Naruto: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand Village

The Hidden Sand Village—out in the middle of nowhere—was really, seriously understaffed.

With the growing number of industries, more jobs had opened up, and naturally, this led to a labor shortage.

Even though Sunagakure was one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, its population wasn't large. Otherwise, the Second Kazekage wouldn't have had to invent the Puppet Technique just to make up for a lack of manpower.

Fortunately, when it came to mechanization, the village was—relatively speaking—a little ahead of the curve.

Take, for instance, Baki's Gold Panner Workshop: the production line was personally designed by Kabuto, significantly reducing the need for human labor. You could say it was the prototypical semi-automated factory.

The only downside? It ran on coal.

Don't let the existence of chakra—essentially the world's clean energy—fool you. The tech evolution of the common folk still followed the same old path: water power, heat, and electricity.

Which meant that lately, coal consumption in the village had been spiking.

And most of that coal? Imported from the Wind Daimyō's capital.

A lot of money had gone into that.

Shinobi? Mining? As if. That was noblemen's business. They were the ones who commissioned the missions and got to claim the mining rights. The shinobi were just there to complete the job and receive their agreed-upon payment.

Sure, ninja possessed incredible powers—but at the end of the day, they still lived under the shadow of the "normal" world.

How did things get this distorted? Who knows.

But if Sunagakure wanted to keep developing, they'd have to locate their own resource veins… or start researching alternative energy sources.

Still, asking Sand shinobi to mine was just… impractical.

When it came to locating things, most commissions went straight to Konoha's Hyūga Clan. That was their specialty, after all.

Rasa recalled that within the Wind Country's borders, there were still ruins of advanced, long-lost supercivilizations—like the Gelel Stone, or the Ryūmyaku beneath the ancient kingdom of Rōran.

The Gelel Stone—also known as the "Sealing Stone"—contained massive mysterious energy. It was probably similar to the meteorite from the Hidden Star Village: highly radioactive, causing strange mutations that granted users extraordinary powers.

But yeah… that thing needed to be developed carefully.

As for the Ryūmyaku—literally the "Dragon Vein"—it was a torrent of chakra flowing beneath the earth, holding more power than any other place on the planet.

Used right, it could be an endless energy source.

Used wrong, it could wipe entire continents off the map.

And if none of the Five Great Nations were touching it right now? That probably meant there was some secret agreement in place.

Besides… how the hell did rogue ninja like Mukade, or Konoha's own shinobi, even know about the Dragon Vein's existence?

Back then, Minato Namikaze—young, righteous, upstanding—had made sure to seal everyone's memories about the Ryūmyaku.

So, the development of the Gelel Stone or the Ryūmyaku was on the agenda… but not for now.

No need for Sunagakure to stick its neck out and become a target.

And if they did ever pursue the Dragon Vein, they'd need sealing jutsu—no exceptions. Rasa figured he should ask Kana how many sealing techniques she had mastered. If she didn't know enough…

Well, they'd just have to go and "borrow" a few from Konoha.

Why not?

These were Uzumaki Clan secrets, and Kana Uzumaki was one of their own.

Konoha hoarding them all? That was practically a crime against her bloodline.

Unforgivable!

"Lord Kazekage! Lord Kazekage!"

Elder Chiyo's younger brother, Ebizō, stood in front of Rasa, visibly impatient.

"I'm telling you, I really can't get any more laborers! I've already deployed every usable puppet I have. Even if my sister herself pitched in, we'd only have ten more at best. It won't make much difference!"

"We don't need much. Just… give me a hundred villagers. Civilians. That'd be enough."

Rasa gave Ebizō a deadpan look. This old man clearly hadn't listened to a single word he'd said earlier.

What, was Rasa supposed to slap himself on the head and say, "Look at this brain! Worth at least ten men. Go ahead and chop it off and use it for labor!"

He sighed and spread his hands helplessly. "You know as well as I do—we just don't have the manpower."

"I heard there's a new Gold Panner Factory being set up?" Ebizō suggested, face shameless. "It sounds sketchy. What if we just—"

"Don't mess with the kid's project," Rasa cut him off, frowning. "That factory barely needs a few dozen people. Even if we gave it all to you, it wouldn't help. If you ask me…" He took a sip of hot tea. "We need to improve the tools. Make the process more efficient. We're still using the same construction equipment from back when the Second Kazekage invented puppet jutsu!"

That stuff was ancient.

"And don't even think about pulling any ninja off their posts. I don't want to hear about infiltration missions happening while we've left the village gates unguarded."

Ebizō let out a long sigh. "I know. I know. We still need shinobi to protect the village. I wouldn't be so short-sighted."

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "But… is this really okay for Sunagakure?"

"What do you mean?" Rasa raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, if our shinobi aren't going out on missions… are they even still shinobi? Winter's over. Shouldn't we be accepting commissions again?"

Rasa stared at him, speechless. This geezer had just finished complaining about a labor shortage, and now he wanted to send ninja out on jobs?

He fell silent for a few seconds… then said, "What's the point of ninja conflict in the first place?"

"For resources, of course," Ebizō replied without missing a beat. "Before the village system existed, shinobi fought in clans or factions—battling over every patch of land or water. It was chaos. That's why the world respects the First Hokage—he created the shinobi village model. We might fight Konoha, sure, but we still admire him. We Sand ninja aren't that unreasonable."

Yeah, I know, Rasa thought silently.

Sunagakure's whole "Will of Sand" ideology was practically born out of the Five Kage Summit.

Unreasonable? No.

Brutally pragmatic? Yes.

To them, reason only mattered when they weren't strong enough to win.

Looking at the nostalgic gleam in Ebizō's eye, Rasa sighed again.

This shameless old man really has inherited the Will of Sand.

"Our First Kazekage looked out across the peaceful Land of Fire and the constant war in the Land of Wind. He dreamed of peace. That's why, with the Wind Daimyō's support, he founded this village. Sure, maybe we lose wars, maybe we lose arguments—but that doesn't change the fact that Sunagakure is still one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"

"Alright, alright. I've read the history books too. But if all this was about resources—well, aren't we doing just fine right now?" Rasa shook his head. "And it's not like we don't want missions. We'd love them. No one's hiring us, that's all!"

So what kind of missions were they supposed to take?

Was the village starving?

Were shinobi unable to earn?

Did they just miss the thrill of danger?

Rasa looked toward the window. The sun had climbed high.

"It's about time. The new academy building should be done by now. Let's head over."

"Why me?" Ebizō flinched. "Isn't Lady Pakura in charge of the academy now? No thanks. I just remembered—I've got something urgent in the back mountains. I'll be leaving early today—"

"Once the academy's finished, there'll be some construction workers freed up. If…"

"…If it's for the future of Sunagakure," Ebizō said quickly, straightening up. "the matters in the back mountains aren't that important. I'll go personally!"

"…"

This man... really is a true inheritor of the Will of Sand.

Meanwhile…

In a remote mountain cave, just north of the Wind Country, within the Land of Rain…

A loud, determined voice echoed off the rock walls:

"I, Mōmu, hereby volunteer to join the Akatsuki of the Land of Rain!

I vow to participate wholeheartedly in all organizational activities, to uphold the authority entrusted to me, and to fulfill every—!"