"Will this place suffice?" Ebizo asked after he led Ren and Temari to one of Suna's empty water storage facilities. It was basically a large underground room with a 'pool' as deep as the Hokage monument was high, where the drinking water could be stored. Ren could see a system of pipes and pumps on the side that most likely allowed for the water to be pumped all the way to the well above the ground.
Apparently, there were several places like this all over Suna, serving as reservoirs for the drinking water of various districts. These were the places where all that water from the costly water collection missions ended up.
Just seeing the massive scale of the pool and realizing that this was just one of several gave Ren an idea of how much drinking water the village needed on a daily basis. It put the thirty million a month budget for securing the drinking water into a whole new perspective.
'And to think that even with several pools like this, water is still a scarce resource.' Ren resisted grimacing. Suna was built on a natural oasis, but clearly, the ninja clans that banded together had no idea just how big their village would one day become, and their lack of planning was catching up with the village.
Unfortunately, water techniques did not produce drinkable water. Otherwise, even Suna would have been able to gather a few water users to solve their problems. The water from water release, however, was much like distilled water in that it was pure water and didn't contain the important minerals the human body needed and obtained from drinking water.
Sure, it can be drunk. But a person could drink an entire lake of it, and he or she would still die of thirst.
"Yes, the place is perfect. Thank you for arranging this on such short notice." Ren politely answered Ebizo's question, earning himself a satisfied nod from the old man.
They already had their dick-measuring contest during the council meeting two days ago. There was no reason not to be polite. Temari had been a bit incredulous when they met today with Ebizo, and amiably greeted each other after they had given the impression they wanted nothing more than to viciously tear each other's faces off during their previous talks. But that was politics for you.
Despite his machinations, Ebizo was not really Ren's enemy. What the man ultimately desired was the improvement of his village. He was too old to chase some personal political aims. He knew that he was going to croak in a few years, and so, he just wanted to improve Sunagakure before it was his time to be buried in the sand.
He even apologized to Ren about the humiliation he put him through after his arrival and explained why...
Ren sighed. It could be summed up as keeping the clans and important ninjas in line after they lost people in the Konoha invasion. A bit of harmless humiliation to Konoha's 'representative' apparently went a long way to keep the grumbling parties happy.
Ren kind of doubted that was the whole reason, but it was what he got, and that was that. He didn't push. For the most part, he got what he wanted out of their meeting two days ago, and antagonizing Ebizo further served no purpose.
Besides, he would probably get a chance to argue with him again sometime later anyway.
"No worries. If your seal works as advertised, it will change a lot for Sunagakure." Ebizo calmly said, but his old eyes were brimming with excitement.
The man had a spring in his step today.
"Don't mind us. Go on, youngster. Show us this miracle of yours. Maybe we could use it as a new pond for fishing, Uha-hehahaheaha!" Chiyo, who suddenly appeared behind Ren, spoke and then started laughing in her demented way.
Temari got startled, but noticing her sneaking around and knowing that her behavior was just an act, Ren merely rolled his eyes at Ebizo without turning toward Chiyo, making the man chuckle before he slowly shook his head.
Without further ado, Ren stepped forward and took out a robust stone pillar from his storage seal, erecting it on the edge of the pool. The side facing the pool was decorated with a depiction of an open-mouthed pig's head.
Why? Because Ren let Samui procure the pillars, and she had weird tastes. Pigs are cool, she said.
Ignoring the piercing looks of several of Suna's councilmen, who gathered near Ebizo, on his back, Ren cleared his throat. There was a seal etched on the back of the pillar, and putting his finger on it, Ren channeled a bit of chakra into it, making it light up slightly. Instantly, water started gushing out of the pig's mouth into the pool.
Ren had to suppress a giggle. It looked silly. A pig was vomiting water. He doubted that Suna was going to brag and show this to their citizens anytime soon.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed the highly conflicted expression most of the Suna council sported. Some of them probably wondered if this was some kind of creative insult.
"The stream is not very strong." Ebizo worriedly said as he stopped next to Ren and watched the floor of the pool being very slowly filled with fresh water.
Ren nodded, "It will take a few hours to fill at this rate."
"And could the speed be adjusted?" Ebizo asked with a small, concerned frown. As it was, this was not enough to sate the needs of the entire village.
For this district, it could be enough. If they had ninjas pouring their chakra into the seal and working on refilling the pool at least fifteen hours a day. It would require at least five ninjas working in shifts around the clock, but it was manageable.
"There is no way this one seal will be enough for the entirety of Sunagakure." He gave Ren a half-anxious, half-questioning look, only to stop in his tracks when he saw the smug, knowing grin on his face. Ebizo's mood soured as he realized-.
"Nope!" Ren happily beamed. "I guess you will just have to purchase more of these seals, then, no?"
Ebizo's deadpan look warmed Ren's heart.
He had said his seal could solve the Sunagakure's problem with drinking water. He had never said they would need only one seal to satisfy the needs of the entire village. That was just their wishful assumption. One Ren deliberately did not correct.
He gave Ebizo an eye smile in return.
"Eight, no, ten. We will need ten of these for the entire village. Thirteen if we account for the emergency reserve pools. Six hundred fifty million Ryo!?" Ebizo hissed out and looked pale, nearly on the verge of a heart attack as he mumbled under his nose with wide eyes, starting to hunch over from the imaginary pain in his chest.
Ren inwardly cackled. There it was. It could have been just three hundred twenty-five million, but they just had to piss him off enough for him to decide to raise the price twofold.
"We can't afford that right now!" Ebizo indignantly sputtered as he abruptly turned toward Ren so fast that there was an audible crack in his hip.
