Naruto-Start by eating the golden fruit

Senju Hashirama's death had little impact on Konoha. This is mainly because Senju Tobirama had not yet been officially announced as his successor. Most people in the village weren't even aware of Senju Hashirama's importance. However, for some, Senju Hashirama remained a key figure of interest.

A caravan from the Land of Thunder arrives in Konoha once a month. While their primary purpose appears to be business, they have a more significant mission—to confirm the existence of Senju Hashirama. In fact, not only the Land of Thunder, but also major countries like the Lands of Earth, Water, and Wind, have stationed caravans with similar missions.

The caravan from the Land of Wind, however, isn't solely focused on intelligence gathering. Doing business is just as important, given that their land is largely a barren desert, and the daimyos of the Land of Wind are not particularly keen on investing in the village of Sunagakure. So, in a sense, the caravan from Sunagakure is more focused on trade, selling the village's specialties like desert fruits, cactus plants, and puppets. This way, they can make a decent profit.

Oh, and let me mention that out of the five major countries—Wind, Fire, Thunder, Water, and Earth—very few outsiders are willing to travel to the Land of Wind. Unless they are truly desperate, people rarely go there in search of opportunities.

However, ninja tool merchants are an exception. As long as the ninja profession exists, there will always be a demand for tools, and these merchants are never short of money. But even they rarely target the Land of Wind, because frankly, the place isn't exactly a money-maker.

The wealth there, if any, is largely concentrated in the hands of the daimyos of the Land of Wind. Just how poor Sunagakure was can be seen in later years, where the Kazekage, one of the Five Kage, was forced to pan for gold in the desert just to keep the village afloat. And let's be honest, panning for gold in the desert is only slightly easier than finding a needle in a haystack.

Many people criticize Gaara's father for driving him to madness, and while his father was indeed harsh, you can't deny that he did everything he could to support the village. After all, the Kazekage wasn't panning for gold for personal gain. So, if there's anything positive to be said about him, it's that he put the village first, even if his methods were questionable.

In short, Sunagakure's financial struggles are evident, and businesspeople seeking profits naturally avoid such places.

Unlike Konoha, where the ninjas are well-equipped, Sunagakure's ninjas are far more frugal with their tools. While Konoha's ninjas casually throw kunai and shuriken with explosive tags attached, Sunagakure's ninjas are much more cautious. They tie their tools to chakra threads to ensure they can retrieve them. This shows how significant ninja tools are to ninjas, especially for the lower-ranked ones like genin and chunin.

Naturally, merchants like Youya saw an opportunity in this. He decided to cater to the raw materials market rather than competing in the production of ninja tools.

As a result, another steel factory opened near Konoha. Previously, families like Tenten's would have to source iron from distant lands, refine it themselves, and then craft tools. Now, with a factory just ten kilometers from the village, merchants can buy raw iron directly. Not only does this save time, but Youya's factory also offers raw materials at half the price of other places.

Of course, there's no local iron ore around Konoha, so the factory ships the ore from other regions, processes it, and sells the finished materials. While the initial investment was steep—around 10 million ryo—the profits quickly followed.

Youya even suggested building more factories, which enraged Senju Tobirama, who was still grieving the loss of his brother. "If one factory isn't enough, you want to build four or five?!" Tobirama exclaimed in disbelief.

But Youya simply shrugged and replied, "If you don't want to, I'll find someone else."

Puzzled by his nephew's ambitions, Tobirama wondered where Youya was getting the money from.

Then, Youya approached the ninja families, leveraging Tobirama's name. One such family, dressed in cheongsam-like attire, was the Tiantiande family. While Konoha as a whole might have been financially strapped, these ninja families had been making money from across the five major nations.

Youya explained that the Second Hokage had noticed an issue with their current process of purchasing steel. The price of iron ore rose significantly during transport, and Tobirama was furious about it. He didn't want Konoha's merchants to be overcharged, fearing it would tarnish the village's reputation. Merchants, he argued, wouldn't want to return to Konoha if they felt cheated.

The ninja families were stunned. They appreciated the local factory because it saved time and reduced risks like robberies during transport. Sure, the prices were higher, but they were happy to pay for the convenience. And now, the Second Hokage wanted to lower prices?

Still, they weren't going to argue with Tobirama. It was clear he didn't understand how much they valued the time saved, but they were happy that he seemed to care about their interests.

Youya shifted the conversation, saying, "So, the Second Hokage proposes that we pool our resources and expand the factory. We'll form a joint venture chamber of commerce, with the Second Hokage personally investing 10 million ryo and holding 50% of the shares. The remaining 50% will be split among the ninja families."

The families were taken aback. Was Tobirama really that serious? However, after considering it carefully, they realized that such a partnership could be highly profitable. After all, Tobirama was putting down 10 million ryo in real money, so they had nothing to lose.

Thus, in the sixteenth year of Konoha, the village's first joint chamber of commerce—and possibly the first in the ninja world—was established. The Konoha Iron and Steel United Chamber of Commerce was formed, with Konoha Village holding 50% of the shares and the remaining shares split among the ninja families.

_______________________________________

Visit our Patreon for more:

https://www.patreon.com/Gho_

Extra Content Already Available.

**End of Chapter**