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  “Reduce the military budget?” the hawkish elder smmed his hand oable. “Are you joking? Iwagakure has always been eyeing us like a hawk. If they learn that we've reduilitary budget, those monkeys might just unother war!”

  “That’s why we need an alliance! An alliahe reformist elder of Sunagakure retorted, a dark shadow crossing his eyes.

  An alliahis was the agreed-upon strategy from the beginning.

  The inal pn was to form an alliah Kirigakure, leveraging their ninjas to ter Iwagakure. The for this alliance akura. Uhe guise of a secret mission, they would transfer Pakura takure, and whatever happened afterward…would be Kirigakure's . They would handle everything.

  However, just as this secret transa was about to ence, Kirigakure uedly imploded.

  The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, with whom they had iated, suddenly ged his tune, refusing tact with their envoy and instead f an alliah Konoha.

  Konoha!

  In Sunagakure’s list of enemies, Iwagakure ranked first, and Konoha a close sed. Allying with the friend of an enemy was unthinkable.

  That left only one vilge for a potential alliance-Kumogakure.

  “Kumogakure also harbors deep reseowards Iwagakure. If we exploit this rese, Iwagakure will be forced to turn their attention to Kumogakure, naturally redug the pressure on us,” the reformist elder expined.

  His words prompted deep thought among the assembled elders, sparking a flurry of ideas:

  “We could emute the Konoha-Kiri Alliance, establishing a mutual defense pact with Kumogakure. This would alleviate the defensive pressure on our borders. If those Iwa monkeys attack us regardless, Kumogakure send reinforts or even un attack within Iwagakure’s territory.”

  “Uo focus on both fronts, Iwagakure would be hesitant to ihe Land of Wind, even if they wao.”

  “This way, the funds allocated for military development be reallocated.”

  Based on the cept proposed by an unnamed political stist from the Land of Fire:

  The more a vilge spends on military development, the less it spends on public welfare. Less spending on eic development leads to lDP, whi turn leads to less funding for military development…

  Thus, creating a vicious cycle. The reformist elder firmly believed in this cept. The solution to breaking this cycle was simple-

  An allia was akin to transferring the burden of their vilge's military expenditure onto another vilge, sharing the pressure of national and vilge defense.

  The remaining funds could then be used for public welfare, boosting the vilge's GDP. e to think of it, Sunagakure wasn’t short on local specialties. There was gold buried beh the desert, chakra metal mines waiting to be excavated, and an abundance of desert shinobi beast meat…

  It was just that the vilge was too impoverished. Every year, a signifit portion of their budget ent on maintaining ninja tools eroded by wind and sand, as well as maintaining puppets, subsidizing ninjas, funding the Ninja Academy, and other military-reted expenses.

  If these funds were sistently ied in Sunagakure's eic development, it was unimaginable how prosperous the vilge could bee!

  A cloth on our heads, but the richest in the shinobi world!

  Some elders, propos of a pacifist approach, who advocated for Sunagakure to bee a permaly ral nation, abandoning all involvement in shinobi flicts, pletely abolishing the military system, and fog solely on eic development and the pursuit of pleasure, nodded in agreement.

  “We should allocate all funds to eid public welfare development! Sunagakure should have dohis long ago!”

  “The first step is to buy water! Let every Sunagakure vilger have access to unlimited water, instead of fighting tooth and nail for their meager rations!”

  “, we export hand-washed, seven-times-rinsed ninja tools as premium trade goods to other vilges. They’ll definitely sell out!”

  “Madmen! Ridiculous!”

  “I protest!”

  “Alright… enough arguing,” the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, seated at the head of the table, finally spoke. “As per tradition, we’ll proceed with a vote.”

  “Proposal: Form an alliah Kumogakure, reduce a portion of the military budget, and allocate the funds to public welfare and eic development.”

  As Rasa finished speaking, the iial elders of the vilge begaraditional hand vote.

  Five mier…

  “Eleven votes in favor, five against. The proposal passes.”

