Kumogakure's Pawn

Having received the friendly signal released by Senju Tobirama, Kumogakure understood the message as well.

At present, the economies of the Five Great Nations were uneven. The strongest was naturally Konoha, which occupied the best terrain and the most fertile land, with an exceptionally diverse range of goods. To the north, it also possessed a vast coastline and supplies from the Land of Tea, giving it every natural advantage. After Konoha came the Land of Earth. Its territory was not much smaller than Konoha's, and it possessed the best land outside the Land of Fire. Moreover, because it did not have as many forests as the Land of Fire, its production of grain and other crops was actually even higher. It also had all sorts of rare minerals and raw materials, so its economy had always been fairly strong.

Furthermore, Iwagakure of the Land of Earth had been the fastest village to recover its strength after the First Shinobi World War, aside from Konoha.

As for the remaining three villages, there was not much difference between them. If one had to rank them, the Land of Wind would likely come last. After all, its vast deserts had little in the way of resources worth mentioning.

There was no real point in arguing over third and fourth place between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.

Therefore, Kumogakure was very willing to form an alliance with Konoha. Just as Konoha needed their market, they actually needed Konoha even more.

However, this was no small matter. There were too many issues with forming an alliance rashly, and everything had to be settled beforehand. Besides, Senju Tobirama had merely sent out a friendly signal. Though they understood his meaning, he had not explicitly proposed an alliance.

Thus, after a thorough meeting,