Chapter 14: The Opportunity to Strike it Rich Has Arrived
"Lord Kazekage, the person you were looking for has been brought downstairs. Should I bring them up?"
An Anbu member said this to Saito, who was sitting in his office chair.
"Yes, bring them up."
"Understood."
Following this, a red-haired young woman was led into the Kazekage's office by the Anbu.
She was clearly a member of the Uzumaki Clan, but compared to Taona, this young woman appeared much thinner, and her originally bright red hair now looked quite dull.
Most notably, her arms were covered in numerous bite marks.
When the young woman saw Saito gaze fall upon her arms, she hurriedly put her hands behind her back and lowered her head, hoping to conceal her secret this way.
"Go and bring Taona here."
"Understood."
The Anbu member, having received the order, instantly left using the Body Flicker Technique, leaving only Saito and the young woman in the office.
"Have a seat. Your clan member will be here soon."
"A clan member?!"
...Soon after.
Having received the message, Taona quickly rushed over from Saito house.
"Kana?!"
"Taona!"
Hearing the call, Kana turned her head. Seeing it was her clan member, her eyes immediately reddened, and she hugged Taona, bursting into tears.
After experiencing the destruction of their country, fleeing, hiding, and struggling to survive, the two women were naturally overcome with emotion at being able to meet a clan member again, and they had much to say to each other.
Left with no alternative.
Saito had no choice but to leave his office; after all, he couldn't interrupt their reunion, could he?
Incidentally, this gave him another excuse to hand off these tedious documents to Ebizo.
As for Saito himself...
Since he didn't even have a place to work anymore, he certainly couldn't handle any official business.
Therefore, he could only "painfully" clock out for the day.
It wasn't until evening that Taona brought Kana back to Saito house.
Upon returning home, both women naturally offered Saito a round of thanks.
One thanked him for helping her find a clan member, and the other thanked Saito for rescuing her from Hidden Grass Village and facilitating the reunion with her clan member.
Kana walked up to Saito, bowed deeply, and said, "Thank you very much! Thank you for rescuing me from Hidden Grass Village!"
"It's nothing." Saito waved his hand. He looked at Kana and continued, "Since you are Taona's clan member, I would have certainly rescued you once I knew. By the way, do you know the whereabouts of any other members of the Uzumaki Clan?"
Saito was extremely covetous of this great clan of the ninja world.
The Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, the ability to heal others, massive chakra reserves, and powerful sealing techniques.
Every one of these was a formidable ability; it could be said that if a ninja clan possessed just one of them, it would be enough to establish that clan as a major power.
Yet, these all belonged to the Uzumaki Clan. Anyone would be intimidated by so many powers, and it was no wonder they were annihilated.
He felt that even Uchiha geniuses, after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, might not possess as many abilities as the Uzumaki Clan's geniuses.
That was why Saito was so eager to acquire members of this clan.
First, it could alleviate Hidden Sand Village's lack of Kekkei Genkai users. Second, those who managed to escape were definitely either elites or highly promising descendants.
Once found and given a few years to recover, they would all become top-tier combatants.
As for the possibility of not finding any? Absolutely impossible!
Saito refused to believe that such a large clan, one that possessed the entire Land of Whirlpools, wouldn't have some escape routes or secret tunnels prepared.
"I originally escaped with the Third Elder and the Fifth Elder." Kana's mood became slightly downcast, as if she had recalled something painful. "Later, the Fifth Elder sacrificed himself while covering our retreat. Although he held off the main force, a small group of shinobi still pursued us. I got separated from the main group and ended up wandering into the Land of Grass, which is how I ended up here."
"..."
"However, I know the initial destination. The Third and Fifth Elders originally intended to lead us all the way north. If the plan hasn't changed, Lord Saito, you could send people to search in the north."
Saito smiled and nodded. Although he didn't know the exact location, knowing the general direction meant he didn't have to search the entire ninja world, which was valuable information.
