Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 87 The Current State of the Grass Country

Before heading to Kusagakure, Aburame Shiki had already learned about the village's current situation from Muwei.

If we were to summarize the Kusagakure's fighting strength during this period in one sentence, it would be: the standard ceiling for a small country, relying on borrowing to make up for its lack of hard power.

Overall strength: As a small ninja village, its strength is not on the same level as the five great nations, and it is even inferior to Takigakure in terms of high-end combat power.

They cannot influence the course of the war through a direct confrontation, but they are absolutely capable of making any enemy force that passes through their territory pay the price.

As for the characteristics of the Grass Ninja Village, it is that they are very good at copying. For example, they copied the Grass Ninja Village's Three Swords Style, which is a small school of swordsmanship in Konoha Village. He couldn't remember the name, but it was something like Genjutsu-Genjutsu-Genjutsu-Genjutsu.

In addition, they have also studied and deciphered the signature ninjutsu of the major countries.

This allows some of their top fighters to master a wide variety of unique ninjutsu, or methods to counter common ninjutsu of the Five Great Nations.

In skirmishes, this unpredictable nature can be very troublesome for the ninjas of powerful nations.

It can even achieve a surprise effect, but this effect can only be effective against novice and junior ninja. If you bring out a few elite ninja, they will be exposed.

The main reason is that their foundation is too weak.

To put it simply, they're using a shortcut-based, unorthodox approach. It's quick to learn and the moves are unusual, so if you're not careful, the steady and methodical ninjas from the great ninja villages will find you. But in the mid-to-late game, this kind of approach is nothing in the face of absolute strength.

In addition, their geographical location means they are a ninja village living in the cracks, so in terms of diplomatic strategy, they are like a weather vane, just like their name suggests.

He helps whoever wins, and his bottom line is very flexible.

Faced with the formidable forces of Iwagakure and Konoha, Kusagakure chose not to take sides, but rather to maneuver flexibly to protect itself. Their primary objective was to prevent the flames of war from escalating too rapidly within the village's core territory.

For example, Iwagakure once sent over a hundred ninjas to try to cross the Land of Grass to attack Orochimaru, who was on a mission. Kusagakure tacitly allowed them to pass through.

They had neither the strength to stop the Iwagakure army, nor was it worth offending Iwagakure for the sake of Konoha. But at the same time, they secretly leaked some non-core information to Konoha as a pledge of loyalty to avoid being purged after the war.

Unfortunately, the last time they sent a message to Konoha, they wanted to explain that Orochimaru's ambush had nothing to do with them, that they were forced into it, and that the Hokage should understand their loyalty, etc.

However, it was intercepted by certain individuals, which put the Grass Village in a very passive position afterward. This incident also played a significant role in the Grass Village's eventual complete alignment with the Iwagakure Village.

As for the internal workings of Kusagakure, there are naturally many conflicts. As the saying goes, wherever there are people, there is conflict, let alone a village with political power, where there is naturally factional strife.

There was also a division within Kusagakure, with the pro-war faction of Kusagakure advocating for a military revival and the anti-war faction of Kusagakure Hana. However, before the war, the faction advocating flexible diplomacy had the upper hand.

The regular ninja force of Kusagakure probably has around 500 members.

Among them, there are fewer than 30 people who can be considered elite Jonin-level fighters; the majority are Chunin and Genin.

After Konoha and the Land of Rain withdrew their troops, their main pressure came from Iwagakure. They tried every means to become independent, but they lacked the strength.

Although Konoha has not officially declared victory, Iwagakure has in fact gained control of the Kusagakure border.

However, the Grass Ninja Village was not valued at all by the Iwagakure side. Simply put, they were not treated as human beings, but as slaves.

So for a while, they tried every possible way to ease tensions with Konoha, but unfortunately, one thing after another happened in Konoha.

Who cares if a tiny country or ninja village wants to establish diplomatic relations?

Just a few days ago, after news of Sakumo Hatake's suicide spread, Onoki gave orders to send Kusanagi ninja as pawns to test Konoha.

The Grass Ninja Village, being opportunistic and fickle, had no other options, and eventually came up with some terrible ideas:

They outsourced the recruitment of some wandering ninjas and then trained a group of older children.

These children are mostly orphans who lost their parents on the battlefield. They will do anything as long as they are given food; and since they are not their own citizens, they don't care how much they are used.

Besides, so what if they are orphans from our own country? Sacrificing some orphans to reduce our own losses is reasonable. In a critical moment, if Konoha blames us, we can use them as scapegoats.

On his way to Kusagakure, Shisei Aburame used a dragonfly to sense the power of nature. However, perhaps due to the dragonfly, the only natural power he sensed was filtered wind.

That's right, natural energy is actually a general term for a type of energy. It is usually mixed together, but when you break it down, it also has its own properties.

Dragonflies seem to be able to absorb only wind-attribute energy from nature, but unfortunately, this little bit of natural energy cannot change their bodies. Shisei Aburame also sensed that he had a long way to go if he wanted to master Sage Chakra.

It's a bit slow, but the only advantage is that the danger of cultivating immortal techniques is greatly reduced.

Even when he absorbs a large amount of wind-attribute natural energy, causing his body to be invaded by energy, the dragonfly can quickly extract the wind-attribute natural energy from his body to ensure his safety.

However, since he had not yet mastered immortal arts and his body had not undergone significant changes, Aburame Shisei's hair was slowly being eroded and altered by natural forces, gradually turning into a light green color.

In addition, he had been wearing a mask to cover his face, which made his skin unusually fair and tender. With the growth over the years and changes in his eating habits, his facial features have become slightly different from before.

Even without disguise, his appearance was quite different from before, and besides, his previous image was not particularly noticeable.

Even if his most hated enemies stood before him now, they would probably only think they looked alike, and no one would believe they were the same person.

Aburame Shicheng traversed the jungle and entered a large city. Seeing the recruitment notices posted everywhere, he smiled.

He put away the notice on the bulletin board, bought a small mirror, and looked at his face.

"White face and green hair, what should I call him?" He stroked his chin, pondering, while the dragonfly on his shoulder brushed against his hair, as if in response.

"Right, since that's the case, let's call him Shiraki. But before that, we need to create another identity."

Thinking of this, Aburame Shisei smiled and took out a sound-transmitting insect...