Chapter 230: , the wool comes from the sheep's back

Regarding the iron sand trade offered by the Hidden Mist, Mifune naturally accepted all comers.

In fact, for many years, the Land of Iron had been facing an awkward predicament—the issue of raw materials.

Iron ore was undoubtedly the lifeblood of the Land of Iron today.

Although the Land of Iron itself contained rich iron ore, the high-quality veins were nearing exhaustion after years of mining.

And other iron mines were extremely difficult to mine due to the Land of Iron's icy, snowy environment, which caused the local iron ore production capacity to never keep up.

Among the countries adjacent to the Land of Iron, the small nations had no ability to trade with the Land of Iron, while the neighboring Great Nations, the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, had their own weapon forging institutions.

Although both countries produced iron ore, they prioritized supplying their own weapon forging.

What the Land of Iron received was only the tiny bit of iron ore that slipped through the fingers of the two Great Nations; not only was the quantity worrying, but the price was expensive.

And although the Land of Water was also adjacent to the Land of Iron, as an island nation, the Land of Water itself was not rich in mineral resources, and its iron ore supply was barely self-sufficient, leaving absolutely no room for trade.

Even among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Water had previously been the country that purchased the most weapons produced by the Land of Iron.

It was no wonder that the samurai of the Land of Iron, upon seeing ninjas from the Hidden Mist, assumed without a word that they were here to buy weapons.

This actually had historical factors.

Also, because of all the reasons mentioned above, the Land of Iron had always suffered from insufficient weapon production due to raw material issues.

In fact, with the Land of Iron's current forging capabilities, if the raw materials could keep up, production capacity could be taken to another level.

Therefore, upon hearing that Mizunuki Ryosuke was here to sell iron sand, Mifune immediately indicated that no matter how much Mizunuki Ryosuke sold, he could take it all.

Since there were no problems with sales channels or volume, the only remaining issue was—price.

And regarding this point, Mizunuki Ryosuke naturally had a plan long ago.

Did you think he went to such lengths to help the Land of Iron drive up weapon prices just to be a good person doing good deeds?

With the price of finished weapons skyrocketing so much, the iron ore used as raw material should also rise, right?

At that moment, Ryosuke directly signed a long-term iron sand supply agreement with the Land of Iron at a very good price; after signing this agreement, Mifune's face immediately turned black.

Ryosuke recognized this look; it was an expression of being in pain yet happy.

Good heavens, although Mifune had long known that Mizunuki Ryosuke must have had a scheme to go to such lengths to help the Land of Iron drive up weapon prices.

After all that, it was still "the wool comes from the sheep's back."

But even though Mifune set a high price for the raw iron provided by the Hidden Mist, the Land of Iron still gained a large amount of profit this time.

Not only did it solve the raw material bottleneck that had existed for many years, but under Mizunuki Ryosuke's planning, the weapon prices driven up still allowed the Land of Iron to make a huge profit.

In the end, just as Mizunuki Ryosuke said, a "four-way win" situation was achieved.

And the biggest winner, while seemingly the Land of Iron as the host, was undoubtedly the Hidden Mist and Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Because don't forget, Mizunuki Ryosuke's trade was a "no-capital business"; this wave was entirely a middleman earning the price difference.

A "huge" price difference.

Thinking of this, Mizunuki Ryosuke first thought of the high price Mifune offered to buy the iron sand.

Then he recalled the price when he purchased the iron sand from the Sand ninjas, which could almost be described as "meager" and "barren," and Mizunuki Ryosuke shook his head gently, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes.

At this moment, he finally understood what "being born in the wrong place means all efforts are in vain" meant.

If the Third Kazekage had been born in the Land of Iron, there would be nothing for him to do now.

At this moment, Ryosuke made a firm decision.

"From today on, the Third Kazekage is my own brother!"

"From now on, whoever goes against the Third Kazekage goes against me!"

Ryosuke said secretly in his heart, starting to ponder "how to protect our side's cash cow."

He rubbed his chin while recalling the Third Kazekage's method of death, and finally began to consider whether he should find time to take care of that kid, Sasori of the Red Sand, first.

Night, Wind Desert.

The Third Kazekage, Sate, paced back and forth in the desert, while constantly surveying the location of the iron sand mines using his Magnet Release bloodline.

At this moment, the Third Kazekage Sate, who was originally in his prime and looked like he had a bit of a roguish charm, had completely turned into a disheveled, unkempt vagrant.

The reason was simple: he had been in the desert for a full week straight.

During this time, the Third Kazekage had been searching for iron ore day and night, and then using his Magnet Release bloodline to mine it.

Large quantities of iron ore were transported to the Land of Water, then exchanged for supplies and transported back to the Land of Wind.

Every time he saw the large amount of supplies fed back from the Land of Water, the Third Kazekage's "worker soul" burned fiercely.

While working, he did not forget to thank that Fourth Mizukage he had never met in his heart.

Only the Fourth Mizukage was willing to exchange large amounts of "precious supplies" for iron sand that was "worthless" in the Land of Wind.

"Achoo!"

Suddenly, the Third Kazekage sneezed.

"Maybe it's because the desert night is too cold, I caught a cold..."

The Third Kazekage sighed to himself, not thinking much of it.

"The Fourth Mizukage is truly a good person."

After sighing faintly, Sate formed hand seals and then slammed his hands onto the ground; a large amount of iron sand surged up from underground and appeared on the surface.

"I must work even harder!"

After cheering himself on, the Third Kazekage Sate once again embarked on the long, point-of-no-return path of mining.

"Knock, knock."

Suddenly, a faint knocking sound at Mizunuki Ryosuke's door interrupted Ryosuke's thoughts.

It was already late at night, and the moon had climbed onto the frost-covered treetops of the Land of Iron.

"So late, who could it be?"

Ryosuke was a bit puzzled.

At this moment, four members of the Mizukage's guard were on alert nearby at all times; if it weren't someone Ryosuke approved of, it would be impossible to reach Ryosuke's door at this time.

So it couldn't be an "uninvited guest."

So he turned and walked to the door, opening it without hesitation.

The moment he opened the door, Ryosuke's heartbeat skipped a beat.

"Tsunade."

Ryosuke whispered the visitor's name, a flash of disbelief in his eyes.

If Tsunade during the day was a brilliant princess with golden light, then Tsunade at this moment was a quiet, gentle moon goddess.

A pure black robe covered Tsunade's curvaceous figure, and the black hood of the robe covered Tsunade's brilliant golden hair, which looked like a waterfall, revealing only a shy little face.

"Ryosuke."

Tsunade looked at Mizunuki Ryosuke with some shyness, the charm in her eyes making Ryosuke unable to help but swallow his saliva.

A quiet night, a beautiful visitor.

Everything was already understood without words.

Tsunade gently hugged Mizunuki Ryosuke's body, snuggling into Ryosuke's arms, and said two words softly.

"Hold me."

A profound look flashed in Mizunuki Ryosuke's eyes as he directly carried Tsunade's plump, delicate body into the room.

The task of purchasing weapons was complete, and Tsunade was to set off back to the Hidden Leaf early tomorrow morning.

As a ninja, Tsunade had seen too many life-and-death partings.

Even the likes of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama hadn't been able to escape death.

In these chaotic times, who could be certain of what the future held?

Some people, once missed, might be missed for a lifetime.

After struggling for half the night in her room, Tsunade finally made up her mind; she didn't want to leave any regrets.

The night was already deep.

After this night, the fates of the two were completely intertwined, never to be separated again.