It's because the national strength of the Land of Demons is strong enough.
They cannot ignore the power of the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Cannot ignore the forbidden technique that can annihilate thousands of Hidden Sand Ninja in an instant.
Everyone knows, even without a Tailed Beast, the Land of Demons possesses power that rivals or even surpasses that of a Tailed Beast, enough to compete with great nations.
With such deterrent power, even if it's not a great nation, not one of the Five Kage, the great nations and Five Kage must consider the position of the Land of Demons.
Before long, Earth Man buried hundreds of the Woods Village villagers' corpses and returned to the ranks.
"Since things are over, let's go."
The transaction with Woods Village ends here. In the end, they helped bury the villagers of Woods Village so their bodies wouldn't become food for beasts. Insect Man believes the Nokizaru Group has been benevolent enough, owing nothing more to Woods Village.
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In the private room of the barbecue restaurant.
The table was already a mess, both the meat and vegetables had been devoured completely.
Hakushi patted his belly, exhaled with delight, and smiled at Tsunade: "It feels like it's been a long time since I ate so heartily. I just didn't expect that after many years, Tsunade-sensei, you still look so young. I even heard from Katsuyu that Tsunade-sensei once integrated the Secret Techniques of Shikkotsu Forest to create your own medical ninjutsu."
"That Katsuyu really talks about everything."
Tsunade took a sip of tea, rinsed her mouth, and then said in an annoyed tone.
She and Hakushi are both contractors of the Sacred Land Shikkotsu Forest, which makes them somewhat "alumni," but sadly, due to the previous defection incident, the two had parted ways. Even with the Katsuyu contract as a bond, they hardly kept in touch.
"After all, Tsunade-sensei has also obtained quite a bit of information about me from Katsuyu, haven't you?"
Hakushi smiled.
For some matters, Hakushi did not restrict Katsuyu, so Tsunade was aware of some things about Hakushi.
Such as learning Sage Arts that do not belong to the Three Sacred Lands' systems, and mastering the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Art, which few have grasped in a millennium.
This type of Sage Art, even for Tsunade, who had signed a contract with Shikkotsu Forest in advance, was just partially understood.
Perceiving that she couldn't progress through the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Art system, she had to integrate the Sage Art materials provided by Katsuyu to create her own Secret Medical Ninjutsu.
As for the specific power of that Secret Medical Ninjutsu, Hakushi could not learn much about it.
Because it involves Tsunade's core secrets, bound by the contract, Katsuyu could not provide any useful information without Tsunade's permission, not even to Hakushi.
And contracts and friendships aren't contradictory.
"Although I've learned some things from Katsuyu, before the war in the Land of Wind, I didn't know you were living in the Land of Demons."
Tsunade shot a meaningful glance at Hakushi.
Though she knew the Land of Demons had a strong medical system for a long time, she never connected it with Hakushi.
Although she couldn't claim to know everything about Hakushi, she knew the majority.
That's what puzzled her.
When did Hakushi come into contact with the Land of Demons?
Living in Konoha, Hakushi, aside from occasional tasks with the White Fang Squad, mostly stayed in Konoha Village and had no time to interact with the Land of Demons.
Moreover, the Land of Demons is the land of the Witches.
Generally speaking, the Witches of the Land of Demons would not easily accept a renegade ninja.
Yet, the result was that Hakushi became integrated into the high ranks of the Land of Demons, transforming their military, assimilating the Land of Demons' ninja into the national system, effectively paving a new path.
Compared to the one-country-one-village system, strictly speaking, the integration between a ninja village and a country is based on unified interests.
It seemingly matches the system of the Land of Demons, but fundamentally, there is a significant difference.
"This question isn't unanswerable. Because back in Konoha, I initially chose between two countries, the Land of Demons was one, and the other neutral country was the Land of Iron, where the previous Five Kage Summit was held."
Among the neutral countries, only these two were unique.
The uniqueness of the Witch goes without saying. Replacing the Daimyo system, essentially making the Witch the Daimyo, wasn't to concentrate power or accumulate wealth, as wealth and power, while necessities, were not essentials for the Witches.
Their existence was merely to suppress demons for the Ninja Realm.
Even if one day the Land of Demons perished, the Witches' mission would continue, undisturbed by nations.
The Land of Iron, on the other hand, is the land of the Samurai.
Possessing leading military strength just below that of a great nation.
These were the two countries Hakushi had considered for a long time.
Tsunade looked at Hakushi oddly. So, did this kid leave Konoha not on a whim but premeditated?
This made Tsunade a bit resentful, though the White Fang incident was indeed a failing of the top officials, using it alone as a reason for defection seemed insufficient.
Moreover, he took members of both the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans.
This resulted in Konoha struggling with internal issues while fighting external enemies during the Third Ninja War.
Not until Minato's rise, and Orochimaru's success in the Land of Rain battlefield by resolving the Hidden Sand threat to Konoha, did the situation improve.
Otherwise, Konoha could have sent the Uchiha and Hyuga to the front lines to end the battle sooner, preventing significant casualties later on.