For a nation, financial and material resources are crucial. If you trace the roots of the three great Ninja Wars, you'll find they were ultimately caused by disputes over wealth and resources. The wars in the ninja world were never about seizing land. Whether it was battles between the five great ninja villages or their conquest of smaller villages, the larger villages never occupied the land; they only took the smaller villages' ninja techniques and wealth. The land remained under the control of the local countries.
Such wars are quite rare. In the world of Qin, even during the Spring and Autumn period, wars were primarily fought to seize land, with population being the second priority. But in the ninja world, neither land nor population is a major concern for the ninja villages.
Konoha's current prosperity is not just due to the strength of its first Hokage and Uchiha Madara; a significant factor is that Konoha made a fortune by selling tailed beasts. The initial investment in both the ninja school and medical ninjas was enormous.
The wealth of the Iron Country, the land of the samurai, while slightly less than Konoha, surpasses that of the other four major ninja villages. This is largely due to the support of the five great nations. For instance, to convince the Iron Country to take action this time, the five great nations sent a large amount of resources.
Without even mentioning the other resources, the amount of steel alone is a considerable fortune. If used to forge kunai and other ninja weapons, it could sustain all the ninja from the five great villages for a year of battle.
Even though ninjas now have access to various modern technologies, the production of steel remains low and is primarily controlled by the feudal lords. Even Konoha has to order custom ninja tools from the Craftsman Ninja Village.
"Capture him." The ten samurai guarding the warehouse split into four to charge toward Daniel Davis after spotting his figure.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Before the four could even reach him, two flashes of cold light appeared in the air, followed by four pained screams. All four fell to the ground, clutching their throats.
The six remaining samurai in front of the warehouse were startled. Just as they were about to act, two more flashes of cold light appeared, and moments later, all six collapsed. The two cold flashes then returned to Daniel Davis' left palm, revealing themselves to be two simple throwing knives. It was a weapon control technique.
"It's true that unexpected wealth can make a man rich," Daniel Davis chuckled as he opened the warehouse door, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the gleaming weapons and armor inside. He waved a large utility cloth, quickly packing everything up.
In addition to the weapons and armor, there were large quantities of other supplies, such as food, medicinal herbs, and even some valuable treasures, including a few legendary swords from the samurai world.
"It really was an order from the feudal lord." Daniel Davis even found a few letters from the lords of the five great nations inside the warehouse.
"This guy is really tough." As Daniel walked out of the Iron Country base, he sighed as he glanced at the heavily injured Mifune, who was still struggling to get up. Daniel had no ill will toward Mifune. During the Fourth Ninja War, the Iron Country had stood with the five great ninja villages. But right now, they were on opposing sides.
Apart from Mifune's position, the battles elsewhere were nearing their end, largely thanks to Uchiha Itachi's Amaterasu. The black flames burned everything in their path. Faced with such a terrifying fire, no one could argue that Amaterasu was ineffective.
The warriors of the Iron Country, finding themselves unable to break through the wall of flames, were left with no choice but to flee in frustration and anger.
Daniel glanced at Uchiha Itachi but said nothing.
"Deidara, destroy that place," Daniel ordered, pointing to the Sanrō Mountain, where Mifune, with his broken sword, was barely able to stand.
Sanrō Mountain was a great scenic spot, and its natural caves could have been developed into important landmarks. But since it was a symbol of the Iron Country, it had to be destroyed to serve as a warning to others.
"Got it." Deidara immediately mounted his clay bird and flew over the mountain. His palm-mouths wriggled as he prepared his attack.
"C3 No. 18." To destroy Sanrō Mountain, Deidara used a large amount of chakra-infused clay, crafting three giant dolls that fell on the three wolf heads of the mountain.
Boom, boom, boom.
With three massive explosions, the giant wolf heads crumbled, and the entire mountain began to collapse. The natural caves within also caved in under the intense blasts.
