They crossed into the Land of Steam without incident. It wasn't hard to tell what gave the country its name. Within the mountains fringing the country, and even on the plains, there were natural vents that spat forth steam. Anko found this out quite abruptly after wandering over to check out one of the mounds of earth. The sensei were standing close together, sharing suggestions and going through their supplies once again. But when Orochimaru noticed where his student was heading, he moved at lightning speed to spring to her side and yank her backward. A gushing stream of superheated steam shot out of the earth in the place where Anko's head had been. She fell back against her teacher, who pushed her back to her feet and said tersely, "Stay away from the steam vents." After that, none of the apprentices went within five feet of them.

Yu may have been a foreign land, but Anko didn't feel as threatened as she had expected herself to be. Not that she had forgotten Tsunade's words of warning, but perhaps it was the simple act of being with the Sannin that put her at ease. She was safe when she was with them.

Enemy ninja with puffy clouds of steam on their hitai-ate headbands confronted their eight-man team not long after they arrived. "What is your purpose here?" the tallest among them demanded to know.

"Travel," Jiraiya answered him with the same briefness and reluctance to reveal information. "Your land is part of our route."

"And do we have no right to be told what purpose our land is being used for?" the kunoichi asked. She put an odd emphasis on the next-to-last word, speaking it with bitterness. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at her. He had no patience for them.

"Our purposes are our own. Do you plan on allowing us to pass?" The question was only voiced to comply with the standard practices of shinobi courtesy. It was easy to see from the Yu cell's faces that they had never intended to hinder the Legendary Three's passage. They glared at the grass and stepped aside like those who were swallowing their pride along with their words.

It was all the same with these small nations, Anko reflected with a mixture of pity and satisfaction. They would never dream of standing against Konoha, or any of the Five Great Nations. There was no way for any of them to muster the resources or manpower to do so. They were reduced to serving as transportation routes, like Yu, or battle sites, as Ame was. No more ninja moved to stop them. Even when they passed through Yu training grounds on their way through, the shinobi only watched as they raced by. Genin stared and chunin glowered. They looked as though they had a hard time of it. Their clothes were shabby, their figures lean, and their headbands not as bright as they could be. Anko couldn't help feeling compassion for them, enemies though they were.


But if she had considered small countries to be insignificant, her opinion changed when they came to Kiri no Kuni. She had forgotten that this small nation—¼ the size of Konoha, if not smaller—had held its own against the larger countries for generations. And it continued to remain a force to be reckoned with. While still in Steam territory, their cell crouched near the border for the whole of two hours, watching and waiting. When they at last got up to move, Shizune and Anko stumbled, clumsy from being scrunched up so long. Without pausing, Tsunade and Orochimaru scooped them up and began to run as fast as they possibly could. There was no way any genin alive could keep up with their pace, and soon all of them were riding in their masters' arms. Orochimaru carried Kazuko so that it wouldn't be as hard for Jiraiya to sprint.

Anko had heard horror stories all her life about the Village of Bloody Mist. The tales were finally brought home to her when she saw the three sensei exercising such extreme caution. They truly didn't want to be discovered on enemy land this time. All those stories must have been more real than Anko had ever thought. Their cell journeyed through Kiri amazingly quickly. After all, they were literally running like the wind.