Chapter 47: The fearless reputation

With the support of Orochimaru, the battle took a long time, but ended with Konoha's great victory. Except for the mist ninja named Yagura, Minazuki Sora and Kaguya Sho who escaped in a panic, all the others, including the Three-Tails, became Konoha's spoils of war.

As for the victims of Konoha, they will be compensated after they return to the village, but the dead are dead, and at most someone who happens to mention them will sigh at some point in the future.

After repelling the Kirigakure attackers, Orochimaru sneered at the daimyo for a few times, then left alone, and did not follow the team back to the camp at the border of Konoha. Yeshan knew that Orochimaru would definitely go to investigate the daimyo's sale of food to the enemy country. It must be said that Sarutobi Hiruzen knew the personalities of his disciples too well. He chose Jiraiya, who was lustful but calm, to welcome and escort the daimyo, and appointed Orochimaru, who was gloomy and unscrupulous, to investigate the daimyo. He can be regarded as a typical example of knowing people and using them well.

But all of this has nothing to do with Ye Shan. He just wants to end the war quickly and return to Konoha to live a stable life for a few years. Apart from that, he has no control over the game between the top leaders.

The mission of protecting the daimyo was successfully completed. As expected, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were assigned to participate in the treaty signing ceremony. However, Yeshan did not receive any mission notification and stayed in the camp doing nothing for a few days.

A few days later, after many negotiations, the Fire Nation and the Wind Nation signed an armistice agreement. It was called an armistice agreement just to save the Wind Nation's face. Judging from the content of the treaty specially publicized by the top leaders, it would be more appropriate to call it a surrender agreement.

The agreement included a huge amount of gold compensation to Konohagakure, and also included the cession of a large area of ​​​​the Wind Country's territory, including Akihabara, which was truly a loss of sovereignty and humiliation. Under the instigation of some people, the credit for the defeat of the Wind Country became the political achievement of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, which made his momentum reach its peak for a time. No one in the village dared to question his orders anymore, not even the Uchiha clan.

Laymen watch the excitement, while experts see the essence. Thanks to the highly democratic political environment in his previous life and countless current affairs commentary columns, Ye Shan's political sense has always been very sensitive. On the surface, Konoha Village did make a lot of money, after all, gold and newly acquired territories cannot be faked. However, the Kingdom of Wind or the Hidden Sand Village did not hurt its bones, and even aroused the blood of the people. It can be predicted that a large number of elite ninjas will grow up with resentment in this environment, waiting for a fuse, and will return all the humiliation to Konoha with interest.

Karma will always pay off, and I wonder if the complacent Sarutobi Hiruzen has thought about this.

After signing the treaty and fulfilling the obligations as the head of state, the Daimyo returned to the capital of the Land of Fire under the escort of Jiraiya, while Orochimaru quietly returned to the border camp and reported the details of the mission to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Eighty million taels were used to sell four hundred million catties of grain, and it was all rice with no other grains?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked in disbelief.

Orochimaru looked at him, said nothing, and just nodded slightly.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face darkened. What does it mean to sell 400 million catties of grain for 80 million taels? For example, even in the extremely stable Konoha Village, a catty of grain costs at least 17 taels. The Fire Country Daimyo is not selling food, but giving it away, doing charity.

"What should we do next?" Orochimaru licked his tongue and said maliciously.

After thinking for a long time, Sarutobi Hiruzen said calmly: "I will write a proposal to increase Konoha's military expenditure, just increase it by 80 million ryo every year."

Orochimaru laughed twice and turned to leave the Hokage's temporary office. In his opinion, his teacher's actions were completely insignificant and a clear sign of weakness. As for the task of submitting the proposal, he had no interest at all. It would be more refreshing to go back and do something meaningful.

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his forehead with a headache and turned a deaf ear to Orochimaru's dissatisfaction. The actual situation did not allow him to try to assassinate the daimyo, so giving him a warning was the best approach at the moment.

......

In the capital of the Land of Fire, the daimyo was sitting in a pavilion admiring the goldfish of different colors in the pond. He would occasionally sprinkle fish food in his hand, causing the goldfish in the pond to scramble for food, which was very beautiful. Behind him, a middle-aged official stood respectfully.

"Terasaki Tadamichi, what do you think?"

Although the daimyo's questions were incoherent, Terazaki Tadamichi, his confidant, immediately understood his question, which was nothing more than the sale of grain.

"My Lord Daimyo, I'm afraid there will be big trouble."

"Oh? Tell me in detail." Daimyo became interested. He threw away the fish food in his hand and picked up a cup of tea to drink.

Terasaki Tadamichi took a look at the calm expression on the daimyo's face and said cautiously: "I'm worried that Konoha will send an assassin..."