Even Temari gave Ren a defeated look. Her teal eyes stared pleadingly at him. But the good girl stayed silent as she was expected to. Her role here today was to observe and learn. Not to intervene.
And Ren was even kind enough to tell her the lesson she would be learning today before they left the house!
It was, 'Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.'
Yeah, that whole 'There is no reason not to be polite' thing? That might have been slightly exaggerated.
"Well, I am willing to take monthly payments of ten million Ryo until you pay these seals off." Ren hummed, offering what he considered a very good deal to the village. "How does an annual interest rate of six percent sound?" He playfully asked, and mentally laughed as he noticed Temari wince while some of the onlookers suddenly choked for some unexplainable reason.
Temari probably understood what the impromptu math lesson he presented her with yesterday was about. Over the sixty-five months Suna would be repaying him, they would have forked out eight hundred sixty-one million Ryo and then some change in the end. Interests were brutal like that, and a six percent annual rate meant over two hundred million in just interests after all was done and repaid.
Seeing Ebizo's pained expression as he was desperately doing the math in his head, Ren chuckled, "Then again, that might be a little bit too much." He admitted, and Ebizo's expression slightly eased up. "Three percent sounds more affordable." Ren cheerfully nodded to himself, and the whole Suna council stared at him as if he were a monster that came to destroy them.
That would still cost them a little bit over seven hundred fifty million as the final amount, with the interest included, over the course of sixty-five months. But it wasn't as if that was an unaffordable amount for a hidden village. The problem was not that they did not have that amount of money. The problem was that they needed money for other costs as well.
Ren glanced at the sour expressions of the Suna's councilmen and resisted the urge to laugh. Some of these nitwits definitely expected him to waive the interests or maybe even give them a discount. But why would he do that? He had his own plans, after all.
"You planned for this from the very beginning." Ebizo concluded in a strained voice with a long face. He was both furious and, despite himself, also a little bit impressed.
"Yes." Ren simply admitted. "From the moment Temari informed me of your issues."
"This will ruin us!" One council member angrily shouted from behind.
Ren turned toward him with a raised eyebrow as he snorted, "On the contrary, this will save you." He dryly stated and glanced at Ebizo, whose shoulders slumped in defeat.
He was going to take the deal. They both knew it. It was a foregone conclusion.
The deal was still too good for Suna in their current situation, even if Ren had just delivered them a proper financial spanking.
Currently, they pay thirty million Ryo for securing drinking water every month. After the deal, they would be paying a bit less than twelve million a month to him. And in sixty-five months, in less than six years, the seals would be repaid in full.
This still gave them over eighteen million a month they could allocate somewhere else where the money would be needed. That would be a huge relief for the already economically struggling village. Water was not the only necessity for them. Food, weapons, and medicine were also costly.
This was not even the tip of the iceberg of shit Suna was currently in.
And it was not just the question of the thirty million Ryo they need to pay every month for the drinking water. It was also the ninjas they needed to send out to collect it. Every month, hundreds of Suna ninjas had to go on water collecting missions.
Every single ninja doing that was a ninja not going on regular missions and earning money for the village. In these water collection missions, the village was the client. So, they needed to pay their ninjas from their own already hurting pocket, and that meant smaller paychecks for their workforce. That also meant the village earned no money from these ventures.
Neither Suna nor its ninjas enjoyed the experience. The ninjas were already poor, as it was usually genin and low-level chunin sent on these missions. And the village was missing out on profits from hundreds of missions.
These missions were not popular, from what Temari told Ren. But everybody knew they were necessary. Drinking water was too important for their village.
The special storage scrolls for the water that the village needed to procure were also not cheap, bringing additional costs to Suna whenever one was lost or damaged. Because, of course, ninjas from other villages, rogues, or even bandits sometimes ambushed their water retrieval teams for fun and giggles.
The fact that, because of these missions, Suna, the village with the least amount of ninjas from the Five Great Hidden Ninja Villages, had the biggest amount of personnel stuck on non-profit missions was also not lost on Ren.
On top of securing the drinking water, Suna also had to do what every other village did. They had to secure the borders of their country as per the agreement with their Daimyo. They had to provide a team for every fortress. They had to man all of their outposts in the Land of Wind. They had to sustain whatever information network they had. They had to have several teams stationed in the Capital city.
And who knows what else.
All these things were missions the village needed to pay their ninjas for doing, but they would not earn them a dime. It was the Daimyo's financial support that should cover a lot of these costs, but... Ah, the reĺationship between Suna and the Wind Daimyo was not very bright right now.
Honestly, it was a miracle this village had not collapsed yet. As much ridicule as Rasa was usually getting in Ren's past life, the man did a spectacular job keeping the village running under all this pressure. Their situation was an absolute clusterfuck, and this was just one facet of their problems.
Despite Ren's deal being quite draconian to them, they were still saving money and will now be able to allocate hundreds of their ninjas to more profitable ventures.
So, yes. When Ren outstretched his hand toward Ebizo for a handshake, the man might have been looking at him with stony eyes, but in the end, they shook on it and decided to go to an office in the facility to sign the deal.
By the end of the day, Suna had thirteen new pig-headed pillars, supplying their reservoirs with fresh water straight from various rivers of the Land of Rivers Ren's clones had visited in the past two days.
One problem was solved in a very profitable way for Ren. Only a countless number to go.
…
Author Note:
Hoooly Yay. I seriously hope I didn't fudge the math about the interest rates and got the problem with drinking distilled water correctly.
If not… Ah, then just take it as loopholes or something. Pretty please?