Walking with the little girl Pakura through the increasingly prosperous Sunagakure, Yun Qing’s mood was getting better and better.
He was now thankful that the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had given them the right to collect taxes themselves.
The tax revenue within Sunagakure belonged to Sunagakure itself, and this was also Sunagakure’s main source of economy.
“Lord Kazekage, you must be happy now.
The entire Sunagakure no longer has its former solemn atmosphere.
The whole village reeks of money.”
Pakura looked at Yun Qing resentfully.
Just a few days ago, after finishing the meeting, Yun Qing issued an order allowing anyone to enter Sunagakure, permitting foreigners to come for business and settlement.
Furthermore, he abolished most taxes, changing them to a transaction tax.
Perhaps feeling that the news was spreading too slowly, Yun Qing even specifically sent people to travel day and night to other countries to promote it.
Now look what happened.
A massive population flooded into Sunagakure.
“Hmph hmph hmph, little Pakura, this is what you don’t understand.
Only with more people can we collect more money.
And sell more land.”
Yun Qing scoffed, completely dismissing Pakura’s words.
Could he tell Pakura that all the land in Sunagakure belonged to them, the Sand ninjas?
Could he tell Pakura that he planned to expand Sunagakure?
Could he tell Pakura that in his past life, he painstakingly bought a house and even became a mortgage slave?
“Hehe, why didn’t I see that?
Just on this piece of land of ours, with only that one patch of greenery in total, who would be willing to come.”
Pakura retorted with even more disdain, adding an eye roll for good measure.
Yun Qing shook his head, making no comment on Pakura’s words.
In the entire ninja world, there were only five most peaceful places in total.
Those were the Five Great Ninja Villages.
It might not feel like a big deal in the original story, but in reality, over decades in the Naruto world, instances of enemies fighting their way into a ninja village happened very rarely.
Everyone in the ninja world knew that the major ninja villages always had a Kage-level expert presiding over them, no matter the time.
No matter how dangerous it was, it was still safer than anywhere else.
“Let’s make a bet.
If our Sunagakure’s houses and land sell for the price of gold, you will be responsible for washing my clothes for a year, how about that.”
While walking, Yun Qing suddenly spoke up.
“Ah, fine, who’s afraid of who.
If I win, you wash my clothes for a year.”
Pakura was stunned at first, then quickly agreed.
She absolutely didn’t believe that houses in Sunagakure could sell for the price of gold.
“No problem.
Let’s set the time limit to one month.
Within a month, if it sells for the price of gold, you wash for me.
Within a month, if it doesn’t sell for the price of gold, I wash for you.”
Yun Qing agreed without a second thought and gave the time frame.
……
In the Daimyo’s city of the Land of Wind.
“Did you hear?
Sunagakure allows settlement and business, as long as you pay taxes.”
“Really?
The taxes aren’t super high, are they.”
“No, my nephew feeds horses for a noble, and he heard that the noble he serves has already prepared money to go to Sunagakure.”
“Should we go take a look too?
I remember Sunagakure is hiring.
If we go work there for a few years, maybe we’ll save up enough money.”
In the Land of Fire, inside a wealthy merchant’s home.
“Inoue, Sunagakure allows business now, and as long as you pay taxes, they even provide protection.”
“I know, they only charge some kind of transaction tax there, it’s incredibly cheap.
I plan to conduct all my future business in the Land of Wind over there.”
“Right, right, safety is guaranteed.”
“Might as well buy a house there while we’re at it, it’s not expensive anyway.”
“Yeah, let me know when you go, I’ll tag along.”
Similar conversations were taking place in the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Water.
Under Yun Qing’s unsparing use of manpower, the speed of information dissemination was incredibly fast.
Using a group of ninjas as messengers could easily be called the most expensive courier service in history.
…
In Konohagakure, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his comrades looked at the intelligence in front of them with headaches.
“Tell me what you think, should we go or not?
Sunagakure is blatantly telling us to send spies to our heart’s content.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke and said speechlessly.
Yun Qing had directly ordered someone to copy his decree and deliver it to the spies of Konoha and other major ninja villages, telling them to send it back.
With the Eye of Insight plus the household registration system Yun Qing established previously, whoever was a spy could be spotted at a glance.
“This is a provocation, a show of strength.
He is telling us that spies are useless; if we want to come, then come openly.”
Kagami Uchiha said seriously.
Even with the Byakugan plus the Sharingan, they couldn’t distinguish every spy, every sleeper agent.
Yet Yun Qing managed to do it, which meant that the information they had collected previously was highly questionable.
“We also have a household registration system, but it’s only superficial.
It’s just that Sunagakure possesses a method to identify chakra, whereas ours isn’t comprehensive.”
Koharu Utatane, as an internal affairs talent, quickly analyzed the situation.
“Deployments.
The deployments that need to be made still need to be made, it’s just that we don’t need that many people.”
Homura Mitokado shook his head and suggested.
Even knowing that the spies they sent were discovered, they still had to send people.
Sending people and getting discovered was still better than not sending anyone at all.
“Alright, then that’s it.
Homura, you’ve clashed with Sunagakure quite a few times, take some people and go take a look.
If possible, buy a piece of land in Sunagakure.”
A gleam of light flowed through Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes as he spoke.
Homura Mitokado’s expression froze.
He scanned the people present and found both Kagami Uchiha and Koharu Utatane looking at him with smiles on their faces.
“Fine, since none of you want to go, then I’ll go.
I’ll treat it as a business trip.
Taking a brief look at the scenery in the Land of Wind isn’t a bad idea.”
Homura Mitokado consoled himself.
He had no choice either.
Obviously, Kagami Uchiha and Koharu Utatane both knew but deliberately didn’t say anything.
When it came to his turn, he subconsciously spoke up.
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t move, Koharu Utatane had to assist him, and Kagami Uchiha was a Kage-level who needed to keep an eye on the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure.
Actually, thinking carefully, he was the only mobile personnel left.
“In the future, I must also invest points into internal affairs skills, otherwise, I’ll be running around every day.”
Knowing shame is akin to courage, Homura Mitokado thought with grief and indignation in his heart.
In the Land of Wind, inside Sunagakure, Yun Qing listened to his subordinates reporting on the construction issues of Sunagakure.
Sunagakure currently had three main responsible projects.
The first, and most important, was planting trees around Sunagakure to create a green oasis in the desert.
The second was the joint project with the Land of Rain to channel water into the desert.
The third was cultivating desert plants like cacti in the wasteland.
“Lord Kazekage, the progress of the three projects is very fast right now.
The sand-solidifying ninjutsu researched jointly by Lord Shamon and various ninja clans has made our Sunagakure greening project proceed smoothly.
According to your request, the reckless plan to divert water directly from the Land of Rain has proceeded even faster; a piece of marshland has already been flushed out.
The cactus and other green plant projects are also proceeding smoothly.
We now have division technology and can plant them on a large scale.”
A Sunagakure elder reported calmly.