The Kazekage Really Has It Rough

"Chapter 40: The Kazekage Really Has It Rough"

"We're finally here!"

Uchiha Asuka shielded his brow with one hand and gazed at the village built in the desert in the distance, letting out a breath of relief.

Ahead of him, a massive ochre circular fortress towered over the desert. Beneath it sprawled a dreamlike cluster of earthen-yellow buildings, some tall, some short, some fat, some thin. From afar, it was quite a magnificent sight.

A village built in the desert—Sunagakure.

It was said to have once been barren wasteland, but after the First Kazekage chose to establish a village here, it gradually began to prosper.

Asuka had actually wanted to travel through the Five Great Nations long ago. However, the shinobi world of this era was nothing like the world after the Fourth Shinobi World War. If he entered another village and was unfortunately discovered, he might get hit with the Great Memory Restoration Technique at best, or go play mahjong with the Sage of Six Paths at worst.

The risk was simply too great.

When the group arrived at Sunagakure's Village Entrance, a broad street stretched out before them. Although its foot traffic was still far behind Konoha's, the fact that it could be so lively in a desert where one could go a hundred miles without seeing another soul was enough to demonstrate Sunagakure's prosperity.

Nearly every pedestrian in Sunagakure wore long robes, with bandages or white cloth wrapped around their heads to keep sand from blowing into their hair.

At that moment,

the pedestrians on the street had already noticed Ebizo and the others returning. They set aside what they were doing, smiles blooming across their faces.

"Lord Ebizo! It's Lord Ebizo!"

"And Lady Pakura!"

"Welcome back!"

"My lords, did the negotiations in Konoha go smoothly?"

One civilian after another cheered as they came up to the group, asking after the shinobi while discreetly trying to learn about the war.

"You really are popular."

Watching Pakura get surrounded by enthusiastic civilians, Asuka stood some distance behind her and spoke with a hint of sourness.

When he had returned to the village after the war, people had welcomed him too. But upon seeing the group of stiff-faced Uchiha clansmen behind him, the villagers had instinctively shifted aside and given their smiles to other shinobi.

"Heh."

Hearing Asuka's voice, Pakura looked at the somewhat gaunt civilians, and a bitter smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of her lips.

The village treated them as heroes, yet they had let them down.

This time, they had gone to Konoha to sign a ceasefire treaty—one that was unfavorable to their side.

"Carry on. It feels a little inappropriate for me to stay here, so I'll take a look around."

Asuka took out a lollipop and put it in his mouth. Then he left the group and began wandering around Sunagakure.

Although his official mission was to promote medical exchange between the two sides, he was actually a spy—a spy whose identity was known to both friend and foe.

It was similar to an embassy in later generations. You knew I had come to gather intelligence, but aside from strengthening surveillance, there was nothing you could do to me.

Once war broke out, expulsion was definitely out of the question. There was an eighty or ninety percent chance he would end up in prison instead.

Thinking that, Asuka walked over to a Steamed Bun stall and pointed at the buns in the steamer.

"Give me two!"

"Coming right up!"

Taking the steaming buns, Asuka bit into one. His expression immediately stiffened. Then he gave the bun seller a thumbs-up and praised him.

"This is the first time I've ever had a bun with sand inside. It tastes pretty good, but it's a little hard on the teeth."

"Heh..."

The owner scratched his head awkwardly, then took another bun from the steamer and stuffed it into Asuka's hand, saying apologetically,

"Sandstorms are common around here, so it's inevitable that some sand gets into the food."

"The sand's no problem. It really does taste good!"

Asuka sat down on a chair and looked over the passersby coming and going around him, unable to help clicking his tongue.

He had thought Sunagakure would be full of people from the Wind Country, but that dark-skinned burly man who had just passed by—that was someone from the Land of Lightning, wasn't it?

And that fat man looked like he might be from the Land of Earth.

After finishing the buns, Asuka looked up at the owner and asked in surprise,

"Boss, why haven't I seen many shinobi on your streets?"

"Heh."

At that, the shop owner revealed a proud expression and pointed toward the distant Kazekage Building.

"Recently, Lord Kazekage used his great power to lift up the desert not far from the village, and they found quite a bit of gold inside.

Those shinobi are basically running back and forth between the village and the desert.

Lord Kazekage truly deserves to be called a powerful shinobi who stands above tens of thousands of shinobi from nations across the world.

They say that Lord Kazekage can find gold after taking just two steps outside. When he gets tired from walking and sits down, he can discover a gold mine. He can even kick at random and kick out a bag of gold dust."

???

Asuka stroked his chin with one hand. His stubble pricked a little.

Who would have thought? The Kazekage had already started panning for gold.

A powerful Kazekage?

