Naruto's civilian cannon fodder starts with the three-body technique

Chapter 389 Loulan Dragon Vein
Soon, a meeting, chaired by Minamoto no Kōmyō and attended by the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, Koharu Utatane, Sasuke Umino, Tsunade, and several representatives of the interests of nobles from the Land of Wind, was held in a heavily guarded palace in the Daimyo's residence.

Minamoto no Kōmyō was dressed in the attire of a high-ranking civil official from the Land of Fire. He was elegant in demeanor and spoke with exceptional eloquence, yet his words carried an undeniable authority.

He didn't engage in much small talk and went straight to the point, producing a draft economic agreement that he had already prepared.

The draft is extremely detailed, including provisions on war reparations payments, the right to operate strategic mineral resources, trade concessions, tariff agreements, and "reconstruction aid" for the Land of Wind.

Each of these clauses is like a delicate scalpel, precisely cutting through the lifeline of the Wind Kingdom's economy, binding it step by step to become the Fire Kingdom's source of raw materials and dumping ground for its goods. The lion's share of the profits will flow continuously into the Fire Kingdom, especially into the hands of forces closely associated with the Iron Wall Dark Division.

The daimyo of the Land of Wind looked at the terms and conditions, his face showing just the right amount of "grief and indignation" and "helplessness." However, under the gentle yet oppressive gaze of Minamoto no Mitsuaki and the "greater good" hint from Koharu Utatane, he finally nodded with difficulty, indicating that he accepted the terms in principle, only "arguing" on some minor details.

Yuan Guangming fully demonstrated his political skills, making "concessions" in some minor areas, which made it seem that he was not completely plundering, but he did not give an inch on any core interests.

Throughout the negotiations, Sasuke Umino mostly remained silent, only offering concise suggestions when it came to specific implementation aspects such as military security and mine security, ensuring that the Konoha garrison could effectively control key points.

Koharu Utatane looked at the agreement that would almost drain the economy of the Land of Wind. Although she felt it was a bit too harsh, she didn't say much because she saw that the Land of Wind's resistance was not strong. After all, it was better to sacrifice a friend than herself, as long as it was in Konoha's interest.

After the meeting, Genji offered a few words of encouragement to the daimyo of the Land of Wind, and then left arrogantly surrounded by his attendants.

Xiaochun, who had just switched dorms, also left in a hurry to prepare for the follow-up matters.

Inside the secret room, only Umino Sasuke and the Daimyo of the Land of Wind remained.

After confirming that no one was around, the daimyo immediately bowed to Umino Sasuke, his face no longer showing the "grief and indignation" from before, but only awe and obedience.

"Master, everything is going smoothly," Daimyo said in a low voice.

Umino Sasuke gave a faint "hmm": "Remember the terms proposed by Minamoto no Kōmyō, and implement them strictly. If you encounter resistance, let the Shadow and the Sand Bandit New Army handle it. Be careful of those nobles and monks."

"Yes! I understand!" the double replied hastily.

Sasuke Umino walked to the window and looked at the sky outside, which was gradually darkening.

With a series of combined measures including political puppetry, territorial garrisoning, economic colonization, and internal checks and balances, the dilapidated machine of the Wind Kingdom has finally undergone initial transformation and has begun to operate slowly and distortedly along the track he set.

The next step is to figure out how to use this machine to continuously provide resources for myself, for Konoha, and for a grander future plan.

Beneath the desert of the Land of Wind lies not only yellow sand, but also the richest mineral resources in the ninja world, and the cost of mining them is far lower than that of the Land of Earth.

The night was dark.

In a completely secluded room in Daming Prefecture, the flickering light cast long, elongated shadows of two people on the wall.

In stark contrast to his proud and reserved image as the envoy from the Land of Fire during the day, Finance Minister Minamoto no Mitsuaki was kneeling on one knee, bowing respectfully to Umino Sasuke, who sat in the main seat, his face filled with heartfelt reverence.

"Your subordinate, Gen Mitsuaki, greets Your Excellency."

Umino Sasuke slightly raised his hand, gesturing for him to stand up: "No need for formalities, thank you for making this trip."

"It is my honor to serve you, my lord." Yuan Guangming stood up, his tone still respectful. "However, it is a pity that we were unable to take this opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Wind and completely solve the problems in our rear."

Sasuke Umino remained calm, his gaze deep: "Annihilation? Easier said than done. This is a balance policy established by the First Hokage; it's not something that can be easily broken. Even if we had the will, the other three great nations, especially the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, would never sit idly by and watch the Land of Fire turn the entire western part of the continent into a secure rear area. If the Land of Wind were completely incorporated into the Land of Fire, our Land of Fire would only need to focus on dealing with Iwagakure in the north. The strategic situation would be fundamentally reversed, and the path to dominating the ninja world would be smooth sailing. This kind of situation is absolutely unacceptable to the major nations."

