"Nohara Murashi and Fukushima Oka?"
In the evening, Yubi met Sasori, who was dressed in Anbu attire, at his home.
The other party handed over a file.
It contained information on people in the Hidden Sand Village who currently had significant military achievements and were close in age to Rasa.
Yubi noticed two names.
Nohara Murashi, nineteen years old.
Fukushima Oka was the same age as Rasa, twenty.
The reason he paid attention to them was that these two were the older brothers of his students, Sakamoto and Fukushima Taki.
Although they were also juniors of the Village's families and their heads were high-ranking officials, unlike Pakura's Bloodline Limit or Secret Techniques and other representatives of old-guard families, these two families represented the civilian Ninja.
Both Family heads had followed the Second Kazekage in the past.
People like Yubi himself, and Sasori, were now part of the Village's power faction... yet there was a clear 'distinction' between them and families like these.
A class divide existed between them.
Sasori came from Chiyo's Family... he himself possessed the Blood Release, and... Rasa was the same.
To reshuffle the power at the top, one must first muddy the waters... and in the current Ninja World, the easiest point to create conflict was undoubtedly the latent class struggle.
"The Nohara and Fukushima families show no signs of 'dissatisfaction' with Rasa's rise," Sasori remarked, seeing him staring at the two names.
"That's natural. Currently, the opinions of the Village's high-ranking officials are very unified, and Rasa's contributions to the Village are highly recognized... With the Kazekage overseeing the overall situation, those below won't have any major disagreements. Right now, the Village's energy isn't focused on this either..." Yubi nodded.
"However... the fact that you brought this data to me means these two... can clearly be used to stir things up."
"Their relationship with Rasa is not good."
"Not surprising."
Yubi smiled slightly.
Rasa's personality was as forceful as the Third's, believing in a value system of being 'useful' to the Village. To put it bluntly, in his eyes, anyone he deemed 'worthless'... would be ignored. Even Sasori before him had a similar temperament, though he had been subtly changed a bit due to Yubi's presence, albeit not by much.
"I will find ways to mention their names more often in the shadows, helping them with some 'publicity' in the Village. Although the heads of these two families have no issues with Rasa, they can't completely suppress the conflicts of the next generation. As long as the atmosphere is built up... after all, they are their own flesh and blood; they won't side with an outsider..."
Yubi said.
Just a single spark could turn what seemed like a small conflict between Rasa's peers into a 'clash' between the Village's 'classes' and two different forces.
When that time comes, the Village's power factions will definitely show a clear divide regarding this matter.
It had to be said, Sasori's efficiency was truly fast enough.
"Once the water is a bit muddier, we can make our move."
Yubi said to Sasori.
Hearing this, Sasori stood up and left.
...
No one doesn't want to become a Kage.
As the saying goes, having a 'Kage' emerge from one's Family is a great honor.
It is also the dream and goal that many Ninja strive for.
In the following period, Yubi didn't 'act' immediately. Instead, he first used his two students to intentionally contact Fukushima Oka and Nohara Murashi and became friends with them.
Then, he casually brought up the topic of Rasa to test their attitudes.
After capturing their emotions and reactions toward Rasa, Yubi began to secretly fan the flames.
In the hospital, he subtly praised the achievements and abilities of Fukushima Oka and Murashi to some Sunagakure Ninja and villagers.
He hinted that these two were equally qualified to compete for the next Kazekage.
While expressing admiration for Rasa, he intentionally tied the names of the three together.
Of course, this couldn't be done too obviously; it was all interspersed within daily small talk.
Or he would mention some battles they participated in, rather than naming them directly.
At least from the content of the rhetoric, there was nothing wrong with it.
Naturally, the effect wouldn't be apparent immediately; it had to go through an 'incubation' period. This kind of thing couldn't be rushed.
The hospital was already one of the places with the highest foot traffic in the Village, so any rumors would easily spread and slowly influence others.
During this time, under the pretext of checking his two students' cultivation speed, Yubi also had contact with Fukushima Oka and the other, though not too frequently—just occasional small gatherings.
However, during their meetings, Rasa would be intentionally mentioned in conversation.
All Yubi had to do was add fuel to the fire.
The root cause of the conflict between the three... was not himself.
It was that Fukushima Oka and the other were internally dissatisfied with Rasa and refused to submit to him.
That was the real problem.
On the other hand, Rasa also didn't know how to handle people... he was a bit too aloof and arrogant.
The fact that the conflict could be intensified showed that while factional issues in the Hidden Sand Village weren't as severe as in Konoha, they certainly existed.
They were just hidden under the surface, not that obvious.
Yubi had noticed this a long time ago.
Especially before his rise, every time he met Pakura, before they could say much, the elders accompanying her would be unwilling for the two to have much contact and would urge her to leave.
This indicated that, deep down, some class-based forces who considered themselves superior held a somewhat contemptuous attitude toward civilian Ninja.
This wasn't an isolated case, but clearly a 'habit' ingrained by the long-standing atmosphere of the Hidden Sand Village since its establishment.
...
On the other hand, Yubi also began to implement his plan to make money.
The monopoly industry he wanted to create was also a 'necessity' of the Ninja World: medicine.
There were many drugs and potions in this world, but they were nowhere near as abundant as in his previous life.
Especially for the lower classes, namely the civilians, the penetration rate was not high.
Most Medical Ninjutsu were used to recover from injuries rather than to 'cure diseases'.
This included many medicines, which were primarily for treating external wounds.
This was a unique phenomenon brought about by the era... After all, the Ninja World frequently saw the flames of war, and the main cause of death for the combat forces of major Villages was mostly external injuries.
In contrast, many diseases that weren't immediately fatal were not given much attention.
Many characters in the original work also died of illness.
From this point alone, it was evident.
Yubi had initially exchanged for Kuroo's entire Legacy not just because it would allow him to go further on the path of a Medical Ninja... but also because of this consideration.
Moreover, he was now a Medical Ninja himself... Although making medicine required knowledge of Pharmacology, this was not a problem for him.
What he needed... was to collect as many medicinal herbs from this world as possible and conduct research.
Then, based on his experience from his previous life and his own abilities derived from Kuroo, as well as his further understanding of this world as a Medical Ninja, he would develop various medicines and find ways to mass-produce them.
One must know that medical resources, no matter which world they are in, are indispensable.
And once a monopoly is achieved, the profits will be staggering.
Similarly... like ninja tools and other military resources, there was an opportunity to make a fortune from the war during the Third Great Ninja War.
It could also help him build the Hidden Sand Village into the existence with the strongest medical system in the entire Ninja World.
The Hidden Sand Village was skilled in poison-making; many Puppeteers and Medical Ninja had accomplishments in this area... pharmacological research was also something they excelled at.
As long as he cultivated them, there was a lot of potential.
People in this world didn't have the same vast knowledge base as he did.
Some of his 'knowledge' couldn't be applied to this world, but even if only a small part could be used, it would be enough to transform the economy of the Hidden Sand Village.
Just because others couldn't do it didn't mean he couldn't.
The resources he wanted to create... were not for him to go out and sell, but for people from outside to come and buy voluntarily!
If his medicines could circulate in the market and become completely widespread.
Then... the medicines of the Hidden Sand Village could harvest the wealth of the entire Ninja World.