Deliberations

In a spacious courtyard in Sunagakure, Sasori crouched on the ground, tinkering with a humanoid puppet. Unlike before, when his eyes had been as still and lifeless as a pool of stagnant water, without the slightest ripple—

Today, however, Sasori's eyes shone with light, and his focused face carried an air of resolute determination.

If the Sasori who had once made puppets was like an emotionless machine, then the Sasori of today was beginning to transform into a craftsman who poured his soul into his puppets.

That was because when he had gone to the back mountain to find Chiyo today, he had confirmed something from her own lips: there truly was a Forbidden Jutsu in this world capable of reviving the dead.

Chiyo had been very surprised at the time, because this was the first time Sasori had taken the initiative to seek her out on the back mountain.

After hearing the question Sasori had asked with such eager anticipation, Chiyo had frozen for a while. She immediately understood that her past decision to keep deceiving Sasori had likely been wrong, because this child had actually known everything all along...

She had once believed that the best way to protect Sasori was to hide the truth from him, then use Puppet Technique to divert his attention. She had hoped that once Sasori grew up and his heart became strong enough, he would be able to accept the news of his parents' deaths.

After some thought, Chiyo told Sasori what he most wanted to know. This ninjutsu that could bring the dead back to life not only truly existed, but she herself had been researching and developing it all along, and she had now made some progress.

As for the fact that Sasori's parents had already died, Chiyo did not mention it, and Sasori did not ask. Yet at this moment, grandmother and grandson shared the same goal.

Furthermore, Chiyo did not tell him that this resurrection technique would consume the caster's own life force.

After all, seeing her beloved grandson finally show an excited smile, she would protect that smile at any cost—even if that cost was her own old life!

"Dad! Mom! Don't worry, I'll definitely bring you back to life!" Sasori's hands unconsciously moved a little faster.

If he had once made puppets purely on the strength of his talent, now he poured all his hope and passion into them.

Because puppets were no longer merely his artistic pursuit. They were hope—his pursuit in life!

The most painful thing for a person was to have no pursuit, no goal, leaving their heart empty like a wandering ghost. Under such circumstances, one's personality could become twisted to extremes.

Fortunately, after Sasori lost his original goal of revenge, Souya immediately gave him a shot in the arm, restoring him with renewed vitality.

Inside the Kazekage's Office, the Third Kazekage sat upright with a grave expression as he asked the youth standing before him, "Souya, the Lands of Lightning and Earth have been stirring again lately. How do you think we should respond?"

"Teacher, there's no need to concern ourselves with them." Souya's expression remained remarkably calm.

"Oh? But sometimes, even if the tree wishes to be still, the wind refuses to stop..." the Third Kazekage said worriedly.

"Teacher, even if the other nations go to war with us, it will most likely be meant as intimidation, or simply to cripple and eliminate our active forces. They are afraid that we will reap the benefits after the war!"

"Because the Land of Wind has barren land and scarce resources, while mineral deposits are resources that require long-term occupation to develop and profit from. They are unwilling to expend their true strength on us," Souya began to analyze.

"Mm... So we simply let them provoke us?" The Kazekage shook his head. The Land of Wind had remained the weakest of the Five Great Nations for decades, and the root cause was its national environment.

The Land of Fire possessed fertile soil, and its resources—food, minerals, population, and more—were unquestionably the greatest. Moreover, talented ninja emerged endlessly within its borders. Back then, the God of Shinobi and Madara Uchiha had each been capable of suppressing the entire Ninja World through their own strength.

"Of course. Even if we vented our anger for a moment and sent young ninja to die on the battlefield, what benefit would that bring to our village's development?"

"What we need is tangible territory and resources!"

"But with our current strength, we cannot be certain of victory against any nation. Therefore, we can only contract our forces and let the other nations exhaust their national strength on the battlefield!"

"Only when the nations are worn down can we act when the opportunity arises and possibly obtain what we want!" Souya's gaze fell upon the map of the Ninja World hanging behind the Kazekage.

"Even if we endure, if another country launches a full-scale assault on us, we may still find it difficult to resist!" The Kazekage could not help but worry.

After all, Sunagakure currently had only a handful of Kage-level experts. Aside from himself and the older-generation Chiyo, only the rising Rasa, who had mastered Magnet Release, could barely be counted as one.

As for Sunagakure's "nuclear weapon," Senior Bunpuku... he would only be considered as a last resort.

As for the younger generation, Souya and Sasori, the Kazekage naturally saw their talent. But geniuses needed time to grow...

"So, what we need to do now is strengthen the construction of defensive fortifications. We also need to learn from Konoha's medical ninja system, selecting talented ninja from the Ninja Academy and training them specifically as medical ninja to reduce our ninja casualty rate!"

"Furthermore, we should increase the purchase and storage of grain in the near future. Our reserves must be enough to feed the country for at least several years, ensuring our food supply during wartime..."

"Have the workshops throughout the country rush the production of more Ninja Tools. Even if we cannot use them ourselves, when the war reaches a stalemate, we can sell them off and recover a sum of capital!"

"As for the initial capital, we can trouble Senior Brother Rasa to work a little harder!" Souya laid out all his ideas.

Rasa had also received the Kazekage's guidance for a time. Though he was not an official disciple, there was still a bond between teacher and student, so it was not improper for Souya to call him Senior Brother.

The Kazekage fell silent, though a faint frown creased his spirited face.

The points Souya had raised were indeed Sunagakure's most urgent needs. Though they would be difficult to implement, if war truly broke out on all fronts, the benefits would be obvious.

After a long while, the Kazekage's tightly furrowed brow relaxed.

From the day he took up the position of Kazekage, he had secretly resolved that he would lead Sunagakure toward prosperity and strength, changing its weak and impoverished status as the "bottom-ranker" among the great nations.

During past chance discussions of political affairs with Souya, the Kazekage had discovered that this disciple of his possessed an unusually strategic mind.

After all, most ninja were merely executors whose duty was to obey and complete orders. But for a village to develop, what it needed even more was broad, overall planning.

From then on, the Kazekage had consciously allowed Souya to participate in discussions on many matters. The suggestions Souya put forward often struck directly at the heart of the issue. Although his ideas were somewhat rough, their central direction was undoubtedly correct!

The Kazekage immediately decided to convene a high-level meeting to arrange Sunagakure's upcoming reforms.