Chapter 56: The Land of Wind's Plan
"Those guys earlier. You set them up, didn't you?"
In the underground office—once called a 'cell,' now a lounge where the Third Kazekage and his close associates chatted—Hiiro Rinko was nestled in the sofa, squinting as he studied 'Vegeta's' face, trying to read his expression.
"No matter how dull a Jōnin is, they wouldn't be that incompetent. The acting was way too forced."
"Don't look at me like that. It was me."
The man, who was writing out a Kazekage order on the special cardstock, was completely unbothered, making no effort to hide the fact that he'd set Rinko up to perform without telling him.
It worked well, didn't it?
"Couldn't you have at least found people who could act?" Rinko asked with disdain.
"Where am I supposed to find someone that naturally stupid?" Vegeta replied without looking up. "It's a lot easier to get them to scheme against an enemy on the battlefield than it is to get them to act like idiots."
"Will it work? With acting that bad, isn't the whole thing a bit sloppy?"
"Sloppy or not, it doesn't matter. It was just a pretext."
After finishing the stack of cards, the Third Kazekage summoned an ANBU, gave a few orders, and handed the cards over. The masked ANBU's expression was unreadable, but his cautious movements showed the matter was extremely important.
It was exactly what Rinko and the Third had just been discussing—raiding the assets of the old shinobi clans.
Unlike Konoha, Suna's shinobi clans didn't have that much influence.
Hiden (Secret Techniques)? Forget it. Suna's most famous hiden was the Sand Manipulation Jutsu derived from Shamon's research on Shukaku, and any dog with the talent was allowed to learn that.
As for family assets? What assets could they have, living in Sunagakure?
The so-called "raid" was just using the Kazekage's authority to "request" that they provide their archives and unique ninjutsu notes.
Though they lacked influence, a large portion of the high-level elders came from these clans. The Third Kazekage had wanted to kick these old fossils out of the decision-making circle for a long time.
It is never the old who create a new era. The Third deeply agreed with this sentiment Rinko had once uttered. He also understood why Senju Tobirama had stayed behind to cover his guards' retreat.
Those six guards were Tobirama's students before they were his guards. Compared to his own aging self, his disciples, in their prime, were what Konoha truly needed.
By the same token, the Third Kazekage was grateful to Tobirama for his timely death.
If not for the chaos his death caused, the Third would have had no pretext to make a move on his own village.
See? Our Jōnin can't even analyze a situation at this level! They're becoming morons! We must study! We must learn!
As the village's shinobi clans, shouldn't you be providing some assistance?
Once they've learned, you old... ahem, senior members, who have given your all, can finally retire and enjoy your families, right? Everyone wins!
Anyone with eyes could see the Third Kazekage was just using this as an excuse, but what could they do?
By now, the phrase "As Kazekage, my authority is absolute!" was no longer a joke in Suna. By finding a reason and going through the motions, he was actually giving these clans—who didn't have much to hide anyway—a way to save face.
Thinking about it, being Kazekage was much easier than being Hokage.
"How long do you think we have until a real war breaks out?"
After dismissing the ANBU, the Third Kazekage pulled open a desk drawer, took out a bag of corn senbei, and shared them with Rasa, who was acting as his secretary.
Hiiro Rinko? That brat had far better snacks than this. This senbei was just a test batch Rinko had given him to see if the flavor needed adjustment.
"A year? Two? Around that."
Rinko, who was rapidly sketching a new blueprint, pausing every few seconds to make revisions, replied in a flat tone.
"Don't you explain. Rasa, you guess the reason."
The Third Kazekage's eyes were sharp as he looked at his disciple.
"Eh… It's probably because of the Daimyō."
Briefly recalling the details from the meeting, the mysterious gold-dust specialist—whose sour face had only gotten worse with age—rubbed his chin and answered tentatively.
Seeing that neither the Kazekage nor Rinko interrupted, Rasa continued.
"Although our trade with the Land of Fire is close and growing, it also means our resources are heavily dependent on their imports. If the Land of Fire suddenly cut off trade, our country would be in a very difficult position."
"Judging by our country's recent situation and Konoha's state, the trade agreement will probably collapse soon."
"Mhm… From the Land of Fire's side, that's about right."
Rinko nodded noncommittally, then began to fill in the gaps. "But our country's Daimyō has also anticipated this. The constant increase in resource imports is likely just stockpiling in preparation for that collapse."
"In fact, if you could get the Daimyō's records and run the numbers, you'd find that our local resource production doesn't even account for a fraction of our imports. But with the push in breeding and planting technology, our domestic food and vegetable output has already risen by more than one level."
"And the 'attrition rate' for those imports is also suspiciously high. While we can't rule out corruption, the sheer scale of the discrepancy is too large."
"These details are things that Suna shinobi, who see this data regularly, can figure out with a little calculation. But for foreign spies, it's impossible to investigate," the Third added, steepling his fingers.
"The Land of Wind's territory may not be the most barren, but it is definitely the most difficult to utilize among the Five Great Nations. Even so, the Land of Wind has always pushed a policy of high birth rates, supporting the largest population of the Five."
"A population that far exceeds what the land can support serves two purposes: it provides cover for the abnormally high resource imports, and it provides more labor to remake the land and build more hidden, underground cities."
"Using stockpiled resources and a large labor force to terraform the country… this must have been the basic strategy decided upon decades ago, or even earlier," Rinko said, tapping his pen on the desk, clicking his tongue.
"It's just that no one expected that man to die so early, causing the nations to devolve into 'proxy wars' before a stable order could be formed."
"Right now, the Land of Wind's Daimyō is probably planning to hoard one last wave of resources, and then push the terraforming project as quickly as possible."
"Mhm. And we, Sunagakure, are just the pretext for starting an external war. On one hand, to divert attention; on the other, to burn off the surplus population." The Third Kazekage leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head, and tilted his chair onto its back two legs, balancing precariously. "Add in the Land of Wind's vast desert borders, and that's more than enough cover for the Daimyō to enact his secret plan."
"Haa… Why is everyone who manages to sit in a high position in this era so damn smart?"
"It just makes me look stupid."