The scale of Sunagakure's actions sent shockwaves through the entire shinobi world.
All eyes were on the Land of Wind.
In less than a month, both a Kazekage and a Daimyo had been assassinated.
Though the official stance from both sides pointed the blame at an organization clad in black robes with red clouds, the other great villages weren't so easily convinced.
They only trusted their own intelligence networks.
The bounty on Rasa's head had already begun circulating within the Underground Exchange.
A village leader, worth eight hundred million ryo, successfully assassinated.
It was a monumental achievement—a statement.
By completing the bounty, the Underground Exchange sent a clear message:
Not even a Kage is untouchable.
As long as the price was right, the only ones they wouldn't target were the already dead.
Sunagakure's ANBU units launched a ruthless purge, eradicating every known Underground Exchange stronghold within the Land of Wind.
However, the Exchange had anticipated this response.
From the moment Kakuzu accepted the contract, they had begun evacuating personnel.
By the time he delivered Rasa's severed head, the last of their operatives had already withdrawn from the Land of Wind.
Their losses?
Nothing more than a few abandoned hideouts—a small price to pay for such a lucrative payday.
Sunagakure's revenge wouldn't stop there, but for now, they had bigger priorities.
The Formation of the Wind Federal Republic
The flood of nobles and merchants into Sunagakure brought as many problems as opportunities.
Conflicts between native villagers and newcomers.
Tension between shinobi and civilians.
Fierce debates between traditionalists and reformists.
After lengthy negotiations between Unit-18, Pakura, and Sunagakure's leadership, a critical decision was made:
Law must be the foundation that holds this new system together.
They took inspiration from Konoha's Uchiha Police Force, establishing a Law Enforcement Corps, but with one key addition—Judges.
Unlike the shinobi-led police force, Judges didn't need to be ninjas.
Any citizen with a thorough understanding of the law could take up the role.
Pakura, knowing the flaws within Sunagakure's shinobi system, agreed to this compromise.
Codifying laws, defining governmental powers, expanding infrastructure, and recruiting personnel—
These reforms would take at least six months before showing any real results.
Even drafting the initial legal framework took over a month of debate.
Unit-18 wasn't particularly impressed with their efficiency.
They didn't have the patience to stay in Sunagakure for long, so they constructed a nano-clone to act as their permanent representative.
It had no combat capabilities—only a business and diplomatic interface.
Meanwhile, Hyuga Mirai proposed that certain non-political projects—such as urban expansion and oasis construction—should begin immediately.
Pakura considered the proposal.
"Kazekage-sama," Unit-18 said, "for civil engineering projects, I recommend Keikou Sanmoku. If you entrust him with the work, you won't have to worry about a thing."
Hearing Keikou Sanmoku's name, Pakura immediately nodded.
She trusted Sanmoku—his track record spoke for itself.
"If Sanmoku-kun is handling it, I have no concerns. I'll assign a team of Earth Release specialists to assist him."
Kaikan's construction plans for Sunagakure were nothing short of breathtaking.
From building materials to architectural design, every aspect of the project surpassed the village's current infrastructure by an order of magnitude.
If the final results matched the detailed blueprints, even Pakura herself was tempted to move out of the Kazekage's office—
And settle into one of the newly built districts instead.
Pakura had already made up her mind—as the Kazekage, she would reside in the most dangerous areas of the village.
However, Unit-18 saw through her thoughts and, using Keikou Sanmoku as a mouthpiece, casually remarked:
"Once the expansion of Sunagakure is complete, the older buildings inside the village can be rebuilt as well."
With the village's structural reforms underway, even its name had been decided.
The Federal Republic of Suna.
Once the reforms were finalized, the name "Sunagakure" would fade into history, replaced by a new identity.
Pakura would still hold the title of Kazekage, but in essence, she would serve as the leader of the Federal Republic of Suna.
A Storm in the Shinobi World
Sunagakure's actions sent ripples throughout the shinobi world.
Even if they wanted to, there was no hiding such a massive undertaking.
Expanding the village, greening the desert, forming alliances—
It was an earthshaking transformation, one that even the Daimyo of the Land of Wind couldn't ignore.
And the other great villages were taking notice too.
Despite their official alliance, Konoha remained the most wary of Sunagakure.
