Senju Tobirama was baffled. Iwagakure had already settled on its Third Tsuchikage?
The man Iwagakure sent was a burly fellow named Akatsuchi. He explained calmly, without any trace of subservience, "Actually, the village is still fighting over it. But everyone agrees that making money doesn't conflict with choosing the Third Tsuchikage."
"Sure, we had a conflict with Konoha before, but Kirigakure nearly ambushed and killed a team of your people, too. We don't have any deep-seated hatred between us. There's nothing wrong with talking business when it's time to talk business."
Yuya, listening nearby, was dumbfounded.
Seriously, man, were you always this blunt?!
Akatsuchi continued matter-of-factly, "Our Iwagakure prides itself on being straightforward. Kumogakure and the others paid us to help fight you, so we did. Now you can bring benefits to our village, so we're willing to set aside our dispute and discuss cooperation."
Tobirama didn't dwell on it. The news that Iwagakure wouldn't get involved in the coming war between Konoha and Kumogakure was very good for Konoha. He might as well agree first and think about the rest later.
Yuya agreed as well. Besides, it wasn't easy for the man to travel all the way from Iwagakure. Peaceful relations would benefit both villages.
That was when Yuya realized there was a problem: Konoha didn't have a place specifically for hosting foreign guests.
Well...
It seemed they never had.
After a moment's thought, Yuya jotted it down in his little notebook.
Konoha would definitely expand the Outer City in the future. It was fine for visitors from small nations' villages to stay there, but if people from the great nations' villages—places on the same level as Konoha—had to stay in the Outer City...
That wouldn't make them lose face. It would make Konoha lose face.
But after looking around the Inner City...
There really wasn't any space left to convert into guest accommodations.
The only place he could use...
Yuya's gaze settled on a residence where he'd lived for the past few years...
His teacher's wife still lived there now...
Yuya shook his head. No, that place was absolutely off-limits.
He knew Uzumaki Mito wouldn't refuse if he asked, but he couldn't bring himself to do that.
Rather than ask her to sacrifice her own interests for the greater good, he might as well...
Yuya looked toward the clan compounds of the other families in the Inner City.
The Uchiha compound was too far off to be suitable for a guesthouse.
The best choice was definitely... the Hyuga Clan.
Their compound lay in the northwest of Konoha and occupied one-twentieth of the Inner City. It was smaller than the Uchiha compound, but the Uchiha were far from Konoha's core, while the Hyuga were very close to it...
But now wasn't the time to seize land.
Those muscle-brained fools from Kumogakure still hadn't signed a peace treaty. They couldn't stir up internal conflict in the village right now.
Coming back to the matter at hand, Tobirama took Yuya to the meeting room to discuss cooperation with Akatsuchi, Iwagakure's envoy.
But after Akatsuchi handed over a document covered in terms, Tobirama opened it and his eyes flashed with anger. He turned a dangerous gaze on Akatsuchi. "Iwagakure wants to cooperate with Konoha? This is clearly an attempt to get something for nothing!"
Akatsuchi remained expressionless. "Our village always honors its agreements. If Konoha won't accept, there's nothing we can do."
Watching from behind Tobirama, Yuya saw clearly that Iwagakure's terms were actually quite simple: Konoha would lend them one billion ryo, to be repaid in ten years, with interest at 0.5 percent a year—that is, five million ryo annually.
Then Konoha would invest in factories in Iwagakure. The Land of Earth had iron ore, and plenty of it.
For the first three years, Iwagakure would give Konoha twenty percent of its output.
Then there was the matter of trade between the two sides: abolish tariffs so merchants could travel freely.
Konoha's goods would be sold to Iwagakure at cost...
Basically, all of the above was copied from the treaty Konoha had signed with Kirigakure.
Strictly speaking, Yuya had no problem with these terms.
But Tobirama didn't believe Iwagakure would actually repay the money after receiving one billion ryo.
And why should the interest rate be so low?
It should be at least ten percent!
Tobirama's first instinct was to refuse. Yuya coughed, and Tobirama turned to him. "Do you have something to say?"
Yuya nodded.
Akatsuchi noticed him then and asked curiously, "And this young man is...?"
"I'm a nobody learning from Lord Hokage. Please don't pay me any mind."
Akatsuchi nodded. It was normal for a boy to study under a village leader; it meant the leader trusted and valued him.
Yuya quietly said a few words to Tobirama. After considering them, Tobirama told Akatsuchi, "I'll take these terms back and review them. We'll get back to you another day."
