Chapter 357: Then, Where Did All the Resources Go?

Just moments ago, when Uchiha Ren had directly provoked all the civilians of Sunagakure with a single statement, Jiraiya had already realized that things were about to go badly.

He had secretly formed the hand seals for a Summoning Technique, ready to put on a sufficiently overwhelming display to suppress any uprising among the civilians of Sunagakure and minimize casualties as much as possible.

But what Jiraiya never expected was that, at the critical moment when things were about to spiral out of control, Ren merely insulted the people of Sunagakure a few more times before somehow extinguishing their anger.

One by one, they had become like eggplants struck by frost, completely deflated.

Jiraiya somewhat sheepishly lowered his hands and released the hand seals, continuing to stare blankly at Uchiha Ren's "performance."

Ren continued,

"Compared with Sunagakure, which has waged war against us time and time again, Konoha has never once initiated an external war since its founding!"

"Compared with your warlike Sunagakure, our Konoha's desire for peace should be self-evident!"

Ren's words immediately caused many people below to show displeasure.

Warlike?

They could accept him saying that Konoha loved peace, but were they really warlike?

They were just about to argue back, but the hard facts were right there before them.

Sunagakure really had launched numerous wars against other countries and villages.

That left them with no ground to argue.

But they had never actually wanted to start wars!

Wars had always been decisions made by Sunagakure's leadership. Ordinary villagers had no say in them at all!

Standing at the edge of the Kazekage Building's rooftop, Ren swept his Sharingan across the crowd, taking in the civilians whose expressions had begun to turn thoughtful.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a faint smile.

Ren continued,

"However, I believe that while Sunagakure itself has become a warlike village, each and every one of you actually longs for peace!"

"Because apart from taking away your loved ones, killing your friends, and sacrificing your comrades, what benefits has war ever brought you?"

"If war brings you nothing but disadvantages and no benefits, then why would you possibly like war?"

"There is simply no logic to it!"

Ren's words warmed the hearts of the civilians below.

It was as though he had acknowledged their true feelings.

Even the sight of the Uchiha standing atop the Kazekage Building suddenly seemed much more agreeable to them.

A flicker passed through Ren's eyes as he continued,

"But as citizens of Sunagakure, you should represent the will of Sunagakure. So why does the Sunagakure of today go completely against your will and turn into such a fanatical warmonger?"

Ren's question left everyone present stunned.

Indeed.

Sunagakure was made up of villagers and shinobi like them. If all of them longed for peace, then why did they become a warlike village once they gathered together?

Everyone was puzzled, including the Konoha shinobi standing guard around the plaza.

After giving everyone some time to let their thoughts wander, Ren's gaze suddenly sharpened.

He raised his voice.

"You may not be able to figure it out, but I can give you the answer directly!"

"It is because someone has stolen the authority that originally belonged to you. They have replaced your will with their own, turning their will into the will of Sunagakure!"

Ren paused and said no more.

There was a fundamental difference between arriving at an answer on your own and having someone else simply tell you the answer.

Ren had already made his meaning perfectly clear.

All that remained was for the civilians of Sunagakure to tear through that final layer of paper themselves.

Ren didn't believe that a village as large as Sunagakure could possibly lack a single clever person.

"I understand! It's the people at the top! The nobles! They stole our authority!"

The civilians of Sunagakure did not make Ren wait long.

Only a few seconds passed before one villager suddenly realized what Ren was leading them toward and shouted the answer at the top of his lungs.

The entire plaza fell silent.

Then—

An uproar erupted.

After the initial shock subsided, the civilians of Sunagakure only had to think about it for a moment before they began agreeing with the conclusion.

"That's right! Those people are the leadership of Sunagakure! The nobles!"

Ren seized the opportunity and continued loudly,

"Although the Land of Wind and Sunagakure are poor in material resources, the Land of Wind is vast and sparsely populated. Once its resources are distributed among every person, the amount available per capita is actually quite considerable!"

"That is one of the main reasons the Land of Wind was able to become one of the Five Great Nations despite being covered largely by desert. It is also one of the main reasons Sunagakure was able to become one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages despite being located in such a resource-poor land!"

"The foundation of the Land of Wind and Sunagakure is by no means inferior to that of the other shinobi villages!"

Ren paused before throwing out another question.

"But ever since Sunagakure was founded, have you actually been living good lives?"

The civilians below looked at one another.

Had their lives really become better after Sunagakure was founded?

If they were being honest, their lives after the founding of Sunagakure had indeed become somewhat better than before.

After all, Sunagakure's existence guaranteed their most basic need—

Personal safety.

Under the protection of Sunagakure, they no longer had to spend every day worrying about attacks from desert bandits and raiders.

But in other respects, their lives were not necessarily better than they had been before the village was founded.

The Land of Wind simply did not possess resources comparable to the Land of Fire.

Large-scale resources such as mineral deposits required considerable strength and investment to exploit, while the Land of Wind also lacked the kind of small-scale resources that ordinary civilians could develop and operate themselves.

As a result, both the Land of Wind and Sunagakure had developed a severe polarization between rich and poor.

The rich became richer, while the poor became poorer.

Other places suffered from similar problems, but nowhere was the disparity as severe as in Sunagakure.

In Konoha, there were many ways for ordinary civilians to make a living.

If nothing else, they could always set up a stall along the street and run a small business.

But in Sunagakure, one of the few ways for ordinary people to make a living was essentially to go work in the mines.

That was the difference.

Ren swept his gaze across the crowd before continuing,

"When I say 'living good lives,' I'm not talking about having your safety guaranteed. That's the very reason you gathered together to establish a village in the first place. Ensuring the basic safety of its people is the bare minimum requirement of any village!"

"What I mean by living a good life is having the elderly cared for, children supported, three meals a day, and enough food and clothing to live comfortably!"

"As I said earlier, the resources of the Land of Wind and Sunagakure aren't nearly as scarce as you imagine. Ensuring that all of you live such a life should be an incredibly simple matter!"

There was something strange in Ren's tone.

His words were dripping with sarcasm.

That only made the already-silent civilians of Sunagakure feel even more uncomfortable.

Could they really say that they had enough food and clothing?

They couldn't even say that they had enough water.

Even the most basic water supply had to be rationed.

Seeing their expressions, the corners of Ren's mouth curled upward.

"Looks like you haven't been living such a life after all."

"But why is that?"

"Where, exactly, have all the resources of Sunagakure gone?"