Hiruzen waved his hand.
The ANBU distributed stacks of documents to every committee member in the conference room.
"Take a look first…"
Hiruzen lit a cigarette and slowly took a drag.
The contents of these documents were the result of several nights of deep discussions between him and Kakuzu—a major strategic direction they had established for Konoha's future.
They would use economic control to make Amegakure work for Konoha!
Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Beside him, Danzō frowned as he carefully read through the relatively short but densely packed report.
Three key points.
First, the production process for the Sage Region Pills had gone through further optimization and iteration, resulting in another major increase in output. However, the number of nobles within the Land of Fire capable of comfortably affording them was already nearing saturation.
Second, the number of craftsmen within the Land of Fire capable of basic scroll-processing work had likewise reached saturation.
Third, unlike most hidden villages, the Land of Rain had not signed the peace treaty only to toss it aside afterward like meaningless scrap paper.
Instead, Amegakure had been aggressively guiding public opinion within its borders, promoting the narrative that both Konoha and Amegakure had merely been manipulated into fighting during the Second Shinobi World War.
The two nations should have been friendly neighbors from the beginning, and all the conflict had stemmed from the schemes and provocations of Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
Hanzō had repeatedly sent friendly diplomatic communications to Konoha's administrative department, clearly expressing interest in deeper cooperation, and had even hinted multiple times that he wished to personally visit Konoha.
"Everyone finished reading?"
Hiruzen exhaled another puff of smoke.
"Let's start with our internal issues. First, even if we continue expanding production of the Sage Region Pills, aside from reserving some for officials with temporary needs, we can't keep selling them within the Land of Fire."
Danzō frowned.
"Hiruzen, why?"
Hiruzen shot him a sidelong glance.
"You should read more books in the future too. As the village's second-in-command, you need to keep improving yourself in every aspect…"
Danzō froze.
What did this have to do with reading books?
Still, he silently nodded.
Hiruzen was looking out for him in the end…
Kakuzu raised his hand and stood up to explain.
"The effects of the Sage Region Pills are indeed astonishing, but the reason the great nobles find them irresistible is because they place exceptional importance on their health."
"They don't care about the cost. But wealth is usually concentrated in the hands of a very small group of people. The lesser and middle-ranking nobles below them simply cannot afford such expenses."
"And by now, within the Land of Fire, the Sage Region Pills are no longer merely highly effective health supplements. They've also become high-end social status symbols used to prove one's identity."
"The consequences of oversupply and uncontrolled distribution would destroy the brand credibility we've built. The damage would far outweigh whatever profit we gained from selling a few more pills…"
Kakuzu spoke calmly and fluently.
At that moment, his confidence resembled Tobirama discussing the Sharingan—carrying a sense of unquestionable authority that naturally inspired trust.
Hiruzen looked at Kakuzu with admiration.
He had long known Kakuzu loved money, but after several days of lengthy conversations, Hiruzen had been surprised to discover that Kakuzu also possessed a strong economic mind and grasped financial concepts extremely quickly…
Or rather, Kakuzu likely already understood many of these principles intuitively. He had merely lacked the systematic terminology to formalize them.
Finding a shinobi with that level of understanding was far more valuable than discovering someone with a Kekkei Genkai…
After all, throughout history, thought itself had always been treated as a tool. Only the upper leadership of hidden villages ever came into contact with financial knowledge, and even then, their primary profession remained military command.
But someone like Kakuzu…
With his long lifespan, freely wandering the shinobi world without joining any hidden village, working freelance jobs while reading and thinking every day…
He could genuinely be called an intellectual.
A real financial expert among shinobi!
And one reason Kakuzu had developed a sense of identification with Konoha was because, after reviewing Konoha's financial reports and budget allocations, he had been deeply shocked by Hiruzen's economic acumen…
There was actually a shinobi even better at making money than him? And by a huge margin at that!
That feeling of meeting someone who truly shared both his interests and mindset had created a unique bond between Kakuzu and Hiruzen…
"So that's how it is…"
Danzō took a deep breath and chose not to argue with Kakuzu.
Because he had noticed Nara Shikayama looking at Kakuzu with visible interest.
If a member of the Nara Clan acknowledged a theory, then it was probably solid…
"But we can't allow the increased production of Sage Region Pills to go to waste. We need the product to continue generating value…"
Kakuzu coughed lightly before continuing: "There's no doubt the Sage Region Pills would have immense appeal to nobles across every nation… but infiltrating the major hidden villages through them would be extremely difficult."
"Kirigakure's isolationist policies make it impossible from the outset. As for the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth, the alliances between their daimyō and their Kage are extremely tight. Trying to use them as entry points would be highly unwise."
"So if we're looking for a nation friendly toward Konoha and wealthy enough among its nobility, then Amegakure is our only option…"
The Konoha council members nodded slightly.
Among the shinobi world's so-called Four Great Hidden Villages, there was currently a growing sentiment that Amegakure could almost be counted among them as well.
During the Second Shinobi World War, Konoha, Sunagakure, and Amegakure had all fought impressively on the main battlefield, while Iwagakure mostly lurked around opportunistically…
Status, in the end, was earned through battle.
Amegakure had been capable of confronting the other major hidden villages head-on, making it difficult to categorize them as a conventional minor hidden village.
