Rasa returned to his position, and Kakuzu took the initiative to stand close to him.
"Wind Shadow, your Magnet Release with gold dust is arguably the most lucrative jutsu. The desert in the Land of Wind holds unimaginable reserves of gold dust. So why is Sunagakure the poorest among the Five Great Shinobi Countries?"
Rasa sighed, "Don't even mention it. My Magnet Release can indeed easily extract gold dust, but the desert is a resource of the Land of Wind, not Sunagakure. We have to pay at least 95% of our mined gold dust as taxes!"
"More importantly, we shinobi lack the metallurgical skills to refine pure gold from the gold dust. We can only sell it at a very low price directly, and we don't have the sales channels. It's all handled by the Land of Wind, which invisibly increases the costs during the turnover. In the end, we hardly make any money and can only barely treat it as a side business."
Kakuzu's dark green pupils deepened, "In short, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind doesn't want shinobi to acquire money through means other than executing missions, to prevent them from going beyond their control."
Rasa agreed, "Among the five great countries, the total number of shinobi, including genin, is only in the hundreds of thousands, but the total population of the five countries is in the billions, overwhelmingly disproportionate."
"The resources we shinobi need for living are entirely supplied by the outside world. To put it bluntly, shinobi are just tools serving the Daimyo. If the funding support is cut off, our survival would be in jeopardy."
"And the so-called Shinobi World is just a term we small groups use to comfort ourselves. The common people don't refer to the world as the Shinobi World."
Rasa's words revealed the hardships of the small group of shinobi.
It also explained why shinobi, despite having such powerful military strength, had to obey the Daimyo!
Whoosh!
At this moment, the bandages unraveled, and a beautiful kunoichi with orange hair, wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector, landed in front of everyone!
Rasa's expression changed drastically, "Pakura!?"
Pakura, a Scorch Release kekkei genkai shinobi from Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, was skilled in using Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder. She was powerful and hailed as a hero of Sunagakure.
However, she was deceived by the Fourth Kazekage Rasa under the pretense of a secret mission to Kirigakure, where she was ambushed and killed by disguised Kirigakure shinobi without any precaution, becoming a sacrificial pawn in the war for profit!
Her dim eyes, cold and filled with resentment, "Lord Rasa, it's been a while."
Naruto, who became Hokage in his past life, knew a bit about the grievances between the two.
As they say, "He who tied the bell on the tiger must take it off."
Naruto said, "Lord Kazekage, Pakura, you should resolve this privately."
Granny Chiyo added, "I'll go along to prevent any incidents."
Thus, Rasa and Pakura, accompanied by Granny Chiyo, went to settle their issues privately.
Naruto eagerly opened the next bandage.
Before him appeared a young boy with a gentle face, wearing a Konoha forehead protector.
This made Naruto pause, thinking, "Didn't Uncle Shikaku say that all Konoha shinobi were kept by Konoha? Could it be an oversight?"
"Shin!!"
At this moment, riding on an ink bird floating in the sky, Edo Tensei Sai called out the boy's name.
The Shin before him was not Uchiha Shin.
Shin was originally a member of Root, one of Danzo's trusted aides, and Sai's brother, both belonging to the organization under Danzo's jurisdiction known as Root. His personality was similar to Naruto Uzumaki, and he took good care of Sai.
In an internal test of the Root organization, he chose to end his own life. The reason was that this so-called test was very similar to that of Kirigakure, involving killing each other among former comrades, with the winner being deemed qualified. To give Sai a chance, Shin chose to end his own life, and everything about Shin was recorded in Sai's sketchbook.
Hearing Sai call out Shin's name, Naruto recalled the boy he saw in Sai's sketchbook when they teamed up years ago and understood.
"So, he was Sai's brother? A member of Root, no wonder he wasn't kept in Konoha."
Naruto said seriously, "Shin, you must have things you want to say to Sai. You two should talk alone. After that, I'll respect your choice to stay or leave."
"Thank you," Shin nodded.
The ink bird landed, and Shin jumped onto its back, going to a quiet place with Sai.
"Who will it be next?"
Naruto raised his hand, ready to unwrap another bandage.
What fell before him was a ninja wearing a gas mask and traditional Amegakure attire!
"This... Konan, look," Naruto looked at Konan.
Konan stepped forward, her orange eyes indifferent, "Judging by the attire, he might be one of Hanzo's subordinates."
"Hanzo, huh," Naruto murmured. At this point, there was no prejudice against Hanzo's subordinates. However, if not handled properly, they could become a threat due to their different standpoints.
A subordinate of Hanzo being summoned by Kabuto's Edo Tensei must have some significance, right?
Naruto asked, "What was your position under Hanzo?"
The Ame ninja replied, "A right-hand position!"
Naruto's eyes lit up, "You were Hanzo's right hand?"
The Ame ninja said, "Uh... the right hand of the right hand!"
Everyone thought, "So he's just a henchman?"
It seemed, like Nakajaku, this so-called right hand was undoubtedly another failed product of Kabuto's Edo Tensei!
Naruto rubbed his forehead, "Could you remove your mask and let me see your face?"
The Ame ninja shook his head, "I refuse!"
Naruto was curious, "Why?"
The Ame ninja said, "It's my principle! As a ninja, I will never remove my mask!"
Naruto smiled, "I see, you have quite a personality."
"But sorry, your stance is unfavorable to Amegakure, and your strength doesn't warrant me using Kotoamatsukami. Let me send you back to the Pure Land!"
Whoosh!
Naruto dashed forward.
Human Path!
Zap!
The Ame ninja's soul was extracted from the living sacrifice!
Crack! Crack!
The gas mask shattered first!
Naruto widened his eyes, wanting to see his true face!
But was disappointed, for beneath the gas mask was yet another mask!
Thud!
The living sacrifice fell to the ground!
Naruto sighed, both helpless and impressed, "You really have a unique personality."
In the next two attempts, Naruto hit a wall, as they turned out to be Kurirare Kushimaru and Jinin Akebino, former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, wielders of the Longsword: Nuibari and Blastsword: Shibuki!
Having experienced the Bloody Mist era, the two were unruly. After being subdued by Kotoamatsukami, Naruto returned their swords to them!
Though he wasn't satisfied yet, he had used up today's Kotoamatsukami. He suppressed his impulse and went to attend to other matters.
During dinner in the evening, Konan brought news.
"As expected, you predicted it again. Hidan's substitute was killed, and the one who did it was Uchiha Obito!"
Snap!
Naruto's chopsticks paused mid-air, surprised, "Obito's moves are faster than I thought. Could he have allied with Kabuto?"
Konan replied, "Kabuto seems to have gone traveling the Shinobi World with Sasuke, his intentions unclear."
Naruto chewed on the rice ball, his gaze deepening, "If not Kabuto, then it's probably Madara. If those two join forces, we must carefully choose the battlefield. The lands of small countries can't withstand such turmoil."
Putting down his chopsticks, Naruto took the napkin from Konan's hand and wiped his mouth.
"How about setting the battlefield in the Land of Lightning? It's vast and rich, perfect for development."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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