Death Before Victory

Kakashi stared down at his Short Sword, shock deep in his deadpan eyes.

He thought of his father, Hatake Sakumo. Half the rumors during the last war had sprung from desperate shortages of supplies.

Obito's jaw dropped to his chest. His eyes nearly popped out.

"Holy shit... What we hauled back was a whole damn granary?!"

"And that's just for our own use. The real money is beyond our borders."

Ye pointed at the sands of the Land of Wind and the mountains of the Land of Earth on the map.

"One lacks water; the other suffers bitter cold."

"When the entire Shinobi World is short on food, will they buy the grain that could save their lives?"

"We'll sell it by the ton and take only hard cash."

Ye smiled faintly, looking every inch a heartless capitalist.

"If they buy, their national treasuries will be drained within a year. By next year, they won't even be able to afford Ninja Tools."

"If they don't, civilians will starve and shinobi will mutiny. Their villages will collapse before we send a single soldier."

Minato picked up the thread, his mind moving faster than Flying Thunder God.

"Use merchant caravans to control prices and choke off their lifelines at the grain-trade hubs! We could destroy enemy nations' capacity for war without losing a single soldier!"

Minato drew a sharp breath, raised his right hand, and slammed it onto the desk.

Crack!

A several-inch fissure split the heavy wooden desktop. Battle reports and scrolls jumped into the air!

Startled, Kushina grabbed the teapot.

Obito hurriedly gripped the edge of the desk.

"Ye! You're talking about waging a food war across the Shinobi World?!"

The way Minato looked at Ye changed completely, filled with awe at a strategy far ahead of its time.

He