"The village has no surplus funds. We can only barter."
Chiyo was the first to state Sunagakure's position.
Buying was out of the question. They could not afford it, so they could only trade.
With Chiyo taking the lead, Ōnoki followed suit:
"Iwagakure also chooses to barter."
Sunagakure was poor, and Iwagakure was not much better off.
Their limited financial resources had to be reserved for developing military strength. Using them to buy intelligence?
That would be far too wasteful. Trading resources was much simpler.
And what resources did Sunagakure and Iwagakure have?
The answer was obvious: minerals.
All kinds of minerals!
As long as Konoha wanted them, they were happy to trade!
But asking them for money was impossible.
Their sincerity was on the table. They could negotiate the exact amount directly. If that worked, they would keep talking; if not, they could forget it.
Did Konoha need ore?
It did.
Konoha often spent money buying it anyway, so exchanging resources for intelligence was acceptable.
It all depended on the terms of the exchange.
"Kumogakure can accept that too."
The Third Raikage casually raised a hand. It was no big deal. Whether they traded resources or paid in cash, Kumogakure did not care. Having money gave them confidence.
However, those words immediately darkened Ōnoki and Chiyo's expressions.
Jingyi nearly laughed out loud.
Did they think the Third Raikage was just a brute?
Wrong. He was not merely a brute—he was a brute full of bad intentions.
If anyone truly treated him like a brainless brute, they would suffer badly.
With bartering, the quantities naturally had to be carefully negotiated.
Listening to the Third Hokage argue back and forth with the others gave Jingyi a headache. He felt he should not have come at all.
Taking advantage of a break,