The Queen of Roran was named Lina. As the ruler of a nation, she had little ambition. She would be content as long as Rōran could maintain a secure foothold in the shinobi world and its people could live and work in peace. Thus, during the war, Rōran had always remained neutral. Fortunately, its national strength was so meager that the Land of Wind had not considered it a useful military asset, treating it merely as a place to pass through and rest. This had spared Rōran from direct involvement in the war.
When the Land of Wind suffered defeat on the battlefield and withdrew to its own territory, Lina had thought she would next face exploitation by the Land of Fire. Yet because Konoha Ninja Village treated neutral nations kindly, Rōran encountered no difficulties at all. Lina breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that a shinobi village founded by the First Hokage truly lived up to his name. Its principles were beyond those of other villages.
Several years after the Shinobi World War ended, Konoha Ninja Village began doing business in partnership with merchants, greatly promoting commercial prosperity in the Land of Fire. Thanks especially to the trade arrangements signed between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, more and more merchants began trading with the latter. A trade route gradually took shape, and Rōran happened to be an essential stop along it.
Following her ministers' advice, Lina established policies governing trade with foreign merchants. Rōran gradually grew prosperous and became an important stop on the trade route between the two great nations. Naturally, Lina was delighted. Seeing her people's lives improve, she could not help hoping these days would last forever.
During a customary banquet for foreign merchants, however, Lina unexpectedly discovered a slip of paper