When Foreign Affairs Stall, Ask Sakura

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly as he looked at the mission report Tenzo had handed him.

"Alright, you've all worked hard. Go back and get some rest."

"Sakura, stay."

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Tenzo and the others did not hesitate, withdrawing cleanly and decisively.

Only Sakura remained where she was.

Once the others had left, Sakura pulled off the mask on her face. The thing was poorly ventilated, and wearing it for too long made her head feel uncomfortable.

She dropped onto the sofa beside her, poured herself a glass of water, and gulped it down. Since completing the mission, Sakura had barely had a sip of water.

Hiruzen Sarutobi paid no attention to Sakura's actions, instead continuing to study the mission report in his hands.

Normally, he did not pay much attention to bandits involved in smuggling like this.

But Sakura's previous paper on the Will of Fire had made him realize that resources could also be used to suppress one's opponents—an economic war, so to speak.

Moreover, Shimura Danzō now knew about that paper on the Will of Fire, so Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer remain indifferent.

Since he could not stop Danzo, he needed to give this matter serious thought.

"Sakura, what do you think of this?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi walked over and sat beside Sakura, handing the mission report to her.

Sakura took the report Tenzo had written and could not help sighing inwardly.

She was only a Genin who had graduated less than a month ago...

The road I chose, I have to crawl down it even on my knees...

Her emerald eyes swiftly scanned through the mission report in her hands.

The force behind the bandits who robbed and pillaged was a fairly sizable merchant guild from the Land of Wind, and it also had ties to a merchant guild within the Land of Fire.

At the same time, the domestic merchant guild needed this bandit group to sell its goods in the Land of Wind.

They were merely middlemen.

Judging from the mission report, this bandit group was only one of the lackeys of those two merchant guilds.

There were probably quite a few such groups.

Goods from the Land of Wind were brought through the forests. They collected them, then handed them over to the merchant guild in the Land of Fire, earning a little money as intermediaries.

"Master, are you making plans for the future?"

The plans Sakura referred to were naturally related to Shimura Danzō stealing her test paper.

"Since I can't stop him, I can't let Danzo act recklessly."

Hiruzen Sarutobi had his own considerations as well. A plan like this naturally required simulations for all kinds of contingencies, and that would take no small amount of time.

Since he currently could not stop Danzo, the balance of the market had to remain in his hands.

Whatever resource he wanted to increase in value had to increase in value. Whatever resource he wanted to decrease in value had to decrease in value.

Sakura immediately understood what Hiruzen Sarutobi meant.

"Then wait two days, Master. I need some time."

Naturally, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no objection. If Sakura had produced a complete plan on the spot, that would have been strange.

"Of course. I'll wait for Sakura's good news."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked Sakura's soft hair and spoke with a smile.

Sakura quickly returned to the ANBU Base. She was truly at a loss over this matter.

She was only a Genin. Why did she feel as though Hiruzen Sarutobi treated her like Zhou Yu?

Handle domestic matters yourself; when foreign affairs stall, ask Sakura?

When Sakura arrived at the Changing Room, she found Uzuki Yugao changing clothes.

Uzuki Yugao was incredibly beautiful. She could be said to be the only person in Konoha currently capable of matching the village beauty, Yūhi Kurenai. Unexpectedly, her figure was just as impressive.

No wonder Gekko Hayate looked drained every day.

With a girlfriend of that caliber, who wouldn't want to stick to her all day?

Sakura could not help entertaining the wicked thought.

"Sakura, you're back. Remember to come eat with us later."

"Consider it a welcome dinner for Sakura joining our squad."

Uzuki Yugao gathered her beautiful long purple hair behind her head and tied it into a neat ponytail.

She did not mind Sakura's somewhat appraising gaze at all. Women were always concerned about their figures.

Uzuki Yugao was quite satisfied with her own body and simply assumed Sakura was looking at her with envy.

After giving Uzuki Yugao one last reluctant look, Sakura lowered her head with regret. Naturally, she was not thinking what Uzuki Yugao assumed.

She was merely reminiscing about her lost "happiness."

When Uzuki Yugao and Sakura left the ANBU Base, they found that Captain Tenzo and Namiashi Raidō had already been waiting for quite some time.

Sakura had changed into her casual clothes as well.

Uzuki Yugao even teased Sakura about her outfit, saying she looked far too much like a boy.

Sakura simply ignored her nagging.

"Alright, everyone's here. Let's go have some barbecue."

Tenzo was dressed just as he had been in the original story: a Jonin uniform, with a forehead protector resembling that of the Second Hokage.

Everyone wisely refrained from asking why Hiruzen Sarutobi had kept Sakura behind.

After all, the fact that Sakura was Hiruzen Sarutobi's Final Disciple was no secret. Any ninja in the village with even slightly decent information channels could learn of it.

Let alone Anbu like them.

Night

A girl in pink pajamas sat at the desk in her bedroom, her shoulder-length cherry-pink hair draped over her shoulders. She twirled a pencil in her hand, while a blank sheet of paper lay before her.

A striking title was written across it.

"Shinobi World Grain Price Increase Plan"

Beside Sakura were policy reports Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent over, covering grain prices within the Land of Fire and the current international situation.

Staring at the blank sheet in her hand, Sakura pondered for a long time before finally lifting her pen.

Any fluctuation in the price of a resource would affect countless interests.

Cutting off someone's source of wealth was like murdering their parents.

That saying held true anywhere.

And grain prices were only the beginning. Ironware, medicine, and minerals would be the real major moves to follow.

When that time came, they would definitely face considerable resistance.

But did any of that have anything to do with Sakura?

They were nothing more than bloated, corrupt officials and black-hearted merchants driven solely by profit.

Before the ninja, Sakura believed that even if there were some setbacks, the plan would soon be implemented.

However, the materials Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent were not comprehensive enough. Sakura needed more information for reference.

Not only from the Land of Fire—she needed a considerable amount of information from the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning as well.

And for now, raising grain prices was not necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, ordinary people at the bottom who lived by farming could earn a little more.

So long as Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire were not fools, they would never allow greedy people to meddle in this matter.

After all, this was an economic war. It required the support of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.