In the Sand Village, the clones are everywhere, and the Arkham game begins

Chapter 460 Economic Invasion of the Rain Country

Shimizu had to admit that Shinya's words made a lot of sense.

So after returning, Shimizu relayed Shinya's words to the Third Kazekage.

"Did he say that?"

Inside the Kazekage's office, the Third Kazekage looked somewhat discouraged, but quickly composed himself.

"It was during the First Shinobi World War. While the Second Kazekage was attacking Konoha from the east, Iwagakure moved south to harass the border. At that time, I was the commander of the northern defense line of the village, leading the troops to guard the border fortress. Before that, I relied on Magnet Release and joined forces with Shinja to be invincible in the shinobi world, and we were both confident that our combination would continue to be victorious."

However, when the Second Tsuchikage Mu and the already renowned Onoki joined forces, Shinya and I suffered our first defeat.

I wanted to lead the team to retreat, but Xin Ya stubbornly believed that we could hold off the enemy together. He even activated a portion of his accumulated Sage Chakra, triggering his Reverse Scale, which would put him into a berserk state and increase his strength.

So that's how Xin Ya got his wrath.

"Ni Lin Xin Ya's strength is not bad; he can hold out against me for a while."

Shimizu nodded slightly in her evaluation.

A summoning beast of the Shinya caliber would be a huge help to a Kage-level powerhouse. If the Shinya could hold out against him for so long, it could probably hold out against an average Kage-level powerhouse for quite some time as well.

The Third Kazekage shook his head and said:
"But under the attacks of the two Dust Release ninjas, Mu and Onoki, I could still use Iron Sand Flight to dodge interference. As long as I wasn't bound by other ninjutsu, I could temporarily protect myself. But Shinya is different, and the other ninjas are different too, not to mention that the number of Iwagakure's army is far greater than ours."

Shinya, a large, flightless summoning beast, is an extremely powerful existence for regular ninjas, and a top-tier weapon on the battlefield. However, for two Dust Release ninjas who can fly and possess the ability to break things down into atoms, it is a sitting duck, completely countered.

No matter how strong the scales are, how many times can they withstand the attack of Dust Release?
Dodge? With such a large size, unless the speed is so fast that it is impossible to catch the eye, you will be hit sooner or later. Not to mention that the Second Tsuchikage Mu is the top sensory ninja in the ninja world. Unless it is a top-level speed ninja like Minato Namikaze, it will be difficult to escape his sensory lock.

The Third Kazekage continued:
"The fortress is about to fall, and I must cover the retreat of two thousand ninjas. Shinya, who has entered the reverse scale state, still wants to charge again. If this continues, I don't know if he can withstand a dust jutsu and survive, but those two thousand ninjas will definitely be wiped out, and I will certainly not be able to escape either."

Therefore, I had no choice but to use a secret technique to attack Shinya's head, injuring his eyes and allowing genjutsu to invade the brain nerves connected to his eyes, causing him to faint. Then I used Magnet Release to bury him underground and hide him. Because Shinya was unwilling and resisted with his Sage Chakra, I couldn't undo the summoning jutsu, so I had to resort to this last resort.

"Then why not go and explain things to Xin Ya?"

“I tried it. When he had a sore spot, he became so irritable that he couldn’t hear my explanations at all. Instead, he would try to hit me every time he saw me. What could I do?”
After the First Shinobi World War, both Monzae-senpai and the Second Hokage passed away due to their injuries. After my two teachers and I took over as Kazekage and elders, we had even less time. Several attempts to communicate failed, and Shinja began to treat me ruthlessly. Eventually, we stopped communicating altogether.

Shimizu was taken aback, then realized that what he said made sense.

Given Shinja's strength, unless it's a master of his caliber, or two or more complementary teams of Kage-level ninjas working together with perfect coordination, one person would be the main attacker and the other would be the one to launch a sneak attack and steal the scales. This would require the main attacker to have the ability to directly confront a large summoning beast, and the other person to have the speed of Minato Namikaze or the stealth ninjutsu of the Nara clan, in order to have a chance to launch a sneak attack and succeed.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy for anyone to take away Shinya's scales. Even the Third Kazekage, who is considered a strong person among Kage-level shinobi, wouldn't have a high chance of taking Shinya's scales in a one-on-one fight.

