The mechanical sand ship gained everyone's recognition, and because of that, it sold for an excellent price.
But this was not a one-time business.
Human power, shinobi, and energy cores—after comparing the three, everyone would undoubtedly come to one conclusion.
The energy core was far more convenient than the first two.
The only problem was that it cost money.
But the amount of money required was not enough to make people give up on it.
This was naturally something Sunagakure had done intentionally.
Only this way could those who bought mechanical sand ships willingly purchase energy cores, while also creating the greatest profit for Sunagakure.
There were two sources of energy.
One was the Sun Disk.
The other was the tailed beasts.
Rasa calculated silently in his heart.
"Given the situation in the Land of Wind, even several hundred mechanical sand ships would only satisfy a fraction of the demand for transport tools. But the value they can bring back to Sunagakure is already enough to construct one Sun Disk."
"However, that is only the early stage…"
"Once the number of mechanical sand ships rises, the price people are willing to pay will fall."
"If I could create a license system, I could earn another sum."
"Unfortunately, in this world, that can't be done."
With the sale of the twenty mechanical sand ships, information about them quickly spread.
First across the Land of Wind, then to the neighboring countries around the Land of Wind.
For example, the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Rivers was also somewhat interested in the mechanical sand ship.
Adjacent to the Land of Wind, the Land of Rivers also contained a certain amount of desert terrain.
Like the Land of Wind, it was impoverished.
But its situation seemed even worse than the Land of Wind's.
After all, it was only a small country with insufficient strength.
Because of that, large numbers of outsiders would invade.
For example, wandering ninja.
"The mechanical sand ship is a revolutionary ship that sails through the desert. It's much faster than previous tools, and it can carry far more cargo."
"And it doesn't require human power or shinobi. It directly uses an energy core."
"One energy core can run from Sunagakure to the Land of Wind capital and back."
The merchants were undoubtedly excited.
"With a sand ship like this, transportation efficiency will rise greatly, and the money we can earn will increase even more."
"Leaving aside everything else, simply buying one of these sand ships and using it to carry passengers would be enough to earn a fortune."
"It is far better than walking through the desert or riding camels."
…
One's own misfortune was naturally saddening.
But the enemy's prosperity was even more infuriating.
For Konoha, that was exactly the case.
During this period, they had suffered greatly from rumors. They could not be certain whether those rumors were created by Sunagakure, but they were certain that Sunagakure had fanned the flames, kicked them while they were down, and refused to let Konoha have any peace.
It had been like that when the rumor about Minato Namikaze appeared.
It had been like that when the rumor about Konoha's White Fang appeared.
Only after Kakashi appeared in Konoha had that rumor eased slightly.
As for Sunagakure, a rumor had finally appeared claiming that Rasa had murdered the Third Kazekage. But in the end, it had not caused much of a stir at all. It splashed a few times and disappeared.
The emergence of the mechanical sand ship attracted the attention of the vast majority of people in the Land of Wind.
It became the entire topic of discussion.
And most importantly, the mechanical sand ship could be sold for a high price.
Not only could it sell for a high price, but it could also elevate the economy of both Sunagakure and the Land of Wind to another level.
This meant that because of the mechanical sand ship, Sunagakure would grow better and better.
Konoha and Sunagakure were currently in an antagonistic relationship.
Therefore, when they heard this news, their eyes practically turned red.
"Why Sunagakure?"
"Where did they rope in the talent who created this mechanical sand ship?"
Inside the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the intelligence report in his hands, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Could it really be that the heavens are blessing Sunagakure?"
"Was producing one Rasa not enough? Now all these different things have appeared as well."
"Hanazuki, who can write novels with such powerful appeal."
"And Devil Fruits. The entire shinobi world is so vast. They could have appeared anywhere, yet they just had to appear in Sunagakure. And not only that, only Sunagakure has them. Not a single one has been seen in any other ninja village."
"They bring tremendous improvement to chunin and the like."
"That Sun Disk—we still haven't figured it out even now."
"And now there's a mechanical sand ship."
"Why have all these good things fallen into Sunagakure's hands?"
"It was not like this before."
In the shinobi world of the past, Konoha had always been full of talent.
Iwagakure had talent, but not many.
Kumogakure was strong, but compared to Konoha, it had far fewer talented people.
Kirigakure had many talented people, but their ceiling was limited.
One could say that no matter how recklessly Konoha acted, no matter how many times it acted recklessly, in terms of talent, no other ninja village could compare. Therefore, even after Konoha suffered blows, it could always rise again.
It was merely a matter of time.
But the current Sunagakure made Hiruzen Sarutobi envious.
The people appearing there were not talents in terms of shinobi strength, but the things they produced had impacts no weaker than genius shinobi. In fact, their sustainability might be even stronger.
"Sunagakure definitely has some secret."
"If only I could obtain it."
When he thought of obtaining intelligence, Hiruzen Sarutobi's first thought was Danzo.
"Danzo…"
"No. The current Danzo is no longer the same as before. He actually acted against Kakashi behind my back. He killed Kakashi and then refused to admit it, leaving me in a passive position."
"He is no longer someone of the same heart as me."
"He has too many thoughts."
"Reemploying Danzo for the sake of obtaining intelligence would be no different from drinking poison to quench thirst."
"Besides Danzo, who else is capable at gathering intelligence?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of another person.
"Yakushi Nono. She seemed to have done very well in Root before. So well that even when she wanted to retire, Danzo was unwilling to let her go and still forced Yakushi Nono to continue working for him."
"If Danzo could use her, then naturally I can as well."
"Having experienced being coerced by Danzo, Yakushi Nono's loyalty to Danzo certainly won't be high."
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave an order.
Very soon, an ANBU shinobi arrived before Yakushi Nono.
"Nono, Hokage-sama wants you to go to the Hokage's office."
"Hokage-sama?"
Yakushi Nono froze slightly.
"I'll go now."
She arrived at the Hokage Building.
"Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sized Yakushi Nono up.
"Nono, I won't waste words. I hope you can formulate a plan to infiltrate Sunagakure and obtain intelligence on Sunagakure. If you do well, I will help you resolve the problem with Danzo."
Yakushi Nono's eyes brightened.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Three days later, the plan Yakushi Nono drafted received Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval. She directly led a team away from Konoha and headed toward the Land of Wind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at a high vantage point.
"I hope this time, we gain something."
At that moment—
A figure hurried over, gripping a copy of Ninja World Weekly.
"Hokage-sama, something terrible has happened."