Undercurrents Surge

Moon Lake—more precisely, the vast oasis that had formed around it—lay more than four hundred kilometers from Sunagakure. The lake itself was not large, covering only a little over twenty mu.

Even so, it was the largest inland freshwater lake in the Land of Wind. A ring of low shrubs grew around its shores, clearly planted deliberately to preserve the soil and water. Extending outward from the lake in circles for over a hundred li were countless drought-resistant desert plants, forming an enormous oasis.

At the outermost edge of the oasis stood a simple man-made windbreak wall, along with several military fortresses, all built during Reto's time as the First Kazekage.

"It's beautiful. I think the environment here is better than Sunagakure's, and it's about the same size. It's rare to find such a large lake in the desert. If we built a city around the lake and planned it properly, I could triple this place's scale within five years. Grandma Chiyo, why didn't Lord Reto build Sunagakure here in the first place?"

Keiko shaded his eyes with one hand as he looked at the shimmering curve of azure water, unable to help but marvel. Then the thought occurred to him, and he asked.

"It wasn't that we never considered it. The main reason we didn't build here was strategic."

Chiyo looked around to make sure no one was nearby.

"When Reto founded Sunagakure and chose its location, this was the first place he picked. But he was meticulous, so he specifically sent Ebizo to investigate Moon Lake's water source."

"They investigated for an entire year. In the end, they discovered that Moon Lake's water did not come from nowhere. Water from the Shule River seeped underground to this place, eventually forming a rich aquifer above a waterproof layer. If the upstream were ever controlled by others, the water here would gradually dry up, and this place would immediately become dead land."

"Oh, and keep this secret. I'm only telling you because you're the Kazekage. If Danzo found out, he'd definitely cut off your flow upstream. Heh heh," Chiyo teased.

"No wonder the First and Second Kazekage were always eyeing the Land of Rain. I thought..."

"You thought what? Did you think they coveted that damp, miserable place where it rains every day? Don't underestimate the strategic vision of your predecessors. Heh heh." Chiyo clasped her hands behind her back and continued forward.

"Then we should turn this place into a logistics base. Open farms, move immigrants here to grow grain, vegetables, fruit, and medicinal herbs, raise pigs and sheep—Sunagakure's economic problems would definitely improve tremendously!"

"And how would you transport it there? There are more than four hundred kilometers of desert in between."

"Build roads."

"Build roads in the desert? Build half of them, then bury the other half?" Chiyo thought Keiko was joking, so she changed the subject.

"Speaking of that old turtle Danzo, he's quite seasoned. After taking a small loss, he retreated back to Night-Cry Sand Sea to patch things up and filter manure water. What do you think he's thinking now?"

"What else could he be thinking? He's thinking of ways to deal with me." Keiko smiled.

Chiyo suddenly stopped walking.

"You need dealing with too. You're the Third Kazekage now, not the elite Jonin you used to be. Let your subordinates handle more of the charging into battle. Don't always put yourself in danger. Do you think your life belongs to you alone?"

"Sigh, I don't want to either. We're short on talent, and there are too few people who are truly capable and dependable. There are some things I just can't trust to others." Keiko sighed helplessly.

"After this war ends, I want to travel around in the name of state diplomacy. The times are turbulent—there must be great talents hidden in the wilderness! We need to throw a few catfish into this muddy village pond and stir things up. It's only been a few generations, yet we haven't produced many who are worth much."

That was indeed the case. Compared with Konoha's inclusiveness and Hidden Cloud's extreme emphasis on martial prowess, Sunagakure's talent cultivation system was undoubtedly backward. It also lacked any deliberate effort to discover and protect those with special bloodlines.

Over all these years, they had only produced Pakura of the "Scorch Release," and Keiko had dug her out of the crowd based on his memories. Thinking about it, in the original story, the only people Sunagakure could show off in its later years were Gaara and Sasori of the Red Sands. Just two experts, and one of them was even a rogue ninja. Temari, Kankurō, and the rest were hardly worth mentioning.

