Rasa was stunned. He really hadn't thought about this question before.
'Right, compared to Roran, why is it that although we clearly have the name of a great village, we look so poor?'
In a place like the desert, not a single bit of resources should be wasted, yet Roran still has the strength to greatly develop a city-state, doing construction.
Unless there is no survival pressure at all, this goes against common sense.
At this point, he became interested and asked, "Isn't Roran able to do this because their ruler has wealth to support it?"
The daimyo and nobles are very rich, this is common knowledge they've long been used to. Any place that seems abnormal can be explained by spending money.
Obito shook his head, "No matter how rich, you can't afford to spend like this. Besides, not every lord has that much money, at least Sara doesn't."
"In fact, the reason Roran is able to solve its energy problem is entirely because of this machine."
As Obito spoke, he took out a sealing scroll and pulled from it a chakra converter.
He introduced, "This machine, as long as chakra is input, it can convert into many types of energy: wind energy, electricity, thermal energy, and so on…"
"What does this mean? Lord Fourth Kazekage should understand."
Rasa widened his eyes, somewhat in disbelief.
'Such a small machine, and it can do this?'
'Roran became prosperous relying on this machine?'
He pressed on, asking, "Specifically, how much chakra can do how much?"
Obito smiled, "It's even cheaper than you imagine, Lord Kazekage."
"One card of chakra, which is roughly the amount a chūnin has, can power a small laboratory for three days."
"For an ordinary household, it could be enough for that family's electricity for a month."
Rasa's breathing became rapid, 'Is a chūnin's chakra that much? No, not much at all, because chakra can be recovered.'
'This is unbelievably cheap.'
If Sunagakure had a few hundred of these machines, the energy problem would no longer exist. Those vampire-like power companies could all go to hell.
Even if they were poor, as long as it was just about buying food, they had enough money.
His mind instantly raced through a ton of conspiracy theories, "So, it's you Konoha who are secretly supporting Roran, and you've long since developed these machines?"
"Damn it, even though you're already so wealthy, you still snatch our commissions!"
"You're propping up Roran in the Land of Wind, what ulterior motive do you have?"
Obito was briefly taken aback, 'Is Rasa's imagination a bit too wild?'
Still, he didn't plan to expose it. Instead, he followed along with Rasa's words and said, "Lord Kazekage, you could understand it that way. In a sense, Roran does count as being on our side."
"If you don't end this war, maybe one day, even the Purple Robed Dragon King will enter the battle. When that happens, you'll be attacked from both front and rear, what will you do then?"
Rasa instantly calmed down. There were too many holes in Obito's words.
If the Purple Robed Dragon King really belonged to Konoha, then during Suna's siege on Mount Kikyo, when Konoha was at its most dangerous, she would've already acted.
He snorted, "So even you can't command the Purple Robed Dragon King, huh? Did you strike some kind of deal with her? About this machine?"
Obito looked at Rasa, "Lord Kazekage, since you don't believe Konoha comes with friendship, at least believe in interests, right?"
He toyed with the machine in his hand, "Manufacturing a machine like this isn't easy. We only managed to develop it after mastering the Uzumaki clan's high-level sealing arts with great effort."
"You… want it or not?"
Rasa admitted, he was tempted. Of course he wanted such machines, the more, the better.
He said in a low voice, "Then what's the cost? Stop this war, ally with Konoha… what else?"
Rasa didn't believe Konoha would give them this kind of machine for free. There must be some ulterior motive.
If it was to sell out the village, he'd never agree, not even in death.
Obito could see what Rasa was thinking. This kind of person didn't believe in friendship one bit.
Since that's the case, give him a sufficiently reasonable conspiracy.
Obito glanced at Minato-sensei, then suddenly asked Rasa a question, "Lord Kazekage, what do you think of my teacher, Namikaze Minato's strength?"
Rasa really wanted to roll his eyes, 'You've captured me alive. Obviously, he's very strong. After today, the name of the Yellow Flash will probably spread across the whole ninja world.'
He replied gruffly, "Though he's an enemy, I have to admit, such an enemy is terrifying. If I could, I'd rather never meet him in my entire life."
Minato was dumbfounded from the side, 'Out of nowhere, why did Obito bring me into this?'
Obito continued, "Lord Kazekage, look at you, so young, yet already the Fourth Kazekage."
"But in Konoha, the position of Hokage is still occupied by an old man, and who knows how much longer he'll sit there."
"Tell me, isn't that unfair to Teacher Minato?"
Namikaze Minato was shocked, 'What does Obito mean by that?'
If he didn't trust Obito, he'd think Obito was trying to harm him.
Even more so was Rasa. His eyes widened, 'Good grief.'
Seeing Namikaze Minato's clear and refined appearance, he thought he was a good person.
'Didn't expect he is full of schemes.'
'This kind of internal matter, is it something that can be said in front of an outsider like me?'
'If we don't reach some sort of shady deal today, will I not be able to walk out of this tent?'
But suddenly, a light flashed through his mind, and everything became clear.
He realized, "So that's it. So all of this was your private doing. You have your eyes on the position of Fourth Hokage."
Minato was just about to explain it wasn't like that, but Obito had already shot him a look and answered, "That's right, Lord Fourth Kazekage. This is exactly our goal. We need your support."
"If you're willing to help us, Konoha will be Sunagakure's ally for life. Of course, the prerequisite is that Teacher ascends to that position, only then can he represent all of Konoha."
Rasa fell into deep thought for a moment.
If this was Konoha's internal power struggle, then it was all… too reasonable.
The value of that machine was very high, it could lift Sunagakure out of poverty. If that was the only cost, he'd agree a hundred times.
Besides, he actually also wanted Minato to become the Fourth Hokage. That way, even if he was defeated by the Fourth Hokage today, at least it would sound better.
So, a smile appeared on his face, "Konoha's Yellow Flash, I can declare a ceasefire, withdraw troops, and support you in ascending to the position of Hokage, and sign an alliance treaty with Konoha."
"The premise is… this machine you developed must be supplied to us. Of course, not for free, I can pay to purchase them, but you must guarantee they perform to the level Uchiha Obito described."
Rasa's voice was also full of a kind of menace, "Otherwise, future Fourth Hokage-sama, you also don't want today's events to be exposed, right?"
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