Yuan Guangming nodded in deep agreement. As a minister involved in high-level national decision-making, he had a profound understanding of strategic geography: "Your Excellency is wise. Just looking at the map, it's clear that the Land of Wind is the biggest geographical obstacle to the Land of Fire. Once this obstacle is removed, the Land of Fire's vast size and resource advantages will be fully unleashed. The Land of Water is isolated overseas and is not a threat; the Land of Thunder is strong, but it is separated by the Frost Kingdom's strait, and it is not difficult to resist with a portion of our forces guarding it; the only one that needs to be defeated head-on is the Land of Earth. With the Land of Fire's overall national strength, defeating the Land of Earth is not difficult. Then, we can concentrate our forces to deal with the Land of Thunder. At that time, the continent will be unified, and with a single decree issued from the sea, the Land of Water will have no choice but to submit."

He paused, then added, "Because of the geographical advantages of the combined forces of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, during each Ninja World War, although on the surface all the major powers want to take a bite out of the Land of Fire, they all tacitly agree to kick the Land of Wind, this 'hungry wolf,' out of the game first to prevent it from taking advantage of the chaos to annex its territory. Once the Land of Wind has nibbled away at the western territory of the Land of Fire through war, its own geographical advantages will become extremely favorable, allowing it to both attack and defend. Once the Land of Fire falls, the Land of Wind will definitely be the one to gain the most benefits. Once the Land of Wind grows strong enough to replace the Land of Fire, it will also have the potential to dominate the Ninja World due to its geographical advantages."

Sasuke Unno nodded, agreeing with his analysis: "That's right, even if the Wind and Fire Kingdoms are just allies, they can easily suppress other major powers."

Sasuke Unno understands this all too well. During Naruto and Sasuke's time, Konoha was incredibly weak. Theoretically, a ninja war should have broken out very soon, even more dangerous than the Nine-Tails' attack. However, after the alliance between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, the Fourth Shinobi World War was delayed. Now, based on this analysis, it seems that although the major powers are sharpening their swords, they have to think twice before facing the Land of Fire, which has allied with the Land of Wind and eliminated threats from its rear. In addition, the interference of the Akatsuki organization, an external force, has maintained a brief period of peace.

Otherwise, the Fourth Shinobi World War would have broken out long ago when Konoha collapsed, and it would most likely have been a scenario where the four great nations besieged the Land of Fire.

Genji nodded, echoing the same strategic thinking: "It is precisely because of these deep-seated concerns that the various countries will never allow us to annex the Land of Wind. Intelligence from the Land of Lightning indicates that after learning of our capture of the Hidden Sand Village and the Daimyo's residence, the Lightning-Fire Alliance has become a mere formality. The Lands of Earth, Lightning, and Water have even begun to secretly unite, showing a tendency to besiege us. Fortunately, the situation developed extremely quickly, and the Daimyo of the Land of Wind is so 'wise' that he swiftly signed a ceasefire and alliance treaty, which stopped this trend and prevented the worst-case scenario from occurring. Otherwise, I'm afraid many unexpected twists and turns would have occurred."

Sasuke Umino tapped the table lightly, a knowing glint in his eyes: "When the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, divided the Tailed Beasts and established the alliance, it seemed naive, but it wasn't entirely without merit. The balance of the Tailed Beasts was merely a facade; the underlying code of the ninja world order he constructed lay in the checks and balances between geography and national power. However, he probably didn't anticipate his early death. The decline of Konoha's strength, to some extent, disrupted this delicate balance, leading to many small countries breaking away from the Konoha system, causing a systemic problem in the balance of the ninja world..."

He didn't continue. The reason why wars broke out frequently in the ninja world was simply because Konoha's strength was insufficient. This problem was only solved when Naruto and Sasuke rose to power.

"Alright, I won't complain about the huge mess left by the God of Ninjas. Just proceed according to the original plan. Make good use of your 'Imperial Envoy' status and seize control of the economic lifeline of the Land of Wind as soon as possible."

"Yes! I understand!" Yuan Guangming replied solemnly.

……

After the signing of the alliance treaty between the Wind and Fire Kingdoms, the situation in the Wind Kingdom did not immediately calm down; instead, it became even more turbulent on another level.

Under the leadership of "General Ping Sha" Sha Chongba, "Commander Jing Mo" An Lujing, and "Commander Fu Fei" Xin Xie, the newly officially certified Jing Sha New Army began to march into various oases under the pretext of "suppressing local rebellions and restoring order to the kingdom".

While ostensibly suppressing a rebellion, the real purpose was to use the pretext of bandit suppression to plunder the properties and resources of disobedient nobles and powerful families, and to forcibly implement the new policies formulated by the Daming Prefecture.