Of course, this is under the premise of not killing Shinya. While such top-tier summoning beasts certainly have the ability to intervene in Kage-level battles, their methods are ultimately not as numerous as those of a true Kage-level powerhouse. If Shinya cannot use the Reverse Summoning Technique to escape, and if the opponent has the ability to break through that scale armor, then in a one-on-one death match with enough time, Shinya will be the one to lose.

However, if the opponent has strong endurance and pursuit capabilities, it could also be life-threatening.

These large summoned beasts do possess the ability to contend with Kage-level powerhouses for a considerable period on the battlefield, but ultimately they are not true Kage-level powerhouses.

"Now that Xin Ya's Achilles' heel has been removed, aren't you going to go see him?"

Shimizu asked the Third Kazekage.

"I... alright, I'll go take a look tonight. Tomorrow, you go find Elder Chiyo and the others to prepare for the Kazekage succession ceremony. The day after tomorrow is the day you truly become the Fourth Kazekage."

The Third Kazekage hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded slightly to Shimizu.

He is about to relinquish his position as the Wind Shadow, and it's time for him to take this opportunity to deal with this matter.

The next day.

In front of the outer gate of Sunagakure Village.

A convoy of about a dozen people arrived at Sunagakure in chakra-powered vehicles.

"Is this Sunagakure? It's so bustling!"

A tall, orange-haired boy wearing a Raingaku headband looked at the vehicles and crowds coming and going in and out of Sunagakure, as well as the high-rise buildings under construction, with a strong sense of curiosity in his eyes.

Sunagakure is now beginning to resemble a modern city.

"Are you an envoy from Amegakure? I am Shisetsu, a Jonin from Sunagakure in charge of our reception. Please follow me."

A burly young ninja with purple hair appeared before the orange-haired boy from Amegakure, accompanied by three other young ninjas.

Shisa is the most skilled in breathing techniques among all the ninjas in Sunagakure who practice breathing techniques, and he also has the most students who have received special instruction from Shimizu.

Because he had already reached the Changzhong realm two years ago, and even opened the chart, and before learning the breathing method, he had already figured out a rough, half-finished breathing method.

This is why Shimizu values ​​him, and believes that this person is most likely the future father of Violet, who passed on the unfinished physical breathing technique to his son for further development.

Now, having combined the breathing techniques brought by Shimizu, he has developed his own unique breathing technique—the Seven-Day Breathing Technique. He has already reached the fourth level of mastery, placing him among the top tier of ninjas below the Kage level in Sunagakure, equivalent to an elite Jonin like Kazekage Chiarashi. He has already made a name for himself during the Third Shinobi World War. Furthermore, due to his similar fighting style to Might Dai, the "Green Beast" from Konoha, Shiro is often seen as a smaller version of Might Dai, earning him the nickname "Purple Beast" in addition to his striking purple, shoulder-length hair.

"Ah, so it's the Purple Beast Senior from Sunagakure. I am Yahiko, the disciple of Lord Amekage."

Yahiko smiled and extended his hand to Shisha.

Zisha shook hands with Yahiko, then gestured for him to proceed.

"Gentlemen, please. The village has arranged a hotel for the Amegakure delegation. The succession ceremony of the Fourth Hokage will be held tomorrow morning. The village is bustling with activity right now. After you are settled in, I can take you on a tour of Sunagakure this afternoon."

Last month, the village also planned an entertainment area to the west of the outer town, featuring a museum housing numerous precious war trophies, a science museum showcasing various cutting-edge technologies, a food street, and an amusement park to attract tourists from all over. These are all novelties that you've probably never seen before.

"Then I'll have to broaden my horizons."

Yahiko laughed heartily, then earnestly said:
"When will we be able to meet the Fourth Kazekage? Besides the purchase of the sealing techniques we discussed earlier, we in Amegakure have many questions we would like to ask Lord Shimizu."

Amegakure is facing many problems. It has a new border that is several times larger than the original Land of Rain to govern, and it has more ninjas to support than before. Although Hanzo is a hero of his generation, he is ultimately from the lower class. Even though he has vision and ability that transcends his social class, he is still somewhat powerless.

There was no way around it; Amegakure's foundation was too weak. Even though Hanzo managed to lay the foundation for a great nation through his strength and good fortune, it still lacked the talent to govern it.

