If life gets too hard to bear, you can always sell your chakra to the Leaf.
The next day
The morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell across Haru's face.
Haru opened his eyes, rubbed them out of habit, then walked over and pushed the window open. The cool morning breeze cleared his head at once.
The hot springs of the Hot Springs Village really lived up to their reputation. After soaking in them, Haru felt as if all his fatigue had been washed away. The hot steam had flushed his skin red, and once he stepped out of the bath, his whole body felt fresh and light. He had lazily stretched out on the bed and fallen asleep almost immediately.
That had been one hell of a good night's sleep.
After sighing in satisfaction, Haru stepped out of his room. The Five Kage Summit would not begin until tomorrow, so today was the perfect chance to stroll around this little village, which could practically be called the ninja world's peach blossom paradise.
The village itself was not large. Haru gave it a quick tour at a glance, and just like traveling in his previous life, the scenery looked interesting at first, but after a while it started to feel dull.
The village's economy was fragile. All survival supplies had to be bought from outside. The whole place was packed with hot springs, which meant there was not even enough land to farm properly.
The villagers earned money by selling a few local specialties and small handicrafts, most of it done through family workshops. Their tools were outdated, and their efficiency was painfully low.
Haru shook his head. The village's economic potential had barely been developed at all.
A full bathhouse and massage chain, extra money for access to the second floor... ahem, the third floor, maybe even a casino on top of that. If he paired it with all the entertainment resources in his hands, this place might well become the happiest money-burning den in the entire ninja world.
It was a pity the local customs were still far too simple and honest.
Once Haru felt he had seen enough, he started heading back to his lodgings. But as he reached a crossroads, he happened to see someone walking straight toward him, as if by coincidence.
"What a surprise, Hokage-sama!"
Masara put on an expression of delight and greeted him warmly. In truth, he had been waiting here for quite a while before finally catching Haru.
As far as Masara was concerned, this Five Kage Summit was mostly just a chance for everyone to argue, sign some peace agreements for show, and then go right back to war the next time the opportunity came. It was boring to death.
Still, the Sand Village was one of the Five Great Villages. Whether it liked it or not, it had to show up. Even if it was just for appearance's sake.
Since he was already here, Masara figured he needed to take something worthwhile back with him. And the Leaf's Third Hokage standing in front of him was the best opening he could ask for.
According to intelligence, the Leaf was swimming in money lately. During the New Year holiday, the entire village had been bright with lights and full of revelry. Apparently, they had gotten rich doing business.
Masara recalled the contents of the report. The intelligence officers had gone all out praising the Leaf. They repeatedly mentioned Haru's various welfare policies, and the envy dripping through the lines of text had practically splashed into Masara's face. The report kept saying things like, Hokage-sama is incredible, if only the Sand Village could... It was obvious they had already been dazzled by the Leaf's bright and lively world.
If not for the fact that those intelligence officers still had their families living back in the Sand Village, Masara might well have suspected they were already planning to abandon the Sand entirely and throw themselves into the Leaf's embrace.
Lord Masara, please stop contacting us. We're afraid the Leaf might misunderstand.
"So it's the Third Kazekage. What a pleasure."
Masara stepped forward enthusiastically and shook Haru's hand. He intended to grab onto this thick Leaf thigh and hold tight.
During the First Great Ninja War, only the Cloud had truly wanted to replace the Leaf as the strongest village in the world. They had fought the Leaf from start to finish.
The Sand, on the other hand, had just wanted to trail behind the Cloud and scoop up some benefits while the fighting lasted. The plan had sounded great. In execution, it turned into a heap of crap.
The Leaf had spent the Hashirama era quietly building itself up, and by the time Tobirama took over, it had already reached its peak. Briefly taking on four villages at once had not been beyond it.
The Sand got beaten so hard by the Leaf that it immediately learned its lesson. Tobirama had been ruthless. One hard punch to stop a hundred more later.
Against the weakest of the Five Great Villages, he had hit with enough force to scare the others straight. Only the Cloud's brutes had been stubborn enough to keep grinding through a long war of attrition with the Leaf.
People really did need to face reality.
Even without Hashirama, the Leaf was still the strongest village in the ninja world. The Sand had never truly dreamed of replacing it. It had suffered enough already and needed to find a powerful backer.
Letting the Sand recognize the Leaf as big brother was nothing shameful.
After a few polite pleasantries, Masara warmly invited Haru to a roadside restaurant for a meal.
