Kuro: We of the Mist Village Will Follow the Mass Line!

"Expand the scope of missions to include the entire continent?"

The Third Hokage Hokage repeated Kou's words in a low voice, the gentleness in his eyes instantly replaced by a sharp glint.

His gaze towards Kou held a deeper, more scrutinizing quality.

"Heh, you've got some nerve, kid from Mist Village."

Before the Third Hokage could speak, Tsunade, who was standing next to him, narrowed her beautiful eyes.

She looked at Kou, a cold smile appearing on her beautiful face:

"Expanding the scope of mission acceptance to the mainland? How is that any different from reaching out to other countries?"

You Mist Village aren't looking for an alliance; you're trying to steal our livelihood from Konoha and the other major ninja villages!

"Tsunade!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly turned his head and shouted heavily at Tsunade:

"How dare you speak to a guest from Mist Village like that! It's extremely rude!"

Tsunade looked at the Teacher in front of her who had skillfully put on a red face, turned her head away unhappily, and said nothing more.

Although she already knew she was being dragged into playing the bad cop today, she still felt really annoyed...

The Third Hokage monk looked at his disciple, who was clearly holding back his anger, and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

"This child, didn't we already agree that I would pay off all her casino debts, and she would just cooperate in this meeting? Why is she getting so temperamental..."

It seems Jiraiya was right, Tsunade's menopause has indeed arrived.

He silently grumbled to himself, but on the surface, he immediately switched to a helpless expression, giving Kou a bitter, apologetic smile:

"I'm so sorry, Tsunade is always a very straightforward person, she didn't mean to offend anyone, please don't take it to heart."

Looking at the seasoned Third Hokage Hokage before him, he chuckled inwardly.

He also put on a gentle smile and said with complete understanding:

"It's alright. Although Lady Tsunade was a bit blunt, she does have her reasons."

The Mist Village Village's expansion of its mission acceptance scope to other countries is bound to raise concerns and suspicions among the nations and villages of the Ninja World...

"We in the Mist Village had naturally anticipated this."

Hearing Koko's calm and composed words, the doubt in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes did not dissipate, but instead deepened.

"Since Mist Village anticipated this, they must also know that the various ninja villages on the continent, including Konoha, would never easily allow Mist Village ninjas to set foot in the inland countries."

The Third Hokage Hokage pondered to himself, a calm glint flashing in his eyes:

"After all, the inland countries' vigilance against Mist Village has never been a secret..."

Among the Five Great Nations and Five Great Shinobi Villages, the Land of Water and the Mist Village, which are far from the mainland and isolated overseas, have always been the most unique.

As is well known, the current "one country, one village" system in the Ninja World is the mainstream, but this does not mean that tasks within the same country must be entrusted to the corresponding ninja village.

Apart from the lower-paying and less difficult C- and B-Rank Mission, employers mostly prefer to commission A- and S-level missions from ninja villages with higher completion rates and better reputations for cross-border missions.

While such behavior has disadvantages for the country, it also brings considerable benefits.

First of all, the employers who entrusted high-level tasks were the country's nobles and ruling class.

The taxes payable for cross-border commissions are a core source of national revenue.

But for ninja villages that rely on mission rewards to operate, this is a completely different story.

Sand Village, which is adjacent to Konoha, is a typical example of a place that has suffered greatly from this.

Because Sand Village itself has long suffered from a serious deficiency in the quantity and quality of high-ranking ninjas, most nobles who can provide high-ranking missions, including the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, will entrust the missions to the more powerful Konoha or even Iwagakure.

(Why isn't Kumogakure? Because it's too far away.)

Over time, Sand Village gradually fell into a vicious cycle from which it could not escape—insufficient funds made it difficult to train a large number of high-level ninjas;

The number and experience of high-ranking ninjas are both insufficient, making it even more difficult to gain the trust of noble clients from their own country;

Unable to receive high-level missions, they can only continue to rely on low- to mid-level missions with meager rewards to barely make ends meet.

