Chapter 4: The Village Faces Bankruptcy

Mukaze silently recited, "Check the sales data."

The sales data of Faraday Ninja Tool Shop was displayed.

The sales chart showed a declining trend in the quantity of ninja tool sales over the past three months.

Mukaze felt a great sense of crisis.

As for his current power data:

Power: 199

Spiritual Power: 210

Chakra: 200 (Attributes: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, Yang, Yin)

This roughly equals the power of ten Kakashi Hatakes.

Mukaze was able to achieve such strength from being an average ninja by selling over 100,000 ninja tools in the past three years and gaining 100,000 units of spiritual energy.

With a continuous supply of spiritual energy, he could produce chakra, which could then be used to create electromagnetic releases, strengthening his bioelectricity, muscles, and reflexes.

The enhancement of physical abilities, in turn, allowed for the assimilation of more spiritual energy and the production of more chakra.

The combination of these factors formed a positive cycle:

Sell ninja tools -> Gain spiritual energy -> Produce chakra -> Strengthen bioelectricity -> Enhance physical energy -> Produce more chakra -> Produce more ninja tools.

As a result, Mukaze's abilities experienced exponential growth.

However, the current decline in sales or stagnation could severely impact his development.

For his own sake and for the village, he had to save the village from its financial crisis and make it prosperous.

"I will go talk to the Kazekage about developing the oil industry."

"You all focus on your respective tasks for now."

Both Temari and Kankuro responded in unison, "Understood, boss."

....

The high-level officials of Sunagakure were also holding a meeting to discuss how to deal with the increasingly severe financial crisis.

Presiding over the meeting was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.

High-ranking officials such as Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Tojuro were in attendance.

(TL: Aren't they Genin during this time? I translated it again it other translator but still the same. I'm so confuse.)

Gaara reported the data situation, "The daimyo has once again reduced our village's military budget this month. The village funds are now less than one million ryō. Forty percent of the tasks assigned to us have been transferred to Konoha. It is expected that the situation will not improve in the second half of the year, and the village will be unable to sustain itself."

"The village will go bankrupt!"

The faces of the high-ranking officials turned grim.

Sunagakure was different from other villages. With eighty percent of its land covered by desert, they couldn't even achieve self-sufficiency in food production.

Without money to buy food, the village would collapse.

Hatred flashed in Rasa's eyes.

In his mind, Sunagakure had fallen into such a state because of the despicable Konoha.

Their strength forced the daimyo to submit and align with them.

Rasa said, "Tell me if you have any ideas on how to overcome this crisis."

Temari suggested, "Should we consider reducing the number of shinobi, especially the lower-ranking ones, to cope with the crisis?"

Kankuro sneered, "We keep reducing the numbers every time. Currently, our shinobi force is already small. If we continue to reduce, the village won't be able to sustain itself."

Sunagakure had the harshest natural conditions among the hidden villages. Eighty percent of their land was desert, with temperatures exceeding forty degrees during the day and freezing cold at night.

The harsh natural environment made Sunagakure the poorest village among them all.

Due to poverty, Sunagakure had always focused on cultivating a small number of elite shinobi to maintain the village's military capabilities.

Gaara suggested, "Can we try to persuade the daimyo to revalue Sunagakure or allocate more tasks to us?"

Tojuro added, "Persuasion also takes time. How do we get through this period? The shinobi salaries still need to be paid."

Temari proposed, "Or we can borrow from Mukaze to get through this period."

Upon hearing the name Mukaze, Rasa immediately became furious.

"Don't go to him. He is someone who completely lacks the collective honor of the village."

Just mentioning Mukaze would make Rasa angry.

Even though he was the richest person in the village, he would rather use the gold sand for his Sand Worm's nest than contribute it to the village.

What made Rasa even more ashamed was that he tried to use force to make Mukaze hand over the gold sand, but he was defeated instead.

Fortunately, only he and Mukaze knew about this incident.

Mukaze didn't publicize it afterwards either.

Otherwise, if it became known that the Fourth Kazekage was defeated by a lower-ranking shinobi, he would lose face as the Kazekage.

"For short-term funds, I will make an effort to extract some gold sand to get through this difficult period."

Chojuro said, "Kazekage, relying solely on your Magnet Release to extract gold sand is not a sustainable solution."

In order to maintain the village's finances, the Kazekage transformed into a miner.

Seventy percent of the village's expenses relied on him using Magnet Release to extract gold sand.

"Don't worry, everyone. I have found a solution to permanently solve this problem."

Everyone looked surprised at Rasa.

His face was covered with bandages.

Only his confident eyes shimmered with determination.

He had reached an agreement with Otogakure and formulated an action plan called "Leaf Collapse."

By weakening and defeating Konoha, the daimyo would naturally refocus on Sunagakure, and the village would prosper.

After the meeting, Rasa received news of Mukaze's visit.

Is this female entrepreneur here to mock me?

"Let him in."

Kazekage's office.

Rasa received Mukaze.

The atmosphere was not pleasant.

Rasa looked at Mukaze coldly.

"What are you here for?"

They didn't mention the fact that Mukaze had defeated him.

He wouldn't contribute his wealth to the village either.

As a shinobi in the village, he never accepted missions to earn commissions for the village. Instead, he would stay in his own shinobi tool factory to make money.

Rasa believed that with his strength, completing an S-rank mission would be no problem at all.

Mukaze was a miser with no sense of responsibility towards the village.

Mukaze completely understood what Rasa was thinking.

He didn't mind the misunderstanding.

Because he had never experienced the Industrial Revolution or the Information Age.

For a poor village like Sunagakure to become wealthy and prosperous, relying on farming alone wouldn't work.

Relying on warfare alone won't work either.

The only way is to develop industry and technology.

Developing these requires a foundation of accumulation.

I tirelessly accumulate funds, and the raw materials are waiting for the right opportunity.

Now is the perfect opportunity.

Mukaze: "I heard that the daimyo is once again cutting the village's budget."

Rasa sneered: "Hmph, what does that have to do with you? Even if you have money and abilities, if you were to defect from the village, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it."