Saudi Federal Republic State

Sunagakure’s actions were no small matter. Nearly every force in the Ninja World had turned its attention toward the Land of Wind.

In less than a month, a Kazekage and a Daimyo had died. Although both sides identified the organization wearing Black Cloud Cloaks as the culprit, the great ninja villages did not see it that way. They only believed the intelligence they had investigated themselves.

The bounty on Rasa had gradually spread through the Underground Money Exchange.

A head worth eight hundred million ryo—the Kage of a village—had been claimed by the Underground Money Exchange.

This was an opportunity to make a name for themselves and attract business. After completing the bounty, they slowly released the news. If they could even assassinate one of the current Five Kage, then in the Ninja World, the only bounties the Underground Money Exchange dared not accept were those on the dead.

Although their bases in the Land of Wind had been subjected to a devastating purge by the Suna-nin Anbu, the Underground Money Exchange had long anticipated this. After Kakuzu accepted the mission, they withdrew many people. Once Kakuzu handed over the head, they evacuated everyone remaining from the Land of Wind. Thus, the Underground Money Exchange had not suffered much of a blow.

They had merely lost a large number of bases, but the Underground Money Exchange had still made a huge profit.

Naturally, Sunagakure’s retaliation would not end there. They simply had more important matters to handle and could not spare the energy to deal with those vermin for the moment.

They invited representatives of the various nobles to discuss institutional reforms, the expansion of Sunagakure, the creation of oases, and so on.

With so many people pouring in at once, many new problems would arise.

Conflicts between original residents and newcomers, Ninja and civilians, conservatives and reformists, and more. After discussions between Android 18, Pakura, and the others, they reached a consensus: these conflicts would be restrained through legal regulations. In this regard, they would follow Konoha’s Uchiha Military Police Force and establish an enforcement corps, while adding adjudicators above them.

The adjudicators did not have to be Ninja. Ordinary villagers proficient in legal regulations could also serve in the role. Pakura agreed with this point as well. It was precisely because she understood the Ninja of her own village that she was willing to make concessions here.

The drafting of detailed laws, the division of departmental powers, village expansion, recruitment of personnel, and so on.

With all these matters piled together, it would take at least half a year before results began to show.

The discussion over legal regulations alone took more than a month before they produced an initial draft.

Android 18 secretly shook her head at this efficiency. She did not want to stay here, so she created a substitute-type nanorobot. It had no weapon systems and was only meant to negotiate commercial districts with Sunagakure.

At the same time, Hyuga Mirai suggested that they could begin work on important matters that did not involve power, such as Sunagakure’s planned expansion and oasis construction.

"Lord Kazekage, for matters like civil engineering, I recommend Yasunori Sakai. If the work is handed to him, there will be no need to worry about problems."

Upon hearing Yasunori Sakai’s name, Pakura nodded in strong agreement. She trusted Yasunori Sakai greatly, given their considerable friendship.

"If the work is entrusted to Sakai, there truly will be no need to worry. I’ll send some Earth Style Ninja to assist him."

Regarding Sunagakure’s expansion, Yasunori Trading Company provided a detailed plan.

Whether it was the building materials, the appearance of the houses, or their structural design, everything far surpassed Sunagakure’s current buildings. If they could truly construct them according to the blueprints, Pakura even felt the urge to move out of the Kazekage’s Office Building and live in the outer districts.

She had even thought of a reason: as the Kazekage, she should live in the most dangerous area on the outskirts.

However, Android 18 saw through Pakura’s thoughts and spoke through Yasunori Sakai, saying that once Sunagakure’s expansion was complete, they could rebuild the old houses in the inner area.

In the reformed Sunagakure, even the new name had already been decided.

Saudi Federal Republic State!

Once the reforms were complete, Sunagakure would become history in the Ninja World. From then on, there would only be the Saudi Federal Republic State. Pakura, however, would still serve as its leader under the identity of Kazekage.

Suna-nin’s actions this time were truly enormous. The expansion and greening projects alone had four or five trading companies working together. In addition, quite a few families intended to join Sunagakure. Although these were not ninja families, they possessed wealth and the support of civilians. After joining Sunagakure, they would become no small source of strength.

The key was that with such a massive commotion, Sunagakure could not hide it even if they wanted to.

Not only was the Daimyo of the Land of Wind investigating Suna-nin’s movements, but other ninja villages were as well. Although Konoha and Sunagakure were allies, Konoha was the one guarding against Sunagakure most fiercely.