'puff'

The sound of an object falling into the water interrupted Terasaki Tadamichi's words. It was the daimyo who threw the teacup in his hand into the water. He was frightened and knelt down quickly, while secretly memorizing the point where the teacup fell into the water. This was the daimyo's favorite teacup, which was extremely valuable and could not be lost.

The daimyo stood up, stared at the cup that was gradually sinking into the water, and asked: "Are you afraid of ninjas?"

Terasaki Tadamichi pursed his lips and did not dare to answer. He had witnessed the battle between the Mist Ninja and Konoha that day, and the destructive energy contained in the ninja's body made him extremely afraid, and he had no intention of resisting at all.

Seeing that his most trusted confidant remained silent, the daimyo, who had already received the answer, could not help but sneer and asked another question.

"Do you know how many ninja villages there are in the ninja world?"

"Probably more than a hundred..." Terasaki Tadamichi answered unconfidently. He had indeed never counted the number of ninja villages, so he couldn't help but feel a little lacking in confidence.

"There are more than one hundred ninja villages. How many have earned the title of 'Kage'?"

Terasaki Tadamichi knew this, and anyone with a little common sense would know this, and he immediately said, "Five!"

"Yes, then do you know why there are five?" Daimyo continued to ask, but this time he did not embarrass his confidant who was kneeling on the ground, and gave the answer himself.

"Because there are only five big countries in the world, there are five big ninja villages!"

Terasaki Tadamichi, who was awakened, suddenly understood and said in a lost voice: "You mean..."

The daimyo did not say anything, but turned around and slowly walked to Terasaki Tadamichi and stretched out his hand as if to pull him up. Terasaki Tadamichi hurriedly stood up, but due to his tall stature, he always bent over and was lower than the daimyo.

"Just remember one sentence. It's not because there are five major ninja villages that there are five major countries, but because there are five major countries that there are five major ninja villages. The rest are irrelevant. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

Terazaki Tadamichi responded. He was a very smart person. After being enlightened by the daimyo, he understood the mystery and felt relieved.

"Are you still afraid of ninjas now?" the daimyo asked softly.

"Don't be afraid!"

"Go do something."

After the daimyo calmed his confidant, he grabbed the fish food on the table and scattered it, while Terasaki Tadamichi bowed respectfully and left the pavilion.

Looking at the goldfish vying for food, the daimyo had a playful smile on his face. An increase of 80 million taels in military expenditure? He was too narrow-minded. He sponsored 800 million out of his own pocket. Otherwise, if other daimyo knew about it, they would think he was a stingy person and it would be embarrassing.

Although the Daimyo had not been in charge of the Land of Fire for a long time, he was the successor who had been trained since childhood. Naturally, he understood the meaning of Sarutobi Hiruzen's warning, but so what? In his eyes, ninjas were just goldfish in a pond. Even if they were extremely glamorous, they still had to be fed by him, right?

The Fire Nation can lose Konohagakure, but Konohagakure cannot lose the Fire Nation. This is what the previous daimyo said to him before he died, and it is also the reason why he is so confident.

The reason is very simple, it comes down to the issue of productivity and production relations. Ninjas are also human beings, and as humans they get hungry, sick, tired, and need food, medicine, and shelter, and all these things cannot be created by non-productive ninjas, and can only be provided by the Fire Nation.

It all comes down to money.

Ninjas are a profession that possesses absolute power. Like farmers and businessmen, they are just a part of the vast Land of Fire. The only difference is that they are very powerful. However, they still have not reached the level of ignoring other professions and are still under the rule of the daimyo.

Perhaps ninjas can plunder everything they need through force, after all, ordinary people are nothing but ants in front of chakra, but remember, there is not just one ninja village, but hundreds of them, large and small. When one of them destroys the order and covets all the power and resources, it is bound to cause fierce resistance from other ninja villages and hostility from all other professions.

The daimyo who controls the production resources will call on all professional leaders to unite, offer conditions that cannot be refused, and destroy the ninja village that breaks the rules.

If Konoha Village breaks the rules, the daimyo believes that he only needs to declare that whoever destroys Konoha first will get the full support of the Fire Country. Then not only the impoverished Sand Village, but all the ninja villages that think they have the strength to settle in the Fire Country will use all their strength to besiege Konoha Village until the daimyo is satisfied.

Therefore, the daimyo will unscrupulously assist the Iwagakure Village, and he will also assist the Sand Village and the Rain Village in order to weaken Konoha. What the daimyo needs is a Konoha Village that is one level higher than other ninja villages, not a Konoha Village that can unify the ninja world. Only in this way can the daimyo's rule be passed down from generation to generation without any accidents. After all, the riot of ordinary people is a joke in the eyes of ninjas, isn't it?

The economic base determines the superstructure, which is an unbreakable law in any world.