Naruto: The Sand Will Rise!

Mufasa stepped out of the shrine, making his way back to his quarters. He could see Temari and the newly recruited Kaminarimon Ereki hesitating near his door. They clearly had something on their minds.

Without hesitation, Mufasa slipped through the window and landed softly inside his room. He lay down on the bed, feigning relaxation.

"Temari, Kaminarimon Ereki, what's the matter?" he called out.

The two of them flinched in surprise.

"Kazekage-sama, you knew we were coming?" Temari asked, wide-eyed.

Mufasa smirked. "Of course. The moment you got near, I knew."

He got up and turned on the light. "Come in."

Temari and Ereki stepped inside. Seeing them together like this was interesting. Ereki was still new, but he seemed to be fitting in quickly.

"Tell me, what's going on?" Mufasa asked.

Temari got straight to the point. "My lord, business is booming."

Mufasa nodded. Outside, the sound of celebration filled the air. The success of the ninja tool sales had spread across Konoha. The demand was so high that Jonin had to be dispatched to maintain order.

"After taking inventory, we found that—excluding daily necessities—we sold a total of 38,864 ninja tools," Temari reported.

Mufasa let out a low whistle. "Konoha really is wealthy, and its population is huge. More than 30,000 tools sold in one day… That's impressive."

It wasn't just the money that pleased him. Every sale brought him something else—mental energy, an invisible reward for expanding his influence.

"Well done. You've worked hard," Mufasa acknowledged.

Temari, however, didn't look entirely pleased. "We have a problem."

Mufasa frowned. "What kind of problem? Someone trying to interfere?"

Temari shook her head. "No. The issue is that sales have been too good—we're running out of ninja swords. The rest of our supplies can last four more days, but without swords, we're in trouble."

Mufasa sighed. Sasuke had done a great job bringing in stock, but he hadn't anticipated this level of demand.

'I guess this is what 'suffering from success' feels like.'

At the marketplace, competition over the swords had already caused disputes.

"Why do you need six swords?" one ninja complained.

"I'm practicing six-sword style!" another retorted.

"Idiot, even if you had four limbs and a mouth, where are you putting the sixth sword?!"

"Mind your own business!" The argument escalated into an all-out brawl.

Mufasa had to step in to settle things. "Enough! No more than two swords per person! We restock every day, so stop fighting over them. Besides, a true blade chooses its wielder. Taking more won't guarantee you anything."

Whether they believed him or not didn't matter—the swords still sold out.

Temari sighed. "We miscalculated. We didn't bring enough stock."

Mufasa chuckled. "I didn't expect the demand to be this high either. But since you've come to me, I assume you have a solution."

Temari turned to Ereki. "Go ahead."

Ereki stepped forward confidently. "I heard from Lady Temari that you can forge ninja tools directly from raw materials. If that's the case, why not acquire the materials ourselves and craft more ninja swords to fill the gap?"

Mufasa considered it. It was a solid idea.

Ereki continued, "I know a few iron workshops where we can buy high-quality raw materials."

Mufasa smirked. The fact that Ereki, a newcomer, was already offering solutions showed his potential. As his boss, it was Mufasa's job to encourage that.

"Good thinking. We'll go with your plan. Temari, take Ereki and buy what we need."

The two left immediately, returning in the early hours of the morning with carts full of steel ingots.

Mufasa yawned, staring at the pile of raw materials. "Well… time to get to work."

Konoha's steel wasn't as refined as Suna's, meaning he'd need to inject extra chakra and carefully manipulate the metal to reach the desired quality.

Another yawn. He was in for a long night.

By 4 AM, Mufasa had seen something few others had—the quiet, dark sky of Konoha before dawn.

Outside, ninja were already gathering at the store's entrance, waiting to buy the first sword of the day. A rumor had spread that the first ninja tool sold each morning contained special properties. Mufasa had nothing to do with that… or maybe he did. Occasionally, he'd slip a few special blades into the stock just to keep things interesting...

Some got ordinary swords.

Some… awakened something else.

By sunrise, Mufasa had forged 10,000 new ninja swords. There was no time to rest—Tsunade had prepared a farewell banquet for him.

At the banquet, Mufasa yawned repeatedly, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What were you up to last night?"

Mufasa smirked. "I worked hard all night—for the good of Konoha, of course."

Tsunade scoffed. "You mean for the good of Suna's profits."

She already knew what he'd been doing—Anbu had reported everything. He had stayed up forging weapons, working himself like a merchant obsessed with money.

The recent chaos in the village—fights over ninja tools—had caused quite the headache for her administration.

Mufasa chuckled. "If I make enough, everyone will have something to buy. No fighting, no stress. Peace through commerce."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

She knew arguing with him was pointless. He was too good with words, too quick with his wit. She couldn't out-talk him.

But she could out-drink him.

With a grin, she grabbed a massive sake bottle and slammed it onto the table. "Fine. No more talking. We drink."

The impact shook the entire table. Her stance was firm, her tone unwavering.

"If you don't get drunk, you don't leave!"

Mufasa's smirk widened. He wouldn't back down.

With a small jolt of bioelectric stimulation, he shook off his fatigue and grabbed a cup.

"Let's go. First one to pass out loses."

The scene left Shizune and the other Konoha staff utterly speechless.

