Chapter 4: Departure
At this point.
Everyone could see that the war was about to end.
The Land of Rain, which had once taken on three nations single-handedly, was now showing signs of exhaustion.
Years of war had plunged the resource-scarce Land of Rain into civil war.
The country was in chaos.
There was no way it could support Amegakure in continuing the fight.
Hanzō of the Salamander, the leader of Amegakure hailed as the "Demigod of the Shinobi World," must have seen that the God of Shinobi was dead, the Asura of the Shinobi World's grave was covered in tall grass, and the second generation of leaders from the Five Great Shinobi Villages were all gone. He probably thought that the era of the demigod had finally arrived and wanted to elevate the Land of Rain to the position of the sixth great shinobi village.
In the end, he started with high spirits, only to find out... he actually couldn't win!
Now he was truly stuck, unable to surrender and unwilling to not surrender, caught in an awkward position, constantly waiting for an opportunity.
After all, surrendering so easily would not only cost him his face as a demigod but would also require him to pay massive reparations.
It wasn't until the later battle with the Sannin that this opportunity presented itself.
He didn't really want to surrender; he was just acknowledging the younger generation of the shinobi world, not wanting such outstanding talents to be sacrificed so easily on the battlefield.
So, it was a way of saying, "I'm giving you Konoha face. I won't kill your future, so can we just stop fighting?"
And just like that.
The war between the Land of Rain and Konoha came to an end.
After the royalty payment was deposited, the treasury of the Land of Grass finally looked much better. They shouldn't be short on money for the initial phase.
However, the Land of Grass still needed a stable source of income.
It was fine for now, but to become stronger in the future, the amount of investment required would be astonishing.
"A batch of food supplies will arrive in a few days! Arrange for people to receive it then," Kusa Hikaru instructed.
Then.
He took the items he had asked Kana to purchase before leaving, conveniently completed today's order from his system, and then asked, "Where's Mujina?"
"Lord Mujina left last night," Kana said, hesitating for a moment. "Because you were busy last night, Lord Hikaru, we didn't want to disturb you. Lord Mujina said that if there are no problems, you can also prepare to depart."
At the same time.
Just as Hikaru was asking about Mujina's situation, on the other side... Konoha had also received a message from Mujina.
Knock, knock~
A knock on the door, and then, without a moment's pause, the door was pushed open directly.
"Hiruzen, about the Kusagakure matter..."
Homura Mitokado walked in with a frown, his face serious, and was just about to speak.
A flurry of frantic noises reached his ears.
He had just looked up when he saw Hiruzen bending over, carefully picking something up... a book?
Then.
He quickly hid it and, pretending nothing had happened, said, "How many times have I said it! How many times! Knock before you enter! I am in the middle of studying! And you just barge in like this! This has seriously disrupted the quality of my learning!"
"..."
They had been comrades for decades; who didn't know who?
What kind of book was that? Did he really think he didn't know?
Was he looking at 'The Landlady' or 'Teacher Hyuga Kiyomi'?
You really think I haven't read them?
Homura looked at him with disdain in his eyes, but his face showed admiration as he said with emotion, "No wonder you became Hokage, Hiruzen. The First Hokage must have chosen you because you love to learn and never gave it up even after graduation! Look at us. It's been so long since we graduated, we haven't even touched a book! Not like you! Such self-discipline!"
After saying that, he quickly got to the point.
"The representative from Kusagakure has arrived at the border of the Land of Fire. News came from there that they also want to agree to Konoha's request, but unfortunately, the Land of Grass is rebuilding, and the village is short on manpower and shinobi. Their strength is weak, and they simply cannot participate."
"As expected~"
Hiruzen didn't seem surprised by Kusagakure's choice. The entire shinobi world knew... Kusagakure was an ally of Konoha, but they also flirted with Iwagakure and didn't hesitate to sell Konoha's intelligence.
A weed on the wall!
Utterly devoid of shinobi ethics!
