According to the extracted intel, the goblin hideout is located in the peripheral region of one of the oldest forests in the Land of Fire—the Deepwood Forest.
If legends were true, then this forest was already thriving within the Land of Fire even before the era of Shinobi, when people were clueless about chakra.
Back then, people used to tap into the natural energy in the atmosphere to gain supernatural abilities. Naturally, only a few individuals could harness this natural energy.
At one point, the God Tree suddenly appeared in the world, causing the density of natural energy in the air to decrease significantly over the years.
And finally, the rabbit goddess, the progenitor of chakra in this world, which was actually Otsutsuki Kaguya, descended. By that ti, the natural energy in the air had beco very thin, almost nonexistent.
Of course, people didn't know the na "Otsutsuki Kaguya" even now.
The ancient scrolls in the Senju clan's archives only acknowledged her as the progenitor of chakra and the mother of the Sage of Six Paths, who spread Ninshu and made the use of chakra a common thing.
The lore ntioned the existence of the Deepwood Forest before even the God Tree appeared.
With this, you can probably understand how ancient the Deepwood Forest actually is.
This forest had thousands of bizarre plant species, countless herbs, and an unknown number of tall trees.
Although the forest was filled with countless natural resources, most people still chose to stay away from it.
Why?
Because the entire forest was infested with a wide range of dangerous animals, carnivorous plants, and chakra beasts.
Even people who could harness chakra and had surpassed the limits of humanity, such as ninjas and samurai, wouldn't dare to venture deep into this forest alone.
Every year, Konoha receives plenty of cases related to missing persons—people who entered the forest but never ca back.
Fortunately, Jonin-level ninjas could safely roam the peripheral and middle region of the Deepwood Forest alone as long as they didn't court death.
As for the core region of the Deepwood Forest…
Forget about it.
That zone was ho to many AA-rank, S-rank, and even SS-rank chakra beasts.
Unless you were a S-rank or Kage-level ninja, going there was nothing short of suicide.
And Seii and his team did not need to go there.
The goblins were a relatively weak creature. Unless they birthed a fully matured S-rank Goblin King, they would never get close to the core region.
Well, their target group only resided within the peripheral region of the Deepwood Forest. So, venturing there should be a relatively less dangerous task. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
According to Touma's calculation, it would only take them one hour to travel and reach the nearest entry point to the peripheral zone of the Deepwood forest.
So, they didn't waste any ti and began to move toward the forest.
The closer they got to the forest, the more chakra beasts they found. But most of the chakra beasts minded their own business, making their journey rather smooth.
As for the overconfident, hungry, or mindless chakra beasts that dared to obstruct their paths…
Seii's group quickly dispatched them to et their makers.
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About an hour later…
"So, this is the legendary Deepwood Forest."
Haneda stared around him, capturing every single detail in his eyes.
The lush greenery, the towering trees, srizing flowers, the buzz of insects, the fluttering butterflies, the glowing insects, and the fresh, natural, gentle wind that invigorated the entire being of those who breathe in it—the Deepwood Forest was utterly captivating.
It was unlike most gloomy and redundant forest areas that were filled with nothing but dull bark, tree branches, and bushy thorns.
The golden sunlight was filtered through the tree leaves of the Deepwood Forest, tainting the already captivating forest in a soothing green and golden glow.
It was no wonder that Haneda was utterly enchanted by the beauty of this ancient forest, even though he was standing only in the outermost zone of the peripheral region.
Even Seii and Touma were moved by the sight of this beautiful and old forest, where taking every step ant walking on the historical soil of the Shinobi continent.
"Unfortunately, such a beautiful place is filled with spine-chilling danger. Savage chakra beasts, poisonous snakes, man-eating plants, deadly traps—you na it."
Seii said after taking a deep breath, snapping Touma and Haneda out of their daze.
Haneda closed his eyes in silence for a couple of monts before opening them again. "You are right. What a pity!"
Touma chid in, "Hey, hey, you guys. What are you muttering about? We are only in the outermost zone of the peripheral region. With our strength, we can literally have a camping trip here if we want."
Haneda snapped his head back at Touma with a head full of imaginary question marks.
Haneda was about to ask what the hell Touma was talking about, but he suddenly stopped.
His lips parted and ford an "O".
"Yeah. I guess I just got emotional and got carried away by Seii's words, totally forgetting about our overall strength."
Now, it was Seii who looked at Haneda with a head full of question marks.
I just said a few words, and you got influenced?
Haneda, why do I get a Uchiha vibe from you?
If you are so easily influenced, won't soone like Uchiha Madara or Black Zetsu manipulate you and those around you to death?
Oh no! When I return, I must make Kirito-sensei give you extra training and lessons to build your ntal fortitude.
Otherwise, my heart won't settle down.
Seii thought inwardly. And Haneda had no idea that, because of a single sentence that he had uttered, he was going to receive extra training from their demonic teacher Kirito.
anwhile, Seii shook his head and reined in his thoughts.
He said, "Alright. Guys, let's focus on the mission first. We will have a lot of ti to relax and camp in the Deepwood Forest after that."
Haneda nodded and said, "Hmm…right."
Suddenly, Haneda pulled out a kunai from his ninja pouch and threw it at a random tree.
Puchi!! Thud!
Haneda's action didn't surprise Seii or Touma.
They simply turned their head to the side, only to see the kunai pierce through the head of a dark brown, two-ter-long, poisonous snake nearly four ters away before embedding into the dark brown bark of a tree's stem.
The poisonous snake that was hiding around the tree was now pinned to the tree itself.
Seii and Touma had already sensed and detected the approach of the now-dead snake. This particular snake was actually pretty notorious for killing humans and animals with its deadly venom and then eating their eyeballs.
Yes, this snake species literally treats human and animal eyes like candies. What can even Seii say?
The creatures of this Shinobi continent were indeed bizarre.
Ignoring the dead snake, Seii asked, "Touma, how much longer do we have to travel to reach the goblin hideout?"
Touma went silent for a while and fell into deep thought.
After a few monts, he said, "According to the extracted intel, it should be seventeen or eighteen kiloters away from our current location."
"Co on, follow . I will lead you to the hideout ASAP."
With that, Touma flickered toward his left and dashed forward to reach the goblin hideout as soon as possible.
Seii and Haneda shrugged before they, too, activated the Body Flicker Technique to follow their friend.
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