Chapter 603: Annexing Sunagakure
Sakura wore an expression of profound relief. For the sake of this fan, she had also signed her name on the loan contract. Sasuke had told her she didn't need to share the burden, but she had resolutely jumped into the massive pit known as "colossal debt."
After learning that Ino and Hinata had officially gotten together, she was no longer worried about anyone competing with her for Sasuke. Her dream had come true. The only problem was that reality was rather cruel: she was dirt poor.
Her eyes lit up as she scanned the food in the banquet hall. She had starved for two days; today, she absolutely had to eat 500 ryo's worth!
Sasuke didn't linger at the scene. He turned and headed straight for the Administration Building to pick up missions. Time to earn money!
His motivation for taking missions was sky-high. Minato Namikaze was happy to see this. The more missions one completed, the stronger their sense of belonging to the village. It was a mutually beneficial situation.
"Ino!" Not long after Sasuke left, Naruto came running over, full of energy.
He shouted, and Ino, who was busy counting his money, looked up. "What's up? Does your family want to buy a fan, too?"
Naruto formed a hand seal. In the next second, a puff of smoke revealed more than ten graceful, scantily clad beauties.
"Haha, consider this my gift! Happy birthday!"
Naruto's actions stunned the crowd.
Minato Namikaze's expression turned strange. He turned his stiff neck to look at Jiraiya. Teacher, I asked you to take Naruto to see more women to make him more lively, but this isn't what I meant, right? Teacher... I really have to thank you for this!
Jiraiya sat upright, staring straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact. As his student's gaze remained fixed on him, he could only force the blame elsewhere. "You might not believe this, but Naruto knew this jutsu before I met him. I think... I think the Third might have taught it to him."
Before his voice even faded, he was sent flying by a punch from Tsunade. "Bastard! The old man has been dead for so many years, and you're still slandering him?"
The birthday banquet wasn't only attended by the major clans close to the Yamanaka family. Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure had all sent envoys to participate.
In the end, even an envoy from the Fire Daimyo, Madoka Ikkyu, arrived with a heavy gift to offer congratulations.
Ino had been worried that Madara Uchiha would show up and cause trouble, so he had made many preparations in secret. He was afraid of the whole 'planting trees' scenario, the 'heartfelt speeches,' followed by the 'overpowered old sage passing on his powers' and the 'sealing of Grandma Ōtsutsuki.' When the day ended peacefully, he let out a long sigh. "This hectic day is finally over. I almost forgot it was my 17th birthday!"
His protagonist's luck wasn't that strong; none of the anticipated scenarios occurred.
Maybe Madara wasn't ready, or perhaps he simply didn't know it was Ino's birthday.
It was for the best. It would have been a hassle if he had shown up.
At the end of the banquet, Ino, witnessed by Minato Namikaze and Tsunade, formally accepted Konohamaru as his disciple.
This wasn't a temporary Jonin-leader assignment; this was a master-disciple relationship where they would share all honor and disgrace.
Tsunade had officially gained a grand-disciple. She called the Third Hokage 'Teacher', and now her teacher's grandson had become her grand-disciple. How exactly their complex family-student relationship was supposed to be calculated... it was hard to say.
Ino's aptitude was merely "passable" by the Sage of Six Paths' standards, but in the current ninja world, it wasn't an exaggeration to call him an absolute genius.
Konohamaru had already "mastered the strengths of many schools." What he needed now wasn't a specific jutsu, but high-level guidance to point him toward his future path.
Ino's knowledge was vast, and his insight far exceeded the highest standards of the ninja world. He was more than capable of handling this task.
September passed quickly, and October began.
After continuous communication, persuasion, and threats from the Nara family and Mitokado Homura, Sunagakure—the weakest of the five great ninja villages—finally relented on the "Five Village Unification" matter.
They truly had no one internally who could serve as Kazekage. They either lacked the prestige or the strength.
The few remaining Sunagakure elders finally agreed to let an outside ninja take the role of Kazekage.
This was Ino's idea. The Suna ninja didn't want to immediately give up the Sunagakure name and wanted to maintain their independence. Fine, Ino would give them that much face.
After a series of "rigorous," "democratic," and "verifiable" procedures, Sunagakure unanimously elected Minato Namikaze to serve as the new Kazekage.
Gaara's position as the Fifth Kazekage had long been revoked. Now, Minato Namikaze was both the Fourth Hokage of Konoha and the Fifth Kazekage of Suna.
Two systems, one leader.
In any case, Minato had the Flying Thunder God Technique. He would just have to work harder and commute between the two villages.
Pushing Konoha's "Nine-Rank Civil System" into Sunagakure and fully integrating the village into Konoha's management structure was the final step. The most urgent task now was to strengthen the exchange between the two sides.
Konoha would use its advantages in culture, economy, and institutions to slowly shift the values of the Suna ninja.
What was the first step? To have all their ninja take a surname.
"Gaara of the Sand." His surname wasn't "Sand"; that was a nickname. Who has "of the" in their name? Nobody is called that.
Ninety percent of the people in the Land of Wind had no surnames.
Ino was the one pushing this. He felt that having surnames was more civilized than not having them.
A look at the geographical locations of the five great ninja villages made it clear.
Konoha's people basically all had surnames. They were major landowners during the Warring States period. They fought endless wars as clans against rival clans. Finally, when they couldn't fight anymore, they shook hands, made peace, and established a ninja village.
Many ninja in Kirigakure also had surnames. They were also clan-based; they were a group of ninja clans who had fled the bloody wars on the mainland, seeking refuge by establishing their village far overseas.
Sunagakure and Iwagakure were different. The former were fugitives from the desert, the latter were prisoners. Kumogakure was even worse; you could tell from their skin color they were a different ethnicity. They just saw everyone else establishing ninja villages and, though not understanding why, were impressed and followed suit.
Speaking of which, among the five great ninja villages, only Konoha and Kiri had the deepest cultural foundations. These two villages also had (or at least used to have) the highest number of clan ninja.
Why did the Daimyo, wealthy merchants, and monks secretly despise ninja? Because in their hearts, ninja were synonymous with crudeness. In reality, ninja were more knowledgeable than them, but their "packaging" was poor, and they simply didn't care, leaving an extremely negative impression on the outside world.
The ninja world didn't need their approval, but they couldn't just give up on themselves. "I am a barbarian?" That wouldn't do. They needed to be civilized where it counted.
Take a surname. How to pick one? Ino's message was: use your imagination and make one up!
"Is this necessary? We also operate as families. Do we really need a surname now?" Temari didn't quite understand.
She wasn't resistant to the idea, just felt it was unnecessary.
Ino spoke seriously, "Of course it's necessary. Family honor is built, little by little, on the foundation of a surname."
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