"Are you all insane?"
Ōnoki's eyes widened as he stood abruptly, his hands pressing against the table for support. He stared at Rasa in disbelief.
"Please don't act so surprised, Lord Tsuchikage," Rasa replied calmly.
There was no trace of the shock and loss of composure he and the senior members of Sunagakure had shown when they first heard this plan from Konoha—the plan that sounded just as absurd as the one about creating an oasis in the desert.
"Ninja are not gods!"
If not for the serious tone of the current meeting, Ōnoki would've thought Rasa was mocking him.
Opening a path through the barrier between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain?
That was something only inhuman beings could pull off.
The Land of Rain was located in a basin valley surrounded by mountain ranges.
It was wedged between the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and smaller nations like the Land of Birds, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Rivers.
The border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain was guarded by an enormous mountain, blocking the rich rainwater of Amegakure from reaching the arid deserts of the Land of Wind.
Breaking through such a natural barrier wasn't just difficult—it was a colossal, nightmarish task just to even imagine.
Ninja might be skilled in ninjutsu, but that didn't make them divine.
Even legends like the First Hokage, hailed as the God of Shinobi, and Uchiha Madara, his eternal rival, had limits to how much they could reshape the terrain.
At this moment, frustration welled up in Ōnoki's heart. He was beginning to think that Orochimaru and Rasa had proposed such an impossible task just to find an excuse to reject his alliance.
"If you're unwilling to share the benefits of the Gelel Stone, then don't bother using this excuse to reject me."
Ōnoki's voice was filled with irritation, and his expression darkened.
Hearing this, Orochimaru and Rasa exchanged a glance before Orochimaru stepped forward to explain.
"We made this decision after a proper site inspection and thorough planning. This isn't something a single shinobi village can accomplish alone. It's precisely because most Iwagakure shinobi specialize in Earth Release—especially large-scale, military-grade Earth Release—that we thought of inviting the Tsuchikage into this discussion."
"As long as we stick to the plan, what looks like a mad idea right now is simply a matter of time and manpower."
"Iwagakure's shinobi won't all get involved," Ōnoki said with a shake of his head.
Orochimaru's words, no matter how convincing, weren't enough to ease his doubts.
Even if the plan could succeed, it would require a significant number of Iwagakure's shinobi, including those trained in specialized Earth Release techniques for engineering tasks.
Ōnoki couldn't shake off his concerns.
Iwagakure did indeed have many practical Earth Release techniques suited for engineering.
For example, the advanced jutsu Earth Release: Purposeful Transformation—a technique that fused summoning principles with Earth Release.
By biting the finger and placing the palm over a blueprint, the user could alter the terrain to match the design laid out on the paper.
During wartime, many of Iwagakure's fortresses and outposts were built using techniques like this.
The entire process was fast and convenient.
Its only real drawback was the immense chakra consumption and the precise control it required.
The more complex the blueprint and the wider the area being altered, the more chakra it drained.
In the past, Iwa-nin relied on Earth Release jutsu to cause massive destruction, but that was completely different from Orochimaru's current plans.
At the very least, it would require Iwagakure to send a large number of shinobi, and some training would definitely be necessary.
That would put a heavy burden and pressure on the Iwa-nin.
After all, Iwagakure couldn't just work for the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. They still had their own internal missions, as well as assignments hired by merchants from other countries.
Although a new generation had begun to grow in Iwagakure, it still fell far short of the village's peak strength.
"The Land of Wind can hire Iwa-nin!"
When Rasa said this in front of Ōnoki, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction, as if he were finally lifting his head with pride.
There was a time when the Iwa-nin were an object of envy for the Land of Wind.
Their environments were similar in harshness—one a desert, the other a land of rocky cliffs.
But the Sand Village had always struggled to get by. They were never truly wealthy. Especially when Rasa had just taken over as Kazekage—it was like playing on nightmare difficulty.
At one point, Sunagakure couldn't even afford the money to train their next generation of ninja.
If it weren't for the later collaboration with the Land of Fire, and the generous support of the Wind Daimyō and the nobles, things would've been very different.
Through the binding of technologies and mutual interests, Sunagakure's economy had rapidly improved and eventually became prosperous.
Rasa couldn't imagine what the village would be like today if those things hadn't happened.
But one thing was certain—without that support, the number of Sand ninja would've drastically dropped.
Even if they focused their limited resources on elite training, the decline in numbers would mean fewer missions, and with that, the steady weakening of the village's strength.
The most despairing thought was that if this situation had continued, Sunagakure might have fallen to the level of a small shinobi village—becoming the first of the Five Great Ninja Villages to be eliminated.
Compared to Sunagakure, life in Iwagakure was much easier.
At the very least, the Daimyō of the Land of Earth did not cut military funding for the village, even after Iwa's defeat in the war.
Ōnoki was even able to purchase a large number of Healing Tags from the Land of Rain and actively recruit rare scientific talents from across the ninja world.
Now that the pressure of financial hardship had faded, Rasa stood tall with renewed confidence. It was as if Sunagakure had finally regained its footing economically.
"Hiring us?" Ōnoki blinked in surprise. "That could work... but anyone qualified to join this project must be at least chūnin. Can Sunagakure afford that?"
"No problem," Rasa replied without hesitation. Noticing the doubt in Ōnoki's tone, he simply nodded seriously to show that Sunagakure had the funds to pay Iwa-nin for their work.
This project had already been approved by the Daimyō of the Land of Wind.
The oasis was good, yes—but if this plan truly succeeded, then the harsh environment of the Land of Wind would improve much more rapidly.
With such vast territory, even if it couldn't rival the Land of Fire in terms of vegetation and natural resources, the Land of Wind would at least be able to support a large population—and profit greatly from them in return.
So with the full support of the Daimyō, Rasa had every reason to speak confidently.
After all, it was the Sunagakure that was poor—not its nobility.
The current Daimyō was still young, only a few years into his reign, and full of ambition.
"If the Tsuchikage agrees, part of the payment can also be made using Gelel Stones. I know you're interested in researching this chakra mineral," Orochimaru added calmly.
"Neither Konoha nor Sunagakure has any intention of monopolizing it."
"That works." Ōnoki paused, then nodded slightly.
But then he froze.
He suddenly realized—without even noticing it, he had already leaned toward accepting their offer.
Even though the discussion hadn't harmed Iwagakure's interests—in fact, they stood to gain something—this wasn't what he had intended from the start!
****
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