This was Danzo Shimura's biggest headache. Sunagakure was poor and barren, with a harsh environment and few resources. It was too difficult to control them.
"Lord Danzo, you need to broaden your horizons. Don't try to solve everything with force."
Orochimaru felt that Danzo Shimura's thinking was limited by his perspective. Why insist on using force to make Sunagakure submit?
"Oh? Orochimaru, what do you mean?"
Danzo Shimura looked at Orochimaru's confident expression, eager to hear her insightful solution to this incredibly troublesome problem.
"As is well known, the Land of Wind is resource-poor, and most of its supplies need to be imported from abroad. What does this mean? Sunagakure's essential resources need to be imported from outside; they don't have the capacity for self-production of materials."
"Orochimaru, what do you mean?"
Danzo Shimura's eyes lit up.
"Exactly. Our Konoha has the full capability to cut off Sunagakure's supply lines, preventing Sunagakure and even the entire Land of Wind from purchasing any materials from abroad. This is our ability to check Sunagakure, and it's our confidence in making Sunagakure not dare to betray us!"
Sending Ninja unsuited for desert combat to attack Sunagakure was ultimately not a good choice. Only those reckless Kumogakure Ninja could charge from the Land of Lightning to the Land of Wind and plunge into the sand-swept desert to attack the Hidden Sand Village.
"You're thinking the same thing as me!"
Danzo Shimura coughed. He had thought Orochimaru meant destroying Sunagakure's granaries to deplete Sunagakure's already limited money and food.
If Orochimaru knew what Danzo Shimura was thinking, she might have given him a thumbs up.
"This is merely a desperate measure to prevent Sunagakure from betraying Konoha."
Orochimaru paused here, then continued, "Also, we can use the One-Tail Jinchuriki as an excuse for exchange, bringing Suna Ninja to live in Konoha. The exchanged Suna Ninja need to be children of Suna high-ranking officials. They will be Sunagakure's hostages in Konoha. Once they betray Konoha, they will have to consider the situation of their children."
Ordinary Suna Ninja might be abandoned, but for the families of Suna high-ranking officials, Orochimaru didn't believe Sunagakure wouldn't have misgivings when considering betraying Konoha.
Orochimaru had already thought of the candidates: Chiyo's son Akagitsune and his wife Eryu. Once their child Sasori is born, there would be three hostages in Konoha.
If the Third Kazekage wanted to betray Konoha, Chiyo and Ebizo would be the first to object, unless they were willing to sacrifice the lives of Akagitsune's family.
However, this was merely a last resort. Ultimately, this world is an unreasonable Ninja World, where it is constantly said that Ninja are tools and should not let personal feelings interfere with missions.
All that nonsense, in Orochimaru's opinion, was complete rubbish.
When the Six Paths Sage Otsutsuki Hagoromo founded Ninshu, there weren't so many rules.
If you treat yourself as a tool, as a beast of burden, that's one thing, but making others be tools and beasts of burden with you is wrong.
If someone wanted to make her a tool or a beast of burden, she would at least give him a dignified death.
"Exchanged Suna Ninja... hostages, huh..."
Danzo Shimura acknowledged that this move had its merits, but in a Ninja World where missions were more important than lives, even high-ranking Suna officials had to prioritize the greater good.
"Lord Danzo, there's more than one strategy. Whether it's cutting off Sunagakure's supply lines or taking hostages, these are all to make Sunagakure wary and prevent them from betraying Konoha. The most important thing is for Konoha to have sufficient strength."
Orochimaru's lips curled into a cold, sinister arc as she said, "Lord Danzo, suppose Konoha cuts off the entire Land of Wind's access to foreign supplies, and then the Daimyo of the Land of Fire publicly declares that Sunagakure betrayed them, forcing Konoha to cut off the Land of Wind's foreign supply routes. Who do you think the people of the Land of Wind will blame: Sunagakure or Konoha? And will the Daimyo of the Land of Wind let Sunagakure off easy?"
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