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

Chapter 52 Gap

Money matters.

With enough money, one can purchase large quantities of military equipment and train a large number of ninjas.

But money can only make a village strong temporarily, not permanently, unless you are always rich.

A well-developed and advanced training system is different; it is the foundation for building a powerful force, and can be said to be even more important than the city of organs.

The Fortress of Machines might preserve Sunagakure's strength for hundreds of years, but it cannot ensure that Sunagakure remains strong indefinitely. A well-developed and advanced training system, however, can.

Moreover, there are many ways to make money. But opportunities to learn from Konoha are few and far between.

If we don't have money, we can just slow down the construction of government offices and cities.

An opportunity to learn from Konoha... If you miss this chance, who knows when you'll find another one.

"It's not just the system; the teaching standards of our Sunagakure teachers, doctors, and medical ninjas all need improvement. I suggest sending a team there to study abroad," Ryuji succinctly explained the pros and cons.

Without a detailed understanding, one cannot know how big the difference is. Despite what Ryuji said, the Third Kazekage was still somewhat hesitant. "Our Sunagakure education system was also modeled after Konoha. Even if there are differences, it shouldn't have much of an impact!"

There are also medical ninjas... I heard that Konoha requires that every team capable of going out on missions have a medical ninja. Won't that reduce the team's combat strength?

"I can tell you with certainty that the gap between our education and Konoha's education is as large as the gap in strength between the two villages."

"Then there's no problem. Although we're not as good as Konoha, the gap isn't that big!"

Do you have any self-awareness?

Long Er couldn't help but curse under his breath.

At the previous meeting, he saw the Third Kazekage breathe a sigh of relief after hearing that they didn't have to go to war with Konoha, and even said that Konoha was the strongest in the ninja world, and that they should avoid fighting them if possible... At that time, he thought that the Third Kazekage had a good understanding of Konoha's strength, but in the end, he only had a vague concept of it.

That is, they felt that Konoha was strong, but not by much more than themselves.

But is this really the case?

Putting aside the two overpowered reincarnations of Ashura and Indra, Konoha's overall strength in this era is the strongest ever, even surpassing the generation of the Twelve Konoha 1s.

The older generation of powerful figures, led by the Third Hokage, are at their peak and entering middle age. The generation represented by the Sannin has become the backbone of the village, while the younger generation, led by Minato Namikaze, has also grown up.

Furthermore, the younger generation, led by Kakashi, is about to officially step onto the stage.

The peak of four generations—the elderly, middle-aged, youth, and teenagers—all converged in this era. Even with Ryuji's own cheat codes, he wasn't 100% confident that he could lead Sunagakure to a one-on-one victory against Konoha.

Ryuji painstakingly explained Konoha's strength to the Third Kazekage, his throat aching from talking so much, before finally convincing him.

but.

Looking at his bewildered expression from the spiritual ocean, as if he had been completely fooled, Long Er couldn't help but sigh.

This guy subconsciously still doesn't believe that the gap between Konoha and Sunagakure is that big.

But it's not his fault, because Sunagakure is still very strong.

Because it did not participate in any Shinobi World Wars, Sunagakure, under the policies of the Second Kazekage, developed puppeteers and Magnet Release, which not only made up for the overall gap in strength but also created a large number of skilled fighters.

During the Second Shinobi World War, it became the strongest ninja village in the world and consistently suppressed Konoha in the war.

The reason we lost back then was because we lacked stamina.

Konoha's rising stars are emerging like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, while Sunagakure, though it also has its talents, is far inferior in comparison.

Ultimately, they were forced to lose the war.

However, Sunagakure did not suffer many losses in that war and retained most of its strength.

Furthermore, with the rise of new talents such as Rasa, Ryuji, and Yekura in this generation, the Third Kazekage felt that apart from a slight gap in overall strength, his village was not much different from Konoha, and was even slightly stronger than Iwa and Kirigakure.

But after hearing Ryuji's explanation, he was completely dumbfounded.

It seems like Konoha can beat them up like it's nothing.

"Don't you even think about it? Why did other countries' rising stars emerge like mushrooms after rain during the Second Shinobi World War, while yours only had a handful?"

Upon hearing Ryuji's question, the Third Kazekage instinctively replied, "Isn't it because our Sunagakure has a small population that the probability of producing talented individuals is also low?"

"Then why don't other ninja villages produce as many talented individuals as Konoha?"

Yes, then why don't other ninja villages produce so many talented people?

The Third Kazekage paused for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening.

The gap in ninja training.

Upon realizing the answer, he couldn't help but gasp and say, "I never imagined the difference would be so great."

"Perhaps not that big, but even the smallest gap will widen over time," Ryuji said with some emotion.

Konoha's education system and medical ninja system are truly strong.

He remembered that the original work mentioned that the Nine-Tails' attack was the greatest disaster and loss Konoha had ever experienced.

In other words, Konoha's total losses in the Third Shinobi World War couldn't compare to the losses from just one Nine-Tails attack.

If it weren't for Obito's incident, the Uchiha clan massacre might not have happened, Konoha would have become stronger and stronger, with one family capable of taking on all the others, and the Akatsuki organization would never have had the chance to emerge later.

"Alright, you've convinced me about the education system, but what about medical ninjas?" The Third Kazekage continued, "Becoming a medical ninja is incredibly difficult. Training a medical ninja requires several times the effort and money of training an ordinary ninja, and they still lack combat power. Are medical ninjas really that important?"

The Third Kazekage knew that ninjas often got injured while on missions.

However, minor injuries can be treated by a ninja on their own, but serious injuries don't last long enough for them to return for treatment.

If they are placed in the team to carry out missions, they will drag down the team's combat effectiveness.

What could have been a successful mission might turn into a total annihilation, not only lowering the mission completion rate but also causing more casualties.

Therefore, the entire ninja world knows that medical ninjas can save lives, but no one thinks they have much value.

The village leaders believed that instead of spending several times more effort and money to train medical ninjas, it would be better to spend more money to train regular ninjas to make up for the losses caused by the deaths.

"If you think that medical ninjas lower the team's combat power, then you've already fallen into a misconception." Ryuji shook his head slightly.

"Oh?"

"Indeed, the presence of medical ninjas will lower the team's combat strength, but it will not lower the mission completion rate, nor will it cause greater casualties."

On the contrary, the addition of medical ninjas will increase mission completion rates and reduce casualties.

"...Why?" The Third Kazekage frowned slightly, unable to understand why lowering the combat strength wouldn't lower the mission completion rate.

(End of this chapter)