This Naruto is a player.

Chapter 204 Sunagakure Decides to Avoid Their Edge
Inside Sunagakure Village and Kazekage Tower.

As night fell, candlelight was lit in the meeting room.

The conference room was large, with an even larger round table in the center; the dim lighting was insufficient to illuminate the entire room.

Maki noticed the dimly lit meeting room. He frowned slightly and cursed inwardly, "How could the village's ninjas be so lazy after only a few days away?"
Seeing this, he reached out and grabbed a passing waiter who was lighting candles, demanding, "Hey! Why aren't the lights on?"

The ninja immediately recognized Maki and patiently explained in a low voice, "Lord Maki, the village doesn't have much fuel left, so we have to use it sparingly."

"This"

Maki paused, his gloomy expression suddenly softening, and he even seemed somewhat ashamed.

Has the village's finances really gotten so bad that they're even conserving electricity in the meeting room?
"Maki!" Chiyo called out to him from the other side.

Maki let the waiter go and turned to look at the elderly Chiyo.

"Is Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha really that difficult to deal with?" Chiyo stared intently at him with her cloudy old eyes, waiting for the answer to this question.

Instantly, even more people turned their attention to this direction.

After the [Konoha Crush Plan] failed that day, Sunagakure had no way of knowing anything about it, and only learned of the failure in the Ninja World Daily the next day.

I also learned about Naruto Uzumaki's deeds.

He defeated dozens of Sunagakure ninjas in an instant, and easily defeated the First and Second Hokage, earning him the title of "God of Shinobi!"

Regarding this news, the higher-ups in Sunagakure actually have more doubts. Even Chiyo, if it weren't for her younger brother having a mole who could get some information, she wouldn't have believed such a thing.

Even now, Chiyo finds it hard to believe.

As the leader of this attack on Konoha and a participant, Maki should naturally know the most about Konoha and Naruto Uzumaki.

Therefore, everyone is eager to know what exactly happened at the Chunin Exams.
"this."

Being watched so intently by so many people, especially the elders of Kirigakure, Maki felt a bit pressured.

After a moment of respite, he chose to tell the truth.

"I'm afraid they'll be even more difficult to deal with than those in the newspapers!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the higher-ups were all somewhat incredulous.

"Nani?"

"That kid is only twelve years old, is he really that strong?"

"How could someone possibly defeat someone as powerful as the First Hokage?"

Bang~~~
"Enough!" Chiyo slammed her hand on the table and shouted.

Those old eyes coldly swept over the surroundings, and the murmurs gradually subsided until they finally disappeared.

Call ~
Chiyo took a deep breath, easing the tightness in her chest that almost made it hard to breathe. She wasn't a good-tempered person to begin with, and even had a bit of a temper.

She was already of retirement age, and because of the deaths of her son and daughter-in-law and the defection of her grandson, she had no desire to leave the mountain and get involved in the management of Sunagakure.

However, reality forced her to take this step.

Hearing Maki's answer almost made her faint.

"Anything else? Tell me the details of what happened back then." Chiyo's aged eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"The situation was extremely critical at the time. We originally planned for Gaara's One-Tailed Beast to lead the charge, but things didn't go as we expected," Maki recounted the events in detail.

Everyone around was listening quietly.

Despite her petite frame, she brutally beat Shukaku with her fists.

Hearing the description of the scene, everyone present was speechless with disbelief.

Is this guy still a human being?
"Later, Obito Uchiha suddenly escaped. In order to win, I had no choice but to lead as many people as possible to attack the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. At that time, more than fifty of us ninjas, and more than a dozen Jonin, attacked Naruto Uzumaki together. Unexpectedly..."

Maki sighed deeply, even now, recalling that scene again still filled him with lingering fear.

He took a deep breath to suppress his panic and continued, "I never expected that Naruto Uzumaki, who was in the center, would wipe us all out in an instant with a single flash."

"Only now do I roughly understand what happened back then."

