Development of the Land of Wind

Sunagakure Leadership Meeting

"Everyone, regarding Supplies, I’ve already reached an agreement with the Yasunori Trading Company of the Land of Fire and signed a contract. Before long, Sunagakure should no longer have to worry about food Supplies for the time being."

Rasa spoke to the others. Though his face remained expressionless, he felt a trace of pride inside. Ever since he had proposed implementing elite education, these people had kept using Sunagakure’s lack of Supplies to needle him.

Did they really think that if Sunagakure had enough funds to develop the village, he, Rasa, would keep them hidden instead of using them?

One of Sunagakure’s higher-ups asked, "Lord Kazekage, this Yasunori Trading Company is…?"

"They are nobles from the Kawa River District of the Land of Fire, with vast farmlands growing grain under their name. They currently want to mine within the Land of Wind, so they are trading food Supplies with us."

As Rasa explained, he also had the Anbu distribute the contract he had signed to everyone.

"The Anbu have already investigated them, and the intelligence is basically accurate. This matter benefits Sunagakure greatly, so I signed the contract directly with them."

Everyone reviewed the terms and found that they indeed offered considerable benefits to Sunagakure. Exchanging food Supplies for mineral veins within the Land of Wind would likely earn the other side a profit, but for Sunagakure, it was already the best possible option.

After everyone had finished reading, no one objected. Rasa then said, "Then, once the Yasunori Trading Company delivers the Supplies and begins mining the veins, Pakura will be responsible for the guard mission."

Hearing Pakura’s name, quite a few people froze. Someone then voiced an objection. "Pakura will be in charge? Isn’t that placing too much importance on them? A few Chunin should be enough to handle it."

Pakura was a Jonin of exceptional strength in Sunagakure. Her Scorch Release had killed countless enemies during the war, and she had even been a candidate for Fourth Kazekage. Sending such a powerful Ninja on a protection mission was truly a waste of her talents.

"The Yasunori Trading Company is Sunagakure’s long-term partner. Can any of you find another trading company in the Ninja World that would give Sunagakure such favorable terms?"

Rasa rebuked them, "If something happens to the Yasunori Trading Company’s people, Sunagakure’s source of food Supplies will be cut off again. The funds we struggled to save for developing the new generation of Ninjas will have to be spent purchasing Supplies from other countries again. Have you considered the consequences of that?!"

After Rasa’s reprimand, the others were immediately left speechless.

And so the matter was arranged. Although other Ninjas were unlikely to appear within the Land of Wind, Rasa still classified the mission of protecting the Yasunori Trading Company as an A-rank Mission.

After all, the others had some valid points as well. Pakura was also a hero Ninja of Sunagakure. A B-rank Mission did not require a Ninja of Pakura’s caliber to be deployed at all. Only A-rank or S-rank Missions with special significance to Sunagakure would be assigned to Pakura.

Less than half a month later, the Yasunori Trading Company delivered the first batch of Supplies, nearly one-third of the total. Because of their considerable value, Rasa even dispatched two teams of Suna-nin to escort them.

The Suna-nin took this batch of Supplies very seriously. They inspected them twice before completing the handover. It was not that they were overly cautious; Sunagakure was simply too poor.

They had lost a major war, so the Daimyo’s dissatisfaction with them had led him to cut even the Ninja Village’s funding. Kirigakure also kept causing trouble for the Suna-nin along the coast of the Land of Wind.

If the Yasunori Trading Company had arrived at Sunagakure any later, the devil in Rasa’s heart would have begun considering sending away one of their own heroes in exchange for signing the Peace Accord.

After the handover was complete, Sakai said to Pakura, "Jonin Pakura, as agreed, we will deliver the second batch of Supplies in one month. Next, the Yasunori Trading Company will head into the deserts of the Land of Wind to search for mineral veins. We ask that you accompany us and provide protection."

"Of course. My subordinates and I will ensure your company’s safety within the Land of Wind." Pakura returned the gesture slightly. The other party was both Sunagakure’s financial backer and their mission employer. So long as they did not probe Sunagakure’s secrets or engage in actions harmful to the Land of Wind, Pakura could not interfere with the Yasunori Trading Company’s activities.

Afterward, the Yasunori Trading Company gathered more than a hundred people and brought all kinds of equipment.

Mining mineral veins in the desert was no easy task. Nobles in the Land of Wind also operated mineral businesses, often employing hundreds of people at a time, so the Suna-nin were not particularly surprised that the Yasunori Trading Company had called in so many people.

Moreover, with Pakura, Sunagakure’s hero, accompanying them, no matter how many ordinary people there were, they could not possibly stir up trouble within the Land of Wind. This was the trust the other Suna-nin had in Pakura—the same trust with which they could entrust their backs to her on the battlefield.

Prospecting for mineral veins was a long and tedious mission. Pakura and her subordinates would essentially have to remain outside for a very long time.

That was precisely Rasa’s intention. He wanted to send Pakura, who threatened his Position of Kazekage, away from Sunagakure, then use the funds he had saved to carry out sweeping reforms in the village.

Sunagakure had to develop its military strength. Rasa had no desire to bear the title of the weakest Ninja Village among the Five Great Nations.

The previous Kazekage had at least possessed the title of the strongest. If Rasa failed to change Sunagakure’s condition, his seat as Kazekage would remain unstable.