Even Takigakure, despite possessing a Tailed Beast, couldn't compare. Paper strength was not real strength.
Besides, among the Five Great Hidden Villages, Sunagakure itself was already something of an oddball.
While Sunagakure possessed unique puppet techniques and desert-style ninjutsu that gave them formidable combat power on home terrain, the land they occupied was simply too barren, and their relationship with their daimyō was notoriously tense…
Compared to Sunagakure, even the perpetually rain-soaked Amegakure could be considered environmentally blessed.
Hiruzen smiled as he picked up where Kakuzu left off.
"So, I've decided that the excess production of Sage Region Pills will be supplied to Amegakure—but repackaged as an 'export version.' The medicinal potency will be reduced while the price is increased."
Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully.
He didn't understand economics very well.
But he understood human nature.
"The Sage Region Pills were already considered essential goods among the great nobles of the Land of Fire, and they were even treated as symbols of political merit and rewards for outstanding service. So if they were to be sold overseas, they absolutely couldn't remain the exact same product…"
"The nobles of the Land of Fire had to retain that sense of exclusive superiority."
"This way, we'll be able to earn a massive amount of foreign currency from the nobles of the Land of Rain."
Hiruzen pointed at the second point in the document.
"At present, under the daimyō's organization, the craftsmen within the Land of Fire capable of scroll and ninja tool processing have already been fully consolidated into workshop-style collective production…"
"We've already calculated their production capacity, and there's currently a significant gap between the number of raw scroll blanks they can manufacture and Konoha's existing needs…"
Hiruzen tapped the document lightly.
Under normal circumstances, the Land of Fire's scroll blank production was absolutely sufficient for Konoha's usage.
But the issue was that Konoha was developing portable medical scrolls.
If Konoha's industrial shinobi were to quickly and proficiently master the technique of infusing medical chakra, then they would need enormous quantities of raw scroll blanks for practice…
Skilled industrial shinobi were trained through sheer quantities of scrolls.
After all, most people's aptitude could not be considered exceptional. Resources had to compensate for that shortcoming. Otherwise, the timeline for mass-producing medical chakra scrolls would be delayed by a very long time…
And if things dragged on too long, then should a black swan event trigger the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War, the losses would far outweigh the gains.
"Then where are we supposed to make up for this shortage?"
Hiruzen slowly answered: "From the Land of Rain! We'll use the money of their nobles to hire their craftsmen and have them manufacture practice-grade scroll blanks for Konoha…"
Danzō's eyes lit up instantly.
He had always been extremely interested in anything that sounded like getting something for free.
"Feasible…"
"The craftsmanship standards in the Land of Rain are very high—close to the level of the Land of Wind." The moment military-related intelligence entered the discussion, Danzō immediately became professional again.
"If we can make them work for Konoha, then that would absolutely be a good thing!"
Because of the endless rainfall, the Land of Rain suffered from food shortages, but the harsh environment had also fostered a group of highly skilled craftsmen.
"Exactly…" Hiruzen nodded.
"As for Konoha's current craftsmen, we're already offering them extremely generous compensation. Even if we raised their pay further, it still wouldn't overcome the objective limits of their production capacity."
"And low-level processing work like manufacturing raw scroll blanks shouldn't be where our craftsmen waste their time. They should instead focus on further optimization and upgrades."
Sakumo raised his hand and stood up, asking curiously: "Hokage-sama, then why not continue recruiting craftsmen from within the Land of Fire? Keeping everything domestic would still be better, wouldn't it?"
"That won't work."
Kakuzu shook his head and replied: "Hokage-sama already considered that point…"
"You need to understand that during the practice phase, the village requires an enormous amount of production capacity. But once the manufacturing process stabilizes, that capacity will become excessive, and the temporarily recruited domestic craftsmen will end up unemployed."
"Extra craftsmen don't simply grow out of the ground. If you insist on relying solely on domestic labor, then you'd have to pull a portion of qualified people away from other industries."
"There's no need for that. We can simply outsource the processing work to the Land of Rain. Forcibly disrupting the stable industrial structure of the Land of Fire would instead harm our economy."
Kakuzu spoke in a low voice: "Hokage-sama is the Shōgun. The Land of Fire's tax revenue can be temporarily mobilized. The Land of Fire's money should be viewed as Konoha's money…"
Hiruko looked at Kakuzu and nodded slightly.
He liked shinobi with genuine ability the most.
Substance in one's words—that was the style researchers appreciated…
'Although I'm on good terms with people like Hizashi and Orochimaru, Hizashi is a complete workaholic, while Orochimaru and Tsunade are both aiming to become Hokage. Jiraiya, meanwhile, comes and goes like a ghost…'
'I still need friends within the village. This Kakuzu clearly belongs directly under Hokage-sama's faction, so interacting with him won't cause trouble. After all, I'm also firmly part of the Hokage faction…'
Hiruko silently thought to himself.
Before Hiruzen had even made arrangements, Hiruko was already considering taking the initiative to befriend Kakuzu.
The so-called Hokage faction did not mean Konoha had other political factions.
Rather, like the ANBU and Root, it referred to people whose actions and interests were entirely aligned with Hiruzen, without carrying any other labels or ambitions.
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