Chapter 174 Financial Report of the Hidden Rain Village
Three months have passed since Kumogakure launched the war.

Over a period of three months, Konoha and Kumogakure fought many battles on the front battlefield.

With the cooperation of Jiraiya, one of the Three Ninjas, and many elite jonin of the ninja clan, Konoha barely stopped the attack of the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee, and prevented the Kumogakure troops from continuing to advance into the Land of Fire.

On the eastern coastal battlefield, relying on the strength of the bloodline ninja, Konoha also achieved considerable results. It blocked the elite Cloud Ninja troops on the coastline and began to attack from the flank.

Surprisingly, the bloodline limit that stole the show on the battlefield of Kumogakure was not the Uchiha's Sharingan, but the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.

The Hyuga clan's Byakugan has a range of more than ten kilometers, which allows them to effectively formulate strategies to prevent the landing of the Kumogakure troops.

The bloodline ability that can see through the meridians gives the Hyuga ninja a great advantage in battle.

Combined with the Hyuga clan's secret ancestral technique of soft fist, he is often able to quickly defeat ninjas of the same level, and is only barely at a disadvantage when facing multiple enemies.

The rise of the Byakugan made the ninjas in the camp sigh at the strength of the Hyuga clan, and it also thwarted Uchiha Fugaku's plan to rise to a higher position through military merit.

This also triggered the Uchiha's hostility towards the Hyuga.

Both sides began to discuss the most powerful eye technique in the village, whether it was the Sharingan with dynamic vision or the Byakugan with the ability of perspective.

Jiraiya saw the dispute between the Uchiha and Hyuga under his command, but he had no intention of dealing with these trivial matters.

Firstly, after the Senju clan was integrated into Konoha, the Uchiha and Hyuga clans had been competing for the position of the strongest ninja clan. Secondly, the war on the front line was not going so smoothly.

Although he led his troops to resist the attack of the Hidden Cloud Village, the Kingdom of Hot Springs fell into the hands of the Hidden Cloud Village.

If the current situation is allowed to continue, the Land of Hot Springs will sooner or later fall into the hands of the Hidden Cloud Village. This may be the original strategic goal of the Hidden Cloud Village.

But this is something the old man absolutely cannot accept.

There must be a buffer country between Konoha and other large ninja villages, otherwise the pressure on the border will be very great, unless the current number of ninjas is doubled, which is impossible.

Then there are the logistical issues.

Ever since the letter written by Nara Shikakudai was delivered to the Hidden Rain Village, military supplies have been able to keep up with consumption, but the amount of supplies needed for the war exceeded his imagination.

The old man has started complaining about financial problems recently, so he should spend more sparingly.

If this continues, the village will not be able to come up with enough cash to pay, and will have to owe the money temporarily until it receives war reparations.

These troubles came one after another, making Jiraiya more and more annoyed and he hated the position of Hokage more and more.

A front-line commander has so many things to do. After becoming Hokage, doesn't he have to stay in the office 24 hours a day? This is simply a birdcage that restricts a ninja's freedom.

……

At the same time, a monthly high-level meeting was being held in the Hidden Rain Village.

After everyone was seated, Yahiko took a deep breath and said:
"It has been three months since the Hidden Cloud Village launched its attack on Konoha. Although our Hidden Rain Village did not directly participate in the war, it was also greatly affected."

"First, the trade route to the Land of Fire was affected. Many wandering ninjas took the opportunity to attack the caravans, causing a lot of trouble for the village." "Second, the orders from the Konoha Village put a lot of pressure on the village's production."

At this point, Yahiko paused deliberately, his face full of solemnity.

Seeing this scene, Nagato had a bad feeling in his heart. Is the village going to be dragged into this battlefield?

Bai Ye was very calm, he knew the current situation of the village and was looking forward to Yahiko's next performance.

At this time, Yahiko glanced at Konan, who immediately took out the financial report and said expressionlessly:
"In the past two months, the village's fiscal revenue has increased several times. We have already earned more money than we would have earned in the next few years. If the war continues, we will earn even more."

Hearing this, Nagato asked in confusion: "Isn't it a good thing for the village to make money? Yahiko, why do you look unhappy? With this money, the village can vigorously develop and build."

“If we can build water conservancy projects throughout the Rain Country, children won’t go hungry.”

Bai Ye patted Nagato and chuckled, saying, "Yahiko is in a dilemma. He doesn't know whether to continue the arms business. After all, this involves the philosophy of Akatsuki."

"Yahiko's dream is world peace. He wants to encourage Kumogakure and Konoha to reach an agreement and achieve peace."

"But the Hidden Rain Village makes too much money from selling arms and medical supplies. This goes against the organization's philosophy, but it has to be done if the organization wants to develop."

After listening to Byakuya's analysis, Nagato understood Yahiko's mental state.

However, he has now moved on from Yahiko's ideas and has his own new understanding.

After choosing his words, Nagato spoke:
"Yahiko, I don't think you need to worry about this. Our ability is still very limited. Currently, we can only cover the scope of the Hidden Rain Village. Moreover, the target of our sales is Konoha. Konoha did not take the initiative to provoke this war this time. Everything we do is for world peace!"

"Well said!" Nagato's speech made Bai Ye couldn't help but applaud.

As expected of Pain himself, who brought pain to the world in later generations, he can describe the sale of arms in such a refreshing and refined way. The Hidden Rain Village actually sells arms for the sake of peace.

However, these verbal things are not important. Getting real money is the most important thing.

If possible, he planned to let the war continue for a long time so that Konoha and Kumogakure would bleed each other and even sell their core interests.

For example, Konoha's bloodline limit and family secret techniques, the Cloud Hidden Body Building Secret Technique and Chakra Application Technology.

But this war is destined not to last long. From Konoha's behavior of writing IOUs for arms trade, it can be seen that Konoha really does not have much war potential left this time, and the same is true for Kumogakure.

Next, it's Akatsuki's turn to appear.

Thinking of this, Bai Ye said to Yahiko: "Yahiko, what Nagato said makes sense. We are on the side of justice, but it is not a good thing to always rely on arms trade. When the time is right, we will come forward to mediate this battlefield."

Bai Ye's words were like a huge rock falling into a lake, causing huge waves in the hearts of Yahiko, Konan and Nagato.

They looked at Bai Ye with incredible eyes, and then asked in confusion: "Really? Bai Ye, instead of taking advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, you actually chose to mediate this war?"

Bai Ye nodded: "Of course, I have always loved peace."

(End of this chapter)