Nearly a month later, the Yasunori Trading Company was still searching for mineral veins in the desert, while the second batch of traded goods had already been delivered to Sunagakure.

The Yasunori Trading Company had also found two small mineral veins. Though they contained iron and copper, their value would still allow the Yasunori Trading Company to make a modest profit.

Most importantly, the Yasunori Trading Company had established mining outposts within the Land of Wind, and their numbers continued to grow.

Including the ore prospecting personnel hired from the Land of Craftsmen, the Yasunori Trading Company now had more than three hundred people in the Land of Wind. Yet the Suna-nin assigned to protect and monitor them were still only Pakura’s four-person team.

Even Sakai had not expected things to go so smoothly. Although only twenty Guards belonged to their trading company, the Suna-nin were far too trusting of them. Their original plan to station so many people here would have taken at least two months.

But now the time had been cut in half. From the looks of things, Sakai had still been too conservative—their efficiency could be even higher.

"Jonin Pakura?"

Sakai came to the tent the Yasunori Trading Company had prepared for the Suna-nin and called out from outside.

This was one of the Yasunori Trading Company’s mining outposts. Since they would be accompanying them for a long time, Sakai had prepared accommodations for Pakura and the other three.

"Mr. Sakai, please come in." Pakura stepped outside and returned his greeting slightly before inviting him in.

After entering the tent, Sakai took out a map of their prospecting routes and handed it to Pakura. "Jonin Pakura, this is our plan for the next stage of prospecting. Please take a look and see whether there are any areas Sunagakure prohibits us from entering. If there are, I will change the prospecting route later."

Pakura nodded at his words, then took the route map from Sakai. After studying it for a while, she frowned slightly. After some thought, she said to him,

"The other places are fine, but this route is getting close to Rōran. That area is not within Sunagakure’s sphere of control."

"Rōran?"

"Yes. Rōran is a small country governed by the Queen of Roran. Sunagakure generally does not cross the border into Rōran."

"That makes things difficult. According to the survey personnel from the Land of Craftsmen, this place is very likely to contain mineral veins…" Sakai feigned distress. "If we send people to contact the people of Rōran, will they allow us to enter?"

"I’m not very sure about that either." Pakura shook her head awkwardly. She normally did not pay much attention to politics and did not know much about the relationship between Sunagakure and Rōran.

"Then I apologize for troubling you. We will first make contact with the Queen of Roran."

After speaking, Sakai left behind a box of sweets from the Land of Fire as usual, then departed from the tent.

"Wow, they look like high-end sweets from the Land of Fire again."

After Sakai left, Maki’s eyes immediately lit up as she rushed forward. Upon opening the box, she found that it was indeed just as she had guessed—extremely expensive sweets.

The days spent constantly in the desert were agonizing. Although this was an A-rank Mission assigned by the village, Pakura could endure it, but her three subordinates could not.

If the Yasunori Trading Company had not occasionally sent gifts such as pastries, Maki and the other two would have long since protested to Pakura and demanded to return to the village.

In truth, they had very little rest time. They only had three days each month to return to the village and rest.

However, as the Yasunori Trading Company continuously offered gifts and pastries, Pakura, Maki, and the other two developed increasingly favorable impressions of the Yasunori Trading Company, even though they were not from the Land of Wind.

Using ore prospecting as a cover, the Yasunori Trading Company had already opened a legitimate route to Rōran. Meanwhile, the development of the Land of Wind’s deserts was proceeding steadily.

If it had only been for Rōran’s Dragon Vein, Hyuga Mirai would not have needed to go to such lengths.

If he wanted to change the Ninja World, he had to choose a Ninja Village from one of the great nations as a testing ground. Transforming Small countries held no meaning. Some Small countries did not even have Ninja Villages of their own; after a single round of capital infiltration, those nobles and Daimyo would lose half their influence.

Without strength or capital, there could be no resistance.

If Hyuga Mirai occupied most of the Land of Wind’s deserts in advance, he could then carry out sweeping actions against the Rain Country and the Land of Wind.

Tea Country Laboratory

Android 18 connected a call with Hyuga Mirai.

"Sir, the route to Rōran has been opened. The next step is contact and transformation. Will you go personally?"

"I’ll definitely go, but I’m going for the Dragon Vein." Hyuga Mirai replied. "That Sakai has done well. Let him continue handling Rōran’s affairs. You can grant him several slots to recruit Ninja Guards, and do not stop infiltrating Sunagakure."

"Understood, sir."

Afterward, Hyuga Mirai asked about Uzumaki Ayaka. He had taught her how to control Tobirama Senju’s Curse Mark. After a month, Uzumaki Ayaka had finally mastered the Curse Mark on the Edo Tensei Body and successfully made Tobirama Senju’s Edo Tensei Body act according to her will.

This was also because Hyuga Mirai had sealed Sage Chakra within Uzumaki Ayaka’s body. Otherwise, controlling Tobirama Senju’s Edo Tensei Body would not have been so easy.

With Tobirama Senju’s strength, as long as he did not encounter Sealing Technique, even several squads of Jonin would be unable to deal with him. But if he encountered a Sealing Technique expert, there was also Uzumaki Ayaka’s Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Before the Uzumaki Clan’s Kekkei Genkai sealing, other seals were as immature as newborn infants.