After Shiro asked Elder Yuanyi to sit down, he continued speaking.
"If we leak this news at just the right time...
We say that the Demigod of Amegakure, in order to reduce casualties among his subordinates, is willing to spend vast sums of money to purchase flak jackets, all so his shinobi have a better chance of surviving. Even a small nation like the Land of Rain is willing to go this far.
What do you think will happen inside Konoha and Iwagakure once this spreads everywhere?"
Without waiting for the elders to reply, Shiro went on.
"At that point, they only need to pick up a few flak jackets from the battlefield to confirm everything for themselves.
Then, when the time is right, we 'coincidentally' reveal that our flak jackets cost only half as much as a standard Jōnin vest. As for Ōnoki, who knows what he'll do, but Hiruzen Sarutobi, who prides himself on the Will of Fire, will definitely have no choice but to buy.
Up until now, he could argue that outfitting everyone was too expensive, and his shinobi would swallow it. But once half‑price flak jackets appear, if Hiruzen Sarutobi still refuses to equip his troops, his reputation will take a serious hit.
And if he still doesn't buy… then we keep fanning the rumors."
Hearing Shiro's explanation, everyone's eyes widened slightly in shock.
It was as if something dark and insidious had crept into minds that had previously only known straightforward ideas of fighting and dying for the village.
Finally, the long silence was broken by the choked sobs of one of the older elders.
"Wuwuwu, in this Sunagakure full of yellow sand, we finally have a properly black‑bellied Kage! Lord First, our Sunagakure has finally welcomed its own 'Tobirama‑style' leader! The hope of the Sand has arrived!"
Shiro: "..."
That comparison feels a little off.
In the end, the meeting concluded successfully amid a very strange atmosphere.
***
Not long after, all kinds of rumors began circulating throughout the ninja world.
[The reason the Land of Rain is so strong is that Hanzō the Salamander cherishes his people as if they were his own family.]
[In order to help his subordinates survive the war, he spares no expense in purchasing Jōnin‑grade flak jackets.]
[The reason Konoha and Iwa's lower‑ and mid‑level shinobi cannot compete with the Rain ninja is because their villages refuse to buy armor for their own people.]
…Countless messages flowed from every direction, reaching Konoha and Iwagakure shinobi on the front lines, as well as the civilians back in the villages.
This inevitably caused unrest among the people of both great villages.
Inside the Hokage's office.
The same familiar room, the same three advisers, and the same heavy haze of smoke.
Just then, an Anbu shinobi entered and knelt.
"Have you finished the investigation? Where did this news come from, and is the content accurate?"
"Reporting, Lord Hokage. The rumors appeared suddenly, and the sources are many and scattered. It will be impossible to determine which side started them in the short term.
However, the content itself is true: the Rain Village shinobi are indeed all wearing armor."
The Anbu stood up, produced a flak jacket, and carefully placed it on the desk. "This vest was sent back from the front lines. According to our tests, the forging is extremely refined. The iron plates inside contain almost no impurities. The quality… is even better than our Jōnin flak jackets."
"..."
"Understood. You may withdraw."
After the Anbu left, all four leaned forward to examine the flak jacket.
They looked at the vest, then at one another.
Eight… no, seven eyes stared blankly back and forth, utterly dumbfounded.
"Impossible! Even Genin have one each?" Koharu Utatane, who oversaw Konoha's finances, immediately shook her head in denial. "What kind of place is Amegakure? It's a small country! It barely has any arable land, and they have to buy food from us every year. Where would they get the money to buy flak jackets for Genin? And the quality is actually better than Konoha's Jōnin flak jackets! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Of course the quality was good; Sunasuke had plenty of complaints about that. Those plates were made from pure iron hauled out of the ground with Magnet Release! Pure! If not for the miserable working conditions in the Land of Rain and the fact that the forging was done by ordinary craftspeople, Sunasuke claimed he could have turned those plates into high‑grade steel.
"Calm down, Koharu. The shinobi on the front lines would not send back false reports," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, interrupting her near‑panic.
He understood Koharu's feelings very well. If the report was true and they had no explanation, it meant even Rain ninja could obtain better armor while Konoha's shinobi wore inferior gear. People would naturally suspect that someone in the Finance Department was embezzling funds—no, they would definitely think that. And the ones who could afford flak jackets—Jōnin and clan members—would demand a full investigation into the department.
The real problem was… they *were* embezzling. They absolutely could not withstand a serious audit.
As the leader of this little "F4" circle, Hiruzen Sarutobi deeply understood Koharu's current sense of dread.
"Since the front lines bothered to send the vest back, it means there's crucial information on the armor itself. Otherwise, a simple confirmation message would have been enough."
Hiruzen's words snapped Koharu out of her daze.
"Right, right, Hiruzen, you're right. There must be an important clue hidden somewhere on this flak jacket."
Having steadied herself, she began to examine the vest more carefully.
Because of the intense fighting, the armor bore multiple scratches and dents, and looked somewhat battered.
But the overall material still seemed very new, which suggested… it had to have been purchased recently.
Yet that still made no sense.
Although the Land of Rain had iron ore, extraction was difficult, and the constant downpour meant the mines were full of impurities. The Land of Rain simply didn't have the refining capability to produce armor of this quality.
*Did Hanzō the Salamander sell off all his assets? Is he really sacrificing everything just to win?*
The group found no clues on the exterior of the vest.
So Hiruzen flipped it over to inspect the inside.
Immediately, everyone noticed something odd.
The print and characters were very small, but all of them were once elite shinobi, and their eyesight was still sharp.
The answer, however, was completely beyond their expectations.
[Produced by Sunagakure Ninja Tool Manufacturing Plant. Quality Guaranteed, Competitive Prices!]
[Bulk purchases receive additional discounts!]
…Above these two tiny lines of text, the emblem of Sunagakure glittered proudly.
Embroidered with golden thread, no less.
Sunagakure?!
Since when did they have this kind of industrial capability?
Soon after, news of an emergency council meeting spread from the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the main seat, took a deep drag from his pipe, and said with a troubled expression, "That is the situation. Everyone here has heard the rumors spreading outside. So—what are your thoughts?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into heavy silence.
The clan heads and senior jōnin exchanged uneasy looks, then lowered their heads, passing the flak jacket around like a cursed object.
For a while, no one knew how to respond.
To be honest, everyone was still in shock.
Their attention kept drifting back to the tiny advertisement printed on the inside seam.
They simply could not understand how it could possibly be *Sunagakure*. How could it dare to be Sunagakure?
Who were they, in the minds of the other villages? The poorest of the Five.
How could *they* be the ones producing armor of this quality?
And selling it at a price lower than Konoha's own vests… with bulk purchase discounts on top of that!
What on earth had happened?
Had their chronically poor neighbors in the desert really struck gold?