Kazekage: I Made a Killing

When Tsunade got home, she poured out all her grievances to her mother, complaining and crying.

As her mother listened, she began to smile.

She didn't think Yuya's actions had been unreasonable at all.

If anything, he'd even treated them to barbecue.

After she finished, Tsunade went on to talk about some other things.

Once Tsunade had finished complaining about Yuya, her mother gave her a stern look and said, "You're not allowed to think that way about your big brother Yuya! He's already doing everything he can for Lord Hokage.

"Your mother may be just an ordinary woman, but Tsunade, you need to remember this: anyone can say those things to Yuya, anyone can criticize him, but you can't. You're a Senju, and your grandfather was Senju Hashirama."

Tsunade pouted, still unhappy. Her stomach was full, so she didn't feel like eating dinner. Instead, she ran straight to Senju Hashirama's house. She could complain bitterly about that awful Yuya to Grandma Uzumaki Mito, too.

But after listening, Uzumaki Mito didn't agree with her either. She simply held Tsunade with a fond look in her eyes, then gently said, "The fact that you think this way means you love this village. It means you want the ordinary people here to have better lives.

"But you can't blame Yuya. He's only a few years older than you, yet he's already carrying so many burdens..."

Uzumaki Mito looked at Tsunade and suddenly smiled. "Your grandfather once wanted you to marry him when you grew up."

Tsunade was instantly flustered. "What?! My grandfather?! No way! Absolutely no way! What makes that awful Yuya think he deserves me?! How could Grandpa do that?!"

Uzumaki Mito sighed and led Tsunade to sit down. "It was just something he said... Just something he said..."

But inside, she couldn't help feeling a little helpless.

Before his death, Senju Hashirama had thought it through very well. If Yuya and Tsunade ended up together, Yuya would inherit all of the Senju Clan's political legacy, both visible and hidden.

But...

Hashirama probably hadn't realized that his student might not need any of that so-called political legacy at all...

Hashirama or Tobirama...

The greatest help they could give Yuya was to let this eleven-year-old kid freely put his abilities to use.

Uzumaki Mito could hardly imagine what Konoha would be like once Yuya reached adulthood. By then...

How many of the village's clans would try to win him over?

The Uzumaki Clan's success was right there for everyone to see. Who wouldn't want to become the next Uzumaki Clan?

Autumn. Three months wasn't a long time, but it certainly wasn't short, either.

Over those three months, the Land of Wind had benefited from its proximity to Konoha by land.

A road through the Land of Rivers made it easy for the two sides to connect.

Compared with the Land of Water, which had to take all kinds of detours to avoid whirlpools and ocean currents, the Land of Wind had signed its agreement with Konoha later, but it had been the first to enjoy the "benefits" of the treaty.

What exactly were these "benefits"? Here's a quick rundown.

First, Konoha built a steel mill in the northeastern part of the Land of Wind.

The Kazekage was over the moon. Was this basically a free gift? It had to be a free gift, right?

The Land of Wind had mineral resources of its own, so the steel mill used its iron ore. However, under the terms of the agreement, one-fifth of its output during the first three years had to go to Konoha.

There wasn't much to say about that. The Kazekage didn't care.

Second, both sides abolished the entry tax on merchant caravans. In other words, merchants no longer had to pay just to enter the village; they only had to pay taxes on their transactions.

The Kazekage didn't care about that, either. What was a little money like that?

Then the Kazekage suddenly noticed that once this rule took effect, many more merchant caravans from Sunagakure began heading out. One after another, they were willing to travel to Konoha to trade.

There wasn't much to say about Sunagakure's products, but Konoha had plenty of good stuff!

They could buy goods in Konoha and haul them back to Sunagakure to sell... There was money in that!

The Kazekage thought it was great. Konoha really did have a lot of goods, including things that some children in Sunagakure had never seen before.

For example, a place that had recently been built in Konoha over the past three months, something called a Cola Factory. They'd never seen anything like it, and they'd never tasted the drinks it made.

But after the two sides opened up trade, those things started pouring into Sunagakure.

What was the most precious thing in a desert?

Water!

Konoha's trick of turning water into drinks made them incredibly jealous.

But after trying it, they found it really worked. The cola recipe had relatively little sugar and hardly any chemical additives, so it could quench their thirst, too.

It sold like crazy in Sunagakure.

It was a shame Sunagakure had no water source of its own. Otherwise, they'd have given Konoha a taste of what it was like to be copied.

Of course, that wasn't the main point. The most, most, most important thing was...

The grain Konoha exported to them.

That's right, Konoha exported grain to them. The agreement even prevented the price from going up, so when the Kazekage saw how cheap the grain was, he was stunned.

Wait, was Konoha serious?!

They were really going to follow the agreement to the letter?!

You guys... You're showing your buddy so much respect. How could he not return the favor? He'd start with a few dozen tons of grain.

Konoha replied, "Sure. Pay up."

Sunagakure: "..."

The Kazekage was at a loss. What a wonderful deal! Grain at such a low price! But they had no money, so they couldn't buy it!

What were they supposed to do?!

Just then, Yuya sent someone to the Kazekage. "Hey, folks from Sunagakure, interested in a loan? Given the relationship between our villages, I'll lend you a hundred million Ryo. You can pay me back a hundred million and one hundred thousand next year."

The Kazekage was tempted. That interest rate was practically a gift, but...

Sunagakure really didn't have any money.

Yuya had his people continue to coax him. "Your Sunagakure may be nothing but sand, and you can't grow grain, but... you can grow other things. Like chili peppers~ Grow them, sell them to us next year, then use the money you make to pay off this year's debt. Doesn't that make sense?"

The Kazekage thought it over and realized that it did.

This year, he could borrow money from Konoha to buy grain, water, and anything else they needed.

All he had to do was promote the idea and get people in Sunagakure and throughout the Land of Wind to plant crops like chili peppers and cacti. Next year, they could sell them to Konoha for money. Wouldn't that be like getting next year's money early and spending it this year?

The Kazekage wasn't blind to the risks. But after thinking it over, he realized the only real risk was that the chili peppers, cacti, and other crops might not sell.

But was that even possible?

The agreement clearly stated that Konoha had to buy three thousand kilograms of crops from the Kazekage every year.

It was just like the agreement they'd signed with Kirigakure.

The Kazekage wasn't worried about Konoha reneging on the deal. Besides, if Konoha really refused to buy their crops, he could simply default on the loan and refuse to pay back the hundred million. Then they'd see who lost more.

The Kazekage thought happily to himself, unaware that the industrial structure of Sunagakure was gradually becoming less diverse.

In the past, the desert hadn't produced much grain, but at least it had yielded some crops.

But after he vigorously promoted growing chili peppers and cacti, the people of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind saw that they really could make money. Would they still grow crops that yielded little, but could at least feed them?

No. There was no way they'd stop growing profitable chili peppers to plant low-yield crops that couldn't feed many people.