Chapter 988: Interests between Ninja Villages

Dark clouds covered the sun, and the light rain fell non-stop.

The weather in the Land of Rain was raining for over 60% of the time, leading to extreme humidity here.

If you mention the Land of Rain, it makes people think of several keywords: humidity, poverty, war, strong liquor. 【

The term "spirits" is somewhat contradictory to poverty. When having enough to eat is already a problem, who would think about drinking? This gives people from other countries a poor impression of the citizens of the Land of Rain. In their minds, the citizens of the Land of Rain are all reeking of alcohol, wearing tattered clothes, and gaunt from hunger.

Tattered clothing and a gaunt appearance do indeed fit the look of the Land of Rain's citizens. As for being drunk, they are completely helpless in that regard.

In such an extremely humid environment, if they do not drink spirits in moderation, their bodies absolutely cannot withstand it; ailments like rheumatism would find them sooner or later.

Alcohol culture is one of the reasons for the poverty in the Land of Rain, but it is also one of the economic sources for its citizens. Since spirits are their daily necessity, their brewing techniques are naturally not bad, and they can even rank in the top three among many countries.

Being able to produce good liquor does not mean it can bring wealth; this also requires transportation channels. One day, the transportation channels of the Land of Rain were opened; that was opened by the "God" in the hearts of the Land of Rain's citizens. In the outside world, this "God" is known as Pain.

With trade, the Land of Rain is no longer poor, but recently, the Land of Rain's foreign trade was suddenly cut off. Although it reopened not long after, they are required to pay a 40% tax.

The merchants of the Land of Rain naturally could not accept this, but after just a few days, they all agreed to this outrageous condition. Moreover, regarding the export of liquor, an additional transit station was added: the Hidden Leaf Village.

Now, the liquor exported by the Land of Rain can only be sold to the Hidden Leaf. Not only must they pay taxes, but they must also endure a purchase price that is not high. One can imagine to what extent the price would be squeezed in such a non-competitive acquisition.

Over 50% of the profits from the Land of Rain's export trade are intercepted by the Hidden Leaf. Those affected are not just the merchants, but also the citizens of the Land of Rain. Assuming a large barrel of brewed liquor originally sold for 5 taels, now it is at most about 2.1 taels, or even lower.

The citizens of the Land of Rain do not know that the wealth they are being exploited for is the Hidden Leaf's war spoils—the "victory" spoils after the battle with Nagato.

Naruto Uzumaki, who believes he protected everyone, may perhaps never know what the citizens of the Land of Rain lost behind his "reforming" of Nagato, what the Hidden Leaf gained at the same time, and how vast the interests involved behind this are.

Naruto Uzumaki became a hero of the Hidden Leaf because he protected the Hidden Leaf? Stop joking. The Hidden Leaf was nearly razed to the ground by Su Xiao and Nagato back then. Naruto Uzumaki at most counts as having successfully resisted an external enemy. As a mere Genin, Naruto, regardless of his personal status or his overt background, was not enough to become a hero of the Hidden Leaf.

The Hidden Leaf once had three heroes: Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and Minato Namikaze.

The reason Naruto Uzumaki became a hero is mainly because he indirectly helped the Hidden Leaf seize the economy of a small country.

Before Su Xiao and Nagato attacked the Hidden Leaf, it wasn't that the Hidden Leaf lacked the ability to occupy the Land of Rain, but rather they lacked a legitimate reason. This is an era of peace; the Hidden Leaf dared not be the first to provoke a war. Now, the reason is sufficient: the Shadow of the Land of Rain took the initiative to attack the Hidden Leaf and had connections with the rogues of the Akatsuki organization.

The person in charge of the Land of Rain's affairs is not the Fifth Hokage—it is already a miracle that the current Fifth Hokage is not dead. The one in charge of this matter is the elder Danzo.

Setting aside the question of Danzo's character, his political acumen is absolutely very strong. He is not the Hokage, yet he built a force loyal to himself within the Hidden Leaf. From this point, one can see Danzo's ability.

