The Sand Village and Akatsuki had begun working together to reconstruct the Land of Rain. Furthermore, the Land of Wind's Daimyo's office had apparently been dispatching envoys to visit a number of smaller nations surrounding the Land of Wind in quick succession.
Before long, Konoha received word of this.
The Sand Village's Land of Rain reconstruction would naturally involve substantial activity, and the Land of Rain bordered the Land of Fire closely. Even if Konoha had no way of directly intervening in the Land of Rain situation, gathering intelligence related to the Sand Village's movements remained entirely feasible.
"Are they planning to build up the Land of Rain's military strength and turn it into a strategic stronghold for the Land of Wind to use against us in future conflicts?" Hiruzen said, looking at the intelligence report in his hand while thinking it through.
The one speaking alongside him was Koharu. They were in the Hokage's office. But the person seated in the primary position was now the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
"If the Sand Village intends to develop the Land of Rain's military capacity, they would inevitably need to station Sand Village soldiers there over time, which would actually weaken their home village's personnel strength. And now they have suddenly allied with Akatsuki.
Perhaps they are planning to eventually hand the Land of Rain over to Akatsuki as a replacement for what Hanzo's organization once controlled," Homura said, working through the implications.
They were finding it difficult to read the Fourth Kazekage's actual intentions.
"We have heard that the Sand Village is also extracting the Land of Rain's resources."
"But what seems somewhat strange is the Land of Wind's Daimyo reaching out to the surrounding smaller nations. What is the purpose? And Sand Village personnel appear to have entered some of those countries as well. Should we dispatch someone to investigate?"
Several other senior figures voiced their thoughts.
"The Sand Village's ambitions in the Land of Rain serve two purposes: future strategic positioning and resource extraction. The Land of Wind's Daimyo sending envoys to surrounding nations is most likely about managing the external concerns regarding Sand Village military expansion while also selling the resources obtained from the Land of Rain," Nara Shikaku said, stroking his chin.
"Based on what we have heard, these resources are not being transported back to the Sand Village in large quantities. They are probably using existing Sand Village trade channels to sell them to other nations at reduced prices, exchanging them for reconstruction materials or direct financial contributions."
"After all, what the Land of Rain reconstruction most urgently needs right now is labor, and labor costs require large amounts of liquid capital. That cannot be substituted with other resources."
"For the Sand Village, seizing the Land of Rain and then maintaining long-term control over it is actually not particularly advantageous. It means committing enormous energy and money to the effort. It also means diverting a portion of the village's own internal capacity. It might be more practical simply to convert the Land of Rain's resources directly into capital as a massive financial reserve."
"In the ninja world's recent development history, the only territorial expansion that has actually been executed is the Land of Rain. And even then it is adjacent territory. Although the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind are connected, the distance between the two hidden villages is significant. Military deployment would be slow. In a war scenario they could not respond effectively at the front."
"So the only option is stationing large numbers of Sand Village ninja in the Land of Rain long-term. From that angle, it is actually a net negative in terms of costs versus benefits."
"My assessment is that the Fourth Kazekage has already reached some kind of arrangement with Akatsuki. They help construct a new era for the Land of Rain, and a portion of the country's administrative control is handed to Akatsuki's leadership. Of course, since the Hidden Rain Village is now the Sand Village's second hidden village, the core command authority remains in the Kazekage's hands regardless of what Akatsuki manages on the surface."
Shikaku laid out his analysis calmly and methodically.
"Regardless of the specifics, the Land of Rain is now practically part of the Land of Wind. In the next Great Ninja War, if we are opposing the Sand Village, we will need to deal with both the Land of Rain and Akatsuki before anything else."
"Hmph."
A cold laugh sounded at this point.
"This is precisely why I advocated stirring up conflict between Hanzo and Akatsuki. And why I wanted to build a four-village alliance against the Sand Village. Unfortunately, despite everything I did, I still could not get any of you to take it seriously."
"Saying all this now is too late."
The sardonic voice belonged to Danzo.
"Fortunately, most nations in the ninja world currently view the Sand Village with suspicion and wariness. Now that the Land of Rain has been taken, any moment the Fourth Kazekage shows even the slightest sign of urgent expansionist ambition, the entire ninja world will know to stand against the Land of Wind. That at least constrains the Sand Village from acting recklessly to some degree."
"Furthermore, their pharmaceutical resource advantage is gradually being replaced in both standing and value as our counterfeit medicines expand through the market. This also prevents the Sand Village from freely launching wars whenever it chooses. Their primary source of leverage has been weakened."
"Your thinking about the Land of Wind is still too conservative. I will say it again. If Konoha cannot press every advantage available right now, when the fires of war ignite again someday, what will be waiting for us will be far greater losses."
Danzo's words carried an unmistakable note of self-satisfaction.
After all, the previous actions involving the Land of Rain, including the expansion of counterfeit medicines through the ninja world's markets, had all been his initiative and his personal execution. This at least demonstrated that he had more foresight than both Hiruzen and the newly appointed Fourth Hokage.
"What are your assessments?" Hiruzen let out a slow sigh and turned to look at two of his disciples.
Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Both had returned to the village recently. The counterfeit medicine launch owed a considerable debt to Tsunade's contributions. And throughout the Third Great Ninja War, although Jiraiya had not appeared prominently on the open battlefield, he had been quietly assisting the village behind the scenes, carrying out various missions. Jiraiya had even at one point led Minato's team in dealing with a Tailed Beast incident.
Jiraiya leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Hearing Hiruzen's question, he opened his eyes, thought for a moment, and spoke.
"I have never met this Fourth Kazekage personally. But based on everything I have observed, I think Danzo's assessment is not wrong."
"Right now every village is in the process of recovering its strength and beginning reconstruction. No one can stop the Sand Village's rise. From both military and economic perspectives, the Sand Village's current condition is a full level above the other villages.
With reserves like that built up before any conflict even begins, and with opportunities like the current situation available to them, I genuinely doubt a village in that position would be content to simply seek peace and stability."
"Furthermore, looking at that Kazekage's pattern of behavior, he does not particularly resemble someone who values peace above all else."
Hiruzen listened and then shifted his gaze toward Tsunade.
"I share Jiraiya's view," Tsunade said with a slow nod.
"An alliance is looking increasingly unlikely. The response from the Hidden Stone Village indicates that now that the Great Ninja War has ended, they have no interest in stoking further military tensions.
Onoki's attitude has made a complete one hundred and eighty degree reversal from when I met with him previously, when he had indicated the Hidden Stone Village would consider allying with us."
"The Hidden Mist Village has never responded at all. The Fourth Mizukage is occupied with the village's internal problems and has no energy to spare for concerns about the Sand Village."
"As for the Hidden Cloud Village, they have clearly refused us outright."
"The four-Kage summit I had been hoping to convene cannot be organized."
Hiruzen said this with visible weariness.
"This is almost certainly connected to the Land of Wind's Daimyo office envoys traveling through every neighboring nation recently."
"The nations that were each loudly condemning the Sand Village not long ago have all suddenly gone completely quiet. Even the countries that face the most direct military threat from the Land of Wind because of their geographical proximity have said nothing," one of the senior figures said with poorly concealed frustration.
The assembled group fell into silence after hearing all of this. For a moment, no one quite knew what to say.
...
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