The Change in Policy

Kumogakure's retreat did not mean the end of the war.

Not to mention that Pakura was constantly harassing Kirigakure along the border, even on battlefields where the fighting had already ended, the Ninja could not simply withdraw immediately.

The Great Shinobi War, the Great Shinobi War!

This was another war that swept across the entire shinobi world. Who knew whether the other Ninja villages would not secretly stab them in the back?

Therefore, it was still necessary to have a powerful Ninja stationed at the border.

As for Pakura... Rasa was not worried about her.

According to the original history, she would kill so many people that Kirigakure would come seeking peace. Perhaps Konoha had also been too aggressive, forcing Kirigakure to stop its war with Sunagakure.

But... the fact that she could make Kirigakure hate her so much that they wanted her hacked to death before they would agree to peace showed just how much damage she had inflicted on Kirigakure.

As for Chiyo's side... Kumogakure was currently contending with Konoha and Iwagakure.

Even if they wanted to turn around and launch a surprise attack... it would be impossible for them to return so quickly.

After all, tearing up a treaty... also required some time. They couldn't sign a treaty in the morning and unilaterally tear it up that afternoon. Wouldn't that make the other Ninja villages laugh at them?

Who would still want to be friends with them?

The Five Great Ninja Villages still had their dignity. Even Sunagakure... always waited five or six years after forming an alliance with Konoha before causing trouble again.

Therefore, Kumogakure could indeed be said to be temporarily settled for now. However, the other Ninja villages that had participated in the war, although they were not among the Five Great Ninja Villages, still needed to be watched carefully.

The Wind Country Daimyo Estate had cut off funding to Sunagakure, which had indeed caused Sunagakure quite a few problems.

They were already poor, with scarce land and resources and too few missions. Maintaining Ninja training and the village's daily operations was already difficult enough, let alone anything else.

So, to be honest... Rasa was somewhat panicked inside too~

After all, when Chiyo left, she told him to manage the logistics. He was also to send Ninjas to purchase food with the compensation paid by Kumogakure, ensuring that the front lines had enough food and that the rear remained stable.

Of course, none of that was a problem. As long as they had money, all of it could be solved.

The problem was...

"Can I get a refund? According to the law, minors can get refunds for accidental top-ups."

However, the lottery pool was an inanimate object. It indeed did not answer him.

Perhaps it was also because he was already an adult~

With no other choice, Rasa now... could only lead all the villagers who remained in the village into starting businesses, striving to ensure that every Ninja on the front lines had food to eat.

But in this desert land, what sources of income could they possibly have?

Especially during wartime...

Even if they wanted to sell Sunagakure's specialty—the puppet—setting aside the lack of vegetation in the Land of Wind, the prejudice caused by the war alone meant that the other Ninja villages would not waste money buying puppets from Sunagakure to display at home at a time like this.

Unless... they also received Sunagakure's puppet-manipulation techniques.

But this was the foundation left to them by their ancestors. Selling it to another Ninja village... would be like selling a country's advanced technology to an enemy nation. It was practically an act of treason~

The entire village would drown them in spit, one mouthful at a time.

Of course... Rasa had never considered selling it. Only if they obtained advanced technology far beyond what currently existed would he consider exchanging it for money.

As for agriculture... forget it. There was desert and gravel everywhere. How could they grow anything? The entertainment industry... the shinobi world was in chaos. Who would still have the mood to listen to you rap?

They probably could not even enter the other villages.

Therefore, the tourism industry could only be abandoned for now.

Finally, after eliminating the impossible options and thinking it over a little more, Rasa discovered that his village... could actually pan for gold at this stage.

The shinobi world was currently at the budding stage of technological development. It was like the 1990s in that other world. You simply had no idea... whether the BB you risked everything to smuggle in hopes of making a fortune would become worthless junk that nobody wanted one or two years later.

Although technology would have little effect on Ninjas over the next twenty years, even in the era when Naruto and Sasuke represented the average level of strength, quite a few Ninjas would still reject the changes brought by technology.

So, technological development...

Unless his poor village was skilled in a particular field, it would probably be unable to keep up with the collective progress of the entire shinobi world.

Of course... cheating was another matter.

Thinking about the materials he had organized the previous night and Sunagakure's prospects for development, Rasa sighed. He tapped on the table, crossed his hands before his chin, and said solemnly, "This plan shall be called the First Sunagakure Economic Revival and Future Five-Year Development Plan, abbreviated as the First Five-Year Plan. From now on, our main focus of work will gradually and slowly shift from war toward economic development."

At the current stage, they were still at war, so it was inappropriate for the village to make sweeping changes. It was better to proceed cautiously.

As for five years later...

That would probably be around Year 48 or 49 of Konoha. By then, the overall war would have ended. Although local wars and minor clashes between the villages would continue, this relatively stable period of development should be enough for the economies of the Ninja villages to recover.

"It is mainly divided into three broad areas and six smaller goals."

The broad areas were war, agriculture, and economic development.

There was no doubt that the goal of war was to achieve victory. This was the prerequisite for Sunagakure's stable development. As for agriculture... it was indeed difficult to do anything with desert everywhere, but...

"Select high-quality seeds and use scientific methods for planting and irrigation."

They could even set aside a small area and steal some soil from another country, then create small-scale regional cultivation areas. Rather than planting directly in the desert, they could simply place the soil in special containers and plant the crops in that soil.

In the past, quite a few households in the city had done this on their rooftops. Although achieving self-sufficiency would certainly require a great deal of land, they could at least slightly reduce the village's dependence on outside food purchases.

It would even be nice for each household to grow some vegetables to enrich their diets.

"The goal is... for our grain output to double in the second year."

As for what the final result would be... he did not know either. After all... even when it came to the relevant technology, he could not provide it himself at present. They could only rely on themselves.

"So, intensive cultivation and scientific planting will be the agricultural reforms. As for the economy..."

At this point, he was also filled with helplessness. There was desert everywhere, the roads were impassable, and the shinobi world was in chaos. Besides... what else could they do but pan for gold?

Build roads by firing bricks?

Even the landlord's family had no money~

Were they supposed to make the villagers build roads for free? Setting aside the fact that the area around the Land of Wind had become a chaotic battlefield, what use would building roads be right now?

Wouldn't all their efforts be wasted if some Ninjas destroyed them because of the war?

Besides, merely trying to build roads across the desert... would probably be difficult enough.

If only they had known that Sunagakure lacked water!

They should not waste any more water. Good steel should be used where it mattered most!

Rasa looked solemnly at the Ninjas before him and said, "I believe many of you know about the time we panned for gold on the battlefield. So, as for the economy... for now, we will focus on gold panning. Every day, I will provide enough Gold Sand, and you... must extract as much pure gold from it as possible!"

Antiques belonged to times of prosperity, while gold belonged to times of chaos.

According to the Ninja who had gone out to purchase food... the exchange rate between gold and Silver Liang was currently extremely high~.

So why build roads?

They had to pan for gold now!

What was so good about building roads?

It could not give him money to spend, and it would only cost him money. In this situation... they absolutely would not build roads.

"This is an extremely important policy change for Sunagakure. It is also the fundamental guarantee that will lead Sunagakure toward prosperity and strength. Therefore, every one of you must... refine gold properly for me!"

When he finished speaking...

"Yes!"

The entire meeting room immediately erupted.

All the Ninjas loudly responded to the order of Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage!

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