Naruto: Reborn as Yagura Karatachi

Yahiko chose to stand up for Kirigakure—not just because Yagura was an ally to Akatsuki.

The Land of Rain was a landlocked country, with no access to the sea.

Having relied on Kirigakure's support for years, if that economic connection were suddenly severed, Amegakure would collapse.

Now that Rasa was trying to distance himself from Kirigakure and align with Konoha, that lifeline was at risk of being cut off.

For the sake of Amegakure, Yahiko couldn't just sit by and let things spiral out of control.

...

The situation had escalated quickly—and dangerously. Rasa urgently convened a high-level meeting of Sunagakure's leadership.

The heads of various departments and factions erupted into chaos.

"That bastard Mizukage is trying to destroy us again!"

"First they raised prices on all goods sold to us, and now they've teamed up with Amegakure to block our trade routes through Konoha. They're trying to force us to give in, Lord Kazekage!"

"We can't back down! One step back now and we fall off a cliff!"

"We must fight back—hard. Push back with everything we've got!"

"We should seek an alliance with the Hokage! And the Tsuchikage, too! The three of us together could crush Amegakure!"

The hawks were demanding an aggressive response, urging Rasa to retaliate with force. Meanwhile, the doves were quietly trying to talk him down.

"Please reconsider, Lord Kazekage…"

"Ever since the rampage from the One-Tail, major parts of the village have been destroyed. Tens of thousands dead or injured. The economic damage is catastrophic. We're running out of medicine, basic goods, everything."

A representative from the economic affairs department pleaded with Rasa.

"Merchants from Kirigakure and the Land of Water are withholding goods or redirecting them to the Land of Rain. Our people have to pay outrageous prices just to buy essentials. They can't afford it anymore."

Rasa had tried to follow Kirigakure's lead—adopting their economic reforms to strengthen Sunagakure's own systems—but it had utterly failed.

The village lacked the natural resources. It lacked a self-sustaining class of merchants.

Rasa had no choice but to secretly use Sunagakure's private treasury to invest in building local businesses, pouring money into startups with state backing.

But in practice, these fledgling companies were nothing compared to the seasoned, decade-old capital networks that had flourished under Kirigakure's guidance.

Sunagakure simply couldn't compete.

The inherent environmental disadvantages—lack of resources, poor land—meant any investment from the Kazekage's office would always be a losing game compared to the well-oiled industrial machine of Kirigakure.

Take the textile industry, for example—the pride of Kirigakure's economy.

From the wool produced on their expansive pastures, to the spinning mills, the accessory factories, the dyeing plants, the weaving factories, and then through a seamless logistics network to retailers—every step was refined and complete.

An average piece of clothing from Kirigakure sold at 200 ryō. That's about four bowls of noodles—enough to turn a profit.

Sunagakure? None of that infrastructure existed. At best—optimistically—even at 250 ryō per garment, they'd barely break even. And still lose.

"We can't keep backing down to Kirigakure."

Rasa set the tone of the meeting.

"If they can blockade us once, they can do it a second time, and a third. Are we going to let the Mizukage turn the Land of Wind into a puppet on his strings?"

The hawks cheered his resolve. Even the doves, though hesitant, couldn't argue against him.

Since the issue clearly wasn't just about industrial development, Rasa proposed a different strategy.

After discussions with the village's top brass, they launched a new initiative—start from the ground up. A self-sufficient farming plan.

But after conducting a national survey, the results were disheartening.

Agriculture? The climate and land were completely unsuitable.

Livestock? No pasture. Aside from camels, what else could possibly survive? Cactus farms?

The root of the problem: did Sunagakure even have fertile, moist land?

Yes—it did. Once.

Back in the day, the First Kazekage had traded a tailed beast at the very first Five Kage Summit in exchange for the fertile eastern lands of the Wind Country.

Today, those lands are known as the Land of Rivers.

That fertile strip of land—Sunagakure lost it after their defeat in the First Great Ninja War. The Wind Country had barely warmed the seat before it was ripped away.

Old debts, old grudges—relations between the Wind Country and the Land of Rivers were practically dead.

