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At Hanamichi First District, Hidden Hot Springs Village.
Sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat, Rinjin hummed a cheerful tune while casually picking at his toes, his carefree demeanor contrasting starkly with the man sitting across from him.
The other man, with sunken eyes and a scruffy beard, was drowning himself in sake, cup after cup. His once-luxurious kimono, now stained with grease and alcohol, hung loosely on his gaunt frame, a shadow of its former splendor.
This was a man who had once basked in grandeur, surrounded by admirers and sycophants. Now, he sat utterly alone.
He was a gambler — not just any gambler, but one who had lost everything. Well, almost everything.
There were still two things he hadn't gambled away: the land of the Land of Rain and his title as its Daimyō.
As for his warehouses, once brimming with iron ore?
Ha! Those were now less desirable than scrap metal. The mere sight of them disgusted anyone who came near.
And the strangest part? For reasons unknown, his warehouses had mysteriously caught fire, reducing all the iron to ashes.
How peculiar.
Now, unable to even afford bodyguards, he had no recourse but to drown his sorrows in alcohol.
Watching the Daimyō drink himself into oblivion, Rinjin spoke with a respectful tone, a polite smile on his face.
"Lord Ameyutaka, I happen to have a contract here. Would you care to take a look?"
The drunken Daimyō waved his hand dismissively, slurring his words as he shouted, "No! I'm not looking at anything! Get… get out of here!"
He hiccupped, squinting at Rinjin through bleary eyes. "And who… who the hell are you anyway? Why'd you… buy me drinks, huh? Come on, drink up, my good buddy!"
Seeing the man reduced to such a state, Rinjin waved his hand modestly and replied, "Lord Daimyō, I'm just a humble charcoal merchant from the Land of Rain. I made a little money recently, taking advantage of the rising price of iron. Now, I just want to buy some land and retire peacefully."
"Hic… hic… Land? Hic… I… I've got land. How much do you want?"
Hearing this, Rinjin's smile widened, his intentions becoming clear. In a low voice, he replied, "How much do you have?"
"Bang!" The Daimyō slammed the table with a shaky hand, forcing his half-closed eyes open as he growled, "How much do I have? Hic… The entire Land of Rain is mine! How much do you want? I'll sell it all to you!"
At these words, Rinjin nodded seriously, his expression calm. "I'll take it all."
The Daimyō froze, his drunken haze lifting slightly as he scrutinized Rinjin. "Hic… All of it? Can you even afford it?"
"Name your price," Rinjin replied casually, still picking at his toes as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The Daimyō grabbed his sake cup again, downing it in one gulp before raising five fingers. "Five billion! Not a penny less!"
Without hesitation, Rinjin nodded and pulled out a scroll.
But this wasn't just any contract. It was an abdication notice, meticulously listing the Daimyō's ten crimes and formally naming both the abdicator and the successor.
The drunken Daimyō reached out with his greasy hands to grab the scroll, but Rinjin swiftly pulled it back.
Standing up, Rinjin placed a firm hand on the Daimyō's shoulder.
The next moment, the Flying Thunder God Technique activated, and the two vanished from the spot.
They had fled.
When the world stopped spinning, Rinjin and the Daimyō found themselves standing in front of the Fire Temple.
According to Uncle Hiruzen's intel, the Daimyō of the Land of Fire had been frequenting this place recently.
After all, only the leaders of the Five Great Nations could truly be called Daimyō; the rest were little more than glorified village chiefs.
As Rinjin dragged the dazed Daimyō toward the temple, three figures with sashes bearing the Land of Fire's crest suddenly appeared, blocking their path.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
Smiling politely, Rinjin reached into his ninja pouch and retrieved his forehead protector. "Shimura Tantantan, younger brother of Shimura Danzō from Konoha's council. I'm a merchant and a Jōnin of the Hidden Leaf Village. This is Lord Ameyutaka, Daimyō of the Land of Rain."
"What business do you have here?" the bald leader asked in an emotionless tone.
Rinjin held up the scroll in his hand and replied softly, "An abdication. A transaction. I need the Fire Daimyō to bear witness."
One of the ninja behind the monk stepped forward, glaring at Rinjin suspiciously. "I've never heard of Lord Danzō having a younger brother!"
Unfazed, Rinjin countered with a curious smile, "And have you ever heard the name of Lord Hiruzen's eldest son?"
The ninja froze, swallowing hard, unable to respond.
Seeing this, the bald monk made no move to stop Rinjin. Instead, he nodded and said, "Follow me."
With that, he turned and began walking into the temple.
As Rinjin prepared to officially become the Daimyō of the Land of Rain, far away in the Hidden Stone Village, another meeting was underway.
The topic? How to resolve the growing internal conflicts within the village.
Yes, even the seemingly united Hidden Stone Village of the Land of Earth was now grappling with internal strife.
And the root cause of it all? That damned iron ore.
Situated on a high plateau, the Land of Earth was rich in resources. While its iron deposits weren't as abundant as those of the Land of Iron, they had always been sufficient for the village's needs.
But everything changed four years ago when Son Gokū, the Four-Tails, was lost.
Since then, iron deposits had started depleting rapidly, leading Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, to suspect foul play by the Third Kazekage of the Land of Wind.
However, investigations revealed that the iron ore was being funneled into a small shop in the Hidden Hot Springs Village.
In response, Ōnoki tried everything: assassination attempts, hiring mercenaries, even orchestrating acts of terrorism.
But none of it worked.
Blowing up the shop? They'd just open another one.
Killing the staff? They were all Shadow Clones anyway.
Stealing the iron? The cost of hiring ninja far outweighed the value of the stolen ore.
In the end, all efforts only led to greater losses.
Eventually, Ōnoki decided to join the game himself, accelerating domestic mining operations while also dabbling in the iron trade.
But as the bubble burst, the village not only lost the small profits it had initially made but also sank its war reserves into the failing market.
Now, the iron ore stockpiled by various clans in the village had become a burden they couldn't offload.
Selling it at current prices would mean catastrophic losses.
Thus, the village clans reached a consensus: the iron had to be forged into weapons and used for a purpose that would justify its value — a war.
A ruthless war of plunder, one that would shift their losses onto the surrounding smaller nations.
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