Killing Someone's Parents

Without combat strength, how could the Land of Wind maintain its status as one of the Five Great Nations?

"Hehe, how could the Land of Wind's daimyo not understand those difficulties? The Land of Wind was already barren. Aside from endless yellow sand, it had almost nothing.

With wars raging constantly over the years, the national treasury had long been emptied.

Even for ninja, occasionally adopting an elite-force policy would be quite good." The plump finance minister said cheerfully.

There was nothing wrong with ninja occasionally implementing an elite-force policy. It was merely an idea outsiders believed could save money.

But this notion of elite troops was utter nonsense.

In the ninja world, strange and ever-changing things abounded. All kinds of ninjutsu, secret techniques, bloodline limits, and sage arts emerged one after another.

Even the strongest ninja could not guarantee that he would laugh last on the battlefield.

The Second Hokage's Water Release and Flying Thunder God had once awed an entire region, yet he had ultimately died heroically on the battlefield.

The Third Raikage possessed the strongest shield and the strongest spear, yet he too had fallen amid an army of thousands.

Even the Third Hokage himself did not dare claim that he could live out his natural lifespan peacefully. To die on the battlefield was perhaps a ninja's fate.

The only feasible way to reduce ninja casualties in war was to increase the number of ninja and raise the battlefield's margin for error.

But all of that required enormous financial support.

Seeing the ever-tightening budget, the Sand ninja were truly anxious.

With funding always insufficient, perhaps a few gifted individuals might rise like monsters, but most people would likely remain far from even becoming chunin.

In a few years, Sand Village might truly decline into a minor ninja village.

Whenever they thought of the Land of Wind's current state, both the Third Hokage and Kakashi could not help feeling a chill in their hearts.

The finance minister seemed to feel that the topic was somewhat sensitive. He lightly covered his face with a fan and chuckled. "Don't worry. Our Land of Fire isn't a nation as poor and weak as the Land of Wind."

"The daimyo also understands the importance of ninja villages. Without powerful ninja, the Land of Fire cannot remain stable either."

Then his tone shifted. "I heard there's been some movement over there. Hiruzen, you'd better win beautifully, or it'll be hard for me to speak up for you."

The Third Hokage could only nod repeatedly in agreement.

When they came out, Kakashi could not help asking, "Third Hokage-sama, why haven't those ninja who went over to complete the mission come out yet?"

The Third Hokage shook his head and said gravely, "Don't ask, don't think, don't speak. We only need to do what we can."

The two of them knew Konoha's situation better than anyone.

Just as the Third Hokage had said, Konoha's circumstances were indeed somewhat difficult.

Though they did not think Hiruko's plan would be of much use, earning even a little more was still better than nothing.

Everything proceeded slowly according to Hiruko's plan, with ANBU assistance.

When Hiruko came to the Hokage's office again, there were quite a few people inside besides the ANBU members.

The Third Hokage had arrived before him, and Danzo had naturally come along as well.

Recently, Konoha's unusual activity had become increasingly frequent. Not only had the Third Hokage sensed it, but a cloud of gloom had also settled over all of Konoha Village.

And Danzo, who harbored a twisted obsession with Konoha, understood this even more clearly.

Fundamentally speaking, Danzo was the one least willing to see Konoha destroyed.

Of course, that did not prevent him from using outside forces to achieve his goals, even at the cost of gambling Konoha's survival.

That was Danzo: a twisted guardian of Konoha, and a shrewd schemer.

When Hiruko saw the Third Hokage, he greeted him with a smile. "Third Hokage-sama, you came back so early."

The Third Hokage smiled. "After returning from the daimyo's place, I had nothing else to do, so I came to see whether there was anything I could help with."

Hiruko asked with concern, "Did the negotiations in the Land of Fire go smoothly?"

The Third Hokage nodded. "There wasn't much trouble. After all, the forces surrounding the Land of Fire are still rather open to persuasion."

Hiruko smiled as he glanced at Danzo. He understood that since Danzo had come here, those disobedient fellows had surely received no small amount of threats from him.

Moreover, the Third Hokage had sincerely remained with the daimyo for two months, going to great lengths to smooth over every connection and reclaim all salt trade rights.

During those two months, the Third Hokage worked hard to persuade the powerful figures to agree to pool all resources together: produce together, ship together, and divide the profits together.

To explain it in detail, the particulars involved were incomparably complicated.

Troubles and unexpected problems arose one after another, leaving them overwhelmed.

After all, most of the profits belonging to those powerful figures had been concealed by the parasites in the middle links. What was handed over to the Land of Fire's daimyo was merely a drop in the bucket.

Otherwise, the Land of Fire's daimyo would not have surrendered control over the salt industry so easily.

Though the powerful figures of the Land of Fire were shrewd, the subordinates beneath them were even more cunning and troublesome.

From a certain perspective, those opposing the salt industry's consolidation were the front men of those powerful figures. They were the ones controlling the price of salt.

The lesser nobles in particular hated Hiruko to the bone.

Why was a ninja like you doing business?!

Furthermore, countless conflicts had erupted between both sides, openly and in secret, and the struggle had been exceptionally fierce.

In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi still decided to cede another portion of the benefits and proposed a fifty-fifty split, with each side taking half the profits.

The experiences of these past days had made the Hyuga Clan brothers, known as ninja turtles, nearly want to slam the table and rise.

Countless times, they imagined smashing the heads of those minor nobles with kunai, but in the end, they endured.

This sort of work truly was not something ordinary people could do. It required tremendous patience.

Fortunately, although the powerful figures of the Land of Fire needed more funds, they were still important people, and their reputations mattered.

Some matters were difficult to handle, especially since they had conflicts among themselves as well.

Since Konoha was willing to consolidate these resources and act as the sucker, they were naturally willing to agree.

The main problem was that the little brats below them had become somewhat disobedient, and the tributes they offered were growing smaller and smaller.

And Konoha was willing to step forward as the blade. Those who consolidated these resources were worthy of praise as well.

Overall, this consolidation had gone fairly well. All the "actors" had performed quite well.

Although they all knew salt would certainly make money, they had never imagined that it would rake in money so crazily in the future.

The timing Konoha had seized was simply perfect.

In a few more years, once the Land of Fire's economy began recovering across the board on the strength of its solid foundations, those powerful figures would no longer be so easy to negotiate with.

Every overt and covert method had already been used. Now, everyone could be considered satisfied.

The salt produced by Konoha would only be split fifty-fifty when the time came.

With such tangled interests, even ninja heroes renowned for their martial strength had endured several assassination attempts.

Cutting off someone's livelihood was like killing their parents! Especially...