In fact, the highest number of spies infiltrating Suna were from Konoha, and most of them weren't even shinobi—just ordinary civilians gathering intelligence.
Among all the hidden villages, Konoha suffered the greatest setback from the Keikou Family's allegiance to Sunagakure.
Originally, Keikou Trading was just a small-scale company operating within a single province of the Land of Fire.
But after aligning with Sunagakure, their rapid growth in mineral exploration fueled their expansion into multiple industries—ninja tools, food supplies, medical equipment, and more.
Over the years, Keikou Trading amassed vast wealth, to the point where even Konoha's ANBU couldn't accurately assess its true financial strength.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi knew one thing for certain—Sunagakure's recovery would accelerate dramatically now that Keikou Trading had joined them.
And that was bad news for Konoha.
"Hiruzen! Hiruzen!"
Koharu Utatane had to call his name several times before the Third Hokage finally snapped out of his thoughts.
Danzo remained silent, but Homura Mitokado frowned and asked:
"What do you plan to do about this? If we don't act, Sunagakure will recover far faster than we anticipated."
Homura continued grimly:
"And that's just the beginning. With Keikou Trading's influence, the number of factions joining Suna is likely just the tip of the iceberg. The nobles from the Land of Rivers, the Land of Bears, and the Land of Demons are already moving in. Except for their respective Daimyo, nearly all of their noble houses are preparing to align with Sunagakure."
Sarutobi exhaled heavily.
"This is troublesome."
He wanted to stop this.
But the problem was—they weren't dealing with shinobi, but an alliance of influential nobles and powerful merchants.
And they were rallying behind Keikou Trading, a colossal economic force.
Konoha had two options—
Persuasion or assassination.
Persuasion was pointless.
If these nobles were willing to abandon the Land of Fire and risk aligning with Sunagakure, then the benefits offered by Suna must have outweighed anything Konoha could offer.
Assassination?
Eliminating one or two nobles could be swept under the rug.
But if they launched a large-scale operation against the aristocracy, even the Fire Daimyo wouldn't stand idly by.
Sunagakure had already cut ties with its Daimyo, so they had nothing to lose.
Konoha, however, was still dependent on funding from the Land of Fire's Daimyo.
If Sarutobi ordered such a move, the Daimyo could easily retaliate by slashing Konoha's budget—crippling their future development.
Danzo, who had remained silent, sat quietly, his expression unreadable.
After multiple warnings from Sarutobi, he had become more cautious.
But deep down, he couldn't care less about Keikou Trading or Sunagakure.
His focus was on something far more important—
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Danzo smirked internally.
"Hmph. In a way, I should be grateful to Keikou Trading. They've distracted Sarutobi's attention from me. By the time he realizes it, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will already be mine."
Sarutobi cast a glance at Danzo, noticing his deliberate silence.
He sighed.
"He's getting smarter. He won't take the bait so easily anymore."
With no other immediate options, Sarutobi finally spoke:
"I will report this matter to the Daimyo. Keikou Trading is a noble family of the Land of Fire—how we handle this situation requires the Daimyo's input."
---
Tea Country - Hyuga Mirai's Lab
Inside his secret base in the Land of Tea, Hyuga Mirai finished preparing a clone of himself, programming an automatic nutrient replacement system to sustain its growth.
Based on the current development rate of his third-generation nutrient solution, the clone would take exactly 510 days to mature.
This was only because Mirai's own genetics required extra time.
If he were cloning Orochimaru, the process could be shortened by one-sixth.
"Unit-18, monitor the clone's status at all times. If anything seems off, report to me immediately."
After issuing the command, Hyuga Mirai tapped his wrist-mounted device.
With a soft click, a lightweight exoskeleton unfolded around his lower body.
Activating Anti-Gravity Flight Mode, he ascended into the sky.
Although this mode lacked thrusters for high-speed acceleration, it was still faster than standard travel methods.
Unit-18 asked,
"Sir, are you going to meet Tsunade?"
Mirai nodded.
"Yes. It's about time I dealt with her."
"If she keeps investigating, she'll eventually dig too deep—she's already getting close to uncovering Kado's shipping operations."
With that, he locked onto Tsunade's last known location and took off into the night sky.
(End of Chapter)
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