Later, Sand Village even had to adopt an "elite route" that concentrated all its resources on cultivating a small number of elites.

The outbreak of the Third Ninja World War was, in essence, a reckoning with the long-standing monopoly of Konoha on the mid-to-high-end mission market and the long-standing conflicts of interest between various countries.

However, in this vast market system that operates on the lifeblood of missions and rewards from various countries, Mist Village has always been the outlier, excluded from the competition.

The reason for this is not difficult to understand.

Far from the mainland and with its sphere of influence limited to the coastal islands, Mist Village was inherently more isolated and more feared by the mainland nations.

On the mainland, although there are constant disputes between countries, there are intricate entanglements of interests and geopolitical relationships that restrain each other. The cross-border flow of orders has always been in a relatively safe and negotiable environment.

But the Mist Village is completely different--

The geographical distance from the mainland, coupled with a long-term policy of isolation, has resulted in almost no substantial ties of interest between the various countries of the mainland and the Land of Water and the Mist Village, and mutual understanding between them is extremely limited.

When it comes to cross-border commissioned orders, apart from those shady black market industries, mainland countries naturally wouldn't consider Mist Village.

As for allowing Mist Village ninjas to spread to various countries in the Ninja World to carry out missions, it would naturally be even less likely that these countries would accept them easily.

If it were ninjas from other ninja villages on the mainland, that would be fine. They already have strong connections with each other, as well as well-developed transportation systems and diplomatic channels. If something really happens, they can sit down and discuss a solution.

However, it is impossible for an overseas force that lacks ties of interest and external communication, and a bloodthirsty ninja village that has long been known for its shady missions such as assassinations, to be allowed to squeeze into the mission market that is now almost saturated.

Unless the Land of Water completely lifts its policy of isolation and fully integrates into the market system of the Ninja World.

Mist Village, on the other hand, needs to completely transform its main business from those shady gray industries, and through long-term operation and accumulation, gradually gain the recognition of the countries on the mainland...

"Otherwise, this is absolutely impossible."

The Third Hokage Hokage calmly assessed the situation in his mind, then sighed deeply.

He looked at Kou opposite him and said with genuine regret:

"I fully understand your desire to guide Mist Village onto a completely new path."

But if I may be frank, given the current state of the Ninja World, it will be extremely difficult for Mist Village to lower the guard of other nations in a short period of time.

After saying this, Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.

He quietly observed Kou's expression, a faint hint of apology in his eyes.

At the same moment, Kakashi, who was standing behind him, also turned his gaze toward Koko.

He was indeed somewhat concerned about how this leader of the Reformist Faction faction in the Mist Village would respond.

Kou listened quietly to every word the Third Hokage Hokage.

He was silent for a moment, and then a calm smile slowly appeared on his gentle and harmless face.

"Lord Third Hokage, you may have misunderstood me."

"I never said that the scope of the mission I was referring to was a regular multinational mission assignment."

Upon hearing Koko's unexpected answer, the Third Hokage Hokage's doubts deepened even further.

He looked at Kou and tentatively asked:

So you mean...?

Kou straightened his back, placed his hands flat on the table, looked into the Third Hokage Hokage's eyes, and spoke in an extremely solemn tone, enunciating each word clearly:

"We, Mist Village, wish to emulate the model of Kumogakure's establishment of the Notebook Association and set up civilian service organizations called ' Odd Jobs Agency ' in various countries of the Ninja World."

This organization will provide basic services related to daily life to ordinary citizens from various countries who are unable to be assigned missions to the ninja villages, in exchange for supplies or minimal financial compensation.

"Odd Jobs Agency..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen repeated those three words in a low voice, the emotions surging in his eyes gradually shifting from regret and doubt to undisguised, heartfelt surprise...

(One more chapter will be updated tomorrow morning, I'm too tired to stay up any longer ꒦ິ^꒦ິ)