Tsunade and Mufasa, both heavily intoxicated, had rolled up their sleeves and were engaged in an arm-wrestling match right on the banquet table.

The tension was palpable.

One possessed unparalleled brute strength.

The other had a trick up his sleeve.

Their arms locked in a fierce contest, neither willing to budge. They even exchanged remarks that made the surrounding onlookers bury their faces in their hands.

"Tsunade, you can't beat me. Just admit it." Mufasa grinned.

"Hmph! I've never won a gamble, but I've never lost an arm-wrestling match!" Tsunade shot back confidently.

"And what happens if you lose?" Mufasa taunted.

"If I lose, you can do whatever you want."

Shizune gasped, as did the rest of the Konoha staff. This wasn't the kind of thing Hokage should be saying in public!

Mufasa's eyes lit up.

Electromagnetic stimulation.

His muscles tensed as an unseen force surged through him. His wrist strength skyrocketed, reaching nearly a ton in an instant. Of course, the price was a sharp soreness in his right arm—but it was worth it.

Tsunade, caught off guard by the sudden burst of power, faltered.

With a resounding slam, Mufasa slammed her arm onto the table.

He burst out laughing. "Haha, I win!"

Tsunade glared at him, her eyes narrowing. "You cheated."

Mufasa smirked, his eyebrow moving up and down. "How exactly did I cheat?"

Tsunade couldn't pinpoint what had just happened. She sat up, straightening her posture, and let out a deep sigh before giving a nod of reluctant acceptance.

"Fine. What do you want?"

Mufasa leaned in, almost playfully, as if he were about to make an outrageous demand. Tsunade gulped seeing Mufasa's grinning face so close to her.

But then he grinned and simply said, "Take care of my Konoha branch for me."

Tsunade blinked in surprise before nodding. "Alright. I'll keep an eye on it. But no illegal business."

"Of course! I swear, I'm only selling goods, nothing more." Mufasa raised his hands in mock surrender.

Satisfied, Tsunade picked up a bottle of sake and poured them both a drink. "Then let's drink to that."

Running a business in Konoha wasn't easy, and with all the scrutiny she was under, having Mufasa's cooperation at least gave her some peace of mind.

"Alright then, bottoms up!" she declared.

By the time the banquet ended, both of them were heavily intoxicated, leaning on each other, singing and laughing. It took considerable effort from their respective aides to finally pull them apart.

Mufasa rested in his carriage on the way back to the Sand Village, reflecting on his time in Konoha.

Everything had gone smoothly.

He had secured a peace treaty, established Sand Village's first sales point outside their territory, and set up the foundation for continued economic expansion into Konoha.

The most rewarding part?

Not only had he managed to secure a steady stream of profits, but he had also gained an invaluable asset in Kaminarimon Ereki, a brilliant businessman.

This was only the beginning. Soon, the financial tides of Konoha would start flowing toward Sand Village.

Atop the Hokage Tower, Tsunade watched as Mufasa's convoy disappeared into the distance.

She let out a long sigh. "Finally, he's gone."

As an old-school ninja, she had grown up learning the ways of combat, healing, and strategy. Money had always been a simple concept—take a mission, get paid, spend the money, repeat.

But Mufasa?

A Kage obsessed with business, sales, and marketing? He even distributed powerful ninja tools as bait to draw in customers.

She rubbed her temples. "I don't get it."

Yet there was no time to dwell on it. A guard rushed in, his expression urgent.

"Lady Tsunade! Uchiha Sasuke has defected from the village! He and an unidentified ninja injured our forces and escaped!"

Tsunade's heart sank. Without wasting a second, she summoned Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Neji for a retrieval mission.

Naruto clenched his fists. "I'll bring him back! I swear it!"

But fate had other plans.

During the pursuit, Sasuke unleashed his Kirin technique, summoning a devastating lightning strike from the heavens. The sheer force of the attack left Naruto and his team overwhelmed.

Naruto lay on the ground, his entire body scorched black—only his mouth remained untouched.

He gasped weakly, "Sasuke… I'll find you. No matter what."

Meanwhile, Sasuke was led away by Kimimaro, Orochimaru's right-hand man.

After evading the Leaf pursuers, Kimimaro took an unexpected turn.

"Wait… aren't we supposed to be heading north, toward the Land of Sound?" Sasuke asked, frowning.

Kimimaro didn't break stride. "Lord Orochimaru has relocated. We're heading southwest instead."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "Southwest? You mean… the Land of Wind?"

He immediately thought of Mufasa—the enigmatic Kazekage.

Why would Orochimaru move there? What kind of connection did he have with that man?

Kimimaro smirked slightly. "You'll understand once we arrive."

Kimimaro and Sasuke arrived ahead of Mufasa at Sand Village. There, Kimimaro handed Sasuke a standard Sand ninja uniform.

"Put this on," he instructed.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because we're now researchers at the Sandworm Breeding Facility in Sand Village."

Sasuke blinked. "The… what?"

A facility for breeding… sandworms?

Orochimaru was hiding there?

His confusion only deepened as they approached their destination: The Sand Village's Faraday Industrial Park.

A guard halted them. "Password?"

Kimimaro responded smoothly, "Is your melon ripe?"

The guard nodded knowingly. "I sell fruit. Why would I offer unripe melons?"

Sasuke's eye twitched.

This entire situation was getting weirder by the second.

Just where in the world had Orochimaru taken him?

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