Being squeezed by the calculating Danzo, it would be a miracle if the days in the Land of Rain were good. Perhaps before long, the increasingly prosperous economy here will once again become depressed.

This is the aftermath of Su Xiao and Nagato's attack on the Hidden Leaf. Su Xiao completely doesn't care how the Hidden Rain Village fares; he has nothing to do with this village. As for Nagato, in every respect, Nagato's political acumen is only average, far inferior to his strength.

Konan is very helpless, but there is nothing she can do. Obito, however, is very happy. The Land of Rain being targeted is almost like attracting fire on behalf of the Akatsuki organization. He originally had the idea of disbanding the Akatsuki organization; after all, the combat power within the Akatsuki organization is no longer much, and it has attracted a great deal of hatred.

But after discovering the current situation, Obito immediately reassembled the Akatsuki organization. As long as they are not being watched to death by the Hidden Leaf, there is no need to disband the Akatsuki organization. Infamy is also fame; if utilized well, it will be of great help to his plan.

The Land of Rain, in a remote small town.

It is currently evening. There are quite a few pedestrians passing by on the streets of the small town. The pedestrians, wearing raincoats and dragging their tired bodies after a day of labor, walk into those ubiquitous taverns.

Inside a small tavern, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu are solving their dinner problem. The dinner is not very sumptuous, just some grilled fish, vegetable soup, and the like.

Amu is eating with great relish. With its terrifying appetite, this bit of food is naturally not enough to fill its stomach; this is just a snack after its main meal.

Su Xiao is chewing his food. He had traveled here from the central region of the Land of Rain, passing through several small towns along the way. He had been to the Land of Rain before; the changes here are not large. The only change is the appearance of a large number of Hidden Leaf ninjas here.

These Hidden Leaf ninjas claim to be here to support the Land of Rain's insufficient combat power to avoid being invaded by other major powers; in reality, they are "gentle" invaders.

The Land of Rain already borders the Land of Fire. Not only that, the Land of Rain also borders the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. Once the Hidden Leaf successfully stations itself in the Land of Rain and forms a war supply point, then whether it is attacking the Land of Wind or the Land of Earth, or defending against sneak attacks from the two countries, they will have a natural advantage.

Bordering three major powers is the main reason for the incessant wars in the Land of Rain. Once a war breaks out, this is the best buffer zone, bar none; after all, the Land of Rain separates the three major powers in a triangle.

The Hidden Leaf has been coveting the Land of Rain for more than a year or two. Starting from the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, the Hidden Leaf wanted to station ninjas in the Land of Rain. However, the leader of the Land of Rain at the time, Hanzo, was not to be trifled with. Two generations of Hokage, Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi, attacked the Land of Rain a total of five times and were all beaten back. In these campaigns, Hanzo bestowed the title of "Sannin" upon Jiraiya and the others.

Now, the Hidden Leaf has succeeded, and the one who performed the meritorious service is a Genin. Therefore, the Hidden Leaf did not hesitate to confer the title of hero upon this Genin; after all, he fulfilled the long-cherished wish of two generations of Hokage.

These matters are Su Xiao's conjectures based on the history of the Hidden Leaf. As for whether this conjecture is accurate, one can see it from the number of Hidden Leaf ninjas in the Land of Rain.

The Hidden Leaf just experienced a great war and already sent so many ninjas to the Land of Rain. Hidden Leaf elder Koharu Utatane is even personally sitting in the Land of Rain to prevent the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Stone Village from intervening. The Hidden Sand is indeed an ally, but if the interests are sufficient, allies are equally unreliable.

Su Xiao has already roughly understood the situation of the Hidden Rain Village. The conclusion is that this place is not suitable for a long stay. Once he engages in battle with enemies here, the Hidden Leaf will immediately temporarily send a large number of ninjas to surround and attack Su Xiao.

The major ninja villages currently appear calm, but in reality, undercurrents are surging.

Su Xiao did not stay in the Land of Rain for too long. He headed straight for the east side of the Land of Rain. That is the territory of the Land of Fire. He plans to go to the Akatsuki organization's base within the Land of Fire to check; he should be able to find traces of Akatsuki members there.