Time passed bit by bit, and under Yubi's supervision, the long-awaited Pharmaceutical Factory was finally completed.
To this end, the Village's higher-ups and citizens held a celebration ceremony.
As the director and project manager, Yubi also gave some public speeches and remarks.
Now, the Hidden Sand Village's medicines have been sold all over the Ninja World. There is no longer a need for merchants to actively travel to open up markets; many small countries and Villages, realizing the importance of these medicinal resources, have taken the initiative to negotiate with the Village, hoping to establish cooperation.
The completion of the Pharmaceutical Factory also meant that the Hidden Sand Village would truly begin to step into a period of prosperity and economic growth—
All the villagers would also benefit.
Naturally, everyone was incredibly excited.
But in stark contrast to the happy attitude of the villagers—were the Village's higher-ups.
For such an important occasion, for the Village's Kage not to attend was a bit abnormal.
And some rumors from the outside world began to filter into the Hidden Sand Village, specifically regarding the Kazekage.
There were rumors that the Third Kazekage had gone missing—the Village sent many people to the Ninja World to investigate the Kazekage's whereabouts, but found nothing.
Some Sunagakure Ninja even went deep into the territories of the other Four Great Nations and were detected by several Great Ninja Villages, which in turn led back to a trace of the 'truth'.
The disappearance of the Third Kazekage grew increasingly intense in the Ninja World.
In this situation, even if Chiyo wanted to block the news, it was no longer possible.
Because the industry was booming, many merchants entered the Village from the outside every day—which also allowed the villagers to hear some rumors.
The public realized with a start that they indeed hadn't seen the Third Kazekage for a long time.
The higher-ups, led by Chiyo, were in a dilemma.
To retreat—meant trying to quietly cover up this matter, which was almost impossible to do. After all, a new Kazekage taking office would require a reason and a formal handover.
As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the Hidden Sand Village's every move was watched by the outside world.
In the eyes of others, the Third Kazekage was in his prime; a sudden abdication without warning and not showing his face would certainly arouse suspicion.
This kind of scandal, even if it could be covered up for a while, would eventually bring disgrace.
A Village's Kage suddenly disappearing, and quite possibly being assassinated by an enemy—if it got out, it would likely invite ridicule.
To advance—meant the Hidden Sand Village finding the culprit, avenging the Kazekage, and demanding an explanation.
But the problem was—who was the enemy?
They weren't even sure who the culprit was yet, much less had any evidence.
Therefore, not long after the Pharmaceutical Factory went into operation—Chiyo summoned all the higher-ups for a meeting.
For no other reason than to deal with the Village's upcoming situation.
"Now, basically—it can be concluded that the Third has met with an accident."
In the room, everyone sat around the table, and a pale Chiyo spoke in a heavy voice.
Firstly, she was old, and handling the affairs of the Kage was somewhat overwhelming for her.
—
Secondly—she had finally seen Sasori not long ago, and then—the old woman became bedridden, handing over all affairs to Ebizo and the others to handle, and has only recently recovered a bit of Origin Qi.
"Our Village must take a stance on this matter, otherwise—both the Village and the Land of Wind will become the laughingstock of the entire Ninja World."
Chiyo spoke.
The disappearance of the Kazekage was now known throughout the Ninja World; if the Third were alive, he would have certainly appeared by now.
However, listening to the old woman's meaning, even now, she didn't seem to think the Third Kazekage was dead, but rather that he was more likely captured or imprisoned by some Village.
He was in a state of isolation from the outside world.
"In the past two months, many Ninjas from other Villages have infiltrated the Land of Wind—even our Guard Corps caught many suspicious spies near the Village," said the Captain of the Guard Corps.
Obviously, outside forces wanted to confirm whether the Hidden Sand Village really had no Kazekage in power.
If the rumors were true—then this was the Hidden Sand Village's 'weakest' moment, a good time to strike— "Let me speak first."
