Salt Flats



South of Sunagakure lies the desert's famous Salt Flats. This stretch of land is dry for the most part, though every once in a while one may come across a pond of extremely salty water. Any water sources in the Salt Flats are tainted with moderate-high levels of salt. In the past, there was a time where this area was mostly shallow seas, though over a half-century ago. The sea was already beginning to slowly retreat from much of the area naturally, but something occurred to speed this process greatly. The land itself bears great battle scars, ranging from cracks to craters. In one spot in particular there are several large craters.

History
Many years ago, a large and famed battle took place in this very area that would cement itself in the roots of Wind Country forever. An unexpected beast ventured into the waters, the Great three tailed beast, the Sanbi, back before its injury. The Sanbi found itself stranded in which it had attempted to free itself, using menacing balls wildly. Some of these menacing balls happened to strike the nearby, then capital of Wind Country, which was perceived as a threat. Many shinobi were sent out to repel the beast, by then it had freed itself and was simply highly irritated and angered by being stranded for a time therefore it was truly attacking then. The shinobi came wave after wave, attempting to protect their homeland from the beast. Eventually the Jinchuuriki that possessed the Ichibi arrived. After a short battle between the Jinchuuriki and the Sanbi, it was clear that the beast could not be overcame without reverting to extreme measures as the Sanbi had water to its advantage. The Jinchuuriki let the blood-thirsty Ichibi take full control over him, resulting in a full transformation. The Ichibi stood on the sandy soil of the desert while the Sanbi stared back at its counterpart. The battle between the two was long and arduous, the Ichibi matching the Sanbi’s water based attacks with its sand and wind. The battle devastated the land in the area and the coast in general, but eventually the Ichibi gained the upper hand, seeing an opportunity after stunning the Sanbi with a wind bullet. The Ichibi lunged forward, stepping into the sea some in order to punch the Sanbi in the right side of its face. The hit struck, disorientating the Sanbi, taking its moment, as any creature of great cunning such as Shukaku would do, it formed a massive spear of sand just off-shore, sending it into the Sanbi’s right eye. The Sanbi roared in pain, the Ichibi removed the spear of sand for it, allow it to flee, the Sanbi’s techniques and hasty retreat from the battle caused the shallow seas that once covered much of the southern lands to retreat along with it. This battle caused many casualties as well as scarred and deformed the land. Shukaku directed much of the sand he used from the desert during the battle back to the dunes of the desert. After that the heavily weakened Ichibi was recaptured and sealed within another host with ease. Had the Ichibi not been as cunning as he is, then the Sanbi would have never retreated. That is also how the wound was afflicted to the Sanbi’s eye. Or so the folklore of the desert reports.

Before the shallow seas went on for as long as the eye could see, now a vast majority of the seas are nothing but salt flats with scars. The sea now rests at the spot it does nowadays, spanning a couple of miles south of the coast before dropping off to deeper waters.