"How dare you?" Mifune's eyes filled with blood as he watched the symbol of the Iron Country be destroyed. Blood tears trickled down his face.
"The explosion might've been a bit too big." The group from Akatsuki turned their gaze toward Daniel Davis as they watched a massive avalanche triggered by the collapse of Sanrō Mountain.
"Sorry, I forgot about that. But leave it to me. Earth Style: Earth Flow Rampart." As the avalanche surged, Daniel realized that having Deidara destroy the mountain now wasn't the best idea. It should've been done after everyone had left. But since it had already happened, he had to deal with it.
For an ordinary person, it would've been impossible to stop a landslide combined with an avalanche, but for Daniel Davis, it was no big deal. With a series of rapid hand signs, a stone wall several hundred meters long and tens of meters high rose up, stopping the avalanche and landslide in their tracks.
"Mifune, this is the fate of the Iron Country for going against its people under the orders of the feudal lords."
"You—" Mifune tried to speak but suddenly coughed up blood. His aura grew even weaker after spitting it out.
Mifune was indeed unlucky. As a Kage-level expert, he hadn't even faced the real Nagato yet. Instead, he was ganged up on by five of Pain's bodies, leading to his defeat. Even the famous sword passed down by the leaders of the Iron Country had been broken.
The Iron Country's system followed a master-apprentice tradition. Mifune had been one of the previous leader's disciples, though he hadn't been the most talented. However, the more gifted ones had died in battle over time.
"Who will land the final blow?"
"I will."
As soon as Daniel finished speaking, Hidan jumped forward, wielding his scythe, and swiftly decapitated Mifune.
"Alright, the battle is over. You all can withdraw now. I'll collect the spoils." Daniel didn't care much about Hidan beheading Mifune. This was war—mercy had no place on the battlefield.
After dismissing the others, Daniel began making hand signs, muttering, "Wood Style."
Suddenly, several tree trunks rose from the ground, quickly expanding and forming a strange alchemical pattern covering nearly a kilometer in radius, with the battlefield at its center.
"Toss all the bodies into the alchemical array."
Scorpion was the first to act, using his chakra threads to control over a hundred bodies at once, efficiently moving them into the array.
Once all the bodies were gathered, Daniel activated the alchemical array. This wasn't a Philosopher's Stone transmutation circle, which required live sacrifices. Instead, it was a metal-based transmutation, designed to strip the armor from the corpses.
With Akatsuki's newly founded nation lacking resources, it was better to claim the armor than leave it for the five great nations to recover.
Under the array's power, the armor was quickly disassembled and formed into a large iron ball at the center. Thanks to Wood Style, Daniel didn't need to draw the array on the ground, which sped things up considerably.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation." After storing the iron ball using his utility cloth, Daniel leaped into the air, formed hand signs, and launched a meteor-like fireball into the array, incinerating the corpses.
"Hidan, place Mifune's body and head on that stone wall."
"Everyone, while the Iron Country's issue has been resolved, the five great nations remain a problem. We must teach them a lesson. Deidara, Scorpion, you two will go to the Land of Earth. Don't kill the daimyo; just drop a few C3 bombs in his palace. That should suffice, right?"
Deidara grinned with excitement. "Why didn't I think of that? The old guy's face will be priceless." The "old guy" was, of course, none other than the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
"Safety comes first. If you encounter danger, leave immediately. Scorpion, keep an eye on Deidara. If you two get trapped in the Land of Earth, it'll be a big problem for Akatsuki." Though Daniel could revive them with Edo Tensei, he preferred not to.
If things got out of hand, Deidara might just blow himself up out of frustration.
"Understood," Scorpion nodded slightly. He was the only one among them who couldn't enjoy the hotpot they were eating.
"Kisame, Itachi, you two will head to the Land of Lightning and find the daimyo. Remember, your safety is the priority." After assigning the task, Daniel glanced between Kisame, Itachi, Kakuzu, and Hidan before deciding to send Kisame and Itachi to the Land of Lightning.