Old revolutionaries like Chiyo and Ebizo would have been museum pieces in Konoha, yet even by the Fifth Kazekage's era, they were still coming out to fight and risk their lives. It was like saying that with no great generals in Shu, Liao Hua became the vanguard. This situation had to change. It was not a good look for the boss to personally handle everything.

"Things do need to change. You've always aimed high since you were little. You haven't even planted the tree, yet you're already thinking about what its fruit will taste like. Still, shouldn't you wait until this war is over?"

"Do you think there are any omissions, Shikacho?" Danzo watched the middle-aged ninja before him.

"We still have far too little useful intelligence. Although this Keiko is young as a ninja, he handles matters with great sophistication. Since his debut, he has rarely left anyone alive after completing a mission. All we know now is that he can control Iron Sand and use Shadow Clones. Other than that, we know nothing. So the current plan can only be called a rough draft. We cannot guarantee a one-hundred-percent chance of capture. At best, we have a sixty percent chance."

Nara Shikacho shook his head. As the leader of the Nara Clan, famous for their meticulous minds, even with extraordinary intelligence, he could not make a meal without rice when faced with such scarce information.

"Refine it as much as possible. Tell me directly whatever resources or people you need." Danzo remained as calm as ever.

"Take him down, and this war should be over. Work hard, Shikacho." Danzo gave a slight, courteous bow. Nara Shikacho hurriedly returned the gesture.

Extremely suspicious, cautious, sinister, and ruthless; he trusted no one, could not tolerate even the slightest possible oversight, and would only feel at ease if everything followed his own intentions.

He often spoke of how "ninja must sacrifice themselves," yet when it truly came to his own turn, he could not do it. Those were the personality traits of the elderly Danzo in the manga, but even now, in his prime, those traits were already beginning to show.

While Sunagakure and Hidden Rain were locked in fierce battle, he had inserted himself into the conflict, sacrificing the Three Legendary Ninja to deal with the famed "Demigod of the Shinobi World," Hanzo of the Salamander. Once the overall situation had been decided, he used an overwhelming troop advantage to pressure Hanzo into signing a humiliating treaty. When dealing with Shamon, the Second Kazekage, he had again sacrificed Kagami Uchiha to lure the enemy head-on while striking successfully from behind.

Danzo had truly taken sacrificing others for his own success to the extreme. Everything had developed just as he expected. The only thing standing in his way now was the remaining Sunagakure forces entrenched at Moon Lake. Once he moved this obstacle aside—whether by wiping them out or forcing them to bow their heads in submission like Hidden Rain—Danzo would have achieved an immensely impressive feat, greatly increasing his weight among Konoha's upper ranks. Sitting in the Hokage's chair in the future would no longer be impossible.

Who could have expected a blue-haired brat to suddenly stand in his way? With one magnificent retreat, he had decisively abandoned Night-Cry Sand Sea, that forward base. All he left behind were broken houses, shattered tiles, and several wells filled with excrement. It was like having a mouthful of hot porridge forcibly poured down his throat—he could neither swallow it nor spit it out.

Continue pursuing them with the main army to Moon Lake? That would stretch the supply line for his force of over ten thousand men tenfold. Moreover, the supply line would be extremely vulnerable to harassment. One moment of carelessness, and the entire army could be wiped out.

Not pursue them? Sunagakure could use its short supply route to the village to replenish its forces, stockpile supplies, recover its strength, and perhaps even bring in outside reinforcements, making it even harder to defeat. If he exhausted his army to no avail, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other Konoha higher-ups would have plenty to say. Intelligence also showed that Hidden Stone Village farther north was growing restless, its military edge already close to the Land of Rain...

"Bring Jiraiya and Orochimaru over." Danzo gave the order, a flash of killing intent vanishing from his eyes.