Inside a private room
After a round of toasts and drinks, Masara began complaining about how difficult things were for the Sand. Endless deserts, yellow sand everywhere, even getting enough water was hard, much less farming or developing the region.
The Land of Wind simply was not a place fit for human beings to live.
Masara drained a cup of sake and let out a quiet sigh.
If only I had the kind of foundation the Leaf does, none of the fools in the world would be worth worrying about.
The years are slipping away, and my achievements remain unfinished. I, Masara, can only keep panning for gold in the desert to feed the entire Sand Village. Can a man like me ever really build something great?
Every Kage wanted to lead their village to dominate the world and carve out a great name for themselves. It was just that reality...
Haru drank along with him and felt a bit of sympathy. Masara really did have a miserable future. While alive, he worked like a gold miner to feed his village, diligently toiling for years without even getting the chance to retire, only to be assassinated by the village's own traitor, Sasori.
And that would not even be the end of it. His corpse would later be turned into a human puppet.
If that alone were not tragic enough, Orochimaru would later bring him back with Reanimation for a fight against that same traitor Sasori.
If Masara knew what his future held, he would probably write the character for miserable in giant strokes.
"Hokage-sama, the Stone and the Cloud have always been watching the Leaf like hawks. They may be quiet right now, but in the future..."
Masara's eyes gleamed. Even when offering himself up as an ally, he wanted to sell himself for a good price, not drop to his knees and beg.
"Yes, that's exactly what troubles me as well..."
Haru put on a matching expression and sighed deeply, looking genuinely worried.
The Sand wanted an alliance with the Leaf. Haru naturally knew how to play along. After all, the Sand was still one of the Five Great Villages. It might be the weakest of them, but that was hardly its fault. Given such a miserable homeland, even a god would struggle to turn things around.
The Sand ninja themselves were not weak at all. Harsh environments were exactly what forged the fiercest warriors.
The Leaf also needed allies. Constantly taking on four others at once was not a sustainable way of life.
I understand your false modesty, and you understand my hidden intentions.
The two of them clicked immediately.
Bang.
Masara slapped the table and grew more familiar in tone.
"The Cloud are nothing but a plague on the ninja world. The First Great Ninja War happened because of them. They even tolerated the rebels who killed the Leaf's Second Hokage. Animals."
"Well said, Kazekage-sama."
"That deserves a drink."
The two of them joyfully joined in cursing the Cloud together. When people wanted to grow closer, it was always useful to find a common target to look down on. Before long, they naturally felt like they belonged in the same camp.
"The Sand Village has always supported the Leaf's ideals of peace. For the sake of peace in the ninja world, for the sake of justice, the Sand will stand on the same side as the Leaf at this summit."
"Kazekage-sama truly sees the bigger picture."
Masara kept smiling, but inwardly he knew the conversation had finally reached the important part. The polite talk had lasted long enough. It was time to move on to the real subject.
"I've heard that Hokage-sama has quite the talent for making money. It's honestly embarrassing to admit, but the Sand Village can barely make ends meet now. Even the daimyo has reduced our funding."
"The children in the village are down to one meal a day at the hardest of times. Even something as basic as drinking water, in the Sand Village..."
Masara did his best to make the Sand sound as pitiful as possible. Otherwise, how else was he supposed to ask the Leaf for money?
Ding.
The familiar system notification sounded again. Another new task.
[Long-Term Task: As Heaven moves with strength, the gentleman should strive tirelessly for self-improvement. Humanity is always fighting against harsh natural environments. Transform one region's ecology so it becomes suitable for human habitation.]
Task Reward: One gold-tier draw.
A gold-tier task had finally appeared again.
But it was also another absurdly difficult mission.
Haru read through the requirements and sighed inwardly.
This task was clearly aimed at the Land of Wind. Turning a desert into habitable land was only possible through things like reforestation and gradual alteration of the terrain.
The Land of Wind was an entire country. Changing the environment of a whole nation would require massive manpower and resources, and the cost would be astronomical.
Of course, this world had supernatural power, which could reduce some of the difficulty. But ninja were still human beings, not gods, and the thing they were best at was destruction, not restoration.
Even if Hashirama came back from the dead, it would be difficult.
Hashirama could summon forests from thin air with Wood Release, but those forests only survived because of his chakra. The moment he released the technique, everything would return to normal. Trees still needed water and nutrients in the soil to live. But the Land of Wind was almost nothing but sand. No water, and no fertile soil for plants to grow in.
"Ahem... Hokage-sama, could you perhaps show a bit of First Hokage-sama's benevolence and offer us some support..."
