Chapter 171 - 169: Globalization

"I thought that your Kiri not having a Kage mansion was a pity, but I guess I thought too much. Your house is practically big enough to serve as a compound for some small clans." Azula remarked, her tone hovering somewhere between a complaint and an observation.

Akiko didn't feel proud about it. "Originally, the Yuki clan was the richest and the strongest in the Land of Water. This mansion for the clan chief was the only one that could properly express our status. It's just that after the founding of the village, the clan declined."

This was the situation of most clans and families.

Any clan's strength declined after a certain period of peace, once they no longer had exclusive rights to missions and civilians could learn jutsu and become ninjas. Except for the Sarutobi clan, of course.

They had somehow managed to thrive no matter what era they crawled into.

"Hmm, I suppose it's a similar situation with the Uchiha clan, though the Uchiha don't get lost in money and these kinds of mortal luxuries." She thought about the Uchiha's situation.

In the future that wouldn't happen, they were directly relocated outside of their ancestral land. 'Huh. Now that I think about it, when they left, did they relocate the stone tablet or did they just let it sit there alone?'

But she didn't dwell on this. "Anyway, let's do this quickly. Why did you want to see me again at the end of the meeting?"

Akiko, who had been planning to treat Azula as a proper guest with all the formalities that implied, could only settle for getting straight to business since the Hokage seemed to be in a hurry.

"It's like this. After everything that happened, the village is finally stable. As the new Kage, I need to decide what kind of path Kiri will take going forward. But I wanted to hear your opinion first, especially after your proposal about the Ninja Federation."

Azula understood immediately. To put it more directly, Kiri was now in a situation where it would do whatever Konoha told it to, because after being defeated by Konoha, Azula held far too many leverages against them.

It was just that Azula didn't want to force Kiri. She wanted to make it so Kiri would willingly walk through fire for Konoha. And the fact that Akiko was asking her for direction was a solid step toward that goal.

"Hmm, it certainly is something that needs discussion." Azula wasn't polite about it, before asking her a question. "What do you think about the position of Kiri in the ninja world?"

Akiko was stunned, not quite understanding what she meant.

"If by position you're talking about what I think you mean, then I'll say we're the experts when it comes to naval warfare. Simply invincible." Then, recalling something, she looked at Azula with a meaningful smile. "Or we were."

"Something like that," Azula agreed with her assessment. "Then you should also know about your village's disadvantages."

Akiko nodded and started listing them off. "Isolation due to the terrain, making trade harder. Hostile terrain for farming. The terrible mist for day-to-day life. Limited natural resources. Expensive imports and trade dependency."

These were the problems that gave Akiko constant headaches, because in some twisted way, each one was also Kiri's advantage.

The isolation, for example, made Kiri almost impossible to attack using normal warfare, unless you had special means or special circumstances, like Azula's group had demonstrated so thoroughly.

Azula wasn't surprised. It would have been strange if a leader didn't know the disadvantages of her own village. "Exactly. And if things continue to stay like this, I can tell you with certainty that Kiri will have no place in my new era."

Without waiting for Akiko to ask, she started explaining. "One of the core ideas of the new era is something called globalization, which also means extended contact between villages. That's the exact opposite of Kiri's isolation strategy. If Kiri continues like this, it will simply be left behind and eliminated."

In fact, when Azula had talked about cooperation between villages during the Kage Summit, Akiko had already realized that Kiri couldn't continue the isolation policy they'd maintained since the end of the Second Mizukage's era. Azula was only confirming what she already knew.

She couldn't help but sigh. "In fact, the Yuki clan had long disagreed with this policy started by the Third Mizukage, which caused conflict between us. The Land of Water has always been extremely isolated, but we relied on contact and trade with the mainland all the way back since the Warring States period."

"But after the death of the Second Mizukage and so many elites during the First Ninja War, when the Third ascended, he wanted the village to no longer have extensive contact with others unless absolutely necessary."

"Like, for example, exterminating the Uzumaki clan?" Azula chipped in, which made Akiko choke.

"Yes," she managed. "Like attacking the Uzumaki clan, which was posing a real threat to the village, whether due to its position or its connection to Konoha."

But Azula didn't care about any of that. "Anyway, what's past is past. At this point, the reasons for it no longer matter. What matters is the future, and creating a ninja world that will no longer face such turmoil for nonsensical reasons."

Seeing Azula brush it aside, Akiko then asked the important question. "If that's the case, then I would like to know more about this globalization you're talking about. Since you say it will be the core of the future ninja world, I know it must be very important."

Azula thought for a second about how to explain it without saying something ridiculous like "Let's create the internet, make shinobi from different villages interact with each other, share memes, become Reddit experts, and achieve mutual understanding through 'I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE.'"

"Globalization means every village becomes so reliant on each other that war becomes suicide." When she said this, Akiko immediately remembered what Azula had laid out before. "Suna has minerals but no water. Kumo has metals but no fertile land. Konoha has food and manpower but not every resource. Kiri has the sea. Right now, you all survive despite each other. Under globalization, you survive because of each other."

When she had said this during the meeting, the other Kage had immediately recognized the biggest disadvantage of Azula's vision: villages becoming dependent on each other. It was exactly what none of them liked.

Azula saw that expression flicker across Akiko's face. "Anyway, although it will make villages dependent on each other, wouldn't that still be better than being dependent on the Daimyō, who continue to use the villages and their ninjas as tools for their games?"

Akiko, who had been about to voice a complaint, fell silent. She remembered the ridicule of the fat Daimyō when she was about to become Mizukage, how he had called her weak and useless, how he had been trying to interfere with her rule ever since she took the position, and yet she still had to protect him. She felt a little disgusted.

Azula smiled at her reaction. "It seems you agree with me."

Akiko just pursed her lips.

After that, she and Azula continued to discuss, with Azula instilling in her the idea of globalization, how many benefits Kiri could gain, the grand ideals of peace, and how Kiri would never lose if it followed Konoha's lead.

What else could Akiko do? She felt a little honored that Azula valued her enough to treat her with respect despite being in a vastly superior position. Akiko could only promise not to let her down.

"By the way," Azula suddenly spoke, shifting gears without warning. "I wanted to see you concerning the two tailed beasts of Kiri."

Akiko's expression immediately became solemn. Tailed beasts were the foundations of the Five Great Villages, and she herself was now a Jinchuriki. She felt a flicker of nervousness. 'Would Azula make an outrageous demand?'

'It shouldn't be, right? She appears to be very reasonable.'

If Hiruzen or Danzō had heard that thought, they would have sprayed everything in their mouths.

(END OF THE CHAPTER)