Land of Wind.
Looking at the desolate desert in front of him, where there was nothing but sand, Uzumaki Jun sighed and muttered, "This is the result of reckless deforestation."
This place was still some distance from Sunagakure, but...
It was just the right spot, not too far and not too close.
"Here it is." Jun frowned as he looked around. It was not too far from the village, there were no people nearby, and the Dragon Vein was just a short distance away.
So...
If a legendary sword were to appear anywhere, it would be here.
As for the Dragon Vein...
Though he was very curious about future events—
Whether the Child of Prophecy would be blond, black-haired, or red-haired, or whether Uzushiogakure's path of socialism would succeed, Jun was deeply curious about all of it. But now was not the time.
"Let's wait until everything is resolved before checking it out."
Jun sighed. With the war situation unclear and Uzushiogakure still unstable, he couldn't afford to wander off casually.
He pulled a wind-attribute sword from his storage space.
Wind Sand? Fool?
Looking at the hilt, which he had already engraved with ancient text, Jun sighed again. He still couldn't think of a good name.
Whatever.
Since these would eventually be mass-produced, there was no need to overthink it.
To ensure the plot proceeded perfectly, certain props were necessary.
But...
Tens of billions...
The thought alone made him reluctant.
"Don't worry, I'll come back for you in a few days." Jun stroked the Wind Sand sword and murmured, "For now..."
Just stay here quietly and play the role of a legendary sword.
Konoha.
"What do you all think?" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the high-ranking officials he had selected and sighed. "Should Konoha participate in this auction?"
"Well..." Koharu and Homura exchanged glances before shaking their heads. "Konoha already has Frostmourne. If we also obtain Fire's Joy, the other villages will definitely protest."
Besides...
What exactly was that Frostmourne?
Why, after so many years, had no one awakened the sword spirit?
Now it was practically useless. Though the sword itself was quite effective, the question remained—
Who would use it?
Who would dare to use it?
What if it got stolen?
After all, no matter how you looked at it, this sword was worth tens of billions.
"Is that so?" Hiruzen frowned at Homura's words. "You make a fair point."
As for why Uzushiogakure was putting it up for auction...
Hiruzen guessed it was because the lack of a ninja village had left the country impoverished. On top of that, if no one could awaken the sword spirit, they might as well sell it.
Otherwise...
Who wouldn't want power surpassing the God of Shinobi?
But...
What if another village accidentally awakened the sword spirit?
Wouldn't the world—no, wouldn't Konoha be in danger?
Not every village was as peace-loving as Konoha.
"Actually..." Koharu thought for a moment. "The situation might not be that complicated."
"Oh?" Hiruzen looked at her. "Do you have a solution?"
Koharu stared at him and said calmly, "Exchange."
"Trade Frostmourne for Fire's Joy."
"Perhaps we were wrong from the start..."
"It's not that no one in Konoha can awaken the sword spirit, but that it's simply impossible."
Koharu's lips curled slightly. As the brains of this organization, her responsibilities were heavy.
"Frostmourne was originally the treasure of the Land of Water. Maybe only shinobi from there can awaken it."
"And Fire's Joy..." She narrowed her eyes and spoke word by word. "Has always belonged to the Land of Fire."
Hearing this...
Hiruzen and Danzō suddenly saw the light. After a moment of contemplation, Hiruzen said, "That's possible."
Otherwise, why had none of Konoha's many prodigies awakened the sword spirit?
If the sword spirit was intelligent, perhaps it was just that patriotic.
But...
"What if the other side refuses?" Hiruzen frowned. "If it were Kirigakure, it might be manageable, but other villages..."
If they thought the same way, they wouldn't agree to the exchange. After all, if they couldn't awaken it either, why trade?
Let Konoha produce a God of Shinobi? That was simply impossible.
"Have Kirigakure handle it." Koharu thought for a moment. "Tell them that if they obtain Fire's Joy, Uzushiogakure will trade with them."
For the sake of their national treasure, Kirigakure and the Land of Water would surely go all out.
As for lacking funds...
"Konoha will, out of humanitarianism, offer them loans at very low interest."
"This..." Hiruzen fell silent before saying, "Do as you suggest."
"As for the interest..."
"Forget it. No matter what, this involves Kirigakure. If we push them too hard..."
"Hiruzen..." Koharu immediately protested. "Konoha needs..."
Before she could finish, Hiruzen shook his head and sighed. "The world has only just known peace for a short while. Konoha must not provoke war."
"Besides..."
He looked deeply at Koharu and the others.
"That mysterious organization is still lurking in the shadows. We cannot afford to let our guard down for even a moment."
From Jiraiya's words, they seemed to be plotting something, especially with their collection of legendary swords. There was definitely some scheme involved.
So...
The five villages might need to unite.
"You..." Koharu stared at Hiruzen before finally sighing. "Fine, as you wish."
Hiruzen was still too indecisive.
"In that case, I'll make the arrangements."
"Good." Satisfied that his friends hadn't rejected his decision, Hiruzen nodded. "As for this mission..."
He glanced at Danzō...
Better not. Who knew if Danzō might just luck out and awaken the sword spirit?
Until he figured out what Danzō was up to, Hiruzen wouldn't let him out of his sight.
Besides...
His students had returned. Since Jiraiya was familiar with the situation, he and Tsunade could handle it.
Especially Tsunade...
A change of scenery would do her good.
"Send Jiraiya and Tsunade." Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe. "I believe the two of them can handle this."
As for the Five Kage Summit...
When had anyone ever seen him, Sarutobi Hiruzen, leave Konoha without good reason?
After all, he was the Hokage. His duty was to protect Konoha.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would not leave the village.
And with Konoha's abundance of talent, there was no need for the Hokage to intervene personally.
"It's decided." Hiruzen looked at Koharu. "Prepare the necessary funds, but be careful—don't hand them directly to Tsunade."
Otherwise...
They might just disappear.
Sunagakure.
As usual, everyone covered their heads to shield themselves from the sand and carried on with their lives.
Suddenly...
"Boom."
All the villagers felt a violent tremor and instinctively looked around.
Until...
"What is that?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━