Iwagakure was bustling with activity as the entire village prepared for war.
By contrast, winter had come especially early to Konoha—and it was especially cold.
Inside the Finance Ministry office of the Hokage Building.
The atmosphere was colder than a Siberian cold front.
The newly appointed finance minister, an old man with a goatee and reading glasses, trembled as he reported this month's fiscal deficit to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Lord Hokage, we can't hold on anymore... we really can't!"
The old man was nearly in tears, slapping the account books until they smacked loudly.
"The village's mission commissions have plummeted by seventy percent compared to the same period last year!"
"Those daimyos and wealthy merchants are sending all their money to Iwagakure now!"
The old minister lamented through tears and snot.
"Not only are their fees cheap, but their efficiency is absurdly high. I heard that for escort missions, they now drive some kind of iron-skinned vehicle that doesn't need horses and can travel hundreds of li a day!"
"If this keeps up, forget paying the Anbu—we won't even have money to buy chalk for the Ninja Academy next month!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his pipe between his teeth and said nothing.
Smoke filled the office, stinging everyone's eyes.
Yet behind that haze, the old man's face was so grim it seemed ready to drip water.
How could he not know that the village was practically too poor to put food on the table?
The loss of high-end combat power meant no one even dared to take on a large number of S-rank and A-rank missions.
Meanwhile, those low-profit C-rank and D-rank missions had been snatched away in large part by Iwagakure's shameless, near-price-war tactics.
Leaf Village, once the greatest village in the ninja world, was facing its worst economic crisis since