After a brief clash among the four countries of Lightning, Fire, Wind, and Water, it seemed that each village had realized that, with their current strength, they could not defeat the other hidden villages.
As a result, in the time that followed, the villages instead focused on developing their economies.
Of them, the village whose economy grew fastest was Sunagakure in the Land of Wind.
They had already brought all the country's important enterprises under state ownership, and the taxes on wealthy merchants had grown increasingly heavy. Some merchants had even begun considering fleeing to other countries.
However, the Third Kazekage issued an order: anyone holding citizenship in the Land of Wind who voluntarily renounced it and fled with their fortune would be hunted by Sunagakure for the rest of their life, and their entire family would suffer the consequences!
Under such a ruthless policy, most wealthy merchants could only grit their teeth and hand over the money they had worked so hard to earn. As for the idea of evading taxes...
That idea was laughably naive in the face of a ninja's genjutsu.
Sunagakure also sent its Earth Release ninjas to River and Bird Counties. Each spring, when it was time to sow the fields, they helped farmers plow the land.
Souya had always felt that if ninjutsu were put to use in production and daily life, it could raise productivity to an entirely new level.
Machines needed gasoline, but a ninja's Chakra was a renewable, clean energy source.
As a result, the Third Kazekage greatly reduced the labor levies imposed on civilians across the country. Ninjas handled nearly all major public infrastructure projects.
Naturally, all these changes were recorded in detail in the textbooks used at the various Ninja Academies.
After all, village and country pride, national consciousness...