Akatsuchi nodded. "Sorry for the trouble, Lord Hokage."
In his heart, he had already given up hope. He planned to wait in Konoha for the answer, then return to Iwagakure.
After Akatsuchi left, Tobirama and Yuya discussed the terms.
Yuya thought they could lend Iwagakure the one billion ryo.
But Tobirama absolutely refused to believe Iwagakure would honor the contract and repay it on time.
Yuya was at a loss. Tobirama still didn't understand how economic warfare worked.
The one billion ryo wouldn't be a free loan. Iwagakure would have to offer collateral.
What did Iwagakure have?
The Land of Earth's abundant mineral resources, of course.
Unlike the Land of Wind, whose surroundings were dirt-poor but whose daimyo was extraordinarily wealthy, the Land of Earth's daimyo made a point of trusting his people.
Or perhaps he knew that only a strong shinobi village could bring peace to the Land of Earth, so the country heavily subsidized Iwagakure. Its annual budget was more than sufficient.
In any case, no one in the Land of Earth had ever been reported to have starved to death.
It was completely different from the Land of Wind.
After all, the Land of Wind's mines, oases, and other prosperous regions were all in the hands of its daimyo.
Sunagakure wanted anything? Then they could come beg. If he was in a good mood, he might hand them a little money. If not, they could get lost.
Yuya was clearly after the Land of Earth's mineral resources.
Unfortunately, Tobirama wasn't interested in that proposal either. He figured that even if Iwagakure agreed, they would refuse to hand over the resources when Konoha sent people to claim them. Konoha would still come away empty-handed, so why not refuse from the start?
Yuya had no choice. He couldn't say everything he was thinking. If Iwagakure agreed and then reneged, the Konoha team sent to collect the collateral would be trapped there for good. But Yuya could guarantee that Iwagakure's commercial reputation would plummet. Merchants would stop going to the Land of Earth, and he could slowly cripple its economy, then bleed the country dry to enrich Konoha. The only loss would be the team Konoha sent to collect the collateral.
But he couldn't possibly say that out loud.
Fine. Since Tobirama trusted Iwagakure so little, they could try another approach.
They could lend one hundred million ryo a year, spreading the billion over ten years. Iwagakure could repay each installment with goods of equivalent value, such as grain and other agricultural products.
They could also offer ninja scrolls. Konoha would buy those at twenty percent above market price.
But no Tsuchikage who took office afterward would be stupid enough to trade ninja scrolls for that deal.
Tobirama was satisfied with Yuya's proposal.
Why hadn't he offered that from the start?
Instead, he'd made me consider that ridiculous proposal of his.
Yuya sighed helplessly, then clocked out and went straight to a small gold mine he'd found earlier to collect gold.
There was much more gold here—dozens of tons. Unfortunately, most of it lay deep underground. Yuya's abilities had improved, but he could only explore to a depth of ten kilometers. To go farther, he'd have to wait until his abilities developed more.
But there was no rush. A few hundred kilograms would be enough for now.
Yuya was thirteen this year. He still had plenty of time, so he could take it slow.
He had more than a ton of gold altogether now.
It looked like a lot, but if he used his ability to turn one ton of gold into a cube, it wouldn't even be forty centimeters on each side. It was tiny; an ordinary suitcase could hold it. Whether anyone could carry it was another matter.
Yuya could even leave the gold unsealed in a scroll and have it cover his body.
But walking around with a ton of gold on his back would be far too heavy—unless he constantly used his ability to hold it up...
Hmm...
That actually seemed like a good way to train his ability.
All right, Yuya decided to train his ability.
He couldn't neglect that.
The next day, in the nineteenth year of Konoha, Tobirama approached Akatsuchi with an offer: one hundred million ryo per year, which Iwagakure could repay in goods. Akatsuchi had never expected that to happen.
He was a little stunned. They'd actually agreed?
Though...
Iwagakure hadn't planned to renege in the first place.
Akatsuchi thought it over and understood. Right, Konoha didn't want Iwagakure getting involved in the conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure.
Yes, that had to be it.
It had to be said that, in a way, the people of the Lands of Earth, Wind, and Water had a lot in common.
In the nineteenth year of Konoha, Konoha, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure formed a commercial alliance.
They said the Second Raikage was so furious that day, he smashed everything in the Raikage Office.
There's a video online of a foreigner picking up thirty-five kilograms of gold and walking off with it, if you're interested. It's a little bigger than a palm and weighs thirty-five kilograms. A ton is nearly thirty of those put together, so it really doesn't take up that much space.
Before you continue