"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 154: The Monument Stands Eternal
A merchant arrived at Kikyō Castle with his goods.
This merchant was a grain dealer, making his first attempt at trading in the remote Land of the River Source... The intense fighting between the Uchiha and Senju in the east had actually highlighted the relatively stable environment of the Land of the River Source.
Actually, this merchant's timing was rather slow, because over the past year, the Land of the River Source's external trade volume had been steadily increasing... Shimizu Daimyō's intelligence was fine—his brain hadn't suffered any organic damage—so he hadn't taken the opportunity to raise tariffs to 250%.
But sometimes arriving late is better than arriving at the right time. This merchant, who usually couldn't even catch hot opportunities, had an unexpected windfall this time.
"A merchant from the east?"
An official serving under Shimizu Daimyō's government inspected the merchant's goods while inquiring about his background.
"Yes, I'm from the eastern Koga clan, bringing this year's high-quality new grain."
The merchant felt somewhat regretful at this moment, as this official was being picky about his goods, and there was also a ninja nearby watching this transaction.
"Indeed, I can give you an A rating. We'll purchase at the highest market price."
After the official gave his quote, the merchant immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This price was indeed market rate—neither high nor low, right in his acceptable range.
"I hope you can pay with Enshi gold koban."
"Of course. However, since your goods are excellent in origin and quality, you qualify for our special list. If you're willing, we can also pay with Shimizu gold koban."
The merchant immediately became alert. Enshi koban were the best currency on the market. Was this official trying to pay with inferior currency with insufficient gold content?
The official naturally knew this person's concerns, so he immediately opened a nearby money chest and displayed the newly released currency.
"This is our Land of the River Source koban. Please take a look."
The merchant's eyes were immediately captivated by the gleaming gold koban. He picked up one and found that this new currency had the same face value as Enshi koban, but its weight and gold content had increased by about one-twentieth.
If the trade volume was large... it was completely backwards—the merchant could actually collect "seigniorage" from the daimyō in reverse.
In this era, merchants who dared to do business all had good eyesight. After confirming there were no tricks in the Shimizu koban, he immediately said:
"Can you pay entirely in this new koban?"
The official shook his head and said:
"Although we urgently need grain, this is your first time trading here, so your credit rating is insufficient. For this transaction, we can pay at most one-fifth in Shimizu koban, with the remainder made up with Enshi koban."
"Only one-fifth..."
The merchant was a bit greedy, but thinking again, this should all count as unexpected gain.
"If I come again next time..."
"Then we would naturally appropriately increase the payment ratio."
You can't just spend money recklessly. Currently, the Land of the River Source's policy tendency was to pay new currency for bulk daily necessities and production materials from the east. The west wasn't excluded, but the proportion was much lower.
The goods involved included grain, steel, medicinal herbs, cloth, sugar, spices, and other categories. As for luxury goods, gold and silver items, gems and such—sorry, they weren't buying those at all.
Although every merchant tried to keep this good news secret, the information still spread quickly... someone in the Land of the River Source was willing to pay more money for the same goods.
Shimizu Kiyosuke's reputation as a "fool" and "idiot" spread without effort.
From the emphasis on "authentic origin" and restrictions on merchants' directions, one could see who Shimizu Daimyō was targeting.
So the question was: facing this crude economic policy, what was Enshi Daimyō's response?
Official leadership in selling goods to the Land of the River Source.
Although Enshi Daimyō was already a hundred million times smarter than certain national leaders—at least his brain was fine and he didn't need doctor-prescribed medication—he was still blinded by greed.
War was ninja business; daimyō only needed to make money.
...
When the Land of the River Source began systematically and purposefully collecting various strategic materials from the "Land of Fire," Yūshin led a small squad into what would later be the "Land of Rivers" territory.
After waiting in place for some time, Kujō Retto, leader of the Kujō Clan, appeared in Yūshin's group's field of vision with a team of ninja.
"Lord Retto, long time no see."
"Lord Yūshin, long time no see."
After meeting, Yūshin and Retto greeted each other and shook hands.
Although the Kujō Clan was increasingly wary of the Fireflies organization's expansion, this didn't harm Retto and Yūshin's personal friendship—he still greatly admired Yūshin.
In his view, an organization's leader seeking benefits for that organization was perfectly natural.
