Chapter 360: Conversation
Interestingly, this cold drink shop was a business established by the Sand Village itself.
It could be described as a state-owned enterprise; or more accurately, a village-owned enterprise.
For various reasons, this was the Sand Village's first cold drink shop.
In terms of national economy and people's livelihood, the Sand Village, which was relatively poor in resources, lagged far behind Konoha and the Land of Fire. If Konoha hadn't recently opened up the export of ice blocks—Yuki Haku alone doubled the ice-making efficiency of the Land of Fire, and if Haruno Sakura joined in, it could be increased by another ten times—they probably wouldn't even be able to afford to open this cold drink shop.
Opening a shop in the name of the village seemed a bit strange, but there was no helping it.
Using Gaara's explanation, it was a case of "poverty breeds the desire for change." The Sand Village was not without precedent; the Fourth Kazekage even condescended to manufacture Gold Dust to subsidize the Sand's finances.
The Sand ninja's biggest worry was whether this would actually be effective. After all, this world had just emerged from the chaotic Warring States Period, and economic theory was still stuck in the feudal era of her previous life. There was a long debate about whether opening a shop in the name of the village was competing with the people for profit. In addition, some people believed that the ninja and civilians in the village were very poor, and opening such a shop would have few customers and cause serious losses; or they believed that the tradition of ninja was to endure hardships and live simply, and such a shop would breed hedonistic thoughts among ninja and corrode their fighting will.
But no matter how many reasons for opposition there were, they couldn't withstand one reason for approval.
That was, the Sand Village was very short of money.
Young people represented by Gaara were more open-minded, believing that this could make money for the village and prosper the economy, so the higher-ups agreed to open a small shop to try.
Sugar water plus carbon dioxide plus ice, the taste could even reach the level of cola in Sakura's previous life, plus special shaved ice and the like. If it weren't for the fact that most people in the shop were still wearing ninja forehead protectors, the girl would have had the illusion of returning to Earth.
"Not bad," the pink-haired girl took a sip of the cold drink, raised her eyebrows and said, "You guys put some thought into this."
Sand ninja could concoct precise and potent poisons, so making a uniquely tasty and delicious beverage recipe was naturally a piece of cake.
Sasuke also tasted some snacks and said faintly, "Hn, indeed, summer is suitable for eating such snacks..."
But Sakura could hear a hint of disapproval in his tone.
Sasuke had never liked sweets much. Haruno Sakura knew this habit very well, and sweet drinks were also within his range of resistance, so he just tasted the snacks and drinks on the table and lost interest after trying the flavor. Conversely, Sakura in this life had a fairly high acceptance of sweets, which was probably because her taste was influenced by her body.
Moreover, although eating icy things in summer was very cool, ninja proficient in Fire Style usually preferred hot food.
In addition, the chattering girls nearby also annoyed him a bit...
The biggest reason was that Sasuke didn't agree with ninja enjoying too much. He was the kind of traditional ninja leaning towards Puritanism, believing that an overly comfortable environment would corrode his heart, and hedonism was a wrong tendency for ninja. This was exactly the opposite of Haruno Sakura's idea. She believed that ninja were also human, and keeping oneself tight forever was unbeneficial; a balance of work and rest was the best way of life. As for Gaara, his demands on himself were the same as Sasuke's, a very disciplined and simple person; but he had no such demands on others.
After all, Gaara didn't know Sasuke as well as the girl did, and didn't hear the overtones in his words, taking it as sincere praise.
So he responded with a faint smile and said, "So the cold drink shop's business is quite booming. It has opened up a new source of revenue for the village's exhausted finances..."
The Sand Village needed to cultivate new people and restore its strength, so it was inevitable to increase investment. It also had to pay war reparations, face the dilemma of insufficient mission orders and reduced financial income after defeat, and expenses were greater than before. Unsurprisingly, the Sand Village fell into a financial crisis, which was why it allowed such shops, previously considered crooked ways, to be set up.
"Didn't you plan to open more branches?" Haruno Sakura asked.
"Actually, there are already several branches," Gaara nodded and said, "But there probably won't be any more. We are ninja after all."
There was no regret in his tone. It seemed that the new Kazekage also believed that this kind of cold drink shop was just an expedient measure.
According to the business logic of her previous life, such a shop with high profits, a large market, and no competitors should open more branches and cover the entire Land of Wind. Obviously, ninja and merchants did not use the same logic. Ninja believed in strength in their bones. So what if they made more money and opened branches all over the ninja world? Without powerful ninja to guard them, it was just a bubble.
What's more, in the eyes of the Sand ninja, doing so earned money from their own village and countrymen. It was nothing more than spending effort to let the money circulate once more, and doing it on a large scale had little meaning.
Instead of focusing on making money, it was better to think about how to improve the village's combat power.
Regarding such thoughts, Haruno Sakura didn't know whether to call them blockheads or say they saw things too clearly?