During this period, the greatest number of spies came from Konoha, and most of them were ordinary people without Chakra.

However, some of Suna-nin’s movements did not need to be concealed. Foreign spies could not investigate the matters that truly needed hiding. As for Sunagakure’s expansion and the oases, there was no need to conceal them.

Konoha

The Yasunori Family joining Sunagakure dealt the greatest blow to Konoha.

Yasunori Trading Company had originally only been a trading company with some influence in a single district of the Land of Fire. However, after aligning itself with Sunagakure, it developed rapidly through exploring mineral veins. Later, it expanded into multiple fields, including ninja tools, food, medical equipment, and more.

After several years of development, even the Anbu could not determine just how far Yasunori Trading Company’s financial power had expanded.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen was certain that after the Yasunori Family joined Sunagakure, Sunagakure’s strength would definitely recover rapidly.

That was not a good thing for Konoha!

"Hiruzen? Hiruzen!"

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen continuously smoking his pipe, Utatane Koharu called out several times before finally pulling him out of his thoughts.

"What do you plan to do about this? If we don’t stop it, Sunagakure’s strength may recover even faster than we imagined."

Mitokado Homura said from the side, "Given Yasunori Trading Company’s influence, those currently confirmed to be joining Sunagakure are likely only a portion of them. In River Country, Bear Country, and the Land of Demons, it is basically certain that all nobles aside from the Daimyo will join Sunagakure."

"This truly is a troublesome matter."

Sarutobi Hiruzen developed a headache as well. He wanted to stop it, but the other side was not Ninja. They were nobles from various small countries, following behind the colossal Yasunori Family to join Sunagakure together.

Konoha only had two methods: kill or persuade. But persuasion was certainly useless. If the promised benefits could make them abandon the Land of Fire and head to Sunagakure, could Konoha alone persuade them otherwise?

If they chose to kill, then Ninja attacking nobles would essentially mean tearing apart all pretense.

Sunagakure dared to do so because it had essentially given up on receiving funding from the Daimyo of the Land of Wind. Konoha could not do the same. Killing one or two nobles could be covered up, but if they attacked the noble class on a large scale, even if those people had betrayed the Land of Fire, the Daimyo would not stand on Konoha’s side.

Sarutobi Hiruzen understood the One Village One Nation system very well. Moreover, because of Danzo’s recklessness, the relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire Daimyo had already become delicate. He could not further damage their relationship. Otherwise, if Daimyo Manor cut its allocated funding in half, Konoha’s development for the next year would be finished.

Danzo sat quietly to one side as well. After several warnings, he had learned to behave. Besides, he now had more important matters to focus on. Compared to Sunagakure inviting a trading company to join, Danzo was more interested in the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Hmph, I should thank this Yasunori Trading Company for drawing your attention toward Sunagakure, Hiruzen. By the time you come to your senses, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will already be mine.

Danzo closed his eyes and thought to himself. That was precisely why he did not say a word about Yasunori Trading Company.

Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a while, then glanced at Danzo. Seeing that he still had his eyes closed and remained silent, he knew that his old teammate had grown smarter and would not be easy to bait. He could only sigh and say, "I have reported this matter to the Daimyo. The Yasunori Family is a renowned noble family of the Land of Fire. How to resolve this matter will require the Daimyo’s advice."

At the Tea Country Base, after Hyuga Mirai created a Clone Body of himself, he set a program to automatically replace the nutrient solution.

With the current growth rate of the third-generation nutrient solution, the Clone Body would only need five hundred and ten days to mature successfully. That was because Hyuga Mirai’s own genes were powerful and required more time for cultivation.

If it were Orochimaru’s Clone Body instead, the required time could be reduced by another sixth.

"Android 18, keep an eye on the clone data at the Tea Country Base. Report to me immediately if anything abnormal occurs."

After reminding Android 18, Hyuga Mirai pressed a button on his wristwatch. In an instant, a simple exoskeleton armor appeared around his lower body.

This was Anti-Gravity Flight Mode. Although it lacked the acceleration of thrusters, it was still fairly fast.

"Sir, are you going to find Tsunade of Konoha?"

"Yes. It’s better to resolve her problem early, so she doesn’t keep digging around. She’s nearly uncovered Kado’s Shipping Company."

After speaking, Hyuga Mirai pulled up Tsunade’s last known location and directly activated Anti-Gravity Flight Mode, flying into the sky toward where Tsunade was.

Please vote, brothers. Also, I recommend a book—a romance slice-of-life novel.