Testing Little by Little

Testing Little by Little

Talent and hard work were no match for having a good father.

When a family had fallen into decline and wanted to strive to restore its former glory, what it needed was a good ancestor.

The Uzumaki Clan had talent, diligence, and good fathers. Their clan had not declined too badly either; at the very least, they were stronger than most ninja clans.

The crucial thing was that they also had good ancestors.

Ebizo was not the only one who felt envious. Every Sand Shinobi assigned to receive the Uzumaki Clan felt the same way.

"What an enviable clan."

As their interactions with the Uzumaki Clan deepened, that thought continued to echo through the Sand Shinobi's minds.

Several days had already passed. After resting and regrouping at the port, Ebizo led his people to escort the Uzumaki Clan toward Sunagakure.

Since most of the group consisted of women and children, they did not travel quickly.

The Sand Shinobi began interacting with the Uzumaki Clan and striking up conversations.

At the port, Aizawa Uzumaki and En Uzumaki had led the Uzumaki Clan ninja who had come with them in studying Medical Ninjutsu. During their free time, they also taught some of that knowledge to the women and children.

This allowed them to enrich themselves as quickly as possible.

After coming into contact with Chakra, the Uzumaki children all grew rapidly. At the very least, using a few basic ninjutsu was no longer a problem.

Especially after being influenced by their surroundings, every child had become quite skilled in Sealing Technique.

It was enough to make others green with envy. Only great clans could accomplish such a thing.

Sunagakure had no great ninja clans. Many of its ninja were Civilian Ninja, and they could only earn contributions to exchange for ninjutsu from the Ninja Village.

Those ninjutsu available for exchange had all been collected by the First Kazekage.

The luckier ones had good fathers who developed a ninjutsu themselves and passed it down.

Aizawa Uzumaki and En Uzumaki likely knew that the Sand Shinobi would become jealous, so they had issued instructions early on, telling the children that they could freely share the knowledge with anyone.

Those bits of knowledge about Sealing Technique were merely techniques developed for children to play with anyway.

If they could earn the Sand Shinobi's goodwill, it would be more than worth it for the two of them.

"Elder, should we just leave this alone?"

Suke quietly asked Ebizo.

The higher-ups among the Sand Shinobi were not fools. They had seen every little move the Uzumaki Clan made.

"Interfere? How would we interfere? One side is willing to give, and the other is willing to teach. There's no need to interfere. It will even help popularize basic education."

Ebizo chuckled and spoke indifferently.

He did not care about such matters. They were trivial and could hardly be called schemes.

Sunagakure's education about loving one's village was quite good.

If they startled at every little sign of trouble, then they did not deserve to be called one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Looking across the entire history of the Hokage, most of those who defected from their villages came from great clans. At the very least, they had decent inheritances.

As for the claim that the ninja villages had forced them into it, low-ranking ninja were oppressed every day. Why did so few of them defect?

"Suke, you still have much to learn.

Remember this: if you cannot trust your own brothers and comrades, then you are not far from death."

Ebizo spoke to Suke meaningfully.

"Yes, Elder. I understand."

Suke's heart shuddered as he realized what mistake he had made.

At the same time, he understood why Yunqing had specifically told him to listen to Ebizo more before they set out.

Elsewhere, where Aizawa Uzumaki and En Uzumaki were staying.

"En, we were too petty. Sunagakure truly deserves to be one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Such magnanimity is beyond us."

Aizawa Uzumaki sighed.

"Since we were too petty, then let's hand over some more advanced Sealing Technique.

We can tell them about the basics of Sealing Technique as well."

En Uzumaki responded impatiently.

He disliked this sort of endless probing. The Uzumaki Clan's innate straightforwardness influenced him.

"Yes, we can give it to them. Let it serve as our token of allegiance."

Aizawa Uzumaki sighed and spoke helplessly.

He also knew that being straightforward was better, but he had no choice. If the hopes of an entire clan rested on your shoulders, you would act the same way.

Over the following days, the handsome men and beautiful women Sunagakure had sent to receive and care for the Uzumaki Clan received a perfect benefit.

The Uzumaki Clan ninja gave them detailed explanations of basic Sealing Technique, then taught them some intermediate techniques and a small number of advanced ones.

As for techniques such as the Four Symbols Seal and Eight Trigrams Seal, which could seal Tailed Beasts, even few members of the Uzumaki Clan knew them.

Inside the Kazekage Building in Sunagakure, Yunqing and Chiyo sat facing each other.

"Elder Chiyo, you worked far too quickly. It has only been a few days, yet you have already analyzed the medicinal properties of the cactus."

Yunqing did not know whether he should be happy or sad. His people were working far too hard and paid no attention to their health.

"It had to be quick. Every step faster we move will improve Sunagakure's situation.

Isn't preparing for a rainy day what you have always advocated?"

Chiyo chuckled. For an old woman like her, someone who had emerged from the chaotic era and seen through the ways of life, her greatest wish was for her children and grandchildren to fill the house and for Sunagakure to grow strong.

As one of Sunagakure's higher-ups, seeing the village steadily improve filled her with indescribable excitement.

They had once relied on a large number of missions and subsidies from the Daimyo of the Land of Wind to survive.

Now, they could live well on their own.

They bought grain from Konoha and grew some themselves.

The various clan ninja, along with the Civilian Ninja, developed all kinds of technologies and opened every sort of shop.

Large numbers of merchants poured into Sunagakure, driving economic growth.

They could support themselves now, and their lives grew more comfortable by the day.

"Yes, yes. I heard your daughter-in-law opened a toy shop that sells all kinds of little toys."

Yunqing smiled and changed the subject.

"Yes. After my younger son retired, he joined the research department. My daughter-in-law stayed home to look after Sasori.

When she became bored, she suddenly had the idea to simplify the toys she made for Sasori and sell them outside. The results have been quite good."

Chiyo replied with a smile. Her son, daughter-in-law, and little grandson all smiled more and more these days, which made her immensely happy.

"Haha, we really have to thank you. If your daughter-in-law had not opened a shop and made money, those elders would never have dared to do it."

Yunqing said with a hint of mockery.

Those elders had all made their preparations, yet none of them dared to begin, afraid they would not be able to sell anything. Then Chiyo's daughter-in-law beat them to it.

Once they saw her making money, they rushed in like hungry wolves. Sunagakure became bustling all at once.

All the money those ninja had saved from missions, with nowhere to spend it, was quickly consumed.

Sunagakure's tax revenue was also quite impressive.