Retto looked at the huge banner unfurled by Yūshin's side. One side bore the Fireflies' emblem, while the other displayed the character "Fire."
Since both sides had communicated beforehand, the Kujō Clan had also brought their banner, though that flag currently only bore the Kujō clan crest.
"Lord Kujō, I heard you're reorganizing and absorbing other forces in the desert. How's it going—still smooth?" Yūshin asked after releasing his handshake with Retto.
"There's been some progress, but the difficulty is considerable," Retto said.
Integrating other forces was much harder than imagined. Initially there was mutual distrust, and after building some trust, they had to fight over benefit distribution.
"No problem. Sometimes appropriate external pressure promotes internal fusion."
Since their relationship was quite good, Yūshin didn't plan to hide anything... Compared to the complex internal desert situation, the mutual trust between Kujō and the Fireflies was quite high.
"It seems Lord Yūshin has already made his decision." Kujō Retto's tone was full of regret.
He naturally knew about certain things, otherwise he wouldn't have come so formally today.
"Yes, before long a great nation spanning several geographic units will appear in the east..."
"I personally greatly admire Lord Retto, and I once hesitated over decisions concerning our organization's future, but I had to consider my subordinates' opinions. No choice—they're all attached to their homeland and unwilling to leave the Land of the River Source."
Kujō Retto almost believed him—he'd never heard of ninja being so attached to their homeland.
But there was no choice—Yūshin really didn't want to go eat sand in the desert.
"Regardless, I am truly regretful."
"Actually, the Fireflies moving east and Kujō moving west isn't necessarily bad. Precisely because we're independent yet mutually friendly, we can create a stable border."
"The Land of Fire... indeed so. Fire and wind support each other, enhancing each other's momentum."
Kujō Retto naturally understood what Yūshin was saying.
"Lord Yūshin, can you represent the full attitude of the east?"
"Of course. If problems arise in the future, Lord Retto can hold me solely responsible."
"I'm willing to trust Lord Yūshin's credibility... Very well, let's delineate our territories here."
Buffer zones are sometimes useful, sometimes not. Yūshin felt that buffering between the Land of Wind and Land of Fire was useless.
So in his plan, there was no "Land of Rivers" at all.
The desert was too poor. Appropriately giving the future Land of Wind a production area would actually benefit stabilizing relations between both sides.
But this didn't mean Yūshin was a "Fire traitor." On the contrary, drawing borders here would allow the Land of Fire's territory to expand outward somewhat.
Originally, the Land of Fire's westernmost territory bordered the Land of Rain, with the southern border curving inward in a concave shape.
But now the agreed border location moved the Land of Fire's westernmost point eastward, while the meridian-like straight up-and-down border method also let the Land of Fire swallow part of the Land of Rivers' territory.
The Land of Wind gained more benefits, which would increase future Sunagakure's strength, but Yūshin felt it didn't matter, because he hoped to maintain long-term friendly relations between Konoha and Sunagakure.
Strengthening allies was acceptable.
Of course, Yūshin's thinking was overly idealistic—war between Konoha and Sunagakure would inevitably break out.
Therefore, Yūshin's approach was also laying a trap.
After determining territory, the future "Sunagakure" could only develop northward in the short term. Yūshin wanted the Land of Wind to push the Land of Rain westward.
With the Land of Wind in the south, Land of Taki in the north, and Land of Fire in the east, the Shinobi World's central region would form a three-way junction... Having the Land of Taki and Land of Wind jointly push the Land of Rain westward would mean the Land of Fire wouldn't border the Land of Rain.
Whoever wanted that Land of Rain territory could have it.
No matter how clever Retto was, he couldn't possibly detect this small scheme.
He appeared here today because he had already weighed the pros and cons and was prepared to accept Yūshin's conditions.
He had already anticipated the dramatic changes in the east, so he had to accelerate certain steps. To quickly integrate the "interior," he naturally needed a relatively stable border.
In such matters, often one fast step leads to fast steps throughout. Kujō Retto absolutely didn't want the Kujō Clan's integration speed to lag behind the Senju Clan's.
So Kujō and the Fireflies were now perfectly aligned.
"Worthy of Lord Retto—truly decisive and swift, not concerned with minor gains and losses, thus better able to focus on the big picture."
