312. The Hidden Rock Village Strikes It Rich

"What?"

"Konoha has issued a large number of mission requests to the Hidden Rock Village?"

Ohnoki looked at the intelligence report in his hand, his face filled with confusion.

It's important to know that the major ninja villages in the ninja world are essentially in a competitive relationship.

There are only so many clients; if you grab more orders, I earn less.

This is also one of the important reasons why wars frequently break out among the five great ninja villages.

After all, mission rewards are the primary source of income for each ninja village. But this time, things are clearly different.


Konoha, as a competitor, is actually taking the initiative to issue mission requests to the Hidden Rock Village?

Isn't this clearly sending money to the Hidden Rock Village?

"To be precise, it's the Konoha Commerce Guild that issued the request to us, not Konoha."

His son, Kitsuchi, corrected his father's statement.

Onoki didn't dwell on this point.

In his view, the major shareholders of the Konoha Commerce Guild are mostly the large ninja clans of Konoha.

Although it's not entirely equivalent to Konoha, it's pretty much the same.

"What is the content of their mission request?" Onoki crossed his arms, his face still filled with doubt.

"The content of the mission request is that they hope the Hidden Rock Village can send a large number of earth-style ninjas to assist Konoha in building railways."

"The specific content is to follow Konoha's commands and modify the terrain along the route."

Kitsuchi seemed to know quite a bit about this matter and immediately explained.

"Railways?"

Hearing Kitsuchi's explanation, Onoki's face showed even more confusion.

Because old-timers like him wouldn't pay attention to such things.

Even when Konoha developed the first locomotive and featured it on the front page of the joint newspaper for promotion, he would only think that Danzo was just seeking attention.

No matter how hard something is, it's essentially just a pile of scrap metal.

In front of his Dust Release, the only outcome is turning into ashes!

But Kitsuchi's understanding of Konoha's various technologies is clearly above his father's.

"According to Konoha's description, these railways are special roads for trains to run on."

"And those trains can transport various materials and goods over long distances in a short time."

"They play a crucial role in promoting the commercial and industrial development of the Land of Fire!"

"Therefore, these railways are also hailed by the 'Darkness of the Shinobi' as the 'great arteries' of the Land of Fire!"

With every word Kurotsuchi spoke, Ohnoki's furrowed brows deepened.

By the time he finished speaking, they were practically twisted into a knot.

"If these so-called railways are so important to Konoha, why would they dare to issue a mission request for us to help build them?"

"Is Shimura Danzo an idiot?"

Kitsuchi didn't know how to answer this question.

After all, with Danzo's illustrious military achievements in the Third Great Ninja War, who would dare call him an idiot?

If Danzo is an idiot, then what does that make the other major ninja villages that were beaten to a pulp by him?

Idiots among idiots?

Seeing Kitsuchi fall silent, Ohnoki lightly tapped the table.

"Tell me, what's your take on this matter?"

To be honest, Onoki still held high hopes for this son of his.

If his strength could improve a bit more, and his mind become a bit sharper.

Even if he couldn't become a Tsuchikage who expands territories, he could still maintain what they have.

And what he could do was to train this son as much as possible while he still had some strength left.

Hearing his father's question, Kitsuchi pondered for a moment before answering:
"I think we should go!"

He first gave a definitive answer, then continued:
"Firstly, we can take this opportunity to learn about Konoha's new technology."

"If the effect is good, not only can we understand their transportation routes, but we might also steal some of their technology."

"Secondly, regardless of the effectiveness of this new technology, our Hidden Rock Village can gain considerable benefits from it."

"The commission from the Konoha Commerce Guild this time is quite substantial, and the profits are very attractive."

"The only thing to worry about is the villagers' opinions..."

Kitsuchi expressed his views and concerns.

After all, it hasn't been long since the great battle between the Hidden Rock and Konoha, and there's still a lot of anti-Konoha sentiment within the village.

At this time, sending a large number of Hidden Rock ninjas into the Land of Fire to assist them in construction, could it cause dissatisfaction among the people?

On this point, Onoki didn't think it was a problem.

"Since they issued the mission request to the Hidden Rock Village under the name of the Konoha Commerce Guild, it naturally doesn't count as working for Konoha, but rather a normal mission request."

"Not only that, this should be considered as our Hidden Rock Village successfully seizing a large share of missions from Konoha!"

It must be said, Onoki is indeed a veteran powerhouse known as the 'Both Scales.'

Although it's the same thing, with just a few words, he somehow makes it seem...

The Hidden Rock Village has won!

And won big!

Being able to seize such a large market and order from Konoha, what does that say about the Hidden Rock's strength?

No need to say more!

Even Kitsuchi was momentarily stunned by his father's rhetorical skills.

But in any case, with Onoki's approval, the Hidden Rock Village finally accepted this mission request issued by the Konoha Commerce Guild.

Within a few days, a full hundred Hidden Rock ninjas were ready to set off for the Land of Fire.

It must be said, the Hidden Rock Village's expertise in earth-style ninjutsu is indeed unique in the entire ninja world.

With their assistance, the construction of the new railway progressed rapidly.

Like a giant black snake forged from steel, it extended from Konoha in all directions.

Soon, Shikaku brought the latest progress to Danzo.

"With the help of the Hidden Rock, the construction period of the Konoha-Rain Railway is expected to be halved."

"It should be fully operational by April next year!"

Seeing the rapidly accelerating progress, Danzo nodded with satisfaction.

As for whether the Hidden Rock would take this opportunity to gather too much intelligence?

This was not in Danzo's consideration at all.

Because the Hidden Rock is only responsible for modifying the terrain along the railway route.

Such as digging tunnels, leveling the ground, reinforcing mountain bodies, etc.

They have no access to the core content of railway construction, let alone the most crucial locomotive technology...

As for the railway routes, these will be made public once the lines are opened, so there's no need to hide them.

Of course, the Hidden Rock will definitely take the opportunity to spy on some special intelligence.

But Danzo thinks this is of little consequence.

Because once these lines are opened, Konoha can use its technological advantages and the powerful transport capacity of the railways to dump a variety of goods into other countries, earning massive profits.

In the face of such huge profits, a little intelligence is completely insignificant!