Maki, who had been explaining with his head down, suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with utmost sincerity. "Grandma Chiyo, Naruto Uzumaki is just too strong. He's practically invincible. Unless…"

Remembering Obito Uchiha's escape, Maki stopped talking.

He sincerely felt that with Naruto Uzumaki's immense power and his subsequent victories over Orochimaru and the First and Second Hokage, even if Obito Uchiha came, the outcome might not be certain.

"Here's today's latest newspaper, take a look." Chiyo had the waiter hand the newspaper to Maki.

This is a copy of the "Ninja World Daily".

Upon receiving it, the title above caught Maki's eye.

"Naruto Uzumaki was actually defeated?" His expression was one of utter shock, and his mouth was agape.

It's unbelievable that a strong character like Naruto Uzumaki could be defeated!

"That's right, defeated by Itachi Uchiha. Although it was a crushing defeat!"

Chiyo's weathered voice rang out, "Although the [Konoha Crush Plan] failed this time, our plan was not flawed; it was just that some unexpected changes occurred. We did not anticipate that Obito Uchiha would betray us."

"Have we issued a bounty for Obito, that traitor?" Maki asked.

Chiyo glared at him, her lips trembling.

The Sand Village was so poor that it was heartbreaking; where would they find the money to issue a bounty for Obito Uchiha?

Wouldn't it be better to use that money to light up the conference room?
This Maki!
No wonder he's been a Jonin for so many years but has only ever served as a team leader.

"We'll talk about this later."

After scanning the crowd, Chiyo said again, "Naruto Uzumaki has become the greatest threat to the peace of the ninja world!"

"If this person is not eliminated, the ninja world will never have true peace. Our Sand Village will have no future, and the ninja world will have no future either!"

Regarding this matter, I will write a secret letter to the shadows of the other three great powers, so that we can try to reach an agreement.

Chiyo pointed out sharply, "To eliminate this person, Sunagakure alone cannot do so without the support of outsiders."

"According to intelligence, Itachi Uchiha is a member of the Akatsuki organization, and he is on a hired mission, however..."

At this point, Chiyo paused, tapping her newspaper with her fingers. "As you all know, the most important problem we face in Sunagakure is that the village's funds are no longer sufficient for us to continue operating."

Chiyo even embellished these words somewhat.

The actual situation is even more critical.

After Chiyo took power, she realized that Sunagakure was in dire financial straits.

When Rasa was alive, things were alright. He could sell the gold dust he extracted from the desert to help the village with its financial crisis. But after the [Konoha Crush Plan], Rasa died tragically, and a large number of Sunagakure ninjas were captured.

The ransom and compensation payments have severely strained Sunagakure's finances, pushing them to the brink of collapse.

The village of Sunagakure's finances have been in trouble ever since the relationship with the Daimyo of the Land of Wind broke down, but it is rare for them to be on the verge of collapse like this now.

Chiyo knew all too well that Sunagakure, one of the five great ninja villages, could cease to exist if she wasn't careful!

This was something she simply couldn't accept!
He dedicated his life to the village of Sunagakure, but in his old age, he had to watch as it became an unknown, small ninja village.

Upon hearing Chiyo's words, everyone present nodded silently. Apart from a few ninjas, they were all aware of Sunagakure's current economic situation.

The village is about to go bankrupt!

Because Sunagakure was too poor, the internal harmony was relatively good, and there weren't many factions.

Therefore, after a frank meeting and in-depth discussions, the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure finally reached a consensus: the hatred towards Konoha and Naruto Uzumaki should be put aside for now.

After all, Naruto Uzumaki was at the height of his power at the moment, and Sunagakure was preparing to avoid his sharp edge and lay an ambush first.

The current goal is to pool the resources of the entire village to make money.

As for how to make money?
Sell ​​the gold if you can!

Sell ​​iron ore if you can!

Of course, the above are only temporary solutions; the most important thing is still to rob and plunder!
Target?

The Land of Lightning is naturally the wealthiest country in the ninja world, but it no longer possesses nuclear weapons!
What morality?
What kind of reputation?
Nothing is more important than filling your stomach!
(End of this chapter)