Railroads not only could it facilitate the people's daily travel, but they could also speed up the military deployment, the mobilization of troops, and logistical supplies.
Especially logistical supplies.
The Rock Ninjas lost to Konoha in the 3rd war because of the influence of being cut off by Minato, the most critical logistics supply line connecting to the front line.
Therefore, when it was clear that the Fire Land was starting to build railroads towards the Grass Land, the Rock Ninjas were very sensitive.
In the office of the Tsuchikage in Rock Village.
There had always been rumours that his health was not good, but Onoki, still sitting on the throne of 3rd Raikage, looked at his son, Onoki, and said, "Has the mission been released?"
Onoki said, "The members of the Akatsuki organization have received it."
"That's good," Onoki said.
Seeing this scene, Kitsuchi hesitated, thought for a while and said: "Father, there are many tasks that can be entrusted to Rock Ninjas. Why spend a lot of money to hire those bounty hunters?"
When Onoki heard this, his expression remained unchanged: "What? Did someone complain to you?"
Kitsuchi gritted his teeth and nodded: "Indeed! Many of the ninjas in the village have many complaints about the outflow of many missions."
For the Rock Ninjas, who were still in the traditional mode, the village only had so many yearly missions.
However, their Lord Tsuchikage always liked transferring some dangerous but generous rewards to those bounty hunters.
It was fine if it happened once or twice, but if it was too many times, it naturally caused complaints.
The cost of a ninja was huge, but now that an outsider cut off the cake, the Rock Ninjas who had less income were naturally very dissatisfied.
As for the danger of the mission.
Who would be truly afraid of danger if they could continue to stick to their job as a ninja?
Because of this, many Rock Ninjas came to Kitsuchi to complain about this matter, hoping that he could persuade Lord Tsuchikage to change his mind.
"Hmph! Short-sighted!"
Onoki snorted and looked at his son in disappointment.
"The people below don't know. Don't tell me you don't know. After five years of accumulation, the current situation in the Ninja Realm is like a barrel of gunpowder that can explode anytime. This is the time for the Rock Ninjas to gather all their strength to deal with a new round of war that might happen at any time. How can we allow the elite force to be consumed in other places that are not important?"
"Let the bounty hunters in the underground black market take action. It's easy to complete the mission, but if they don't, they can also weaken the power of these wandering Rock Ninjas to prevent them from causing trouble in the future. All they have to pay is a bit of money. Killing two birds with one stone, why don't we do it?"
Kitsuchi was silent.
All along, his father had always had the nickname of "Two Libras" in the Ninja World.
This praised his cunning mind for being like a scale, not lacking.
This was indeed the case. Under his father's leadership, although Rock Ninjas did not win much in the several Ninja World Wars, his own Rock Ninjas were relatively small in each land. Occasionally, he could earn a large sum of money through superb means.
His father must have contributed greatly to the development of Rock Hidden Village today.
But!
Sometimes being too shrewd was not necessarily a good thing.
His father had only seen the benefits of giving away the dangerous missions, but he had never thought true powerhouses had always been honed from various dangerous missions.
Just like the geniuses of Konoha that his father was envious of, which one of them was not honed in the A -level and S -level tasks?
Although many died in the task, the people who grew up played a greater role.
It could be said that one of the reasons why the village was green and yellow was not accepted, and also because his father protected the Rock Ninjas too well.
Although Kitsuchi was very clear about these things when his father in front of him was also the 3rd, Tsuchikage slightly opened his mouth. Still, in the end, he did not dare to refute the latter as usual, choosing to be silent habitually.
This reaction was also why Onoki had never considered passing the position of 4th Tsuchikage to the other party.
It was because the former was clear that his son did not dare to take the responsibility and was only suitable to be a forward general.
In comparison, it was better to pass it to Kitsuchi.
At least the other party dared pull his beard and boldly say he was wrong.
However, although Kitsuchi was talented and had good leadership skills, he was still too young. He had just graduated from the Ninja School not long ago.
At this moment, it is not clear what Kitsuchi was thinking. Onoki only thought he had persuaded the other party and continued: "The Four Hokages Conference has not yet been held, and it is not the time to disturb Konoha. The people of Akatsuki will replace us to attack the fire. The National Railway Construction Team is the best choice. Akatsuki has completed a lot of work for us in the past, and I think it will be successful this time.
"In addition." At this point, Onoki's eyes flashed with a cold light, "Even if Konoha is prepared, it's fine. It's good to let the Akatsuki and the dogs bite each other. You should know that the recent investigation of the disappearance of the old purple has something to do with Akatsuki."
"Akatsuki? The old purple?" Kitsuchi's face suddenly changed.