"That's right," Sasuke agreed, "These are not things ninja should do. Besides, we don't have time to focus on such trivial matters."
Gaara nodded in agreement.
"When our generation solves the problem of the Akatsuki and peace is achieved among the Five Great Nations, perhaps the next generation can sit in such a place peacefully without constantly being vigilant about future battles!" Sakura changed the topic.
"War originates from the competition for resources," Gaara said solemnly. "Ninja accept and complete missions to obtain remuneration and resources. This has been the practice for hundreds of years. However, now there seems to be a new way..."
The girl looked at the new Kazekage with some surprise. He had also noticed this.
Indeed, people who can become a Kage are not simple-minded.
"Yes, because now ninja can also produce resources..." She looked at the red-haired boy and said slowly.
War is the most intense means of struggle for the contradiction of resource shortage in ninja villages.
Because mission orders are always limited, obtaining remuneration by completing missions is inefficient and fragile. The advanced ninja village system, compared to the past clan system, made the training of ninja easier. As the number and strength of ninja continued to increase, ninja villages gradually could not bear the heavy burden of feeding so many ninja, so they could only expand outward.
From the perspective of resources, population growth means resource shortage, forcing expansion and leading to war. After the war consumes a large number of ninja population, the ninja village no longer needs to feed so many people, financial pressure is reduced, resources become abundant, and they can live peacefully for a period of time until the population swells again.
Over the past few decades, the ninja world has been repeating such a cycle. World wars were fought every few years, showing a tendency to extend the tragedy for hundreds of years like the Warring States Period.
However, things seem to have changed in recent years.
Konoha began to realize that besides completing missions to obtain remuneration, ninja themselves are also excellent producers. Whether it is farming in the primary industry or running factories in the secondary industry, the efficiency of ninja is countless times higher than that of ordinary people. Of course, due to the obstruction of various internal and external events, this understanding is still very vague and has not been studied in depth.
As a transmigrator, Sakura couldn't apply the social development experience of her previous life mechanically to this world. After all, this is a world with chakra and ninjutsu. The upper limit of human beings is countless times higher than in her previous life, and the ninja world has its own national conditions. But at least she knew that in principle, ninja could feed themselves without relying on mission orders, and lack of supplies didn't necessarily have to rely on looting others; they could also produce it themselves.
The Sand Village has been observing and learning from Konoha for the past two years, and naturally discovered this.
Their previous Kazekage even worked part-time as a worker in a Gold Dust manufacturing factory when he was in office, so the Sand Village's understanding and acceptance of this matter was not low.
The part of the conversation between Haruno Sakura and Gaara involving sociology was actually quite rough on both sides, but Sasuke could only listen ignorantly.
"So this is the foundation for achieving peace in the future," Gaara smiled faintly on his face. "I believe we will definitely encounter an era without war in our lifetime."
"It should be an era without world wars," the girl corrected.
With her imagination, she couldn't imagine what the days of complete human peace would be like. Anyway, even the world in her previous life only maintained general peace, and local conflicts and even wars could still be seen everywhere. Human nature in both worlds is similar. Greed, ignorance, short-sightedness, and hatred are even more prevalent in this world. Warmongers are everywhere. Having no world wars is already a blessing; local wars or conflicts cannot disappear.
"You guys are talking about peace, peace and all that," Sasuke shook his head and said impatiently, "Let's wait until the 'Akatsuki' problem is solved!"
"Akatsuki..." Haruno Sakura sighed.
At a time when the Akatsuki could stir up chaos in the ninja world or even destroy the ninja world at any time, talking about future world peace was indeed a bit unrealistic.
The urgent task was to deal with the threat of the Akatsuki.
The girl paused and continued, "After lurking for more than a year, they are starting to stir again. I suspect they are about to formally start the plan to capture Tailed Beasts."
Intelligence on the Akatsuki was shared with the Sand, so Gaara was also clear about the matter in the Land of Waterfalls.
"You must not take it lightly when you go to the Land of Waterfalls this time," Gaara said solemnly. "Maybe you will encounter members of the Akatsuki!"
"You too, be careful, Gaara." Sasuke said seriously, "As the One-Tail Jinchuriki, you are very likely also within their plan!"
"The Akatsuki shouldn't be so audacious as to dare to attack the Kage of a village, right?" Sakura frowned and said, "What they have to face is the Sand Village, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages!"
Gaara said calmly, "That depends on their purpose."
"If their plan requires gathering all nine Tailed Beasts to be realized, then I will definitely be one of their targets. Conversely, if they are just collecting enough power to threaten the ninja world, then not necessarily. The power of the One-Tail is actually nothing among the Tailed Beasts. Moreover, not only am I protecting the village, but the village is also protecting me..."
"In short, we all must be as careful as possible!"
Haruno Sakura nodded solemnly.
The next day, Haruno Sakura and Sasuke left the Sand Village and headed north along the border of Konoha.
The target was the second destination of this trip, the Land of Waterfalls.
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