  “We will dispatvoys to Kumogakure te the alliance. Each department should submit a list of personnel for downsizing. Regarding the outdated puppets… see if anyone is willing to salvage them. In short, clear them out of the vilge’s storehouse. The Ninja Academy’s training curriculum also be adjusted accly…” The reformist elder listed several cost-cutting measures, with downsizing being the most direct.

  “Now that we’ve firmed Sunagakure’s strategic dire, let’s discuss how to utilize the funds saved from the military budget.” The reformist elder was already thinking about spending the money before it was even saved.

  “After the policy is implemented, we save approximately two billion ryō annually from military expenditures. Speak your minds!”

  The hedonistic elder immediately raised his hand. “Road stru, purchasing water, and building a ema.”

  “As everyone knows, Sunagakure is not without resources. However, the initial iment is substantial, requiring long-term operation to recoup the costs. Furthermore, due to enviroal factors, the transportation costs for exp goods from Sunagakure are too high!”

  “strug a safe and effit trade route in the name of the vilge will undoubtedly boost Sunagakure’s ey!”

  “Then there’s the matter of water.”

  “The people of Sunagakure, both vilgers and ninjas, endure a harsh life. That’s why we’ve been so desperate to expand our territory for decades. We live in the shinobi world, but our lives shouldn’t revolve solely around war. We should allow our weary souls to rest and fie.”

  “The uses for water are numerous… Vilgers could bathe daily! We could enjoy beer! Metal ninja tools like kunai would be protected from the harsh elements, allowing us to export them as premium goods to other vilges. Our poison-coated kunai have always been popur, but the attrition rate is too high!”

  “The same goes for the ema. Sunagakure doesn’t have a publiema. We should enhahe vilgers’ cultural experiences! Let them enjoy and explore new forms of eai.”

  He pulled out a copy of “Iki” from his pocket and patted the cover. “I used to think the shinobi world was small, so small that I believed everyone lived the same way we do in Sunagakure.”

  “But after reading the almost dotary-like travelogues within, I realized that the shinobi world be vast, so vast that there are many new aing things and forms of eaihat I’ve never even heard of…”

  “The vilgers… they suffer too much.”

  As he spoke, the hedonistic elder’s eyes filled with tears, his voice choked with emotion.

  His dispy moved many in the room. Even the hawkish elders, who had been eager to retort, felt their fervor diminish.

  Their advocacy for expanding the vilge’s military might and waging war stemmed from the desire to break free from the straints of their enviro, plunder resources, and secure a pce for their vilge in the world.

  Despite their differing philosophies on vilge development, their ultimate goal was the same: to improve the lives of the vilgers.

  “Trade, road stru, purchasing water…”

  “Let’s address the first two points.”

  “If you want to prosper, you must first build roads. With our current funds, we likely only afford to struct a single route for safe passage of trade caravans. Whiation should we establish a trade post with?”

  A giant map of the shinobi world read across the fereable as the Sunagakure leaders pondered.

  The Land of Wind bordered the Lands of Birds, Rain, and Rivers.

  Smaller vilges were out of the question. They were too insignifit. If Konoha or Iwagakure decided to sabotage them, Sunagakure would have to deploy ninjas for prote, putting the cart before the horse.

  Reag their ally, Kumogakure, for further trade would require traversing the Lands of Rain, Grass, Rivers, Frost, and Hot Water, sneakiween the colossal nations of Earth and Fire.

  Traveling south by sea would mean ciravigating half of the shinobi world, passing through Kirigakure’s territory to reach the Land of Lightning. The shortest distaween two points was a straight lihe fastest and most ve route was still directly across the Land of Fire to the Land of Lightning.

  Thus, the problem circled back.

  Konoha seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle for Sunagakure!

  “How about… we establish a trade post directly with Konoha?” someone suggested. This appeared to be the best solution.

  “Didn’t we just decide to ally with Kumogakure? How we trade with Konoha? Have you fotten the animosity between our vilges? Besides, Kumogakure and Konoha have always been at odds.”

  “Eh, don’t be so short-sighted! The alliah Kumogakure is a military pact! Trading with Konoha is an eid cultural matter, an eic alliance!”

