Chapter 31: When in Doubt, Ask Sakura
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly as he examined the mission report that Tenzo had just handed to him.
"All right," he finally said. "You've all worked hard. Go take a rest."
"But Sakura, you stay."
Tenzo and the others didn't hesitate. With crisp movements, they exited the room, leaving only Sakura behind.
The moment the others left, Sakura tore off the Anbu mask from her face. The thing had terrible ventilation, and wearing it for so long had given her a headache.
With a tired sigh, she plopped down on the nearby sofa, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it down in one gulp. She had barely had a sip of water since completing the mission.
Hiruzen paid no attention to her casual behavior. His focus remained on the mission report in his hand.
Normally, such matters—bandits engaged in smuggling—wouldn't catch his attention.
But ever since Sakura had submitted that essay on the "Will of Fire," it had opened his eyes to new possibilities. Specifically, the idea of suppressing adversaries not only with military might but economically—what one might call economic warfare.
And now that Danzo had also seen that essay, Hiruzen couldn't just sit by idly anymore.
If he couldn't stop Danzo's ambitions, then he needed to start planning his own countermeasures.
"Sakura," he said, walking over and sitting beside her. He handed her the report. "What do you make of this?"
Sakura accepted the document and couldn't help but sigh internally.
I'm just a genin who hasn't even graduated for a full month yet...
But it was the path she had chosen. No matter how tough it became, she would see it through—kneeling, crawling, or otherwise.
Her green eyes scanned the report rapidly.
The bandits in question were backed by a sizable merchant association from the Land of Wind. Interestingly, this group also had ties to a merchant group within the Land of Fire.
The domestic merchant group had been relying on this bandit outfit to move goods into the Land of Wind, essentially using them as middlemen.
From what the report detailed, this group of bandits was just one of many such minor players.
Goods from the Land of Wind were being smuggled through the forests, picked up by the bandits, and then handed off to merchants in the Land of Fire—creating a tidy little profit margin for the middlemen.
"Sensei... are you preparing for what's coming?" Sakura asked, her tone subtly probing.
She was, of course, referring to the fact that Danzo had stolen her written strategy from the Chūnin Exams.
"If I can't stop him," Hiruzen replied calmly, "then I can't let Danzo have free rein."
He had his own strategies to consider. A plan like this required extensive scenario modeling and preparation. It couldn't be implemented overnight.
Since he couldn't stop Danzo's activities altogether, he needed to seize control of the market equilibrium himself.
If he wanted the price of a resource to rise, then it had to rise. If he wanted it to fall, then fall it must.
Sakura understood immediately. She could see the larger vision now.
"Give me two days," she said. "I need some time to think."
Hiruzen didn't disagree. In fact, he would've been suspicious if she had produced a comprehensive plan right there and then.
"Of course. I'll be waiting for your good news," he said with a gentle smile, reaching out to ruffle her soft pink hair.
---
Back at the Anbu base, Sakura moved quickly.
She couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.
She was just a genin, so why did it feel like Hiruzen had made her into some kind of political strategist?
Internal matters I handle myself; for external issues, just ask Sakura?
When she stepped into the changing room, she noticed Yugao Uzuki was already there, changing her clothes.
Yugao, widely acknowledged as one of Konoha's most beautiful kunoichi—on par with Kurenai Yuhi—also had an amazing figure to match.
No wonder Hayate Gekko always looked half-dead from exhaustion, Sakura thought with an evil smirk.
With a girlfriend like that, who wouldn't be glued to her 24/7?
"Hey, you're back," Yugao greeted her. "Don't forget, we're going out for dinner later. A little welcome party for you joining our team."
She casually tied her violet hair into a tight ponytail, giving off an aura of effortless beauty and strength.
Yugao didn't seem to mind Sakura's lingering gaze. As a woman, she was used to being admired—especially by other women who envied her physique.
Assuming Sakura's look was one of admiration, she felt rather pleased.
Sakura, however, wasn't admiring her.
She was simply recalling the "happiness" she had lost—memories of the past she couldn't retrieve.
With one last reluctant glance, Sakura lowered her gaze.
After changing, Sakura and Yugao left the Anbu base and found Tenzo and Raido Namiashi already waiting.
Sakura had switched into her casual outfit, prompting a bit of teasing from Yugao.
"You really do dress like a boy," she said, half-laughing.
Sakura ignored her completely.
"Everyone's here?" Tenzo asked. "Let's go get some yakiniku."
He was dressed just like in the original series—standard jōnin uniform, with a forehead protector similar in style to the Second Hokage.
None of them asked why Hiruzen had kept Sakura behind.
After all, her status as Hiruzen's personal disciple wasn't a secret. Any ninja with access to basic intel within the village would've heard about it—especially those in Anbu.
---
That Night
Wearing a set of pink pajamas, Sakura sat alone at her desk. Her now-shoulder-length cherry blossom hair spilled over her shoulders as she spun a pencil between her fingers.
In front of her lay a blank sheet of paper, its title neatly written across the top:
"Proposal for Raising Food Prices in the Shinobi World"
Beside her were piles of policy reports Hiruzen had provided—data on domestic conditions within the Land of Fire, as well as the broader international market.
Staring at the empty page, Sakura sat deep in thought for a long while.
Finally, she picked up her pencil.
The rise or fall of a single resource could shake countless interests.
There was an old saying: "To cut off a man's income is like killing his parents."
That truth applied everywhere.
And food was just the beginning.
The real heavy hitters—iron tools, medicine, ore—were the next phase. Once those came into play, real opposition would arise.
Would that be Sakura's problem?
Not really.
The ones who'd suffer would be the corrupt officials with bloated bellies, and the greedy merchants who worshipped only profit.
Sakura believed that when the time came, the might of the shinobi would settle the matter—even if there were a few bumps along the way.
Still, the information Hiruzen had given her wasn't comprehensive.
She would need more data—on the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning… She needed a broader scope to complete her model.
As for raising food prices?
There were even potential benefits.
At the very least, the farmers and villagers scraping by with subsistence agriculture would finally earn more.
As long as Hiruzen and the Fire Daimyō had their heads on straight, they wouldn't let profit-hungry vultures interfere.
This was an economic war. To fight it properly, the support of the Fire Daimyō was essential.
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(End of Chapter)