A special thank you to my patrons:
—Cain, Shahzaam, Varun Madhu, kevin Williams, Jose Carrillo, Jose Sierra, Silver, Archer, ManyEB, Acedia, Zhandos Kauzhanov, Kylo Ren, Mursuland, Vora, kurtis newman, 66835, Alex Rushing.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
—————————————————————
"You mean…
It was only after receiving this hint that Tsunade came to her senses, realizing that the situation in Iwagakure did indeed seem a bit unusual.
"It appears we need to be prepared."
Tsunade nodded thoughtfully, lost in contemplation.
Kazuki stood up and raised his hand, gently patting her head.
"There's no need to be overly alarmed. We just need to wait for news. It shouldn't be too long, after all, Iwagakure is already at its limit."
Purchasing a batch of supplies from the Land of Fire's Daimyo could only temporarily alleviate their immediate crisis. The real, massive trouble still lay ahead.
After the rescue operations concluded, the affected villagers would need resettlement. Families who had lost members would require compensation payments, and rebuilding the village would demand vast sums of money.
Ōnoki would be crushed under the pressure until he could barely breathe.
If Iwagakure wanted to buy supplies, as long as they had the money, Konoha had nothing much to say. They chose not to jump in and cause trouble.
Konoha harbored no objections on this matter, and the Daimyō was quite pleased, naturally, because he stood to make a hefty profit from the deal.
The money earned could be invested into gathering refugees and constructing new settlements.
Once these people settled down and became proper citizens of the Land of Fire, after a few years of gradual development, the revenue flowing into his coffers would increase even more.
The mere thought of the Land of Fire's national strength growing ever stronger warmed the Daimyō's heart.
So considerately, he took the initiative to send a messenger to Tsunade, inquiring whether the village recently needed financial support from the capital.
What the hell was this?
When she received the letter, Tsunade was utterly dumbfounded.
Back when the Third Hokage needed funds, it was a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships, requiring all sorts of strategizing and battling wits with the Daimyō just to secure the money. But when it came to her turn...
Kazuki kept coming up with all sorts of tricks to get her to request money from the capital, and strangely enough, the Daimyō always obliged with great courtesy.
Now, it had reached a point where she didn't even need to ask. The Daimyō was proactively inquiring whether Konoha needed development funds. This kind of treatment...
It was absolutely unbelievable.
It was a good thing the Third Hokage had already retired. If he were still in office and learned of this, he'd probably cough up a mouthful of old blood in frustration.
The eruption of the Four-Tails incident had already caused significant ripples across the shinobi world, whose situation was inherently unstable.
Iwagakure was busy with disaster relief and purchasing supplies everywhere.
Apart from buying a large batch of supplies from the Land of Fire, Iwagakure was also procuring materials from surrounding minor nations and small villages. This behavior didn't raise much suspicion among others.
After all, Iwagakure desperately needed these things right now. Buying from dispersed sources was understandable. Only a small minority saw clearly that Iwagakure's intentions went far beyond just the wine.
As expected, half a month later, an announcement from Iwagakure directly shocked the entire shinobi world.
"Ōnoki can't hold back any longer."
"Iwagakure can't hold back either."
Putting down the intelligence scroll in his hand, Kazuki looked at the map of the shinobi world.
"After picking and choosing, in the end, it's Takigakure that suffers disaster. Is this fate?"
The Land of Waterfalls and its Takigakure had always been a relatively low-profile nation and village within the shinobi world.
Among the many minor shinobi villages, Takigakure's strength was considered quite decent, and the village even possessed a Tailed Beast.
Unfortunately, the jinchūriki had defected and left the village.
Although Takigakure kept a low profile, its unique geographical environment made this village and country one of the more prosperous among the minor nations.
A small country, a small village, yet relatively wealthy—this was precisely why Ōnoki had his eyes fixed on Takigakure.
If it were Kazuki, he would also choose to attack Takigakure, transferring Iwagakure's financial crisis onto Takigakure's head, and even onto the entire Land of Waterfalls.
The shinobi world was not a place that played by the rules. If you were weak, even keeping to yourself wouldn't prevent you from getting beaten up.
While Takigakure's strength was among the higher tier for minor villages, a minor village was still a minor village. Its military power couldn't compare to that of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Coupled with its wealthy finances, it was somewhat understandable that Ōnoki targeted them.
And so, Iwagakure issued a public announcement, accusing Takigakure of secretly annihilating a Rock ninja supply procurement team over a minor dispute, demanding that Takigakure provide a reasonable explanation.
"????"
Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on?
Suddenly, a massive pot fell from the sky, and the people of Takigakure were utterly bewildered.
They didn't even know about Iwagakure sending people to purchase supplies!
Yet, a huge accusation had just landed right on their heads, and Iwagakure was forcefully demanding they provide a reasonable explanation, otherwise, the consequences would be severe.
Once the news spread, everyone in the shinobi world was shocked.
Iwagakure was currently going through multiple disasters and hardships. Others were avoiding them at all costs, but you, Takigakure, had such nerve to provoke them at a time like this?
Wasn't this just poking the tiger's butt for no reason, seeking a thrill?
"Takigakure must have gone mad, daring to provoke even Iwagakure. The Rock Village at this time is definitely not to be messed with; touch them and they'll explode."
"Who knows? Maybe the people of Takigakure got greedy and had some ulterior motives, but they picked the wrong target."
"By the way, where is Takigakure again?"
"....."
In Konoha, many villagers were discussing the matter, with even some who had no idea of Takigakure's location joining in with great relish.
After all, this was Iwagakure and Takigakure's own mess. Konoha's villagers were happy to watch the drama without worrying about the scale, simply enjoying the show.
Those with clarity could see that Ōnoki wanted to take action against Takigakure but didn't want to completely ruin his village's reputation. So, he concocted this frame-up: a village team sent to the Land of Waterfalls to purchase supplies was ambushed, with all members sacrificed. According to Iwagakure's investigation, it was precisely Takigakure's doing.
No matter how wronged Takigakure felt, from the moment Iwagakure angrily issued its announcement, Takigakure was like having yellow mud dropped into their pants—even if it wasn't shit, nobody would believe them.
Indeed, upon hearing the news, most people's first reaction was, 'Takigakure must be crazy to provoke Iwagakure at a time like this,' rather than wondering if this might be an Iwagakure conspiracy.
In such matters, Takigakure, being excessively low-key and still a minor shinobi village, held a natural disadvantage.
Even if Takigakure immediately issued an announcement stating the incident had nothing to do with them and expressed willingness to offer compensation to settle the matter, it was useless.
Others would even think, if it wasn't you, why offer compensation?
It was a classic case of a guilty conscience.
This series of blunders by Takigakure amused quite a few people, Kazuki being one of them.
He never expected that Takigakure, while denying any involvement, would simultaneously try to negotiate with Iwagakure, attempting to offer some compensation to get them to drop the matter.
A classic case of confessing without being pressed!
If before they were merely being slandered, now it was their own stupidity that firmly planted the hat on their heads.
"Currently, Iwagakure has turned the tables. Apart from accepting compensation from Takigakure, they are also demanding Takigakure hand over the culprits responsible. Moreover, there's been frequent mobilization of ninja forces within Iwagakure."