CHAPTER 138 - Trade with Sunagakure

The market in the Land of the Wind is difficult to penetrate, as Sunagakure, with its expertise in poisons, has many puppeteers with deep knowledge of pharmacology. For minor injuries and ailments, they typically treat themselves. While the Hyakusa Trade Association's medicine is effective, it doesn't offer much help to Sunagakure in peacetime. They are more in need of fresh water, food, and military supplies.

Sunagakure controls a large portion of the Land of the Wind, but most of it is desert—lands that were rejected by the feudal lords and nobles of the Land of the Wind, ultimately handed over to Sunagakure. If we're talking about the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Kumogakure might rival Konoha. But when it comes to the shame of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, even Kirigakure wouldn't want to compete with Sunagakure.

The village leader, the Kazekage, was forced to personally mine gold sand due to a drastic reduction in funding from the feudal lords. Think about Konoha—after the Pain invasion, the entire village had to be rebuilt, and that required a massive amount of funding. But the feudal lords of the Land of Fire gave their full support. When comparing this, it's no surprise that Sunagakure is the weakest of the Five Great Shinobi Countries.

The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Kazekage were all killed by Akatsuki members or former members, and in that situation, Sunagakure is even worse off than Takigakure.

"Sir, Sunagakure only accepts trade in food, fresh water, and metallic minerals. If we want to infiltrate Sunagakure more deeply, we'll need to approach these areas," 18 reported.

"Food, huh?" Hyuga Mirai opened his computer and brought up a genetically modified food experiment chart. This genetically optimized seed could yield four times the current amount of food in the Shinobi world.

This was still just the result of preliminary experiments; if Hyuga Mirai pursued deeper research, he could ensure no one in the Shinobi world would starve again. However, he wasn't planning to make the genetically modified seeds available immediately. They would be for his use only—there was no need to promote them just yet.

"I can speed up the growth cycle with Wood Release chakra. By using genetically modified crops and Hashirama's chakra to accelerate growth, we should be able to produce a batch of food in about ten days," Hyuga Mirai calculated.

He then asked 18,"How much food can we harvest in a month from what we have?"

"9,752 tons, sir."

"That should be enough. Let's go to Sunagakure to negotiate in a month. After being beaten by Konoha without any gain, they shouldn't refuse a lucrative deal," Hyuga Mirai said, pausing for a moment. "By the way, don't send 19. Do we have any other trade associations we can use?"

"The Keikou family from the Kawakawa region of the Land of Fire is seeking to become a distributor for Uzumaki Trade Association's computers. If you need, they can restart food trade in ten days," 18 responded.

"Thank you, 18," Hyuga Mirai replied.

The Land of the Wind's territory is vast, but most of it is desert, and the climate is hot and dry. The locally produced food only covers less than forty percent of the population's needs, leaving the rest to be purchased from foreign traders.

While other Shinobi villages were expanding their military forces, Sunagakure focused on elite training. They reduced investment in the next generation of ninjas, nearly abandoning the Ninja Academy. Instead, experienced ninjas, veterans of the battlefield, trained the new generation in an elite "one-to-three" style of education.

This approach had its pros and cons. It allowed Sunagakure's younger generation to face missions earlier and learn the survival rules of the Shinobi world while others were still in school. However, the number of trained ninjas was drastically reduced, and the village's reserves were nearly depleted.

Rasa, the Kazekage, was aware of this downside but had no other choice. After the mysterious disappearance of the Third Kazekage and Sunagakure's failed war with Konoha, the village was left in a dire financial situation. When it came time to ask the feudal lords for more money, Rasa found that the Wind Daimyo wouldn't be willing to help.

"Win the battle if you can, and if you can't, don't come crying to me!" Hyuga Mirai would say in Rasa's position. The feudal lords slashed the funding, and without the boldness of someone like Danzo, Rasa had no choice but to mine for sand himself to alleviate the financial strain.

A month later, under the introduction of the Hyakusa Trade Association, the Keikou family from the Kawakawa region met with the Kazekage.

"Are you the head of the Keikou family? I've heard of your family's reputation in Kawakawa," Rasa said with a calm expression. The ANBU had, of course, investigated the Keikou family's background before they made contact.

The Keikou family owned the most fertile land in the region, one of the largest landowners in Kawakawa.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. I asked the Hyakusa Trade Association to help me with this, as we wish to make a deal with Sunagakure," the head of the Keikou family said. 

Rasa replied, "Mr. Keikou, what kind of business are you proposing? Please, go ahead."

The person sent by 18 was named Seki, and he was under the control of nanochips. Now, he was carrying the reputation of the Keikou family.

After receiving the list, Rasa opened it and was somewhat surprised.

The list included 8,000 tons of rice, 1,000 tons of vegetables, fruits, and other supplies. These were exactly what Sunagakure needed. If the merchants were willing to sell directly, it would save Sunagakure a significant amount of money and time.

Furthermore, the prices listed were cheaper than what Sunagakure would pay if they went to other countries to purchase these goods. Considering the saved time and distance, if the deal went through, it would be a huge win for Sunagakure.

However, even though Keikou Merchant Association had offered a discount, Sunagakure could not afford to pay such a large sum all at once. If all the funds were spent on purchasing supplies, what about weapons, compensations, and the expenses for the ninjas?

"Mr. Keikou..."

Seki interrupted Rasa before he could finish, speaking directly: "If Sunagakure can make a one-time purchase, then Keikou Merchant Association can offer an additional 10% discount."

Hiss! Another 10%.

That could save Sunagakure several million, and after calculating the savings, even Rasa couldn't help but feel a little tempted. This was practically a great deal delivered right to their door. If they refused, how much more would they have to spend in the future for supplies? How many millions more, plus one or two months of transport time?

"If this is the only condition from Keikou Merchant Association, then I can represent Sunagakure and agree to the deal," Rasa said decisively after a moment of consideration.

If he could secure such a large supply, it would help him earn some merit with the elders of Sunagakure.

The loss of the war had shaken Rasa's position, and some people were openly saying things like, "If only Pakura had been the Kazekage, she would've done better than the current Fourth Kazekage." Sunagakure had signed alliances with Konoha and Iwa, yet now even Kirigakure was taking the opportunity to push them around. If Rasa didn't produce some results soon, he would have to resort to extreme measures to maintain stability in Sunagakure.

"If Kazekage-sama agrees, Keikou Merchant Association is ready to sign the contract at any time," Seki said immediately.

In the ninja world, contract honor was highly valued. After signing a contract, neither party could breach it without consequence. If they did, their reputation would be ruined across the ninja world. As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure had even more to lose.

After leaving Sunagakure, Seki took out a wristwatch from his pocket, put it on, and after dialing, spoke respectfully into it.

"Master 18, as per your instructions, Rasa has agreed to sign the contract on behalf of Sunagakure."

"Good job. Return now. Someone else will be sent to Sunagakure for further negotiations."

(End of Chapter)