More Important

Early in the morning.

Inside Sunagakure.

Quite a few villagers had already gathered.

Yesterday, the Kazekage had announced the First Five-Year Plan to the villagers and Ninja still in the village, ordering every villager and every Ninja to obey the organization's unified arrangements and assignments.

Although Sunagakure's people did not know what the Kazekage intended to do, when they thought of the two trees at the village gate, as well as how the Kazekage had turned the tide and brought victory to Sunagakure, what was there left for them to doubt?

The Kazekage must have had his reasons for doing this!

Everyone in Sunagakure thought so, especially the Ninja who had returned from the front lines with the Kazekage and had panned for gold there. They believed it without question. After all... back then, they too had wondered why the Kazekage had ordered them to pan for gold on the battlefield. They had even suspected that he had temporarily changed the order just to make money. But... after the Kazekage forcefully declared war on Kumogakure and captured an important figure from the village, they understood... the Kazekage must have had his reasons.

Even though not a single Ninja could see what secret lay behind the Kazekage's actions, that did not stop them from worshipping him.

Just as Lord Moomu had told them back then, "Sometimes, you have no idea why Lord Rasa does what he does, but... you do not need to know. You only need to know that what Lord Rasa does can bring us victory."

Lord Moomu, who had gone to the battlefield alongside Lord Rasa, had always been Lord Rasa's Right-hand Man and had earned many achievements for him. Surely, he understood the Kazekage better than they did.

However...

Lord Moomu still did not know what the Kazekage was doing, so how could they possibly know?

Yet Lord Moomu had always silently obeyed the Kazekage's orders. No matter what the Kazekage said, he would do his utmost to accomplish it. Even when the Kazekage said that money could make one stronger, he still believed him and worked hard to get money for the Kazekage.

They had heard that back then... he had crawled alone toward enemy corpses across a battlefield engulfed in flames, fearless in the face of terrifying ninjutsu, Shuriken, and Kunai. He had not taken a single step back, and in the end... he had secured a crucial victory for the war.

He was truly incredible!

Therefore, everyone believed that the Kazekage's actions must have carried some meaning. They simply... could not figure it out yet.

Even if they did not understand why, they still had to obediently follow orders.

In any case, they believed... the Kazekage's actions must have had meaning!

Otherwise, could the Kazekage possibly be some money-grubbing fellow?

That was simply impossible!

After all, Lord Moomu had said that most of the money the Kazekage saved would be used to build Sunagakure and maintain its operations.

So it was absolutely impossible!

Every villager and Ninja watched the Kazekage before them with resolute expressions. He wore Sunagakure's distinctive white dust-blocking cloak, and they waited for his arrangements.

"You few are all veteran employees."

Rasa looked sternly at the Sand Ninja who had returned from the front lines with him. Yashamaru was among them, standing straight as well.

"I trust you already understand the work process!"

These people would serve as supervisors for this round of alchemy, forming their own gold-panning teams and leading them in alchemy. With experienced workers guiding newcomers, everyone would quickly grow accustomed to the work.

Of course...

The Alchemy Factory could not possibly be built near Sunagakure. Otherwise, the environmental pollution and temperature effects would be quite troublesome.

Though it was all desert, and there was not much to pollute no matter how badly they polluted it, they still needed to take proper precautions. They might not be able to solve those problems now, but perhaps they could in the future.

There was no need to create trouble for the future!

And in order not to waste water resources, he had cut several steps from the alchemy process. A slightly higher purity was enough. While gold prices were high because of this war... they needed to sell early.

Besides, the entire village was here...

He certainly could not send the whole village to do alchemy. Otherwise, who would defend the village when the time came?

Who would manage the daily affairs?

Who would clean the Kazekage Tower?

So, although he had called everyone out to gather, it was merely to make assigning work easier. As for planting... that also required further arrangements.

Rasa gave a couple of dry coughs and looked at the Ninja before him. "Then... everyone, set out now!"

He still had to use up the eighty million Silver Liang he had accidentally sunk into the draw!

Ten thousand per draw meant eight thousand draws for eighty million liang. Going by the odds of getting something good once every hundred or so draws...

This time... he refused to believe he would still be so unlucky. He could not keep ending up like some bespectacled unlucky bastard trying to pull an SSR, could he?~

He had painstakingly climbed mountains and crossed rivers to save up a huge pile of materials, yet... what the hell had he drawn?

He had even drawn Chiriku's culture Teacher.

And Red Sand Dust - Fūjin no Daimaru, who had not even been born in their village yet.

So, strictly speaking... was he the same kind of unlucky person as Kabuto?

Did he only get something good after a hundred draws?

He really needed to be more careful and prudent from now on~

Rasa watched the villagers march proudly toward the village gate.

The Alchemy Factory was still quite some distance away from here.

As for him... of course he had to go with them now. Otherwise, who would gather the Gold Dust for them?

Late autumn, Konoha Year 44.

Sunagakure began changing its internal policies, shifting its focus toward economic recovery.

Meanwhile, beyond its borders...

The world remained engulfed in war.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure were locked in battle, with both sides evenly matched and suffering losses. Kumogakure in particular had suffered an accident, and the Third Raikage, wanting to clean up after his son, urgently needed a great victory to prove his authority. He launched frenzied attacks on Iwagakure, forcing the Third Tsuchikage to further strengthen his defenses while, incidentally... cursing that old fool to high heaven!

Why not attack Konoha instead?

Konoha was bound to be attacked anyway!~

Were you stupid?

Why were you throwing your entire army at Iwagakure for no reason?

Go attack Konoha!~

However... perhaps Kumogakure considered Iwagakure easier to bully. It paid no heed to the Third Tsuchikage's words and continued its relentless assaults, filling Iwagakure with rage. They felt Kumogakure was looking down on them, so... they continued increasing the forces deployed against Kumogakure, determined to show Kumogakure's Ninja just how formidable they were!

It could be said that both sides had truly developed a fierce hatred for one another.

As for Konoha, no matter how fiercely they fought, it did not weaken Konoha's forces in the slightest. Therefore, Konoha still faced tremendous pressure~

Faced with such pressure, along with the problems hidden within the village, the Third Hokage had no choice but to take certain special measures.

At this moment, Konoha, Hokage building.

"I understand that because of what happened to his father, Kakashi has become somewhat extreme. He believes that, as a Ninja, completing the mission is a Ninja's foremost duty. But... I believe he is still an outstanding Ninja who possesses the Will of Fire." Wearing the Fire Release Protective Shell and holding a smoking pipe, the Third Hokage shook his head with a sigh as he looked at the blond Jonin kneeling on one knee before him. "I too bore responsibility for what happened back then. Because of various matters, I failed to notice that things would eventually become so serious. Therefore, I hope you can properly guide Kakashi, Minato, and do not let him stray down the wrong path. He possesses exceptional Ninja talent and will surely become an outstanding Konoha Ninja in the future. You must make him understand... while completing missions is very important, the bonds between comrades are... even more important to Konoha's Ninja!!!"