At this moment, Arai was afraid.
He was terrified.
He feared that once Yubi spoke, his words would confirm his previous suspicions.
Therefore, he did not give Yubi a direct answer.
He couldn't bring himself to say it.
Arai's sudden silence caused Yubi's eyes to flicker.
He was certain... the person before him had grown suspicious of him.
"It seems his tracking of Sasori... was also to uncover the truth. Although I'm not sure what tipped him off, but..."
Yubi thought to himself, slowly closing his eyes.
But a second later, he opened his eyes and smiled again. "I just wanted to discuss my plan with you, Teacher Arai. It's nothing else, so there's no need to be so tense."
"Huh? A plan?"
"Yes, a plan to sell our Hidden Sand Village's medicine... Otherwise, what did you think it was?"
Yubi walked to the side and poured a cup of tea for Arai, saying as he did, "Even though the finished medicine is ready... breaking into the market won't be easy. We need to give the outside world time to accept it. My initial thought is..."
Then, Yubi began to explain his sales plan in detail.
From wanting to open up the market in a short time by paying out of his own pocket to contact and negotiate with other Ninja Villages or countries, offering them compensation.
To then using certain wars to build a reputation, and so on.
Yubi spoke very meticulously, and some of his ideas sounded like pure fantasy to Arai.
They were things he had never even imagined.
In his eyes, Yubi's medicine was enough to be a hot commodity; why would they need to pay other Villages upfront, or even give them a share of the profits from the sales?
Arai couldn't understand it.
"It takes time for the Ninja World to accept our medicine. Things aren't as smooth as you think... the situations in some Villages and countries are quite complex. Furthermore, once the value of these drugs is understood, distributing them to other powers makes us vulnerable to sabotage, hijacking, or interference. So... we let everyone profit together. We need to leverage local forces to ensure market stability. Besides, the money we give them is just a small pittance..."
"Most importantly, over time, they will grow accustomed to the feeling of receiving a windfall for doing nothing while gaining an advantage... Once they're hooked, this invisible chain of interest will bind them to the Hidden Sand Village's ship, making it impossible for them to leave... If they dare to oppose our Village, we cut off their supply. This is the value of a monopoly; its deterrent power is no weaker than military means..."
Yubi smiled.
"Hiss..."
Arai gasped.
A chill ran down his spine.
He hadn't expected Yubi to have considered this matter so deeply and thoroughly.
"How is it? My plan?"
Having finished, Yubi asked with a smile.
"I... I don't know... what to say."
Arai remarked with mixed emotions.
"To truly make a fortune, we still need a war to drive demand... I just wonder when the next Ninja World War will be..." Yubi sighed intentionally.
"Teacher Arai... if this plan of mine succeeds, then... how great would my contribution be to the Village?"
"If it truly succeeds... your achievement, let alone the Village, would be enough to impact the ecology and structure of the entire Ninja World."
Arai said.
"It's not that incredible... it's just another means of checks and balances and boosting the economy. The Five Great Nations will still fight; after all, their grudges run deep. This alone can't overturn that. The source of war is the human heart... not external things. However, it should be no problem to raise the status and influence of our Hidden Sand Village and the Land of Wind among the Five Great Nations and other Ninja Villages."
"Furthermore, this kind of medicine can only earn short-term profits. We must seize the initiative and capture enough market share because over time, with the strength of other Villages, they will want to replicate it. As long as their technology is up to par, they could easily produce generics by copying us."
"This is one of the reasons why I haven't allowed any of the research participants to leak even a shred of information."
So that was it.
Arai realized.
"Medicine is just my initial strategy to change the Village's economy. Later... I intend to do much more."
"Yubi... having you in the Hidden Sand Village is a blessing for everyone."
Arai said from the bottom of his heart.
"Then... what if I die in the middle of the plan?"
Caught off guard, Yubi suddenly asked.
"Uh..."
This left Arai stunned, not knowing how to respond.
"Is my value greater, or is the Kazekage's value greater?"
Yubi asked another question.
"You... you... what do you mean?"
Arai's breathing became a bit ragged.
"Hahaha... it's nothing, just a joke! As Ninjas, everyone aims to become the Kage of their Village. Although I don't have a strong desire for it... it's impossible to say I don't care at all."
Yubi said heartily.
"Uh..."
Arai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"If your plan succeeds, there's absolutely no problem with you becoming the next Kage... I don't think the Third Lord would have any objections either."
Arai smiled. "You already have a good reputation in the Village, and now you've done something so significant. In a few years, you'll have everything—military merit, achievements, strength, and honor. Even Rasa, I think if you were a competitor, he would step down voluntarily."
"So, Teacher Arai, you support me?"
Yubi said happily.
"Of course."
Arai nodded.
Sensing that Arai's psychological defenses were reaching their limit, Yubi then changed the subject.
The two talked for another fifteen minutes before Arai finally left the hospital.
Before leaving, Yubi repeatedly urged him not to tell anyone about the 'finished medicine'.
It wasn't that he didn't trust him, but... these drugs concerned the future of the Village.
If word got out, the potential consequences were obvious.
As for the people in the research lab, except for Saori, Yubi had used 'diversion' in the drug formulation process to intercept as much information about the finished medicine's ratio as possible. Furthermore, these people were handpicked and had been 'immersed' in the hospital for so long that they could be trusted.
Arai also understood the gravity of the matter and naturally agreed.
...
However, after leaving the hospital, what Arai was thinking about wasn't the medicine or the Village's future.
Instead... he was replaying the words Yubi had said to him today.
He felt that the little fellow's words had hidden meanings.
It made his emotions feel like a roller coaster, with ups and downs that even a battle-hardened veteran like him could barely handle.
At first, there was great joy, then great panic... and then a lingering sense of unease that coiled around his heart.
The changes in his state of mind over these few hours gave him a suffocating feeling, as if he were slowly crawling out of a quagmire of death.
Even... more severe than that, something he couldn't put into words.
Before coming to see Yubi, Arai had already envisioned certain scenarios.
Returning to the internal conflicts of the Village itself, today's meeting still hadn't dispelled some of his suspicions and thoughts.
On the contrary... it deepened his contemplations.
"Yubi..."
Arai felt his mind was a mess.
"Is my value greater, or is the Kazekage's value greater?"
What was worse was that Yubi's words kept lingering in his mind, refusing to dissipate.
Making it difficult for him to calm down.