You must know that although Roshi rebelled against the village and left because he disagreed with Tsuchikage's ideas as a four-tailed beast, his strength is undoubtedly very strong.
Do the people of the Akatsuki organization have this ability?
Kitsuchi could not believe it.
His son had some doubts, but Onoki, who had dealt with the Akatsuki organization many times, took the opportunity to obtain a lot of information and was very clear about his strength.
Although the disappearance of Roshi and the Akatsuki organization did not have direct evidence.
But combined with the fact that there was a person with a black background and a red cloud cloak near the scene of the incident, Onoki directly identified the target.
In the past, he had doubts that the Akatsuki organization, which had accepted so many experts, was only willing to be a bounty organization.
Now that he noticed the target was the tailed beast, he finally understood.
Although he did not know what the purpose of Akatsuki was.
But such a potential threat, it was better to deal with it first.
I'll let you fight with Konoha first! With Konoha's authoritarian style, you will choose to take revenge if you suffer a loss. At that time, I will throw out the intelligence of the Akatsuki organization.
Onoki, who didn't know Konoha had already collected the information, was proudly planning in his heart.
On the other side, seeing his father showing a familiar smile, Kitsuchi, who knew that someone would be unlucky again, felt relieved and then stayed in the same place to wait.
"Eh? Kitsuchi, why are you still here?" After a long time, Onoki, who had recovered from his thoughts, looked at his stupid son, who was still there and couldn't help but be puzzled.
"Forget it, since you are here, there is one more thing you need to do now." After calling Kitsuchi, who was about to turn around, Onoki looked serious and said, "Go to the communication class and write a secret letter to urge the Raikage. Now, only the Cloud Ninjas have not nodded. Why are you still dawdling at this time? Ask if the Raikage fears Konoha and doesn't dare to move anymore."
"Yes!" Kitsuchi immediately went to do it.
...
Hidden Cloud Village.
As the second largest Ninja Village in the world that was second only to Konoha, after experiencing a crushing defeat five years ago, the village's strength, prestige, and economy had plummeted.
Although it had been five years of recovery, under the immense pressure of the war compensation, the development of Hidden Cloud Village had been stagnant for a long time.
By now, the village was almost no different from five years ago and was even more desolate.
Fortunately, there was always a way out.
The five-year deadline had arrived. Under Hidden Cloud Village, tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall, and with the help of the other three major powers, the war compensation was finally paid.
After all the Cloud Ninja prisoners and the two returned, they could finally reorganize and develop their strength.
However, the good times did not last long, and the four-sided alliance from the Rock, Sand, and Mist continued to urge them.
Although it was clear that with Konoha's current rate of development, they could no longer delay.
However, all sides had their interests and demands.
For the Rock Village, Hidden Sand Village, and Hidden Mist Village, which had almost fully recovered, suppressing Konoha's movements could not be delayed.
However, this time was not very friendly for Hidden Cloud Village, who had just breathed a sigh of relief and still had a long way to go to recover.
At this time, in Raikage's office.
Ma Buyi, who had just received a letter from Hidden Rock Village, handed the letter to Ei.
After Ei the 4th Raikage opened it and took a look, he sighed slightly and said,
"I'm here to urge you again!"
His family was well aware of their situation. Although they understood that the current situation could not be delayed, the current situation of Cloud Ninjas was indeed not very good.
Especially two years ago, even though the Thunder Land had joined forces with the other three major powers to pressure the Fire Land, wanting to force the Fire Land to stop the railway connecting to the Hot Water Land and the Frost Land, the latter had forcefully refused.
While the Rock Ninjas had not fully recovered, many Cloud Ninjas were still in Konoha's hands. The railway leading to Konoha had been successfully built to the gate of the Thunder Land.
This meant the Konoha army could attack the Thunder Land in less than a day.
Being in such a disadvantageous position, it was normal for the Cloud Ninjas to hesitate.
However, Ei the 4th Raikage was a smart person.
He knew that if they didn't cooperate now, the Cloud Ninjas would only face a slow death.
With Konoha's current ambition, once they were fully prepared, they would first eat the weakest Cloud Ninjas.
So, they had to give it a try!
The 4th Raikage's eyes were full of fierceness. He clenched his fists and was about to punch the table out of habit when he suddenly thought of his financial situation.
Then, after taking a few deep breaths, he awkwardly retracted his huge hand, which was filled with unwillingness. He shouted with a displeased expression,
"Mabui!"
"Yes."
"Go and reply to the old man Onoki. Tell him that Hidden Cloud Village has agreed!"
"Yes!"
Mabui swiftly turned around and moved.
At the same time, a trace of emotion flashed through her eyes, and she sighed slightly in her heart.
At this moment, it finally came.