Journey to the Rain Country

The Uchiha Clan had shown more than enough sincerity: Four jonin with three-tomoe and Four Chunin with Two-Tomoe. Moreover, all of them were proficient in team coordination within the Uchiha Clan, making them even stronger than Uchiha who fought alone.

None of them had been officially registered. Even if they left Konoha, only a small number of clansmen would know about it, and they would not leak the information.

"As expected of a great clan with a history spanning nearly a thousand years. You can casually produce so many powerful people. Then I’ll leave this mission to you, Tekka-kun."

After seeing the personnel the Uchiha had provided, Yasunori Sakai spoke to Uchiha Tekka with a surprised expression. They had dealt with each other quite a few times and were fairly familiar with one another.

Especially after learning of the relationship between the Yasunori Trading Company and Sunagakure, Uchiha Fugaku had not cut off contact. Instead, the exchanges between the two sides had grown even closer.

Because they might encounter people from Akatsuki this time, Yasunori Sakai had declined the guard Ninja Pakura arranged for him and turned to the Uchiha instead.

"By the way, Tekka-kun." Yasunori Sakai suddenly asked with a smile, "After the mission is over, would you like to visit the Saudi Federal Republic State? It’ll probably take a few days. I just don’t know whether clan head Fugaku will approve."

The Saudi Federal Republic State!?

This name had gradually begun spreading throughout the Ninja World. It was said that, in order to break through the original limitations of a Ninja Village and welcome more people from every profession, Sunagakure had chosen the word "Federation" as the core of its new name. The "Republic" that followed also represented the Saudi Federal Republic State’s yearning for peace and determination to oppose war.

This was a slogan continuously promoted within Sunagakure to Villagers and newcomers. After taking in nearly as many people as the original Sunagakure population, new conflicts were bound to arise within the village. The Saudi Federal Republic State’s solution was to promote a new spirit while creating more avenues for profit, leaving both the original Sunagakure people and the newcomers with no mind for internal strife.

As for whether clan head Fugaku would allow them to visit the Saudi Federal Republic State, Uchiha Tekka could say with complete certainty that, if the opportunity arose, the clan head would absolutely let them go. He would agree to it even just to gather intelligence.

"It shouldn’t be a problem after the mission is over."

Uchiha Tekka gave an ambiguous answer, but he had already decided to send word back to the clan later and ask for the clan head’s opinion.

"Yasunori-kun, why are you suddenly going to Amegakure? Aren’t they enemies with Suna-nin—"

"You mean they have a grudge? Hmm. As for that question, I think the Patriarch’s answer was quite right."

After pretending to ponder, Yasunori Sakai replied, "Between a blade and the man wielding it, I’d rather take revenge on the latter. A blade still has value that can be used again, while hatred toward the wielder outweighs his remaining value."

"Those people in Amegakure are all adorably naive. Their value is far greater than that Daimyo of the Land of Wind. As for hatred, a reasonable shift may not erase it completely, but it can reduce the hatred between both sides to its lowest point. Besides, the original Suna-nin still don’t know about this."

"Tekka-kun should know about what happened recently, right? Two nobles in the River Country who had pledged themselves to the Federation had their entire families slaughtered by bandits and robbers. In the end, all their property was taken over by the River Country’s Daimyo. Heh heh, the Federation currently lacks manpower, so we’ve also been considering taking control of a few more blades, just in case."

Yasunori Sakai paused after saying that, then smiled and said, "Sorry, Tekka-kun. I talked too much."

Uchiha Tekka suppressed his surprise and shook his head at Yasunori Sakai. "Not at all. Yasunori-kun’s ideas have truly broadened my horizons. Then we must focus on carrying out the mission from here on. The Uchiha name will not allow us to have an example of mission failure."

"Then I’ll be relying on you along the way, Tekka-kun."

After saying that, he gave a slight bow and entered the carriage.

As expected of the Yasunori Family.

Uchiha Tekka thought to himself. He had dealt with Yasunori Sakai for quite some time now. Whether it was his manners or his way of handling affairs, Yasunori Sakai was among the finest people Uchiha Tekka had ever met.

Being with him did not make Uchiha Tekka feel uncomfortable in the slightest. When they parted, all he felt was that time had passed too quickly.

Construction of the Saudi Federal Republic State’s towns was basically nearing completion, so Yasunori Sakai had freed up some time to handle other matters.

Food and Ninja military reforms were what the Saudi Federal Republic State planned to undertake next.

There was no need to mention food. Since the Saudi Federal Republic State had chosen the path of unified political power, it had to take responsibility for every villager within its territory. Promoting food crops was therefore no small undertaking.

The Federation had to take the lead and put the benefits plainly on display before more Villagers would be drawn to join voluntarily.

The Federation’s current governance over its Villagers could be crudely divided into two methods: force and incentives. For promoting crop varieties, the former would likely provoke resistance from the Villagers. To them, that tiny bit of crop yield might be their entire family’s hope of survival.

Ordinary Villagers living within Federation territory could not compare to those in the Land of Fire. Even where the land could be cultivated, its yield would not be high.

Pakura had wanted the villages to plant on a large scale, but there was truly little land within the Federation suitable for cultivation. Only the territories of the original Land of Wind nobles and the River Country nobles were relatively suitable.

Moreover, the nobles who had pledged themselves to the River Country had also met with misfortune, causing the Federation to lose a considerable amount of territory that should have belonged to it.

Yasunori Sakai’s trip to Amegakure this time was intended to discuss matters with Akatsuki.

Between Amegakure, the Saudi Federal Republic State, and the Land of Birds stood a high mountain range that blocked moist air currents. The moist air currents from several surrounding nations converged in the Rain Country, only to be blocked again by the mountain range.

That was why the Rain Country experienced rain year-round, while the Saudi Federation was so arid that it only had a few rainy days each year.

The first matter Yasunori Sakai wanted to discuss with Amegakure was cooperation between the two nations to level or cut through those mountains. That way, the Rain Country’s rainfall would decrease while the Saudi Federation would gain more rainy days—a win-win situation.

The problem was that removing the barrier between the two nations would be a threat to the small country of the Rain Country.

In the past, the Amegakure-nin only needed to guard several checkpoints. But once that barrier disappeared, the Saudi Federation could enter the Rain Country along the entire border.

And it would be from three sides, forming an almost encircling position.

Many people within the Saudi Federation were not optimistic about Yasunori Sakai’s trip. They believed Amegakure would never agree to such an absurd proposal—removing a mountain range that served as a natural barrier just to alter the rainy environment.

However, Hyuga Mirai did not see it that way. Cooperation with Akatsuki involved far more than this one matter. Beyond it, there were other possible avenues of cooperation between Hyuga Mirai and Akatsuki.

There will be another chapter tonight, though it’ll be quite late!