This time, they were just checking Kusagakure's attitude towards Konoha, seeing that the country was rebuilding, to see if they had sided with Iwagakure. After all, the border of the Land of Grass connects with the Land of Fire.
If there were any unexpected developments, they could prepare in advance.
"So be it. The war is about to end anyway, so it doesn't matter if Kusagakure participates or not. Have Orochimaru and the others push forward and end the battle with the Land of Rain as soon as possible. At the same time, have Dan hold the defensive line against Sunagakure! Once Orochimaru's side is finished, he will quickly go to support them."
"Wait, I'm not finished! Kusagakure said that although their conditions are difficult, as an ally of Konoha, how could they stand by and watch? Therefore, they are prepared to contribute their own strength, but they hope that Konoha will support their reconstruction efforts!"
"...In plain English!"
"Basically... they want money!"
Meanwhile.
In the Land of Rain.
At the same time.
The demigod of the shinobi world also received a letter from the Land of Grass.
[Konoha, in its might, has coerced the Land of Grass to join in attacking the Land of Rain. This is not the will of our Land of Grass.]
[The Land of Grass and the Land of Rain are neighbors, and have long suffered under the oppression of the great nations! We should stand united and watch over each other!]
[Therefore, right now, for just thirty million ryo!]
[For just thirty million ryo! The Land of Grass will station its troops at the border and will not take a single step into the Land of Rain!]
It was so direct that even Hanzō of the Salamander fell silent.
But how did a weakling like the Land of Grass have the guts to threaten their Land of Rain?
Even if Amegakure wasn't one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, its strength was not something that weed on the wall could compare to.
"This is blatant extortion! A mere Kusagakure dares to provoke us, Amegakure! Leader, let's take them out!"
"That's right! Let them know the power of Amegakure!"
However.
Compared to the indignant Amegakure shinobi, Hanzō of the Salamander remained silent.
That's right.
He didn't want to fight anymore.
He had started the war with great ambition, only to find out... forget Konoha, their Amegakure couldn't even defeat Sunagakure!
The only victory they had was against the Land of Iron above them.
But that was useless!
They gained no benefits and left the Land of Rain in a mess.
Therefore, this could not go on.
After a moment.
Hanzō shook his head and sighed, "So be it. Tell Kusagakure... five million! They are only worth five million! This is already far more than an S-rank mission! If they don't agree, Amegakure will surrender to Konoha, and at that time..." A cold sneer. "We will declare war on Kusagakure!"
As he spoke.
He shook his head with a bitter smile.
He never thought he would one day be threatened by that weed on the wall, Kusagakure.
He had long heard that Kusagakure survived by playing all sides and selling intelligence from various villages. Seeing it today... it was indeed true.
The next day.
After seeing the message sent back from Mujina, Kusa Hikaru also felt a wave of emotion.
There was a reason why the Land of Grass... managed to offend all the surrounding countries and become despised by all shinobi. This Mujina had truly played the role of Kusagakure's "weed on the wall" to its fullest extent.
After receiving Mujina's message, Hikaru immediately snuck into the Land of Rain.
The poisonous fog on the outskirts of the Land of Rain couldn't stop him at all, and he soon arrived at the location mentioned in the intelligence report.
However.
Looking at the little girl with a light blue-purple bun hairstyle lying motionless on the ground not far away, Kusa Hikaru fell silent.
Had he...
Arrived too early, or too late?!
Author's Note:
It's a nation-building story! This will be the version! I found that after not writing for three months, my touch was almost gone! So, I'm starting a familiar nation-building book!
As for the One Piece fic... sorry everyone, I overestimated myself and couldn't find a good entry point, I was just muddling through.
New author, new book, I hope those who find it readable can give it a lot of support!
The initial setup might be a bit boring, I'll try my best to write it to be more interesting!
The synopsis and title have also been changed, they should refresh tomorrow!
(End of Chapter)