The daimyō's appropriations and commissions from missions were the two main economic pillars of the ninja villages.
But this did not include the other four Great Hidden Villages and Yugakure.
These five ninja villages each had their own commercial specialties.
Kumogakure's livestock industry had always been favored by nobles, especially their beef, which was a common sight on noble tables.
Although Iwagakure was surrounded by loess, it also possessed abundant mineral resources underground. They could make a fortune by reselling minerals; especially now, during wartime, the price of iron ore had multiplied several times.
Kirigakure was surrounded by the sea, and various sea fish and pearls also came from Kirigakure.
As for Konohagakure, there was no need to mention it; with the most fertile land and the richest resources, it was naturally a gathering place for merchants.
And then there was Yugakure; the hot springs alone were enough to support the entire village each year. They had long stopped taking missions, as the ninjas were too wealthy to bother. It was known as the ninja village that had forgotten war.
In contrast, what about Sunagakure?
Located in the desert, they couldn't grow enough to be self-sufficient.
The surrounding area was a desolate wilderness; sometimes even their own people could get lost, let alone outsiders. There were also occasional sandstorms and attacks from sand worms.
Apart from the Land of Wind's daimyō's merchant caravans, no other caravans dared to come here.
Large oases and coastal areas were under the daimyō's jurisdiction; only the oases closer to the Land of Fire and Land of Earth belonged to Sunagakure. However, because they were all inland, these oases were generally small.
Furthermore, during the Second Kazekage's tenure, Sunagakure's strength significantly improved, and its population greatly increased. This led to the wells in some small oases beginning to dry up, which in turn accelerated the shrinking of the inland oases.
This was one of the main reasons why Sunagakure had to initiate war first.
With the deterioration of their living environment, if Sunagakure didn't want to die a slow death, they had to seize a living space while they still had the strength.
Now, Sayan had succeeded as the Kazekage of Sunagakure.
Naturally, he couldn't let Sunagakure continue in this state.
So, he decided to build a road.
He decided to build a road from Sunagakure to the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers, completely opening up Sunagakure's routes to other ninja villages, especially Konoha.
After all, Konoha was a "big fat sheep," and as long as he catered to their preferences, he could definitely make a fortune.
The road would pass through three medium-sized oases, which would serve as service areas. Among them, the oasis closest to Konoha would have a casino!
Don't ask—Sayan is kind-hearted. He couldn't bear to see the "Legendary Fat Sheep" (Tsunade) addicted to a single die, so he just wanted her to try something new.
As for what to sell after the road was built, Sayan had already thought it through.
Blind boxes!
At that time, they would sell gold dust blind boxes, 100 boxes per set, with sand inside the boxes mixed with a small amount of gold, and then promoted heavily.
If someone were to open a box full of gold from a gold dust blind box, wouldn't that create the desired viral effect?
Of course, all of this depended on the road actually being built.
Since the ground was entirely sand, with an average depth of twenty to forty meters, and the sand was constantly shifting, building a road directly on the sand was clearly not feasible.
Therefore, Sayan decided to build an elevated road, constructed from 80-meter steel bars combined with cement, forming cylindrical pillars 3 meters wide and 80 meters long.
These pillars would be deeply embedded through the sand layer, firmly anchoring them. Then, roads would be built on top of these cement pillars, creating an elevated highway. This way, there would be no need to worry about the encroachment of quicksand burying the road.
When Sayan informed the high-ranking officials of Sunagakure about this plan, it met with unanimous opposition.
After all, this plan was too fantastical, and the cost alone was difficult to accept.
Some people who had not yet witnessed Sayan's strength even accused Sayan of being unworthy of being Kazekage, stating that such a huge expenditure for building a road that could be destroyed at any time during wartime was putting the cart before the horse.
And to build 80-meter pillars...
Wouldn't it be better to use all that money to develop military armaments and train ninjas?
An elder said, "At this time, with the war just settled, you summon us; we thought it was to hear good advice and stabilize Sunagakure. Yet you presumptuously propose to expend the entire strength of Sunagakure to build a road. Are you not trying to bring about Sunagakure's demise and ruin?"
The others remained silent.
Sayan said, "The affairs of Sunagakure are mine. I am the Kazekage. If I wish to do it, who dares to disobey?"
An elder snorted, "Hmph! The affairs of Sunagakure belong to the sand ninjas, to the collective wisdom of all of us. You, merely a newly appointed Kazekage, do not understand the hardships of governance, nor the difficulties of Sunagakure. You are but a fledgling child; what can you possibly do!"
Then, this elder, who hadn't witnessed Sayan's strength, was pinned down by Sayan and carried out unconscious.
And so, the proposal was passed in that silent agreement.
Of course, this proposal was entirely feasible.
Indeed, to drive these pillars into the ground, unless Sayan himself did it, no one else could accomplish it.
However, as the Kazekage, Sayan couldn't just keep driving piles.
This was also the reason for the opposition from the other high-ranking officials. Sunagakure's high-ranking officials weren't fools, nor were they Konoha's "F4" (The Council). Sunagakure had nothing, and they also wanted to build a road to boost Sunagakure's economy, but this plan was truly difficult to implement. They couldn't possibly ask the Kazekage to personally undertake the construction, could they?
What about the face of the Five Great Ninja Villages? It wasn't after the Third Great Ninja War yet; Sunagakure hadn't fallen to the point where the Kazekage had to go into the desert to support his family. So, at this time, Sunagakure still cared about its reputation as a great nation.
That's right, currently, only Sayan could complete the task of driving the pillars into the ground.
But they all forgot, Sunagakure wasn't just made up of people.
Wasn't there also a tanuki!
Wasn't there still a Tailed Beast, and a One-Tail at that, in the desert—a Tailed Beast whose power was greatly amplified?
At that time, they would just let Shukaku go into its full form, grab a pillar with its tail, then stab, and finally tap a few times with its tail, and a pillar would be fixed.
On average, one every three minutes.
If Shukaku was kept happy during construction, it might even casually arrange for Fūinjutsu (Sealing Jutsu) users for the road.
Thinking of this, Sayan couldn't help but drool.
Delicious, so delicious.
This wasn't a Tailed Beast; this was clearly Sunagakure's greatest treasure!
So Sayan went to see Bunbuku.
The first day was quite difficult.
Upon seeing Sayan, Shukaku avoided him like the plague, absolutely unwilling to meet him.
This left Sayan quite helpless; he had been too aggressive with the "cat-sucking" back then, and now the cat would shrink away whenever it saw him.
Finally, after Sayan's repeated assurances and Bunbuku's persuasion, Shukaku finally agreed to speak.
After three days of persistent coaxing, nagging, and manipulation.
Shukaku only agreed after the repaired road was renamed "Shukaku Grand Road" and golden statues of Shukaku were erected in the rest areas and at the village entrance.
Of course, Sayan also cursed a certain fox for an entire day and promised to double his "fox-sucking" activities