Who assisted the First Hokage in governing Konoha? It was Tobirama Senju, along with a large group of elite ninja clans. The other First Hokage were the same; they each had talented members from their own ninja clans under their command, and each had a capable successor who was also a second-generation leader.

And what about Hanzo?

Kakuzu is good at managing money, but he doesn't have much experience in governance. Back in Takigakure, he was just a high-ranking enforcer, not a high-ranking official with governing power. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been sold off to assassinate the First Hokage.

The three Nagato members are not very old. If they had a few more years of training, they might be able to make it, but they are not up to par right now. In addition, there are the high-ranking members of the Amegakure elite who followed Hanzo to start their careers. Both the quality and quantity of manpower are still lacking, and they are only barely holding on right now.

But if you ask Hanzo to use the talents from those small and medium-sized ninja villages like Kusagakure that he recruited, he might dare to use them, but he would absolutely not dare to use them as trusted confidants. So many things can only be handled by Hanzo himself, an old man who is over sixty years old.

Without the support of Sunagakure, Amegakure's logistics and the Land of Rain's economy would have completely collapsed during the war.

The situation is better now, but Amegakure will still need Sunagakure's assistance until the economy is rebuilt to a certain extent and the village regains its self-sufficiency.

Yahiko came here for this very reason.

Was he there to request economic support from Sunagakure on behalf of Amegakure, or to seek advice and guidance? Sunagakure had managed to develop an economy in the barren desert that other ninja villages envied, thanks to its canals, roads, and technology.

Now, the other ninja villages are starting to learn from Sunagakure's experience in reforming their systems and economies, just as they learned from Tobirama Senju's reforms in Konoha.

As Amegakure's closest ally at present, Amegakure naturally had to take this opportunity to learn from them.

"I will report it, but the specific negotiations will definitely have to wait until after the Kazekage's succession ceremony."

Zisha replied to Yahiko.

Not long after, on the open-air balcony above the Kazekage Building, Shimizu, who was rehearsing the succession ceremony, received a report from Shisa from the ANBU members beside him. After reading it, he casually handed it to Chiyo, Rasa, and the others beside him.

"Yu Yin still needs money and provisions?"

After reading it, Luo Sha frowned, expressing his dissatisfaction.

After a moment's thought, Ebizo spoke:

"The war is over, so we can no longer give Amegakure war materials such as ninja tools and iron ore. But we can still give them money and food as we see fit. We can't let Amegakure lose its prestige, but we can't give them as much as we used to. Maintaining Amegakure's current strength is the most appropriate thing for us."

Shimizu shook her head slightly and said:
"We can provide money and supplies when we have enough ourselves, and we should provide them in large quantities. However, Rain Village will have to exchange them for goods. We can no longer increase low-interest loans as before. Therefore, we can also send people to the Land of Rain to support their production and construction, transform the Land of Rain's industrial chain and industrial environment, and also form a complementary industrial chain with our Land of Wind."

"what do you mean……"

Ebizo seemed to have grasped something.

"The people sent to provide support are real, and the things they did are real too. It's just that we have to decide the direction. The economy, resources, food, population, market, and industry of the Rain Kingdom are all fully linked to the Wind Kingdom, forming a complete dependence on the Wind Kingdom."

Since the Rain Kingdom has a weak foundation, let us become their foundation. For example, if they lack food, we will use large quantities of cheap food to squeeze out the Rain Kingdom's own food production and sales. In that way, the entire Rain Kingdom will be eating the food we provide.

Of course, this is just a theory. Our own food production in the Land of Wind is sufficient to supply ourselves, but before the agriculture of the former Land of Rivers, the former Land of Valleys, and the former Land of Fire completes its restructuring and upgrade, we will not have enough food to do these things for the time being.

But we can do these things in other areas where we have an advantage, and the principle is the same.

For example, we can help them build infrastructure and develop industries, but they have to use infrastructure loans to obtain mining rights for various resources in return. There are many other similar options. In short, we can strengthen our influence over various sectors of the Land of Rain through these kinds of methods.

If we remain allies in the future, we can still reap substantial benefits from them; that's what we call win-win cooperation. But if we cease to be allies, then…”

Shimizu smiled slightly, which made Rasa look dazed, and made Chiyo and Ebi nod in agreement.

(End of this chapter)