"Nagato,
Konan, you two will handle the daimyo of the Land of Fire. If you can kill him, do it. If not, just destroy the daimyo's residence."
It wasn't that Daniel didn't want to kill the daimyo, but they weren't easy targets. In fact, aside from Daniel himself, even Nagato and Konan might not have the opportunity to kill the daimyo of the Land of Fire.
It wasn't because the Land of Fire was particularly strong, but because daimyo were known for fleeing at the first sign of danger. Unlike the Kage, who would confront threats directly, daimyo would escape immediately. Without a chance for a one-hit kill, it would be difficult to get another shot.
Even Nagato's Chibaku Tensei might not be enough to take him down.
"Konan, don't forget the resources. That's your main objective."
"Understood."
The reason they were only targeting the daimyo of the Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, and Land of Fire was because those three were the closest to the Iron Country. The Land of Wind and the Land of Water were too far away.
To reach the Land of Wind, it would be faster to depart from Akatsuki's base. As for the Land of Water, being overseas made it difficult for Akatsuki to deal with them for now. Akatsuki's focus was on controlling the ninja, not simply winning battles.
"Alright, let's head back. You can rest here for the night." With that, Daniel used the Flying Thunder God technique to return to Akatsuki's base with Hidan and Kakuzu.
"These are the resources and treasures we took from the Iron Country. See if you can convert them into money," Daniel said as he deposited the loot into Akatsuki's warehouse. Kakuzu's eyes lit up, and he immediately began counting the money.
The Iron Country's warehouse held not only treasures but also a large sum of cash.
"Take your time." Kakuzu enjoyed counting money. Every time he visited the exchange office to cash in, he would count the money by hand, even though Daniel had provided him with a money-counting machine.
"Ninja Art: Great Bridge Creation Technique." While Kakuzu was busy counting, Daniel used the steel they had obtained from the Iron Country to construct a steel bridge by the lake near Akatsuki's base.
Previously, there had only been one stone bridge leading out of Amegakure, but after evaluating the situation, Daniel decided to build several more. He used alchemy to create a steel bridge and Wood Style to craft a wooden one, bringing the total to three bridges.
The Land of Waves had gone through great effort to build one bridge, but for Daniel, it was just a matter of using a technique. This was the power of strength.
Of course, Daniel only acted so directly because of the special circumstances. In other situations, things would've been different.
"What? The Iron Country has been destroyed?" The leaders of the five great ninja villages were the first to receive the news.
Even before the Iron Country had taken action, the five villages had sent their ANBU to monitor the situation. They saw the Iron Country as a way to test the strength of the rogue ninjas from Amegakure. No matter who won, it would be a favorable outcome for the five villages. If both sides perished, that would be even better.
Of course, such an outcome was unlikely, but the Iron Country's swift defeat and utter destruction shocked the Kage. They were also relieved that they hadn't acted first. The Iron Country served as a grim warning.
The five great ninja villages didn't believe that Akatsuki could wipe out their villages, but they knew Akatsuki could cause significant damage. At such a critical time, if any village suffered heavy losses, it would be eliminated from the next ninja war.
The Kage were well aware of Daniel's analysis of the reasons behind the ninja wars. However, simply knowing the reasons didn't make it any easier to change things. And if the ninja world were to be unified, why should it be under Amegakure? Wouldn't it be better for their own village to take control?
The analysis in the flyers Daniel had sent out began to stir the ambitions of certain individuals, such as Danzō, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Fourth Raikage.
Previously, they hadn't considered it, but now, someone had laid the groundwork for them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you make of the Iron Country situation?" The Five Kage Summit was convened once again. This time, the Fourth Raikage didn't immediately lash out. The destruction of the Iron Country had made it clear that no single village could take down Amegakure on its own.
"We can't let them continue. According to intelligence, they've taken all of the Iron Country's resources. A blockade alone won't work."
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