The Sand Ninja's Predicament

"How about it, Konan? You don't have to worry anymore, right? Suzuran-chan and that Hyuga Clan girl are whispering to each other in class, aren't they?"

"It's good to be able to make friends."

Konan didn't refute, but the smile on her face lingered for a long time.

"This teacher is really amazing! They have a great eye for people!"

Kushina changed the subject and began praising Iruka.

Upon Katsuki rolled her eyes. Iruka was the man who would succeed as the Principal the Ninja Academy in the future; how could such a small matter stump him?

"But... Sister, when did you learn this Telescope Technique?"

Katsuki, Kushina, and Konan gathered in his Principal's office, around the crystal ball in the center of the table, staring at the image on it. It was a classroom of Iruka's class, with Shuyuan sitting upright, Naruto fast asleep, and Suzuran and Hinata whispering to each other, all of which were visible to the three of them.

"You mean this? I learned it a long time ago. I just tried it out when I was bored, and I learned it in no time. But I never had a chance to use it. This is the first time I've used it."

Kushina said in a very casual way.

"... So casual!"

Katsuki's lips twitched.

"Um... Konan, shouldn't you be touring the Ninja Academy with the Sand Village envoy right now?" Katsuki turned her gaze to the smiling Konan.

As planned, the envoys from Sunagakure and Rain Ninja are visiting the Ninja Academy today.

Right now, Rasa, the envoy of the Sand Village, is sitting in the last row of a classroom where a class is in session, carefully observing the teaching methods of Konoha.

"It's alright, actually what I'm here is just a Shadow Clone."

Konan said this.

Upon Katsuki grinned but remained silent.

He usually kept his perception range to the size of his office. Human radar is also very annoying; the Chakra fluctuations that kept moving around were a real headache. It wasn't a battlefield, so he didn't notice Konan's methods.

When the envoys from Sunagakure and Rain Ninja visited the Konoha Ninja Academy, Katsuki, as the Principal, should have accompanied them, but he was too lazy to go. Rain Ninja, from Konan, didn't mind at all.

Sunagakure's ninja Rasa, also didn't want to fuss over such matters. If the Konoha Disaster had to accompany him the whole time, who knows how uncomfortable it would have been? With the vice Principal and the dean of students in charge, it was enough. There was no psychological pressure, and he could focus all his attention on his studies.

The Ninja Academy operated as usual, with classes starting and ending as normal. Apart from the presence of some adults in strange costumes wandering around the campus, it was no different from any other day.

The distinctive costumes of the Sand Village and Rain Ninja piqued the students' curiosity; 99% of the students had never seen ninjas from other villages before.

"Scorpion, what do you think of Konoha's educational methods?"

Watching the old teacher lecturing diligently on the podium, Rasa quietly whispered to her companion sitting next to her.

Sasori of the Red Sands is one of the most skilled ninjas in Sunagakure today, and the strongest Puppet Master since Chiyo.

The scorpion, barely thirty, looked no different from a young man in his twenties; his handsome and refined face could make even women feel ashamed of their own appearance.

"... It's useful for ordinary ninjas. As long as they're lucky and not too bad at talent, becoming a Chunin isn't difficult at all. And if the pool is large enough, the number of Jonin won't be small either. Of course, truly top-tier ninjas can't be taught using these things."

Scorpion hesitated for a moment before answering.

He looked at the teacher who was writing and drawing on the blackboard and gently shook his head.

"The method is excellent... but we can't learn it."

"... Is it still a matter of money?"

Rasa's smile was bitter.

Ultimately, all of Sunagakure's problems boil down to one thing: they have no money.

Without money to support too many ninjas, they had to resort to ruthless competition to reduce personnel and implement an elite force strategy.

However, the negative consequences of this approach are also obvious. Accustomed to fighting each other for survival, the young Sand Ninjas find it difficult to get along with one another. Forget about cooperating on the battlefield; they are already grateful if they are not shot in the back.

This bizarre mental state caused the Third Kazekage immense worry, yet he was powerless to resolve it.

The purpose of this mission is to learn a way to break the deadlock from Konoha.

Unfortunately, even a hero can be brought down by a lack of money, and even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, Sunagakure is extremely poor. In terms of financial resources alone, it can be said to be the bottom line of the Five Great Ninja Villages. If it weren't for the fact that Sunagakure's combat strength is strong enough, and that top masters have never been cut off, the selection of the Five Great Ninja Villages might really have changed.

"Money! It's fucking damn good!"

Rasa cursed the unknown target through gritted teeth.

The Land of Wind is a desert country where water can be sold as a commodity. Not to mention compared to Konoha, even the Land of Earth is better off. Although the Land of Earth is also desolate with bare rocky mountains everywhere, at least they don't sell water for exorbitant prices.

Rasa was able to become a candidate for Kazekage not only because of his high strength and quick thinking, but more importantly because, like the Third Kazekage, he had uniquely sublimated Magnet Release and mastered a very special Magnet Release. The Third Kazekage had an unparalleled affinity for iron ore, and since he took over as the Third Hokage Kazekage, the Sand Village had finally stopped worrying about the consumption of steel.

Even the surplus steel production was converted into civilian goods, which solidified his authority among ordinary villagers.

Rasa's Magnet Release is even more impressive. His affinity for gold ore is frighteningly high. Using his unique technique of Gold Dust, he can turn buried gold ore into Gold Dust and pan it out. This is even more powerful than the Third Hokage's iron ore technique.

The value of gold and iron is on completely different levels.

Gold is a hard currency. With it, you can buy food, cloth, weapons, or ore—anything that can be sold. After all, there are no trade barriers in the Shinobi World. Even though there are bloodshed on the battlefield, there is never a shortage of goods that need to be sold in the rear. For example, the Uchiha Clan's Explosive Tag were still selling well in the Shinobi World during Second Shinobi War and Third Shinobi War.

The Cloud Ninja, Stone Ninja, Sunagakure, and even Waterfall Ninja Rain Ninja, were all major customers of the Uchiha Clan's Explosive Tag business.

There's nothing we can do about it. Explosive Tag were originally invented by the Uchiha Clan. They seal Fire Style within the tags, and the Uchiha are the clan most skilled in Fire Style. The quality of the Explosive Tag they create is guaranteed, much more reliable than the inconsistent products made by other ninja villages.

Thanks to Rasa, Sunagakure was able to maintain its current strength and avoid significant decline despite the Wind Daimyo's constant cuts to military spending.

Therefore, no one in his generation could rival him for the position of Kazekage, not even the genius Puppet Master sitting next to him, Sasori of the Red Sands.

Rasa was extremely agitated about money; just imagining the life of panning for gold in the desert day and night made his stomach ache. (To be continued)