In the autumn of Konoha Year 19, a delegation from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth arrived in Konoha once again.
Akatsuchi was still leading the group. They had come to discuss cooperation between Iwagakure and Konoha.
The talks went very smoothly. Kirigakure and Sunagakure had already set examples, and the terms were public. Iwagakure genuinely wanted to cooperate, and Konoha had already invested the first hundred million ryō.
How could Iwagakure possibly turn them down?
At this point in time, a hundred million ryō was still worth quite a lot.
Iwagakure's conditions were no different from the ones Konoha had discussed with Sunagakure and Kirigakure.
Yuya was naturally happy to accept them.
Iwagakure wasn't like Sunagakure, which was dirt poor, or Kirigakure, which was so far away that a round-trip by ship took a whole month.
Iwagakure had abundant resources within its own borders, and transportation was convenient, too.
They could reach Konoha through the Land of Grass, or transport goods by water through the Land of Rain.
The Land of Rain wasn't large, so the water route wasn't very long. In any case, it was definitely much shorter than the journey from Kirigakure to Konoha.
With transportation so convenient, Iwagakure might well follow Kirigakure's example and overtake the others.
Its development would probably outpace both Sunagakure and Kirigakure.
But that was fine. Yuya liked it when everyone got rich together.
Now, four of the five countries had officially agreed to cooperate. Who was the one left out?
At Kumogakure, the Second Raikage was so furious that he smashed his desk.
"Big brother, why don't you calm down? You're replacing a desk every few days. In a year, what you spend on desks alone would be enough to pay an elite jōnin's salary for a month!" Raikage A's