Konoha Seemed So Bright Compared to Sand Village

"Kindness?"

Are there too many high-ranking officials in Sunagakure?

The people of Sunagakure looked at each other, all knowing what Hinata was trying to say.

Baki asked doubtfully, "Is there a problem?"

"It's nothing..."

Hinata chuckled lightly, "But I think I already know... why you haven't chosen Fifth Kazekage yet!"

Baki's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

The Sand Village high-ranking officials in the conference room also looked embarrassed, their gazes toward Hinata extremely gloomy.

Some things, even if they are not explicitly stated, are tacitly followed by everyone; these are what are known as unspoken rules.

When it was first discovered that the Fourth Kazekage had died at the hands of Orochimaru, it did indeed cause a period of panic in Sunagakure.

The panic reached its peak when they received intelligence that Iwagakure and Kumogakure were already preparing for war.

But soon, they had a different opinion.

The Fourth Kazekage was not discovered to be dead until after the Konoha Crush Plan had ended.

After the war ended, the Konoha High Command and the Sand Village leadership began tentative contact and carried out a series of negotiations.

When both Konoha and Sand Village intended to form an alliance again, many of the Sunagakure's leaders suddenly realized that not having a 'Kage' in the village seemed like a pretty good thing.

In particular, the renewed alliance between Konoha and Sand Village allowed Iwagakure and Kumogakure to lift their war alerts, and the Shinobi World seemed to have returned to its previous balance.

Konoha wants to recover its strength, and so does Sunagakure.

However, restoring vitality requires a large amount of funds.

Seeing Sunagakure's defeat at the hands of Konoha, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind seemed to have considered the country's security. Despite the country's tight finances, Daimyo of the Land of Wind still allocated a huge sum of money to Sunagakure.

Besides compensating Konoha, the majority of this funding will be used to restore Sunagakure's vitality.

Since Sunagakure does not have Kazekage, this funding will need to be allocated by the Sand Village leadership.

What does it mean to restore one's vitality?

For a ninja village, restoring its vitality means cultivating a large number of new ninjas.

It's impossible for Sunagakure not to choose the Kazekage; many people are well aware of this.

However, the selection of the Kazekage can be postponed indefinitely.

During the period when the Kazekage is not in charge of village affairs, these high-ranking members of the Sand Village can use this money to buy off ninjas, cultivate confidants, and expand their own power.

During the initial period when Gaara, the Kage's power was almost completely undermined by these so-called high-ranking officials.

In the Original Story, Deidara captured the Kazekage alive in Sunagakure, and only Kankuro from the entire village went out to pursue him, while the others remained at bay under the pretext of 'protecting the safety of the village'.

As a result, Baki and the others had no choice but to ask Konoha for help.

It's important to know that the Third Shinobi World War began because the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure mysteriously disappeared.

The Sunagakure, which once dared to start a Shinobi World war for the sake of the 'Kage', can now only watch helplessly as the Kazekage is captured alive in the village, without even bothering to pursue or gather intelligence.

Hinata dared to say such provocative words because Hinata had a clear understanding of the extent of corruption in Sunagakure.

They're even worse than Konoha!

Even though Hinata said such things, they dared not speak out against her.

Although the two Hokage Advisor of Konoha were opportunists, they at least knew that the village had to immediately elect Fifth Hokage after the death of the Third.

Instead of dragging things out like Sunagakure.

Hinata suddenly felt that Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were actually quite cute.

With the Hokage absent, the Hokage Advisor have the right to oversee village affairs.

But at that moment, they were thinking of the village wholeheartedly. Even if they later coveted power, it was only after the situation in the village had stabilized.

Hinata wore a gentle smile, holding a black notebook in her arms. With every move, she had regained the demeanor of the young lady of the Hyuga Clan.

"Gentlemen of the Sand Village, shall we now proceed with negotiations?"

"Cough cough!"

An elderly man coughed lightly and said calmly, "Please have a seat, you two from Konoha!"

After Hinata and Kakashi were seated, the old man continued, "We understand why you two have come."

"We have reached a decision with the higher-ups in Konoha regarding the compensation. You two can now tally up the specific amounts."

After saying that, the old man handed a bankbook to Kakashi.

Banks do exist in the Ninja World, but their operations are primarily managed by the governments of various countries and have little to do with the ninja villages.

Hinata took out a pen to take notes on the meeting.

Kakashi opened the bankbook to check the amount, Hinata couldn't help but steal a glance.

Holy crap!

Hinata's small hand trembled, and she almost tore the notebook.

Let me count how many zeros there are.

Hinata had never seen so much money in both of her lives combined.

Compared to this money, Jiraiya's life savings were not even a fraction of what he had saved.

Kakashi closed the passbook, checked its authenticity again, and then said calmly, "The amount is correct!"

After saying that, Kakashi handed the bankbook to Hinata.

Hinata's eyes darted around, silently calculating in her mind how much chance she had of escaping Sunagakure alive if she killed someone and fled now.

"Inhale... exhale..."

Suppressing her greed, Hinata opened the savings book, glanced at it, confirmed the amount, and carefully placed it into her ninja tool pouch.

Although Hinata's ninja rank is not as high as Kakashi's, Hinata is Tsunade's secretary and is qualified to temporarily keep the money.

Furthermore, Hinata is stronger than Kakashi, so it's safer to keep the savings account with Hinata.

The old man from the Sand Village continued, "Since the amount of compensation is correct, the next step is to determine the trainees to be sent to Konoha!"

"We've already spoken with the Lord Hokage. The Sand Village can send three teams of twelve people in total. Is that alright?"

Kakashi nodded.

The old man said, "We have already selected suitable candidates. They are all elite talents from the village. The two from Konoha can rest in Sunagakure for the night... However, to avoid any unforeseen complications, everyone should set off first thing tomorrow morning!"

Kakashi and Hinata exchanged a glance, and Hinata finally spoke, "Sunagakure wants to learn from Konoha's advanced talent development system and medical ninja training system... but both medical ninjas and school teachers need professional personnel."

"Before I came to Sunagakure, the Lord Hokage instructed me on how to select suitable personnel... If the selection is not suitable, I'm afraid I won't learn much, right?"

The Sand Village leaders exchanged glances, pondering how to refute Hinata's words.

The personnel sent to Konoha were sent to demonstrate the relationship between Konoha and Sand Village to the outside world, and Sand Village also genuinely wanted to learn from Konoha's advanced institutional system.

After all, Konoha is known as the 'cradle of geniuses'.

Konoha certainly wouldn't reveal the true secrets of Sand Village, but the choice of this person, especially the choice of a teacher, is crucial.

At least Konoha can influence the descendants of Sunagakure by influencing the teachers of Sunagakure.