"Aiya! Old brother, was it really necessary for you to make the trip personally for such a small matter? Look at this chaotic place—swords and blades have no eyes on the battlefield. If you get so much as a scratch, it'll be my sin!"
Jinghang was genuinely surprised to see the dust-covered Hirai Kangsaburo arriving. He brushed the sand off him while ushering him into the main tent.
"Looking down on me again, aren't you? Don't let the merchant thing fool you—back in the day, I saw my share of battlefields too!"
Hirai Kangsaburo straightened his collar with pride.
"Oh? There's a story there? Never heard it before."
The two settled into their seats.
"That was back during Lord Retto's time—our First Kazekage. Sunagakure was fighting Copper Hidden Village out west. Lord Retto bought massive amounts of grain on credit from Dragonfly City, promising to pay double after victory. Back then, Sunagakure was still small, and most merchants in Dragonfly City didn't dare gamble on us. Only my father-in-law had the guts—he pawned everything he owned, converted it all to grain, and brought me and the shop hands to deliver supplies to Sunagakure."
The casual chat gradually turned into storytelling.
"How old were you then?"
Jinghang poured Hirai Kangsaburo a cup of tea.
"Sixteen or seventeen, I think."
Jinghang couldn't help but smirk inwardly. He'd heard the story before—Hirai Kangsaburo was a son-in-law who'd married into the family. His father-in-law owned a general store, and his daughter was pretty but had a limp, so she was still unmarried at twenty-five. Kangsaburo, then just a shop assistant, volunteered himself. The old man liked the clever young worker and took him in as a son-in-law—half a son, good for carrying on the family line and caring for him in old age. (The Naruto version of Julien Sorel.)
"You know what? I actually know that story! It's recorded in our village history. Back then, Copper Hidden Village was the second strongest ninja village in the Land of Wind. The front lines were locked in brutal combat, nearly out of food. Lord Retto personally went to Dragonfly City to ask merchants for grain on credit. Most hesitated, but only the righteous merchant Hachidō Genkai risked everything, converted his fortune to grain, and helped our village defeat Copper Hidden. Afterwards, Lord Retto rewarded him with a million ryō." (A million was no small sum back then.)
"Hachidō Genkai was my father-in-law."
Hirai Kangsaburo looked quite proud.
"Wow, I had no idea you had such deep ties to Sunagakure!"
"Of course!"
Both men beamed with delight. Suddenly, Jinghang's expression shifted.
"So what is it you want this time?"
Everyone knew that after his father-in-law died, Hirai Kangsaburo spent ten grueling years building up his fortune to several million ryō. But the real foundation came from his father-in-law betting right on that war.
That made his intentions crystal clear—he was here to place another big bet.
"Heh, talking with you is always so straightforward! Fine, I'll cut to the chase—how about after this war ends, you take your old brother on a little trip to the Land of Fire?"
This "trip" wasn't for sightseeing—it meant stripping the place bare.
"A trip? You have that much confidence in me?"
Jinghang smiled. The war's outcome wasn't decided yet.
"Come on, Jinghang, you're teasing me! I know I'm a bit late to invest, but it's not too late yet."
Hirai Kangsaburo sounded slightly regretful.
"I've got informants in every country—over a hundred business radio stations. I get updates on commodity prices and war situations just as fast as you do.
Honestly, I wasn't sure at first. Three armies invading Sunagakure—Konoha was going all-out this time. But now? The western army never formed up, the eastern army lost its fighting spirit after you crushed them, and the northern army is even worse..."
Jinghang quickly covered Hirai Kangsaburo's mouth.
"Konoha doesn't have radios, but who knows about spies? Some things are better left unsaid—walls have ears."
Hirai Kangsaburo nodded and continued.
"The situation's clear now. Sunagakure has an eighty percent chance of knocking Konoha off the top spot. I'm willing to throw my full support behind Sunagakure."
"How much support are we talking?"
Jinghang grinned.
"Heh, not much—five million explosive tags!"
Hirai Kangsaburo held up five fingers.
Whoa! That was serious money. With that kind of destructive power, it was practically equivalent to small nuclear weapons!
"I won't lie—ever since you asked me to buy up explosive tags, I've swept up everything available in the Land of Wind. I'm still purchasing from the other great nations. This is just the first shipment—the rest will keep flowing..."
"What do you want in return?"
Jinghang asked directly.
"After we march into the Land of Fire, I want half the assets of the Fire Eight Pillars Trading Group!"
Hirai Kangsaburo's answer was equally direct.
"Deal. But let me be clear upfront—you can only touch the Fire Eight Pillars' assets. Ordinary civilians' property is off-limits!"
Jinghang set the ground rules.
"Am I crazy? With all those big fish to... ahem! To acquire, why would I bother with small fry? They don't have much to offer anyway. Those eight families are monopolistic giants controlling every industry in the Land of Fire. Just digesting their assets will take considerable time."
"Good. You handle the money-making, and if you need help, I can assign you three thousand ninja."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear! I'll wire the other half directly to Sunagakure's account!"
Hirai Kangsaburo clapped his hands in delight.
"Perfect. It's a deal. Are you hungry?"
Jinghang asked.
"A bit."
Hirai Kangsaburo patted his belly.
"Hidan, notify the kitchen to prepare a welcoming banquet for the righteous merchant Hirai Kangsaburo!"
Danzo's retreat was absolutely thorough. Racing away in warships, he didn't bother notifying a single supply fortress along the route.
Though these fortresses had small garrisons, they were built sturdy—they should be able to hold out for a while.
Danzo felt no psychological burden about so blatantly abandoning his allies. Ninja life—how could there be no sacrifices?
His first priority now was whether he could survive.
Either way, he still had two thousand ninja under his command, plus Uchiha Fugaku's two thousand from Amegakure. At least he could muster four thousand troops. With careful management, maybe he could hold off Rasa's offensive at the Amegakure front.
The three-thousand-li journey from Moon Lake New District to the Night-Howling Sand Sea took Danzo only two and a half days, though the cost was steep—about a third of the warships were completely wrecked, and dozens of Wind Release ninja providing power to the vessels died from exhaustion.
No choice—Konoha's warships were all first-generation models retired from Sunagakure's bandit suppression era. High "fuel consumption," low "power," with speedometers maxing out at 80 mph. This time they pushed them to 120, fully loaded and even overloaded. That they didn't all break down was testament to the Hourglass Group's corporate conscience.
It also helped that Rasa was cautious in his advance—he didn't skip a single one of the seventeen fortresses along the way, methodically clearing each one to avoid future problems.
By the time Sunagakure's main force reached the Night-Howling Sand Sea, Danzo had already "abandoned ship for shore" and fled to Amegakure.
From then on, the northern front had completely reversed from offense to defense.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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