33 Butterfly Effect (2)

After finishing her talk with Taki, Jiya Riyose summoned Kaito and his teammates.

However, the sight she was greeted with surprised her, even though she came from a noble clan. The waiting room was usually a place filled with anxiety, as the genins feared and respected Taki. It was not just a matter of hierarchy and respect, since the Sunagakure Genin Corps was similar to a very strict military force. It was a matter of one man holding the fate of teams altogether.

One mission, one order could mean a sure death, and there was no way to escape this, no way except being strong.

And team 146 was a lot of things, and it definitely was not weak. It had cemented its position of the most elite team of platoon 3, having built experience, strength and knowledge through more than 300 missions.

There was a reason why Taki had invested so much resource in this team, and that was their potential. Eiji's swordsmanship lessons in the barracks, Kaito's puppets lessons in the puppet brigade and even Aki's lessons with Taki's daughter were all part of their success.

But despite having achieved so much, they were training in this waiting room. Children, no older than 15, were using the [Sand Grain Counting] chakra exercise, rumored to increase chakra control. Eiji was obviouly struggling, but it was not the first time she had seen them do this, and his progress was flabbergasting. As for Aki, she had already surpassed her, a chunin. As for Kaito...It was just otherworldly, as he was capable of freely manipulating and counting the sand grains at unbelievable speed. Most chunins would not hold a candle to him, not to mention genins.

"Taki is waiting for you", Jiya said in a stern voice.

No matter how much she appreciated this team, as they played a crucial role in the pre-emptive strikes against Tanigakure in the past year, completing more than 50 missions including some complex ones cementing Sungakure's position of power, she would not express it outwards. Personal feelings were not tolerated in this kind of job. Tomorrow, they could be dead, and that would be it. This was the harsh reality of the shinobi world.

They all reacted prompty, and stood up without saying a word, besides bowing slightly, respecting her position. 

Taki explained the situation to them: "There will be an attack against Tanigakure in the coming week. We have made sure that Tanigakure is taken by surprise, and they have no official allies in this. The goal is to deal a blow to Tanigakure, as well as the theft of their river manipulation techniques they have been holding on for years. Our jonins and chunin forces will attack the village. In the past, it would have been impossible to attack them, since Tanigakure has always had an enormous terrain advantage against Sungakure shinobi, being very proficient with Suiton. But, the war and the pre-emptive strikes and mission completed by our forces have weakened them to a never-reached-before point. The Council approved of us, and this operation will be led by Chiyo. Thankfully, the chunin exams will give us enough room to accomplish this. Although the kage from other villages will probably try to prevent the all-out destruction of Tanigakure, Lord Rasa assured us the third Hokage would not move to help. Coincidentally, the arena is located above the tanigakure's secret library. Your mission will be to sneak to the last stage of the chunin exams, and use the chaos of our attack to steal their secret jutsu. This is a unique mission, and your role is crucial. This is how much I value your expertise"

Kaito's eyes opened widely: 'This...this is not canon...The lands of river were never attacked in the series, not to mention having reached a state of weakness so big that it would even be threatened by Sungakure, which was suffering from a massive economic crcisis'

"YES, SIR", the trio replied in union

But then, Kaito remembered all the missions he had completed over the past five years. The previous year, especially, he was targeting missions of importance. Sunagakure's economic score was soaring thanks to his team, and even though it only mattered for a couple points out of Sunagakure's economic score, the economy was something that benefitted immensely from compound interests. A minor boon could turn into a prosperous era.

Each strategic impact he made was not only weakening Tanigakure, but improving Sunagakure. His introduction of peer puppet manufacturing, allowing both beginners and experts to oversee his process of thoughts when creating new puppets, also strengthened the puppet brigade as a whole, even if the goal was to gain more insights on the personal plan.

[Sunagakure - Hidden Village of the Sand

Economy Score : 148.3

Trade and commerce attractivity: 68.9

Resource availability: 35.8

Defense Score: 246.2

Surveillance and early warning systems: 79.8

Knowledge Score: 202.3

Research institutions and libraries: 3

Knowledge of forbidden jutsu: 46.2

Strategic intelligence: 70.1

Village Infrastructure: 60.2

Marketplace and bazaars: 72.3

Training grounds and dojos: 168.6

Notable Landmarks:

The Kazekage's Residence

The Wind Dunes Arena (for Chuunin and Jonin exams)

The Hidden Sand Library

The Sand Sarcophagus (ancient relic)

The Sungakure Genin Corps Dome

The Puppet Brigade Workshop

The Swordsmen Barracks

The Fan Institution of Wind

Relations with Other Villages:

Allied with Konohagakure (Leaf Village)

Allied with Amegakure (Rain Village)

Neutral with Kirigakure (Mist Village)

Tense relations with Iwagakure

Enemy relations with Tanigakure

Major Exports:Sand-based resources (glass, ceramics)

Rare desert plants and herbs

Mercenary services

Major Imports:Food and water supplies

Advanced technology and weaponry

Medical supplies and knowledge]

Kaito originally mistook the soaring of the Sunagakure's village stats in economy, defense, trade, surveillance as the natural period of growth after war. However, little did he know for his impacts were multiplied by several folds from compound interest and sheer amount of missions. He saved several teams in the process too, and these teams continued to be productive for the village, thus multiplying his impacts times and times again. 

Inversely, whenever he killed an enemy shinobi, it was one less enemy on the battlefield, and he had participated in the killing of nearly one hundred Tanigakure genins over the past year, which was a significant percentage of Tanigakure's forces, either directly or with the help of his teammates and joint operation with other teams. 

A village did not have unlimited amount of forces, and it took too many years to groom a civilian into a genin, prodigy included. Anytime he accomplished a mission, killed an enemy, destroyed a strategic point in the lands of river, it was one more step towards the strengthening of Sunagakure, and one step towards the Tanigakure's downfall.

He never had the opportunity to witness another village's stats, which seemed to be reserved for inhabitants of the said village.

However, he had witnessed the growth of Sunagakure, and its economy and military had grown by tens of points in a matter of years. 

All of that contributed to the present declaration of war towards Tanigakure.

War.

Something he and his team had prepared for ever since they had been paired with, something that pushed Kaito to work himself and his teammates beyond their limits and potential, something that made him both fearful...and surprisingly exciting, since war meant opportunities. 

He no longer was the civilian he used to be on Earth, lawful and weak. Years on the field had given him another vision of the shinobi world. The strong prey on the weak, and to become truly free, he just had to become stronger, stronger so that no one would be able to threaten his survival or happiness, even if it took hard work and pain to accomplish it.