Masara coughed lightly, snapping Haru out of his system-focused thoughts.
Haru came back to himself and looked at the hope in Masara's eyes. The man was very obviously here to beg for money.
Damn, what a pauper.
"Kazekage, the Leaf isn't rich either."
"You know as well as I do. To win the First Great Ninja War, the Leaf nearly had to pawn off its underwear."
Masara, did you really think you could just shamelessly come here and leech off the Leaf?
In the ninja world, the word ally meant next to nothing. One second someone was your brother, the next they would stab you in the kidney.
Back in the old world, even Hitler had signed the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact... and then immediately followed it with, Watch me blitz Poland.
What Haru hated most in life was freeloading.
"Kazekage, let's stop dancing around it."
"The Leaf does need an ally, but that ally doesn't have to be you."
"Other than the Cloud, those brainless brutes, the Leaf could pull in the Mist or the Stone as well. If the Sand wants support from the Leaf, then you'll have to pay some sort of price."
Haru tapped the table with his fingers and laid everything out directly. The moment had arrived. Continuing with empty formalities would just waste time.
This was no longer the middle of the war. The Leaf did not need the Sand to help split the fronts.
The advantage was clearly on Haru's side.
Masara felt a headache coming on. The current Leaf lacked nothing. Population, wealth, prodigies, secret techniques, bloodline limits, tailed beasts, they had all of it. Meanwhile the Sand had nothing but endless sand. What exactly could the Leaf possibly want?
They did not even have proper bargaining chips.
But the village was desperately poor. So poor it was pissing blood. The daimyo was worthless. The whole place was basically a shack with no furniture. Masara had no choice but to rely on himself.
"What does Hokage-sama want from the Sand Village?"
Since everything had already been laid out so bluntly, Masara decided to let Haru name his terms. In the end, the Sand had almost nothing anyway. The few truly valuable things they did have were the things they absolutely could not give away.
"I'm interested in your Magnet Release."
"No."
Masara's expression darkened immediately. The Sand barely had any good cards at all, and Haru was really bold enough to ask for one of them.
Magnet Release was the signature art of every Kazekage. There was absolutely no way it could be handed over.
"What about One-Tail?"
"If Hokage-sama has no intention of cooperating with the Sand, then I can leave right now."
Masara had had enough. He stood up and barked angrily.
The things Haru wanted were things the Sand simply could not hand over, no matter what.
"Then leave."
"If the Sand has so few things the Leaf actually values, and every time I ask for something you refuse, then I'd say it's the Sand that has no real intention of cooperating."
Masara froze. Sitting down felt wrong, but leaving felt even worse.
He had spoken in anger just now, but there was no way he could actually go back empty-handed before securing the support he needed.
"Hokage-sama, the Sand came here sincerely hoping to work with the Leaf. I misspoke just now."
"But the terms you named were simply too harsh. I cannot accept them, and neither can the Sand Village."
Haru smiled and did not press the matter.
He had known perfectly well from the start that Masara would never accept those terms. They had only been there to prepare the road for the conditions that would come after.
This was basic negotiation strategy. First propose one or two utterly outrageous demands that the other side would never agree to. Then, when you later put forward demands that were merely bad rather than impossible, they became much easier to swallow.
Everyone knew the trick, but that did not make it any less effective.
"Fine, then let me name terms you can accept."
"I don't want One-Tail itself. I want One-Tail's chakra, or the chakra of the Sand's ninja. The Leaf's chakra batteries need a large supply of chakra as an energy source."
"And of course the Leaf will pay. We can discuss the exact rate later, but I'll offer you a very favorable price."
"The Leaf cannot simply hand money over to you. Everything has to be exchanged at equal value."
If you wanted to bind a village's economy to your own, the first step was controlling the source of the ninja's livelihood. The Sand was nothing but sand. The only thing worth targeting there was the ninja themselves.
Masara considered Haru's proposal. Selling chakra... that actually sounded acceptable.
Ninja needed chakra to perform missions anyway, and missions cost time, effort, and often life itself. If they could earn money simply by giving up some chakra, that was not impossible to accept. As long as the price was good, the ninja in the village would all agree.
"I can accept that condition. As for the price..."
Masara was still thinking about the money. Selling chakra could become a long-term business.
For ninja, as long as they were not drained completely dry in a single session, it would not harm their bodies. They just needed food and a bit of rest afterward, and their bodies would generate chakra again. Some recovered quickly enough that they could probably sell chakra four or five times in a single day.
(End of Chapter)
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