Wheat Waves

"Though Konoha had kept a low profile in recent years, its far deeper foundations than those of the other ninja villages were more than enough to withstand attacks from two of them. Perhaps only an assault by the Three Great Ninja Villages could defeat Konoha."

Chiyo said with a sigh.

Hashirama Senju's strength had been despair-inducing. Even more despairing was that Konoha remained so powerful after his death.

Fortunately, Konoha had never had a qualified leader for long.

There was no need to mention Hashirama; he was a textbook idealist.

Tobirama, on the other hand, had been capable. He suppressed the village's only hidden threat, the Uchiha, and established the Ninja Academy and the Master-Disciple System. The clans, who had originally gathered only because they submitted to Hashirama's might, became a true village. The identity of being a Konoha resident gradually came to stand alongside, and even surpass, clan identity.

Unfortunately, Tobirama was already over fifty when he took power. On top of that, he encountered the extremely rare event of another village's internal strife during a peace conference. He was capable enough, but his luck was poor.

His successor, Sarutobi, had enough strength and intelligence. He was a competent caretaker, but as the Ninja World gradually changed—or, rather, became increasingly unfavorable to Konoha—his response was overly cautious.

The Ninja World was only so big. If you took a larger share, everyone else got less.

The Land of Fire, with Konoha's backing, occupied the most fertile land in the world and its finest harbors. You could say that Konoha held seven-tenths of the world's wealth.

Naturally, Konoha became the center of the world—and the world's target.

During Sarutobi's rule, he followed the policy of "don't discuss minor matters, discuss moderate matters a little, and discuss major matters at length." Apart from missions, he avoided using force unless absolutely necessary.

That only emboldened the other ninja villages. Some of the smaller ones even dared to attack Konoha's shinobi during missions.

Forget their actual strength. Just look at their nerve—could you believe it?

Konoha had plenty of problems, but if anyone truly roused that sleeping lion, not just anyone could withstand its claws.

Chiyo had been left with psychological scars from the last Ninja World War. She had neutralized Hanzo's poison and discovered that Ibuse needed five minutes to replenish its poison gas, but that hadn't brought Sunagakure the great victory they'd hoped for. Sunagakure had still suffered heavy losses.

And there was no need to mention what happened with Tsunade.

Most importantly, the last war with Konoha had cost her her son and daughter-in-law. Sasori had even gone on to assassinate the Kazekage and set off down a path of no return.

Now, just hearing the words "Konoha" and "war" together was enough to trigger her PTSD.

Before she knew what had happened to Sasori, she had been consumed by hatred whenever she thought of Konoha. But now, she truly didn't want another war with them. She only wanted to see her grandson as soon as possible.

"Don't worry. We won't be the first to bear the brunt of it. The Cloud Ninja are far more eager than we imagine. If Konoha can't quickly rout their forces and the war drags on, the other villages' response will be something Sarutobi can't accept. Peace Talks will only be a matter of time. And if everything goes according to plan, our people may only need to show their faces to get the greatest share of the benefits."

Some things weren't suitable to say to Chiyo, and even if he did, she might not believe him. What if his words came true? Would she suspect he had made a deal with Danzo?

If there hadn't been one, that would have been fine. The problem was, there really was!

Besides, Hoshino Maki intended to maintain that relationship carefully.

"If you're worried, we can wait and see how the Cloud Ninja and Konoha fare before deciding whether to get involved."

At that, Chiyo's expression eased considerably.

"Hoshino Maki, I never would have imagined..."

Chiyo looked at the puppet in front of her, nearly indistinguishable from a young man, and spoke with a complicated expression.

She would never forget the endless caravan, the hills of grain piled onto its carts stretching into a vast sea of wheat. Even the desert had been kind that day, raising no sandstorm. Under the pure sunlight, the waves of wheat seemed gilded, gleaming brightly. It was a sight unlike anything Chiyo had ever seen.

Even now, she could hardly believe it.

The village's old and young had winter clothes, and food was supplied without limit. At mealtimes, the aroma of cooking from every household filled Sunagakure with fragrant steam. The glistening, plump white rice had brought tears to the old woman's eyes.