"Alright, I will arrange for shinobi to investigate. Let's eat first. After dinner, Taona will find a room for you."
Having said that, he went upstairs to call the three little ones down for dinner.
"Lord Saito is truly a gentle and kind person."
Kana watched Saito's retreating figure and murmured to herself, "And Lord Saito's chakra feels very warm."
"He is indeed very gentle and kind."
Taona also looked at Saito's retreating figure and said with a smile.
"He's just a little bit naughty."
"Taona-neechan, what did you just say?"
"Ah, nothing! Kana, let's go eat quickly."
"Huh? Okay, but shouldn't we wait for Lord Saito? Also, Taona, your face is really red..."
...Autumn, Konoha Year 37.
Two months had passed since Konoha launched its large-scale offensive against the Land of Rain.
Konoha shinobi initially pushed rapidly into the Land of Rain, forcing Hanzō the Salamander, out of desperation, to personally take to the front lines.
Relying on his poisons, ninjutsu, and powerful Body Flicker taijutsu, he was invincible on the battlefield, killing countless Konoha shinobi.
At the same time, thanks to the withdrawal of the Sand shinobi and the signing of the agreement, the Rain shinobi had one less concern and received a continuous supply of ninja tools and armor.
This led to a visible improvement in the combat capability of the Rain shinobi.
After their initial irresistible advance, Konoha began to lose momentum.
The battle lines even began to retreat.
This made the prestige of Hanzō the Salamander—the Demigod of the Shinobi World—greater than ever before.
Iwagakure also took this opportunity to launch an attack on Konoha.
This caused the Konoha front line to collapse, forcing them to retreat back to their original defensive positions.
From then on, the Land of Rain found itself in a three-way standoff between the Rain, Stone, and Konoha forces.
When this news reached Hidden Sand Village.
Saito convened a meeting of the elders.
"The war is about to end, and Hidden Sand Village's opportunity to strike it rich is coming."
Saito first sentence shocked everyone present.
"Lord Saito, how can you tell? Currently, the three sides are in a stalemate; there is no sign of the war ending."
Most of the elders were highly skeptical of Saito judgment.
Saito paid no mind to the elders' doubts. After all, those who were skeptical were not the elders with real authority, and it was normal for them to have doubts when they were unaware of certain confidential matters.
"It is true that the three sides are currently evenly matched, but the Land of Rain is inherently a small nation with limited comprehensive national power. The current stalemate is only possible because of our full provision of weapons."
"Now, even the Genin of the Land of Rain are wearing ninja tool vests. You should know that these vests are sometimes called Jōnin vests, and in Konoha, they are only issued free of charge upon promotion to Jōnin. If you are not a Jōnin but still want one, you must pay an exorbitant price."
"The Land of Rain's weapons deployment has already reached its maximum capacity; they cannot increase their strength further in the short term. However, Konoha and Iwagakure are still retaining reserves."
The elders found Saito words very reasonable; they had indeed been misled by superficial appearances.
But what did the end of the war have to do with Hidden Sand Village getting rich?
"Lord Kazekage, what exactly is Hidden Sand Village's opportunity to strike it rich?"
One of the elders was nudged by the others and reluctantly stood up to ask.
Saito looked over upon hearing the voice. Oh, an old acquaintance! Wasn't this the elder he had completely baffled during the last meeting?
The elder looked nervous when Saito glanced at him, afraid of fainting again.
Fortunately, Saito did not do that.
In truth, Saito was quite easy to talk to, and he knew this elder was conscientious and diligent, having spent his life working hard for Hidden Sand Village. He was just a little stubborn, focusing on military development and wanting to secure a good future for his descendants.
After the elder had been shocked unconscious by Saito previously, Saito had gone to visit him and left two gold bars.
When the elder woke up, he immediately donated those two gold bars to be used for military development, which was why Saito now held him in high regard.
"Elder Yuuto, please sit down."
After ensuring the elder was seated, Saito continued speaking.