  The elders exged gnces, momentarily bewildered by the hedonistic elder’s argument.

  Could alliances be this… flexible?

  Someone caught the key point and questioned, “Even so, setting aside past grievances, if Kumogakure and Konoha go to war, whose side will we take?”

  “Militarily support Kumogakure, eically support Konoha! I don’t see the idly tie eid military matters together.”

  “Look at the shinobi world today. Despite the bitter grudges left by past wars, trade tinues as usual, except for Kumogakure and Kirigakure, and the Land of Rain, of course.”

  Sihe end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Land of Rain had remained isoted, refusing trade with other vilges, shrouded in mystery.

  Kumogakure and Kirigakure were the first to propose eis against each other, a pi move in the shinobi world, paving a new path for others.

  “Look at Kumogakure and Iwagakure, Kumogakure and Konoha. Despite their fierce battles, their eies are now iwined.”

  “If they do it, why ’t we? In my opinion, we should officially prope-scale trade with Konoha and ask them to assist in strug the trade route.”

  “Even if war breaks out iure, we simply avoid the main trade routes. We haven't abandoned our rese, but we are currently prioritizing development and accumuting strength…”

  Enlightened by this new perspective, the elders felt a sense of liberation.

  The hedonistic elder’s argument was like a key, ied into the lock of the Sunagakure leaders’ outdated mi. Click. The lock opened.

  Viewing inter-vilge retions from this ahe seemingly irrecible animosity with Konoha could be temporarily set aside.

  “Build roads to Konoha, trade with Konoha, buy water from Konoha?”

  “I object to that st point!” A hawkish elder voiced his dissent. “Why not buy water from the Land of Rain? Their water should be the cheapest besides Kirigakure’s. Moreover, with that old geezer Hanzo around, we have him poisoer, the to and maintain our ninja tools, treating it as a sedary poisoning process. Wouldn’t that be even more profitable when we sell them?”

  “You warm fool! If Hanzo poisons the water, how will the vilgers use it?”

  “Fet the vilgers, even normal ninja wouldn’t be able to use it! Would we have to rely on a’s antidote pills?”

  “In my opinio’s have Konoha handle everything! Their water is cheap, and it would be a gesture of goodwill, encing them to help us build the roads. Two birds with oone!”

  “The biggest question now is, we are willing to temporarily recile for eic gain, but… what about Konoha? Are they willing to let go of the past?”

  Silence desded upon the feren. An unspoken uanding hung in the air.

  Almost simultaneously, they recalled the previous pn to ally with Kirigakure. Such matters…naturally required a “hero” to make a sacrifice.

  However, this time, no one volunteered. Sending a Suo their death once was a necessary evil. But to do it again with a different vilge… the Suna elders still had some pride. No one wao bear the burden of such a sin.

  “I’ll go,” Pakura’s voice echoed as she ehe Kazekage’s feren.

  Her fair, smooth back seemed thten the somber room. It was strao think that someone from the wi Land of Wind could maintain such fwless skin.

  “Pakura, you’re here.”

  “Fourth Kazekage-sama.” Pakura nodded, pletely unaware of the plot against her.

  Initially, she found the idea of washing kunai with water absurd. But after eavesdropping outside the feren, her perspective shifted.

  A thousand readers, a thousand interpretations of “Iki.” Now, Pakura saw i of “washing kunai” a ce for peace.

  If a hero like herself were to make the ultimate sacrifice… wouldn’t it allow the vilgers of Sunagakure to live the blissful lives depicted in “Iki”?

  Pakura didn’t fear death. As a ninja, she repared for su eventuality.

  To hear of sulightened ideas in the m, one could die tent in the evening!

  This seemed to be the only way for her to enter Konoha, to step into the world depicted in “Iki”… She had to sider whether this was a on-a-lifetime opportunity.

  With her life as the price, the vilge and Konoha could temporarily set aside their hatred and engage in genuine exge.

  The vilgers could live more fortably, and she, Pakura, could finally withe vilge that shone like a bea of civilization in the shinobi world.

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