Price
"Please speak, Hokage!"
The Hidden Sand Village leader didn't see anything wrong with it, looking like a nouveau riche.
The Hidden Sand Village is no longer poor, and its leader has enough confidence.
Seeing the other person's confident demeanor, Ren was at a loss.
Often in negotiations, it's not about what you want, but what the other party has.
What is Hidden Sand Village?
Does a northwest wind count?
Although Ren hoped that Sunagakure would get involved, it now feels like a poverty alleviation effort.
After thinking for a while, I realized that Sunagakure had nothing.
The only decent One-Tail they have is Rasa's son, and yet they want the Hidden Sand Village's Tailed Beast to experience something so obscure, even asking for an exorbitant price.
The only valuable things left in Hidden Sand Village were the resource points in the Land of Earth that Konoha and the Allied Shinobi Forces had conquered.
Unable to think of anything good that Hidden Sand Village had, Ren pondered for a while and decided to just ask for some Sunagakure specialties.
"Gold, pure gold the size of my body!"
Ren succinctly expressed his needs.
The Hidden Sand Village leader didn't understand for a moment and looked at Ren with some confusion.
"Hokage, what do you mean by 'size'...?"
"The same volume as the receiver!"
There's no requirement for equal weight; how much gold would be needed to equal the weight of a person?
The Hidden Sand Village leader was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then quickly calculated the exact cost in his mind.
I'd barely gotten a rough idea when my eyes widened in surprise.
"Hokage, this is too..."
Before he could finish speaking, he felt an irresistible force blast him out of the room.
"Bang!"
After the Hidden Sand Village leader stood still, the door to Ren's room immediately closed.
"If you can't afford it, don't think too much about it. Konoha has done everything according to the agreement without hiding anything from you. If you think the price is too high and not worth it, you can go and have a match with the first test subject from yesterday!"
Ren's words rang in the ears of the Hidden Sand Village leader.
After taking one last deep look at the door, the Hidden Sand Village leader left without turning back.
The Hokage of Konoha is obsessed with money; this is pure robbery.
Sunagakure will take its time; even if it takes ten years, it won't suffer a loss!
The Hidden Sand Village leader, his face grim, returned to his tent, no longer seeking a breakthrough from Ren.
Time passed little by little.
Ren brought a team of nearly four thousand people this time. The number of teams from Hidden Sand Village has also increased significantly, from the initial few hundred to several thousand by late last night.
It is precisely because there are too many people that it is necessary to borrow passage from the Land of Wind, which is why such a great price has to be paid.
It wasn't that Sunagakure didn't understand the risks; it was simply that Konoha had given them too much.
At 4:30 PM, Konoha completed its tenth batch of transformations for the day.
The Hidden Sand Village leader had calmed down and was paying close attention to every move Konoha made, but based on the information gathered, the Hidden Sand Village still hadn't made any progress.
And tomorrow, after Konoha is completely transformed, I'll probably leave.
A sense of urgency.
Everything in Konoha is happening right under Hidden Sand Village's nose, and with so many Hidden Sand Village ninjas with me, am I really just going to watch this show for a few days?
If they really did that, the consequences of returning to the village would be unimaginable.
In the eyes of the Hidden Sand Village leader, agreeing to Ren's conditions was tantamount to betraying the village's interests. Were they really going to slink back like that?
At this moment, the leader of Hidden Sand Village finally recalled everything he had talked to Ren, including all the stories he had told that morning.
"If you think the price is too high and not worth it, you can go and have a competition with the first test subject from yesterday!"
Ren's last words echoed in the mind of the Hidden Sand Village leader; he had been watching Konoha's first experiment from the sidelines.
As for the three test subjects, I don't really have any particular impression of them.
Does being so weak, almost like a Genin, count?
After much deliberation, the leader of the Hidden Sand Village decided to try anything, even if it seemed hopeless, and went to find that Konoha Ninja.
"I have to go out for a bit. You all continue with your work!"
After leaving those words behind, he headed towards the sealed Dragon Vein. If I remember correctly, that Konoha Ninja was a researcher.
A little over ten minutes later, the Hidden Sand Village leader found the researcher.
After some negotiation, the Hidden Sand Village leader was granted the opportunity to meet with the researcher.
It's not a one-on-one situation; it involves other people as well.
Without hesitation, the Hidden Sand Village leader stated his purpose.
"Sir, would you be willing to have a friendly spar with me?"
Who are you? You're looking for me just to fight? Don't you know I'm busy?
Is this an attempt to use a friendly competition as a pretext to get them to talk?
The researcher and the Konoha Military Police Force ninja standing behind him each had their own thoughts, but without a doubt, they both intended to refuse.
"Say yes!"
However, before the two could utter their refusal, they received instructions from Ren.
The researcher was still somewhat bewildered, but the ninja from the Konoha Military Police Force instantly understood that this was an order from Ren.
"Can!"
The ninja from the Konoha Military Police Force agreed on behalf of the researcher.
The group then found a secluded spot and began a friendly sparring match.
About ten minutes later, the unconscious researcher was carried away by the Konoha Military Police Force ninjas.
Then, the Hidden Sand Village leader, who was unharmed, came out and quickly headed towards his tent.
Upon arriving at the camp, he ignored the greetings from his subordinates and took out a scroll to write furiously.
"Send this scroll back to the village as quickly as possible and deliver it to Lord Kazekage!"
"Yes, sir!"
As for what the scroll contains, it's obviously to scam funding—no, to get gold.