Land of Bears

is introduced in the anime, being a heavily forested country. Its ninja village, Hoshigakure, is located in the middle of the country surrounded by a canyon filled with poisonous gas that the locals call the Devil's Ravine (the Valley of Death, in the English anime). The canyon serves as a natural barrier to prevent raids on the village. A meteorite crashed near the site of the village 200 years before the start of the series.