At the border of the Land of Wind.
Baki had led a caravan to a border town in the Land of Earth and completed a trade, disguised as a jōnin from the Land of Fire.
The material they had purchased was called "thermally conductive crystal ore," a rare ore with exceptional thermal conductivity at high temperatures.
It was the best material for the condensation pipes in the Distillation Tower-the core component of the Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination System.
The next-best substitute would be at least forty percent less efficient.
No deposits of thermally conductive crystal ore had been discovered in either the Land of Fire or the Land of Wind. Only the northern mountains of the Land of Earth produced a steady supply.
But the Land of Earth had restricted exports of this ore ten years ago.
The stated reason was that it was a "strategic resource," but in reality, the Land of Earth was conducting related research of its own.
After all, part of the Land of Earth's border also lay along the sea.
However, its domestic water resources were plentiful, so it had not invested much in development.
Over time, quite a stockpile of the ore had accumulated.
Iwagakure had relaxed some of its purchasing restrictions for the Land of Fire.
Of course, the restrictions were still severe, with each purchase limited to a few hundred pounds.
But few people normally bought this material anyway. With a little money slipped into the right hands, turning a few hundred pounds into tens of thousands was easy.
Baki had gone to great lengths to find this smuggling channel.
Posing as a jōnin from the Land of Fire, he had placed an order, spread a little money around to grease the wheels, and bought a hundred tons in one go-almost the maximum