Chapter 77: The Daimyo’s Shady Dealings, The Squad’s New Mission

"What, isn't that the case?" Nawaki asked, feeling a bit lost in Takuya's explanation.

Minato nodded in agreement.

Takuya nudged Minato over, making room for himself between the two. He picked up a stick and started drawing circles in the dirt.

"This is the Rain Country battlefield. Here's the area each of the four forces currently occupies. We, Konoha, are here. Over here is the Sand Village, and here's the Rain Village. The Rain Village holds the largest territory, but it's basically a four-way free-for-all. No alliances—everyone's an enemy unless they're one of your own."

"But have you thought about this?"

"Even if the Rain Village's military strength has grown quickly, it's still just a small, poor country. They're only trying to catch up to the five great ninja villages. And what about everything else? All their money's going into their military—"

"Don't they need to eat?"

"Don't they need new weapons?"

"Have you noticed how expensive supplies and weapons are right now?"

"The Rain Village is fighting everyone, and they're starting to hit a wall."

Constant losses in manpower, skyrocketing supply costs—Takuya was sure these were giving Hanzo a serious headache.

As long as the fighting continued in this stalemate, it wouldn't be long before the Rain Village was the first to collapse.

When that time came, Konoha wouldn't need to seek out negotiations—Hanzo would come to them.

That's why, after defeating Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya, and giving them the title of the "Legendary Sannin," Hanzo had really been signaling the start of peace talks.

If he hadn't been thinking about negotiations, Takuya would never believe that Hanzo, after defeating the three, would let them go when they had no strength left to resist. The so-called "Legendary Sannin" title was more a mark of shame than honor to them.

"So, does that mean Konoha will definitely win this war?" Nawaki asked.

"Of course! Now, get moving and find some firewood unless you want to keep eating rations and soldier pills. Haven't you had enough of that?"

Takuya wasn't one to fool around. After leaving the outpost, he hadn't fussed about food, surviving on rations and soldier pills. But now that they were back in camp, he wasn't about to skimp on himself.

"I'm on it!"

Nawaki couldn't stand the thought of more rations—his mouth was practically crying out for something else. Ending the conversation on that note, he dashed out of the tent to gather firewood.

"Yagami Takuya, Namikaze Minato, Nawaki, Lord Danzo requests your presence."

Good times didn't last long. The day after they returned to camp, Danzo sent someone to summon the squad to the command center.

The three quickly packed up and headed over.

"Lord Danzo."

Upon entering, Minato stepped forward, representing the squad with a respectful bow to Danzo.

"Hm."

Danzo didn't seem to care who the squad leader was—formalities were just a necessary step.

"I've called your squad here today to assign you a mission."

"Please, go ahead, Lord Danzo."

When the situation called for it, Minato was the picture of obedience—a model ninja, without a single flaw.

Danzo rose and walked over to the map hanging on the wooden wall, tracing a line with his finger.

"According to intel gathered by the ANBU, the Rain Village has recently purchased a large shipment of grain from the Fire Country's Daimyo, under the guise of Rain Country's Daimyo. This shipment also includes ninja tools they bought from the Land of Crafts. Your squad's mission is to intercept and destroy this supply line."

In the modern world, this would be considered aiding the enemy—akin to the behavior of treacherous merchants in ancient times, selling vital resources like salt and iron to hostile forces. But in the world of Naruto, this was perfectly legal.

The supplies weren't purchased directly by the Rain Village but by their Daimyo, supposedly for the starving civilians of the Rain Country. The reason was legitimate enough that, even though it was aiding the enemy, the Fire Country's Daimyo wouldn't refuse.

As long as the Rain Country's Daimyo didn't go around bragging that these supplies were for the Rain Village's ninjas, they could easily purchase grain from the Fire Country.

"This is blatant treachery!" Nawaki blurted out, feeling utterly betrayed.

How could the Daimyo do this? While Konoha was locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Rain Village, the bureaucrats were selling grain to their enemy.

If this wasn't aiding the enemy, what was it?

Buying supplies in the name of the Rain Country's civilians—those supplies were still going to end up in the hands of the Rain Village.

"Watch your words!" Danzo's face remained emotionless as he corrected Nawaki's outburst.

"These supplies were bought by the Rain Country's Daimyo for his starving people due to the war, not for the Rain Village."

"Yes, sir."

Nawaki understood the reasoning but couldn't help feeling frustrated.

"Your mission is to destroy these supplies and sever the supply route."

"Isn't one squad a bit too small for this?"

Supply lines are usually heavily guarded by ninjas. With just three people, cutting off a supply line wouldn't be easy. And, more importantly…

Takuya wasn't keen on putting in too much effort.

Danzo glanced at Takuya before continuing, "With your squad's strength, you should be able to destroy this supply line and all the supplies headed for the Rain Village. The fighting on the front lines is intense—Hanzo won't be able to personally protect the supply routes."

As long as Hanzo wasn't involved, with Takuya's ability to easily defeat jonin, severing this supply line wouldn't be too difficult. Besides, this was only one of the Rain Village's supply routes.

Relying on a single squad to cut off all their supply lines was clearly impossible.

"These people are despicable, selling grain to the Rain Country during wartime. Don't they realize that this food will end up in the Rain Village's hands?" Nawaki grumbled as they left the command center, still fuming.

"Relax," Takuya said, patting him on the shoulder. "Do you know what the relationship is between the Rain Country's Daimyo and the Fire Country's Daimyo?"

"What relationship?" Nawaki was stumped. He hadn't looked into this kind of intel.

If Takuya hadn't read some books about the Daimyo's palace, he wouldn't have known either. But it's like the complex relationships between European royal families in ancient times.

"If your cousin asks you to buy him some grain, would you refuse?"

"Of course not—uh…" Nawaki trailed off, speechless. Minato turned away, trying to hide his laughter. Nawaki had fallen right into Takuya's logic.

"And you know the Rain Country Daimyo's daughter is married into the Fire Country's Daimyo's household, right? You know what that means?"

"…"

Forget it. Let's not talk about this anymore.

Nawaki stared at the sky in exasperation. Technically, he was part of this whole mess too—after all, his mother's family was connected to the Daimyo's palace.

These convoluted relationships and family ties… everything's tangled together. And with money involved, why wouldn't the Fire Country's Daimyo make a profit?

What? Konoha is at war with the Rain Village?

Well, that's Konoha's problem. What's it got to do with the Daimyo?

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