Soon.
The vehicle had already driven dozens of kilometers away from the rest stop.
Yakushi Nonō sat in the car, looking out the window.
Rolling hills stretched endlessly.
The Shukaku Highway stood prominently amidst this boundless sea of sand.
It appeared magnificent yet solitary.
Before long, Nonō withdrew her gaze.
There was nothing left to see; the scenery was all the same.
Just as Yakushi Nonō was considering how to safely infiltrate Sunagakure.
A rapid series of hand signs being formed echoed from the front.
Yakushi Nonō suddenly lifted her head, alerted by her Shinobi instincts.
She saw the Suna Shinobi standing in front of the bus rapidly forming hand signs, his hands practically smoking from the speed.
Then, with a cry of "Kai!" (Release), a massive milky-white Kekkai (Barrier) suddenly appeared on the road ahead.
Its left and right edges were situated on either side of the highway, each extending outward for a kilometer.
The top was half a meter above the ground, and the whole structure formed an oval shape.
The Shukaku Highway ran directly through the center of this oval.
As the bus passed through the Kekkai, causing a ripple, Yakushi Nonō's vision went white for a moment, and then the scenery completely changed.
While she was still reeling from the shock.
A gasp from the back row startled Yakushi Nonō.
"Wow! Is this still Sunagakure? Where have they taken us?"
"Haha, everyone, please don't be nervous."
"Now, allow me to welcome you all again."
"Welcome, everyone! To the real Sunagakure!"
Looking out, there was no yellow sand beneath the highway anymore.
Instead, a vast underground lake surged beneath them.
The hundred-meter-wide lake stretched forward alongside the road, surrounded by grasslands, forests, and dense rows of greenhouses whose contents were unknown.
In the distance, a group of Shinobi were planting trees.
Among them, a red-haired youth flew through the air. With a wave of his hand, a large mass of water was drawn up from the lake. Then, with another sweep of his hand, the water sprinkled down onto the ground like rain.
Further away, near the edge of the barrier, another group of red-haired Shinobi were setting something up.
"This... this is Sunagakure? It actually... actually..."
"Then why has no intelligence ever leaked out?"
"That's because they have never seen the real Sunagakure!"
Before Yakushi Nonō could figure out the key point, the Suna Shinobi assigned to protect her answered the question for her.
"What do you mean?!"
"The meaning is simple: what Sunagakure lets everyone see is only what we want them to see.
The barrier you just passed through was a massive Genjutsu Kekkai.
Only by riding in Sunagakure's specialized vehicles and performing a specific set of hand signs inside the vehicle can you see the reality within the barrier. Miss one step, and you won't see it."
"What?! A barrier! You're saying that huge light shield was a Kekkai?"
Before Yakushi Nonō could fully process this, the clan Shinobi sitting in the back rows gasped in astonishment.
"Are you kidding me? How much does a Kekkai that huge cost per year?"
"Hahaha, not much, not much. Only a little over two hundred million. Just pocket change!"
"Two hundred million!"
Seemingly enjoying the chance to show off, the Shinobi sitting next to Yakushi Nonō became increasingly talkative.
"That's nothing! Do you know how much net profit the Ame no Kuni (Land of Rain) Trade City and the Shukaku Ultimate Rest Stop bring to Sunagakure every year?"
"How much?"
This time, Yakushi Nonō was the first to ask.
After all, this was crucial intelligence, and she hadn't expected to uncover it so easily.
"Rumor has it, over three billion!"
"What! How could it be that much?"
"Why wouldn't it be that much? From small things like food and clothing—do you know how large the population of Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) alone is? How large is the population of the Godai Koku (Five Great Nations)? How large are the populations of all those small countries? Just from the small countries north of Kaze no Kuni and west of Tsuchi no Kuni (Land of Earth), Sunagakure earns hundreds of millions annually just from selling grain!
And that doesn't even count the weapons manufactured by Sunagakure. Think about the Ame no Kuni Trade City; how many merchants have flocked there from Takumi no Kuni (Land of Artisans)? The weapons you now buy from Takumi no Kuni are actually purchased wholesale by Takumi no Kuni from the Trade City and then branded there.
Why? Because Sunagakure used Kugutsu no Jutsu (Puppet Technique) to create machines capable of mass-producing ninja tools. They are highly efficient, high-quality, and cheaper than what Takumi no Kuni offers.
Takumi no Kuni has now become a dumping ground for Sunagakure's weapons, and some of the most skilled weapon masters have long since relocated to Sunagakure."
"Wow! That's how it is? No wonder the quality of the ninja tools I've bought from Takumi no Kuni recently has improved, and the weight hasn't changed much. So that's the reason."
"Of course! Look who's running Sunagakure now! Under the leadership of the Kazekage-sama, the old mud houses have been replaced by concrete and steel buildings, the yellow mountains have turned green, the water that used to be rationed can now be drunk freely, children get free schooling, and medical care is subsidized..."
The Shinobi continued talking for a long time, and everyone listened quietly, longing for a life like that.
Including Yakushi Nonō.
[If only... if only Konoha could be like this too!]
"In short, life here is getting better and better. For you to be joining Sunagakure now, you've truly arrived at a golden age!"
"Then how does Sunagakure ensure that intelligence doesn't leak out?"
After the Suna Shinobi finished speaking, Yakushi Nonō asked a critical question. Every Shinobi village harbored spies from other villages. Given such massive changes in Sunagakure, how was it that not a single spy had managed to transmit the information yet?
"Ah, that... that I wouldn't know..."
Inside the Tsuchikage's office.
Ōnoki, still in his prime, was currently reviewing Iwagakure's official documents.
At this moment, Kitsuchi walked in.
"Father... Tsuchikage-sama, this is the intelligence received from the spy in Sunagakure..."
"Does it say that everything in Sunagakure is normal, that because the Kaze no Kuni Daimyō cut off all their supplies, the Shinobi lack income, and although they have the two major revenues from the Trade City and the Rest Stop, they mostly use that money to issue tasks internally to subsidize the Shinobi, so Sunagakure is still in its previous state: lacking water and food?"
"Tsuchikage-sama is truly amazing! It's exactly right, word for word!"
"Heh heh! Is it because this old man is amazing? No! It's because the intelligence sent over the years has been exactly the same! Not even a single punctuation mark has changed!"
"Yet the Ame no Kuni Trade City is constantly selling massive amounts of grain—even Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) can't sell it as cheaply as they do. Are they really lacking food?!
And are those missions meant to subsidize Shinobi being issued to their own Shinobi? Look at my desk—it's covered in missions commissioned by Sunagakure!"
"Look, escort missions for Taki no Kuni (Land of Waterfalls), escort missions for Kuma no Kuni (Land of Bears), and also Ishi no Kuni (Land of Stone), Hoshi no Kuni (Land of Stars), Tsuchi no Kuni, and even the neighboring Tori no Kuni (Land of Birds)!"
"Tell the Jōhō-bu (Intelligence Division) to stop sending spies into Sunagakure. Sunagakure definitely has a special method for identifying spies. Sending any more is pointless."
"Then, Tsuchikage-sama, are we just going to stop investigating Sunagakure?"
"You may leave for now. Let this old man think..."
...