At this moment, Yubi suddenly raised his hand.
Drawing everyone's eyes, "Now that our Hidden Sand Village's medicines are sold to various countries, the profits and the value of the medicinal resources are being watched by other Villages. From the intelligence gathered by the Village, other Great Ninja Villages have long since begun to secretly study and analyze our drug compositions, wanting to mass-produce them—unfortunately, parsing the medicines requires a great deal of effort and time. Secondly, most of the medicinal resources outside have already been collected by our Village first—so, they have not succeeded."
"Konoha's Tsunade—returned to the Village, but left again not long ago—this shows that even with her skills, she is helpless in the absence of medicinal materials."
"Yubi is right."
Ebizo, who was nearby, nodded.
He was the head of the Village's intelligence and could confirm this matter.
"I'm saying this to tell everyone that in the eyes of other Villages, our Village is now a fat sheep holding a huge sum of money and dripping with wealth. After all, with no Kazekage present—once war breaks out, other Villages can take the opportunity to act against us. At that time, the research data on medicinal materials—the new industries—as long as they win the war, everything will be within their reach. They won't even need to do research; nothing is easier than gaining through war."
When Yubi said this, the expressions of everyone at the table changed instantly.
They immediately realized the huge crisis.
"It's no exaggeration to say—our Hidden Sand Village might even be besieged by several other Villages, just like Konoha during the Second Great Ninja War."
Yubi added another sentence.
Suddenly, the temperature in the meeting room dropped to the freezing point.
Everyone understood the principle that an ordinary man is innocent, but harboring a treasure makes him guilty.
The core point of Yubi's words was only one: war is inevitable!
It's not easy to conquer a mountain of gold, but it's even harder to keep it!
Even if they wanted to keep the peace, it was impossible.
The Ninja World has always followed the logic of big fish eating small fish—it doesn't listen to reason.
Without enough strength, all the efforts the Hidden Sand Village has made so far will eventually just be for the benefit of others.
Seeing the Village changing with each passing day and large sums of money coming in—if everything were suddenly destroyed, it would be better to have had nothing from the start.
Otherwise, the ending—will only be more painful.
"Let's go to war."
The consistently silent Rasa suddenly spoke in a condensed voice, "Whether it is for the Village's industry or the disappearance of the Kazekage, we must make the enemy give us an explanation and make them realize that our Hidden Sand Village is not someone to be trifled with, even—without a Kage."
"If we are going to act—we must strike first to gain the initiative, and we must—at the first move, aim directly at the target that poses the greatest potential threat to our Village."
Yubi echoed.
"Konoha and Iwagakure."
Chiyo said the names.
If the Third Kazekage wasn't dead, he was also most likely to have been captured by these two Villages.
"Before acting, the Village should spread rumors, acknowledging the Kazekage's disappearance but not mentioning death."
"Moreover, we must insist that Konoha did it—smear them first to control the direction of public opinion in the Ninja World. This way, even if we launch a surprise attack on Konoha, it will be justified—leaving them unable to explain themselves, and from the diplomatic level of great power politics, it won't put pressure on the Daimyo's Estate."
Yubi said calmly, "However, we cannot inform the Daimyo about our move against Konoha."
"This belongs to our Village's unilateral action—"
Everyone looked at each other and did not object.
Clearly, they agreed with Yubi's statement and considerations.
"During the period of manufacturing public opinion, the Village should formulate the next combat plan as quickly as possible and begin secret deployments."
"The more complete, the better—we absolutely cannot be careless in this regard! I think everyone should also understand that once this battle starts, it will be another war covering the entire Ninja World after many years. The failures of the Village in the last Ninja World War are still vivid in our minds—this time, I hope to change things completely."
Rasa originally wanted to express his views, but he didn't expect Yubi to take all the words.
"Everyone, get ready—to welcome the Third Great Ninja War—"
Yubi smiled.