This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 51 Discussion

Ryuji originally planned to quickly build the Mechanical Castle before Sunagakure was drawn into the Third Shinobi World War, so that Sunagakure could ride on this great weapon and become the victor of this Shinobi World War.

But without money, nothing can be discussed.

How do we find the money?

Ryuji stroked his chin, lost in thought.

He remembered that after the Third Shinobi World War, because Sunagakure suffered more defeats than victories, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind began to doubt their abilities, so he drastically reduced military spending and entrusted Konoha with national missions.

Sunagakure was facing a financial crisis and had to reduce its military strength, almost becoming a small ninja village.

In the end, it was only through Rasa's series of policies that Sunagakure's status as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages was barely preserved.

First, he reduced the number of ninja training programs and implemented elite education.

Secondly, he used the technique of gold mining to extract gold, which was used to subsidize the village's military expenses, allowing Sunagakure to barely maintain its strength as one of the five great ninja villages.

If Luo Sha were sent to pan for gold, it might alleviate the financial pressure.

However, after thinking about it for a while, Ryuji rejected this idea.

The money earned from panning for gold in Luosha was barely enough to subsidize the village's military expenses, so how could they alleviate the financial pressure of building a city?

It might solve the immediate problem, but it won't be of much use.

So what other ways are there to make money quickly?

Selling weapons?

After considering it for a moment, Long Er also rejected the plan.

Although he possesses a wealth of knowledge that is out of step with the times and the world, enabling him to create weapons that are ahead of their time.

Even in this era of war, there is no shortage of markets.

However, Sunagakure is also involved in this situation.

It would be ridiculous if you sold your weapons to the enemy and they turned around and attacked you instead.

Afterwards, Ryuji came up with many other plans, but ultimately rejected them all.

The cost of building a flying steel fortress is simply too high, so high that even the Wind Kingdom, one of the five great nations, cannot afford it. Individual or other solutions would only be a drop in the ocean.

"It seems we have no choice but to slow down the construction. If we encounter any problems, we'll deal with them as they come," Ryuji sighed helplessly.

He was not Zhuge Liang after all, and could not be considered infallible.

"There's no need to be so pessimistic."

After the Third Kazekage moved through his spiritual ocean and understood Ryuji's current feelings, he said, "We Sunagakure should not be drawn into the war for several years."

Long Er paused, then asked, "How do you know?"

"The Konoha envoy has come to Sunagakure."

"Konoha's envoy...what are they sending an envoy for?"

"In order to solidify the alliance between the two villages, we made some preliminary contact today to test the waters, and they adopted a very humble attitude."

"I see!"

Long Er lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

After Sunagakure was defeated by Konoha in the Second Shinobi World War, it signed a ceasefire agreement with Konoha and later established an alliance.

Although both sides are equal in the agreement, due to the fact that Sunagakure was defeated in the war, it is more like the other side's subordinate.

Given the disparity in strength between the two sides, it's quite unusual that the other side would take the initiative to send people to solidify the alliance, especially since they've also lowered their stance.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Ryuji quickly realized something and asked, "Is someone targeting Konoha?"

"There's no relevant information yet, but we can probably guess what it is."

"An alliance of clouds, rocks, grass, and rain?"

"That's right."

Whether in this world or in Ryuji's previous life, there are only two reasons for the outbreak of all wars.

First, they are too powerful and dissatisfied with the status quo, hoping to become stronger by plundering other countries.

Second: Internal problems have arisen, requiring war to resolve them.

The alliance of Cloud, Rock, Grass, and Rain joined forces to attack Sunagakure, not only because they felt the timing was good, but also because they had a greater need for war.

But they lost this battle; they did not achieve their needs through war.

Therefore, the war will inevitably continue.

For the allied forces of these four ninja villages, other small countries and ninja villages simply cannot meet their needs.

Only other ninja villages that are also among the five great ninja villages have this possibility.

Sunagakure Village occupies a prime location in the desert, yet the area is barren and impoverished.

Even if we win the attack on Sunagakure, the gains will not be proportional to the effort.

Kirigakure is located on an island nation far from the mainland and has always maintained a closed connection with the outside world. Since there is little interest involved, it is unlikely to become a target.

In the end, only Konoha remained.

The Land of Fire, where Konoha is located, possesses the most fertile and abundant land in the entire ninja world. The country boasts the highest standard of living in the world and receives the most mission assignments in the entire ninja world.

If one can defeat Konoha, or at least fight to a standstill, and gain a reputation among the people of the Land of Fire that is no less than that of Konoha, thereby securing some commissions from the people of the Land of Fire, it would be a sure-fire way to make money.

"The Konoha leadership must have anticipated this situation, which is why they came to Sunagakure first to establish good relations with us, so as to prevent us from taking advantage of their misfortune later."

"That's right, that's what I think too." The Third Kazekage nodded slightly and said, "We can take this opportunity to extort a lot of money from Konoha. Although it may still not be enough to cover the cost of building the mechanical castle, it can greatly alleviate the financial pressure when combined with Rasa's gold mining technique."

Most importantly, we don't have to worry about being affected by war in the short term, so we can focus on building our mechanical city.

In the past, Sunagakure would never have accepted Konoha's offer of kindness.

Because they wanted to grow stronger, they had to invade the land of rivers.

But it's different now.

With an infinite water circulation system, obtaining fertile land is no longer the only way out.

Therefore, choosing to gain a benefit and then remain on the sidelines is undoubtedly the best option.

"No, we can't blackmail Konoha." Ryuji rejected the suggestion.

"Hmm?" The Third Kazekage hesitated for a moment before saying, "There's no room for mercy in relations between nations. How can we let this rare opportunity slip by?"

"I'm not pitying them; there are things more important than money."

"More important than money... is fertile land?" The Third Kazekage couldn't help but smile. "They would never give us land. After all, nothing has happened yet, and Konoha hasn't reached the point where it needs to divide up land."

"It's not about land, it's about learning."

"study?"

"I'm not talking about the formalities of Konoha's education system and medical system, but rather the more core and important aspects."

The four major ninja villages all tried to emulate Konoha by establishing ninja academies, but none of them actually achieved the same level of success.

In the original work, Gaara introduced a comprehensive Konoha education system through his relationship with Naruto, and in less than two years, the overall strength of Sunagakure more than doubled (I don't know how they could double their strength in such a short time, even before graduation, but that's how it was set up in the original work).

Konoha's medical system was also the key to its ultimate victory in the Third Shinobi World War.

The Sand Village is unparalleled in the ninja world when it comes to poison research, but as for medicine... well, let's just say it's terrible!

"What I want is to reach a concrete agreement with the Konoha envoy, so that they can send experts to impart relevant experience and knowledge, or for Sunagakure to send people to study abroad and learn from their experience."

(End of this chapter)