"Lord Yūshin, the Senju Clan has your assistance, but we Kujō don't... We only hope both sides will maintain eternal friendship and lasting peace."
"It will naturally be so. Lord Retto's abilities far exceed mine, and our wills are convergent."
Such a momentous event was quickly settled in the hands of these two leaders.
Yūshin stepped back several paces. Next, Retto stepped forward and raised both arms. As his palms lifted, massive amounts of iron sand surged from the ground like a tide.
The iron sand quickly fused together, forming a giant "iron curtain" eighty meters high and sixty meters wide... proportioned like a web novel cover.
One side of the iron curtain bore the Fireflies' emblem, the other the Kujō clan crest. Its north-south extension line would be the future border between the two great nations.
Yūshin stood east of the border, seeing the Kujō clan crest; Retto stood west of the border, seeing the Fireflies' emblem.
At this moment, the monument stood eternal, recording the efforts both leaders made for peace.
Seeing this scene, Yūshin knew everything here was settled, and even he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief...
If there hadn't been early contact between the Fireflies and Kujō, there wouldn't have been a relatively trusting relationship, and such a momentous event couldn't have been easily determined at this time.
Overall, both sides being able to settle this matter peacefully without bloodshed should indeed count as Yūshin's achievement... As for him using "Land of Rivers" territory to strengthen enemies, let history judge with laughter and criticism after a few decades.
After settling western affairs, the Fireflies Village's mission focus could shift to the northwest direction.
Theoretically, the northwest was all small and medium-scale ninja clans, which seemed not difficult to handle, but considering future stability issues, Yūshin felt he couldn't be simple and crude.
Before him were two choices: kill all those small and medium ninja clans, or try to minimize killing.
Both approaches were very difficult. No choice—who told Yūshin to always want to solve problems as long-term as possible?
On one hand, ninja can't be completely killed—it's like cutting grass. Even if Yūshin had the ability to kill all ninja in a certain area, as soon as he left, that area would immediately be filled by other ninja clans.
On the other hand, if he wanted to minimize killing, he'd have to choose the path of winning people over with virtue... truly winning people over with virtue.
The Shinobi World had developed to its current stage, and Yūshin felt the overall situation was decided. He could spend more energy on handling details, plus he didn't want to get his hands too dirty, so...
Win people over with virtue it would be.
However, before leading his team north, Yūshin still needed to wait for reinforcements to arrive. To better achieve his goals, he needed this manpower.
From this, one could see that the Shinobi World's situation—at least the "Land of Fire's" situation—Yūshin indeed already considered very clear. He was actually starting to consider his reputation.
You should know that once reputation is ruined, it can never be cleaned again. Yūshin felt he could pay more attention to this.
Within the "Land of Fire," the Uchiha Clan under Uchiha Madara's leadership seemed like they could still stir up storms, but they were actually already stagnant water.
Previously, Senju Tobirama had nearly been rendered speechless by Yūshin, and he couldn't retort because Yūshin spoke the truth.
He felt his thinking had indeed gone astray—he was too focused on internal affairs. The great ninja village hadn't even been established yet, so why consider so many internal details?
Therefore, Senju Tobirama reflected deeply. After organizing his emotions, what would he do?
He would focus more intently on dealing with the Uchiha Clan.
Senju Hashirama wasn't ruthless enough. The delicate balance between Senju and Uchiha still had to be broken by Tobirama.
...
On the other side, the seaside Uzumaki Clan began quietly packing their belongings, preparing to migrate inland.
They would temporarily stay in the Senju village, then collectively relocate to the new ninja village's location.
This location hadn't been determined yet, but the Senju Clan would eventually leave their village too—that was certain... If the Senju village developed into "Konoha Village," it would be unfair to other ninja clans.
Everyone else had "left home," but the Senju Clan could stay put? Then after the new ninja village was established, the Senju Clan's psychological advantage would be too great.
The new ninja village developed from the Senju's village, so wouldn't the Senju be the new ninja village's main clan? Wouldn't they be naturally superior?
To avoid the sun shining on the earth and loyalty continuing endlessly, based on equality principles, the Senju had to leave too.
Among the four ninja clans, the Uzumaki Clan was the smallest, so they could move first—after all, fewer people meant less commotion when moving.
However, it was impossible for them to leave their homeland and successfully merge with the Senju Clan without alerting anyone.
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