Geography made things worse. A river valley and gorge run north-south between them, cutting off any feasible trade routes to Fire Country.

That left only one path for trade—with the Fire Country—through the Land of Rain. And now even that road was blocked.

Prices soared. Public outrage surged. The people of Sunagakure were beginning to openly criticize the Kazekage and his administration.

...

Outside the council chamber, down below—

Children cried. Citizens argued with shopkeepers, trying to haggle for essentials, only to be coldly rejected. They walked away disappointed, hopeless.

Rasa's once-bright red hair had turned pale. Wrinkles carved deeper into the corners of his eyes.

After losing the Third Kazekage and suffering defeat in the Third Great Ninja War, he had thought he'd already lived through Sunagakure's darkest days.

He never imagined that a Mizukage across the ocean could wage a war without even stepping foot in his land—and plunge them deeper still.

"Baki, what's the latest from the Hokage?"

"The Hokage issued a diplomatic warning to Yahiko of Amegakure and sent a merchant caravan across the border."

Baki's grim expression said it all: "They were intercepted by Uzumaki Nagato. The Konoha ninja escort was defeated and released. But the caravan and its goods were seized."

...

"Damn Amegakure…"

Those three foolish little brats.

"Lord Kazekage… maybe we should just let this go."

Privately, the heads of the economic department approached Rasa again, nervously pushing for a more conciliatory stance.

"Hasn't life been good these past few years?"

To be fair, since the end of the Third Great Ninja War, things hadn't been too bad.

The Wind Country had waived tariffs on imports from the Land of Water.

There had been no 'growing pains' of local industries being crushed by Kirigakure's goods—because there were no local industries to crush.

Goods like food and daily necessities were cheap. The poor of Sunagakure could afford them. Life was better than it had been during the war.

"You're sugarcoating the situation."

Rasa had personally created the gold extraction method with his Magnet Release. He knew exactly how much gold from the desert ended up in Kirigakure's pockets each year.

Even though tax revenue from citizens had increased, that money still ended up going back to Kirigakure through procurement and spending.

Not just his gold—but the people's wealth, even their population.

If he were the Daimyō of the Wind Country, Rasa might have been okay with that.

But as Kazekage, it was his duty to ensure Sunagakure had the strength—and the will—to stand up to any village in war.

"If we depend on Kirigakure for everything, how can we ever call ourselves sovereign?"

His eyes turned toward the east. Right now, Amegakure was a living example of what that path would lead to.

As soon as Sunagakure cut ties with Kirigakure, Amegakure panicked even more than they did.

...

"Lord Kazekage!"

Yashamaru burst through the door, panting.

"You're back from Kirigakure?"

Rasa turned sharply and rushed over. "Take your time. Breathe."

"The Mizukage agreed to return to the previous arrangement."

Rasa knew Yagura wouldn't give anything without a price. "What's the catch?"

Catching his breath, Yashamaru's face still flushed from the journey, he answered solemnly,

"The Mizukage invited you to Kirigakure for a face-to-face summit."

He glanced nervously at Rasa, gauging his reaction, and cautiously added,

"He also said… he finds the recent outbursts of your village's Tailed Beast to be suspicious. He requests that you bring Gaara with you."

...

At Rasa's home—

Gaara clutched his brown teddy bear, trying to get close to his brother Kankurō and sister Temari.

"Big bro…"

But with the One-Tail having gone berserk again not long ago, Kankurō and Temari looked at Gaara like he was a monster. They ran from him in fear.

"Big sis…"

Gaara withdrew his small hand, hugging his toy tightly.

Crushed, he left the playroom and returned to his bedroom alone.

On the bed, he curled into himself, shutting down.

A sudden gust of wind blew in through the window, lifting the curtains toward him—only to be shredded by flying sand before they could touch him.

The bed beneath him cracked and collapsed under the pressure, but Gaara floated gently in the air, safely cradled by sand.

All around the room—the walls, furniture—bore the marks of the sand's defensive lashings.

Stronger sealing techniques had been used to suppress Shukaku. With the tailed beast's power more accessible, Gaara's chakra had grown even more formidable.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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