissipating from Hanzō’s mind.
He even felt a trace of unease.
Suppressing the sense of loss in his heart, Hanzō handed over the invitation from Konoha and led his team into the village.
This was the true Konoha.
Beyond the gates stretched a wide and seemingly endless road.
The street was so wide that it was at least five tis broader than the largest street in Agakure.
The road was also incredibly long, Hanzō couldn't even see where it ended.
All he could see in the distance was a bustling crowd.
On both sides of the street were orderly and aesthetically pleasing houses.
Though the houses weren’t identical, they were arranged with an understated symtry that gave off an unexplainable sense of comfort.
These houses weren’t particularly tall.
Inside so of them, mbers of Konoha Police Force could be seen.
Though this area was at the center of the surrounding towns, it was still technically on the outskirts of Konoha proper, mainly an administrative district for the police force.
As a result, there weren’t too many people on the streets.
However, as Hanzō and his team continued walking inward, the streets gradually beca livelier.
What started as a sparse crowd had now transford into a bustling throng of people.
The central road also branched off into many smaller streets, each leading into different areas.
Hanzō didn’t take any of the side streets. He led his team straight ahead, determined to walk to the end of this long main road.
The further they went, the more vibrant their surroundings beca. They had finally reached the central district of Konoha.
After a long walk, Hanzō and his team finally reached the end of the road.
It opened up to a vast plaza, teeming with people moving to and fro.
At the center of the plaza stood a massive stone monunt.
Several large characters were carved into the monunt:
“Heroes of Konoha, Immortal in Glory!”
These words rendered Hanzō of the Salamander silent for a long ti.
A peculiar emotion stirred in Hanzō’s heart, but it never fully blossod into a realization or enlightennt.
It felt as though sothing was still missing.
Then, his gaze shifted to a smaller stone tablet beside the large monunt.
Hanzō stepped closer and examined the inscriptions on the smaller tablet.
It was a passage explaining the significance of the monunt’s construction.
As he read the words, his emotions finally erupted.
He glanced back at the large stone monunt, staring at the inscription:
"Heroes of Konoha, Immortal in Glory!"
A profound sense of awe settled over him.
In this monunt, he seed to see the countless elite shinobi of Konoha, their spirits guarding the village even now.
Hanzō also saw a deeper essence reflected in the monunt—
An enduring spirit, passed down from generation to generation, never fading or decaying.
In that mont, he began to understand why the people of Konoha carried themselves so differently from the villagers of Agakure.
It wasn’t just confidence in the village’s strength, nor was it solely the peace they had enjoyed.
It was the legacy of their will, an inner faith that had been nurtured and handed down over ti.
Just then, a group of young children passed by.
They had been playing and laughing, but as they neared the monunt, they naturally grew quiet.
They walked past silently and respectfully.
One of the children even stopped and gave a small bow to the monunt before continuing on.
Watching the children leave, Hanzō took note of the bouquets of flowers piled neatly in front of the stone monunt.
He felt both imnse reverence and an unsettling chill.
A village like this, with villagers like these...
Just how powerful must they be?
How terrifying must their will be?
Could such a village ever truly be defeated?
These thoughts weighed heavily on his mind as he led his team away in silence.
His entire team remained silent as well.
From the mont they entered the village, they had all keenly felt the vast chasm between Agakure and Konoha.
If their Agakure was truly just a "village," then Konoha was... sothing indescribable.
The only comparison they could make was that Konoha seed like a grand city, many tis greater than their small, remote town.
That day, Hanzō and his team began to explore different parts of the village.
Street after street, district after district, they wandered through place after place—
Restaurants, shops, clothing stores, entertainnt venues, recreational areas, training grounds...
By the end of the day, they still hadn’t seen all that Konoha had to offer.
And it wasn’t just the various districts that impressed them. They also saw many extraordinary inventions.
For example, carriages that could move on their own without being pulled.
Objects that emitted light, which the locals referred to as "lamps."
A magnificent amusent park filled with wondrous attractions—
How exactly did those rides even function?
There was simply too much to process.
Hanzō and his team couldn’t recall everything they had seen.
The sheer magnitude of what they experienced left them speechless when they finally arrived at the reception area.
Their minds were awash with emotions—
Shock, envy, confusion, yearning...
Even Hanzō himself had completely abandoned any desire to compare himself to Hui.
If Konoha was a prosperous city, Agakure was nothing more than the most remote of villages.
The gap between the two was insurmountable.
And it wasn’t just the disparity between the landscape or infrastructure, it was also the people within them.
During the day, Hanzō encountered two shinobi in the village whose strength he instinctively recognized as formidable.
In other words, Konoha’s high-level combat power was terrifying.
But it wasn’t just their elites.
Konoha’s people carried a unique vitality in their deanor.
Especially the children.
In the afternoon, they had co across a group of children returning ho from school.
One child in particular, who had a faint mark on their forehead, gave Hanzō an inexplicable feeling he couldn’t quite describe.
A strange, indescribable sensation.
“Ah...”
With a heavy sigh, Hanzō lay down on the soft, comfortable bed in his quarters, lost in thought.
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