Although these new bandit army members were generally of low quality and lacked strong mid-level ninjas, their high-ranking generals, with the help of the Second Generation Chakra Regeneration Core and the desert environment, possessed extremely strong individual combat power. In the desert, they were able to exert the combat power of elite Jonin, which was in no way inferior to the high monks and masters of the Wind Temple.

Faced with this unreasonable suppression of force, and the support of the Daimyo and Konoha, the nobles in various regions, despite their abundant resources and wealth, still appeared extremely vulnerable in the face of absolute violence. Their private armies and hired wandering ninjas were simply no match for the well-organized and ruthless Jing Sha New Army.

After repeated conflicts, the nobles suffered heavy losses and had to resort to more covert methods of resistance, such as secretly instigating peasant uprisings, destroying roads, delaying tax payments, and even organizing assassinations.

Seeing that resistance was futile, the nobles quickly changed their strategy, uniting together under the banner of "pacifying internal strife, restoring peace, and protecting the people and the land," and continuously petitioning the Daimyo's government. They even pressured Konoha, strongly demanding the immediate release of the Sunagakure ninjas imprisoned by Konoha.

Their reasons sound plausible: only with the return of the Sand Ninja can the military vacuum in the Land of Wind be effectively filled, the situation truly stabilized, the "increasingly rampant banditry" be countered, and the new policies implemented by the Daimyo's government be better coordinated.

Their true purpose is self-evident: to introduce the power of the Sand Ninja to counterbalance or even oppose the Sand Bandit New Army, which is completely beyond their control.

This tactic was indeed effective. Koharu Utatane had long been influenced by traditional political thought and always believed that the power of the aristocratic class was the cornerstone of maintaining rule. In comparison, the new bandit army was merely a tool to be used temporarily, not worthy of serious consideration, and unable to ensure long-term stability.

Seeing the petitions from nobles across the land and reports of the continued instability in the Wind Kingdom due to a lack of reliable military force, she was once again shaken.

She found Sasuke Umino, who was handling military affairs, and said worriedly, "Sasuke, our village's mobilization is complete. The Hokage will soon personally go to the front lines in the Land of Waterfall to command the battle. He has ordered you to quickly reorganize the troops and lead the main force of the Iron Wall Legion to join the battle in the Land of Waterfall. However, the situation in the Land of Wind is still unstable. The Sand Bandits are, after all, from humble origins, undisciplined, and difficult to fully trust. The nobles in various places are very resentful. Do you think we could consider releasing a small number of Sand Ninja prisoners who are more cooperative and have a better attitude? Let them help maintain local order, which can also ease relations with the nobles and facilitate our subsequent work. Without the support of these local strongmen, it will be difficult for our rule in the Land of Wind to be truly stable."

After listening, Sasuke Umino inwardly sighed that Koharu Utatane's thinking was still too traditional and conservative, and she was still trying to rely on the old ruling class to maintain order. However, he did not directly refute her, but pondered for a moment, and a solemn expression appeared on his face:

"Elder Koharu's concerns are reasonable. However, the release of the Sand Ninja is a matter of great importance and must be handled with utmost care."

He changed the subject, his tone becoming serious, "According to the latest intelligence I've received, after the defeat of Sunagakure, those remnants did not give up and joined the rebellion. Some Sunagakure ninja even fled into the territory of Loulan Kingdom."

"Loulan Kingdom?" Xiaochun was taken aback. She had some impression of the name, but didn't know much about it.

“Yes, the Kingdom of Loulan.” Sasuke Unno emphasized, “Intelligence indicates that a puppeteer named Centipede has taken control of the Queen of Loulan and is using the immense energy of the Loulan Dragon Vein to mass-produce war puppets. The scale and combat power of these puppets far exceed ordinary levels. According to reports from our lurking ANBU, Loulan has practically become a giant arms factory. The threat it poses should not be underestimated! If left unchecked, it could become a major threat, and might even become a base for Sunagakure’s counterattack!”

"What?! Is that really true?!" Koharu Utatane was shocked, her face changing instantly. She knew the power of war puppets. Sunagakure was able to maintain its place among the Five Great Nations precisely because of its puppetry techniques. If what Sasuke Unno said was true, that there was a large amount of energy to support the mass production of powerful puppets, the consequences would be unimaginable!
“The intelligence is absolutely conclusive,” Umino Sasuke said confidently, handing over a pre-prepared intelligence scroll. “Look, these are the photos and analysis reports that the Anbu risked their lives to send back.”

Koharu Utatane quickly scanned the images and text on the scroll—the massive underground factories, the countless puppets being assembled, and the strange dragon vein energy radiating intense chakra fluctuations—and her palms couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)