"Those guys were arranged by you, weren't they."
In the underground office once called "the cell" but now a place where the Third Kazekage and those close to him rested and chatted, Hii Kōri nested in the sofa, squinting as he looked up and down at "Vegeta's" face, trying to detect some clue in his expression.
"Getting to the level of jōnin, no matter what, they couldn't be that dull. You overdid it with the acting."
"Don't look at me like that. I did arrange it."
The man writing the Kazekage's handwritten directive on special paper was quite unabashed that he hadn't discussed this with Hii Kōri before asking him to put on an act.
Anyway, the effect was pretty good, wasn't it?
"Couldn't you find people who could act a little more convincingly?"
Hii Kōri said disdainfully.
"Where am I supposed to find people who are so naturally stupid?"
Vegeta replied without looking up. "Getting them to exhaust their minds scheming against enemies on the battlefield is much easier than getting them to play dumb."
"Will it work? With that poor acting, isn't the job a bit too rough?"
"Rough or not doesn't matter. It's just an excuse to use."
Having finished writing that stack of paper, the Third Kazekage called over an Anbu, gave a few instructions, and handed the papers to him.
The masked Anbu's expression was unreadable, but from the cautious body language, it was clear this matter was quite important.
And that was exactly what Hii Kōri and the Third Kazekage had just mentioned—raiding the ninja clans' assets.
Unlike Konoha, Suna's ninja clans didn't have such great influence.
Clan secret techniques? Forget it.
Suna's most famous secret techniques were actually the Sand Manipulation Techniques derived from Shamon's research on Shukaku. As long as one had talent, even a dog could be permitted to learn this line of techniques.
As for assets? Once you're in Sunagakure, what assets are there to speak of?
The so-called "raid" was merely carrying the Kazekage's handwritten directive to request they provide some texts and unique ninjutsu insights.
Although they didn't have much influence, a large portion of the elders in leadership did come from these clans. Before this, the Third Kazekage had wanted to completely oust these old folks from the decision-making level.
It's not the elderly who create a new era. The Third Kazekage deeply agreed with this phrase Hii Kōri had casually uttered before, and he could also understand Tobirama Senju covering for his guards.
Those six guards were Tobirama Senju's disciples before they were guards. Compared to himself, aging and advanced in years, his disciples in their prime were what Konoha needed more.
Similarly, the Third Kazekage was quite grateful to Tobirama Senju for taking the initiative going to his death this time.
If not for the turmoil caused by his death, the Third Kazekage wouldn't have found an excuse to make a move within the village.
Look! Our jōnin can't even analyze conclusions like this—they're practically becoming morons! Study! They must study!
As ninja clans in the village, shouldn't you provide some assistance?
Once they've studied well, you old folks who've dedicated yourselves wholeheartedly to your posts—well, senior predecessors—can't you retire and enjoy family happiness? Everyone's happy, everyone's satisfied.
Anyone with discerning eyes could see the Third Kazekage was seizing on a pretext, but so what?
By this point in development, "My authority as Kazekage is limitless!" was no longer just a joke in Suna. Him finding an excuse and going through the motions now was actually giving these clans, who didn't have much heritage anyway, a face-saving way out.
Thinking about it this way, the Kazekage's job was much easier than the Hokage's.
"How long do you think until a real chance for war?"
After seeing off the Anbu, the Third Kazekage opened his desk drawer, pulled out a bag of corn crackers, and distributed them to Rasa, who was serving nearby as secretary.
Hii Kōri? That kid had way more delicious than this; these crackers were actually samples Hii had given him to taste-test.
"One year? Two years? About that long."
Hii Kōri, rapidly sketching new blueprints, pausing every few seconds to modify them, responded in a flat tone without looking up.
"Don't explain yet. Rasa, you guess the reason."
The Third Kazekage's gaze was burning as he looked at his disciple beside him.
"Uh... probably because of the Daimyō."
Briefly recalling the details mentioned in the previous meeting, the mysterious gold-making guy—whose face had become even sourer with age—rubbed his chin and answered tentatively.
Seeing that neither the Kazekage nor Hii Kōri interrupted him, Rasa continued to elaborate on his views.
"Although our country's trade with the Country of Fire is quite close, even increasingly intensive, it also shows that our country's resources heavily rely on imports from the Country of Fire. If the Country of Fire suddenly broke off trade at this point, our country would surely be in a very difficult position."
"Judging from our country's recent situation and
Konoha's state, trade should collapse before long, right."
"Mm... judging from the Country of Fire's side, that's probably the case."
Upon hearing this, Hii Kōri nodded non-committally, then began to fill in the gaps. "But the Daimyō of our country has actually anticipated this. The current increasing resource imports is probably preparing stocks in advance for after trade collapses."
"In fact, if you could get documents from the Daimyō's Estate and do some calculations, you'd find that domestic resources aren't even a fraction of imported resources. But actually, with the push of breeding and planting techniques, our country's grain and vegetable yields have long increased by more than one grade."
"And the attrition rate for imported supplies is also inflated. While corruption can't be ruled out, the order of magnitude difference is just too large."
"These details are things we Suna ninja, who often come into contact with similar data, can discover after careful calculation, but for foreign spies, they're completely impossible to detect."
Adopting his signature pose with hands propping his face, the Third Kazekage then added.
"Although the Country of Wind's land may not be the most barren, it's definitely the hardest to utilize among the five great nations. Yet despite this, the Country of Wind has long promoted a high birth rate policy and even raised the largest population among the five great nations."
"A population far exceeding the land's carrying capacity, on one hand, covering the abnormally high resource imports, and on the other, provides more labor force to transform the Country of Wind's land and build more hidden underground cities."
"Relying on stored supplies and a massive labor force to transform the land—this was probably a fundamental strategy established decades ago, or even earlier."
Hii Kōri tapped the table with his pen, somewhat amazed.
"It's just that no one expected that man to die so early, directly causing the nations shifting to 'proxy war' mode before stable situations could be constructed."
"Now the Daimyō of the Country of Wind is probably planning to stockpile one more wave of resources, taking advantage of this last opportunity, and then implement land transformation as soon as possible."
"Mhm. We Suna are just the cover for launching foreign wars—on one hand to divert attention, on the other to consume the surplus population."
The Third Kazekage rested his head on his hands, leaning back in his chair, tilting the front two legs high up as he swayed to maintain balance. "Plus the Country of Wind's vast deserts, it's enough for the Daimyō to covertly pursue his plans."
"Sigh... the people sitting firmly in high positions in this era are all frighteningly smart."
"Doesn't this make me look really dumb?"
***
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