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"Once the war breaks out, it's not something that can be wrapped up in a day or two. What we need to do is prepare for the worst in advance. If we wait until prices start skyrocketing before we panic and scramble, it'll be too late."
The Hidden Leaf Village wasn't short on food, but Kazuki would rather spend the excess money to purchase massive quantities of grain and other daily necessities.
Having grain in hand means peace of mind—this principle holds true in any world.
Don't think that just because the village can produce enough food for self-sufficiency, there's no need to buy and stockpile more.
Everything's fine until an unexpected crisis hits, and then it's too late to cry.
"This..."
The Third Hokage really wanted to argue that the Hidden Leaf could sustain itself and didn't need to hoard excessive amounts of grain.
But Kazuki's words left him completely speechless.
At this point, if he still opposed the idea, it would change the flavor entirely. If the Hidden Leaf ended up facing grain shortages and skyrocketing prices in the future, he'd be the one shouldering the blame.
Better to say less, do less, and make fewer mistakes.
That was the Third Hokage's current predicament.
Neither Kazuki nor Tsunade would readily adopt his suggestions anymore, which left the Third feeling more like a ceremonial mascot than anything else.
Homura, sitting beside him, was practically dying of anxiety, frantically signaling with his eyes for the Third to shut up.
Just accept the task obediently and carry it out.
If something went wrong, Kazuki and Tsunade would take the heat—as long as it wasn't some deliberately sabotaging mission designed to screw them over, they should just execute it without overthinking.
With his old partner's relentless hints, the Third Hokage fully recognized his own position. In the end, he could only sigh deeply, fall silent, and refrain from debating further with Kazuki.
"Since there are no other matters, the meeting is adjourned."
Without needing Tsunade to say anything, Kazuki declared the end of the meeting himself and was the first to leave the conference room. Tsunade nodded to the others and quickly followed suit.
Once outside, Tsunade pulled Kazuki into her office, closed the door, and asked seriously, "Kazuki, be honest with me—why are we stockpiling so much grain? Don't give me that line about preventing price hikes. In the Hidden Leaf, even during wartime, grain prices rarely surge like that."
"What if I said it's to make money? Would you believe me?"
Kazuki spread his hands in a gesture of surrender, opting for full honesty.
"Make money? You mean..."
Tsunade wasn't slow; she quickly pieced together Kazuki's intentions.
The current situation in the ninja world was still manageable. But once the war's ripples expanded and engulfed more areas, many countries and villages wouldn't even be able to achieve food self-sufficiency. They'd have no choice but to buy from outsiders.
However, with the war's reach so vast, who would have surplus grain to sell? Even if someone did, would you be willing to pay the exorbitant prices?
In the worst cases, you could have all the money in the world and still not be able to buy any.
"It's not as complicated as you're thinking. First and foremost, we need to secure ourselves. Right now, the village doesn't have any major expenditures lined up, so the money's just sitting there. Stockpiling more grain is always the safe bet. Oh, and also—halt all sales from the ranching operations for livestock."
"Is that really it?"
Tsunade always felt like there was more to it, but Kazuki refused to elaborate.
Pestering him for answers only made Tsunade frustrated enough to want to punch him.
The waters of the ninja world were growing increasingly turbulent. After Chiyo returned to the village and brought back all the war-preparedness materials, she finally felt at ease enough to head straight for the Fire Country Daimyo's residence.
She needed to purchase sufficient daily necessities for the village.
At the same time, she wanted to meet with the daimyo personally to clear up some misunderstandings.
Her hope was to have a frank conversation and secure the daimyo's full support.
Chiyo had anticipated running into some resistance from the daimyo, but to her surprise, after calming down and thinking things through, the Wind Country Daimyo realized he had overreacted.
With war on the horizon, even if he wasn't optimistic about the Hidden Sand Village's chances, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and provide the funding.
Not supporting the Sand Village would essentially mean the daimyo was hoping for their defeat.
He still had to back them where it mattered; otherwise, if the Sand lost decisively and utterly, he'd lose face—not to mention his own status and influence among the daimyo circle would plummet alongside the village's downfall.
"Chiyo, can you guarantee that none of this was done by the Hidden Sand Village?"
The Wind Country Daimyo's expression was grave, while the Fire Country Daimyo, seated beside him, watched the exchange with an amused, leisurely grin.
At a time like this, he felt truly fortunate that Tsunade had become the Fifth Hokage—it saved him a ton of headaches.
After all, Tsunade was practically family to him, with their blood ties ensuring the Hidden Leaf wouldn't cause him any trouble.
The same couldn't be said for the Hidden Sand.
When the Water Country Daimyo's mangled corpse had been delivered to the daimyo's mansion, the sight had genuinely startled him.
"Please rest assured, Your Excellency. Although one of our patrol squads was manipulated into committing this act, I can guarantee with my life that the village itself had absolutely no involvement. I stake my personal reputation on it."
Chiyo assured him with utmost seriousness: "Your Excellency, if the village were truly behind this, do you think the Hidden Leaf would still sell us those war-preparedness materials?"
Chiyo pulled the Hidden Leaf card once again, playing on sentiment.
After all, the Wind Country and Fire Country daimyo had a relatively close relationship, and the Wind Daimyo held the most positive view of the Leaf among all the villages.
What was going on here?
The Wind Country Daimyo glanced at his fellow Daimyo.
Indeed, he and the Fire Country Daimyo were fairly closely related by blood.
The Fire Country Daimyo rolled his eyes in exasperation and replied lazily, "I'm not entirely sure about the details, but I trust little Tsunade. If she approved the sale of those war materials, it proves the Hidden Sand Village had nothing to do with your assassination attempt. It must have been some hidden enemy pulling the strings."
"Earlier, that thing... what was it..." The Fire Country Daimyo suddenly blanked, forgetting the name.
Seeing this, Chiyo prompted him: "The Akatsuki organization."
"Right, Akatsuki!"
The Fire Country Daimyo slapped his thigh: "This has to be connected to that Akatsuki group. After all, those guys are insanely bold—they're plotting something called the Infinite Tsukuyomi and capturing tailed beasts from every village. They must be terrified of the Five Great Ninja Villages uniting their strength, so they're stirring up this war to prevent that."
Upon hearing this, the Water Country Daimyo's tense expression softened considerably.
"So, with war imminent, has the village made all the necessary preparations?"
The Hidden Sand couldn't beat the Hidden Leaf, and while that pained the Wind Country Daimyo, he could accept it. But if they couldn't even handle the Hidden Mist, it wouldn't prove the enemy was too strong—it would just expose how pathetically weak the Sand truly was.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Hidden Sand had always been the consistent loser, and he'd been fed up with it for years.
"Please be at ease, Your Excellency. All preparations are complete. We only need to stockpile a batch of reserve supplies, and we'll be fully equipped to stand against the Hidden Mist. Both I and the Kazekage are confident we can tough out this war!!!"
No matter the cost, they had to win this one.
Otherwise, the Hidden Sand Village would never be able to hold its head high again.
With Chiyo's repeated assurances, the Water Country Daimyo's stance gradually softened: "Very well, then. I'll provide you with my support. Just don't let this old man down again."
He turned his head.
"Buying more daily necessities from the daimyo's stores—no issues there?"
"No problems on my end, but the quantities won't be as massive as before." The Fire Country Daimyo did some quick mental math and gave a regretful response.