Perhaps no one would die of hunger or cold this year.

She had never imagined that such a prosperous age could first come to Sunagakure.

She knew it was temporary, a fleeting bloom that could not last.

But at least, for a time, it had shown the people of Sunagakure what a better world looked like—and what they were striving for.

And the supplies were only part of it. The hospital had also acquired a batch of new equipment, and electric lamps had been installed in a third of the village. Two power stations were under construction. The technicians from the Land of Lightning would have to teach the people of Sunagakure how to use everything before they could leave.

But you know how it is in the Ninja World. Unforeseen complications always crop up. If Kumogakure went to war with another village, Konoha, for example, then for the technicians' safety, they'd just have to stay in Sunagakure a little longer.

Chiyo looked at the young man before her and remembered how, when they first met, he had told her he wanted to become Kazekage. It hadn't been long, and he still liked to smile, but he seemed much more mature.

She remembered how, the first time her son went to the battlefield, this so-called village genius had been trembling with fear, unable to hold his Kunai steady.

But a week later, he could use a Kunai with practiced ease, piercing an enemy's head with pinpoint accuracy from a distance.

Perhaps it was women who turned boys into men, but only the battlefield could turn a man into a shinobi.

"I want to become Medical Corps Commander. Also, don't send Rasa to the front lines."

His words echoed in Chiyo's mind. Her refusal, it seemed, hadn't extinguished his Kazekage dream.

The young man's plans had never stopped moving forward.

If he really became Kazekage...

Chiyo closed her eyes. Waves of wheat swayed before her. When she opened them again, she saw the dazzling white glow of the electric lamps.

"Remember to bring Sasori back."

Hoshino Maki didn't know what had made her suddenly bring that up, but he nodded. "Of course."

"Stay at Chiyo Mansion for now. The puppet isn't a flawless disguise. And those old fools—when it's time to contribute, they hang back, but the moment they see a share of the spoils, they come running on all fours."

Chiyo gave a cold snort, a glint of frost flashing in her slightly cloudy eyes.

Apart from the clans that made ninja tools, the war had dealt heavy losses to the Elders and the clans behind them. That was the main reason they had agreed to trade prisoners for supplies. Now that the supplies had arrived, wasn't it time to start distributing them?

Lately, quite a few people had approached Hoshino Maki, hoping he would put in a good word for them so they could get a bigger share.

Hoshino Maki had no authority to decide how the supplies were distributed, but as the person who had contributed the most to the whole affair, he had some influence. If he spoke up, everyone would turn a blind eye as long as the amount wasn't too large.

Even if they didn't care about his standing, they had to respect the Chiyo Clan's, didn't they?

This time, even Chōjūrō's allies couldn't refuse Hoshino Maki's friendship.

And somehow, a rumor had spread that the representative Chōjūrō had sent had behaved disgracefully during the negotiations. Apparently, he spent every night dancing at bars, slept in his room all day, never showed up at the negotiating table, but was always sprawled across a drinking table.

The Cloud Ninja hadn't even known that such a person existed until the negotiations were over.

That had completely ruined Chōjūrō's reputation. He'd already been too weak to argue over the distribution of supplies, and now he was even more embarrassed to speak up. The members of his clan, who had once held their heads high, now kept their tails between their legs whenever they met anyone.

Though no one dared complain openly, given Chōjūrō's years of accumulated prestige, there was plenty of grumbling in private.

Chōjūrō seemed to be keeping his composure, but according to a pottery merchant in Sunagakure, Lord Chōjūrō's residence had already bought pottery for the third time. His demands were strange:

Cheap, and it had to make a crisp sound.

While one story unfolded in Sunagakure, another was playing out elsewhere.

As Sunagakure celebrated its abundant harvest, people had already crowded around the Land of Lightning Bank in the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning's estate. Everyone angrily waved their checks and shoved toward the front.

"I want to withdraw my money!"

"Please, give me my money back! My child is waiting for food!"

"Stop pushing me! I was here first!"

"..."

Inside the bank, the manager wiped the sweat streaming down his bald head and shouted at his secretary, "Hurry and get the daimyo!"