Even while bearing the burden of impoverished Sunagakure and holding up the endless desert with one hand, he could still rake out a considerable amount of gold from the sand with the other.

Sigh! Things were already this desperate, yet the Kazekage wasn't studying how to squeeze money from the daimyo.

After lamenting the hard-working Kazekage's gold-panning efforts, Asuka turned toward the owner and asked in surprise,

"With so many shinobi out of the village, aren't you afraid of being attacked?"

Hm? The bun seller gave Asuka a wary look. Seeing that he was merely asking out of curiosity, he replied,

"Although Lord Kazekage has left, Lady Chiyo is still in the village. I heard Lady Pakura and the others returned today as well."

"I almost forgot!"

The moment the bun seller mentioned Chiyo, Asuka rose to his feet and brushed the sand from himself, praising him,

"Boss, the buns are great. I'll come again tomorrow."

He was rather looking forward to finding out what Luosifen paired with buns mixed with sand would taste like.

After arriving at the Kazekage Building and showing the proof Ebizo had given him, Asuka easily found Chiyo, who was treating patients.

"Konoha really is willing to spend."

Looking at the message Ebizo had written in code, Chiyo lifted her eyelids to glance at Asuka and said sarcastically,

"Konoha's second-best?"

"Not exactly."

Asuka held up two fingers and said very seriously,

"If we're including scientific medicine, then I should actually rank third in Konoha. Tsunade is definitely first, Orochimaru is second, and I'm below them. Everyone else is below me."

Seeing him casually mention the names of the Legendary Sannin, Chiyo snorted but did not refute his ranking.

She knew Tsunade's abilities all too well. That woman had cracked every poison Chiyo had developed in a very short time.

As for Orochimaru, she did not know whether he possessed Medical Ninjutsu.

Thinking that, she lowered her head and continued treating the unconscious patient, speaking in an aged voice.

"Our two villages are allies now. Since Konoha sent you here to exchange Medical Ninjutsu with this old woman, tomorrow you'll bring a group of students, and I'll bring a group of students. We'll have an exchange."

Hearing that, Asuka picked at his ear and looked at Chiyo suspiciously.

"So... our exchange is just helping Sunagakure train Medical Ninja??

Lady Chiyo, could you make your calculations any louder?"

"Don't put it so bluntly."

The corners of Chiyo's mouth rose, revealing her toothless mouth. The wrinkles on her face instantly piled together as she said,

"What is an exchange?

You teach what you teach, this old woman teaches what she teaches, and when we put them together afterward, that's what's called a 'teaching exchange.'"

Hearing the old woman's sophistry, Asuka's mouth twitched, his face filled with speechless disbelief.

He was a spy. He was a spy sent to Sunagakure to learn ninjutsu and report back on the situation, not a teacher.

This old woman really had her calculations all worked out.

Still, since the village had given him no special instructions, it would not be a problem to learn some experience from Chiyo while teaching Sunagakure a little Medical Ninjutsu along the way.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Asuka, Chiyo watched his departing back. Her clouded eyes gradually cleared, the smile piled across her face slowly relaxed, and she spoke more slowly.

"This old woman has lived for a long time and seen all kinds of things. I have learned quite a few principles of this world, and I understand that alliances with other nations are merely a formality. They are only a means of protecting Sunagakure.

"Pakura, I hope you understand that an alliance is only a formality... War will come again."

"I understand!"

At that moment, Pakura pushed open the door behind them and stepped out.

Chiyo looked at Pakura for a while, her aged gaze settling on the young woman's cool face as she continued,

"This old woman has already retired. The era ahead belongs to you young people.

"One sign of a young person becoming mature is learning to cast aside their pride.

"The Wind Country we live in is naturally barren. Not only can it not compare to a land as blessed as the Land of Fire, it is inferior even to those stubborn rocky regions of the Land of Earth.

"Therefore, as those who have the Wind Country as our foundation, we must devote ourselves to developing Sunagakure.

"This old woman does so. Rasa does so. You must do so as well.

"When you catch a sheep, shear it hard."

As she finished speaking, Chiyo's aged hand clenched tightly.

She already had a premonition that life in the village would become difficult in the future.

Only by gathering more resources for the village whenever possible could they make hard times a little less hard.

Unfortunately, Sunagakure could not attract the shinobi world's fat sheep, Tsunade.

Those people who could keep shearing Tsunade over and over again were truly enviable.

Looking up at the poverty-crazed Chiyo, Pakura unconsciously frowned. Since she had not participated in the negotiations, she did not know exactly what treaty the village had signed. She only knew they had paid a great deal of money.

Seeing Granny Chiyo acting so impoverished yet overbearing, Pakura sighed inwardly as well.

It seemed the village had suffered a massive loss this time.