As the Wind Daimyo stood up and announced the beginning of the main part of the meeting, the whole hall became completely silent, waiting for him to proceed.

"As is customary, we will begin with the contract for the import of rice." The Daimyo glanced at Kuroto who almost preened, "Anyone who is interested may speak now, or be quiet for the next five years!" ​​

And for a moment, nobody did.

Everybody knew who would most likely win the deal for the import of rice. Only the Hasagawa Family had considerable tax exemptions on several food products, including rice. Worse yet, Hasagawa sponsored Karano Kyo who was the representative of the Country of Rice, the most agricultural country on the continent. It was widely known the amount of rice they could supply would dwarf anyone else's proposition. Because of that, Hasagawa could ask for quite a high price for the import of rice and even if somebody offered a cheaper alternative, they wouldn't win the contract for the simple reason that Kyo could provide rice in much greater amounts and of superior quality than anybody else.

Rice was far too important for the Wind Country. It was easily stored and moved, and yet could be easily imported in huge quantities while lasting an incredibly long time. It was the staple food of the whole country so as long as the price was not extremely exaggerated the deciding factor for the Daimyo was how much the provider can actually import. Everybody knew that and so... With all the benefits, tax exemptions, and whatnot, the deal was a literal goldmine that nobody could hope to challenge.

Kuroto smugly stood in a leisure manner when everybody stayed silent and beamed at the Wind Daimyo. "Since it seems nobody is actually concerned with the well-being of the people, I, Hasagawa Kuroto, would like to offer my humble service. I am sure that my family's contact with the Rice Country, Karano Kyo, will be delighted to broker a deal between our two nations! I just hope we can settle on a deal beneficial for all the concerned parties." He finished with a light smile.

The Wind Daimyo nodded, looking completely unamused. The bastard basically subtly told him the previous deal and imports of rice would continue only if he gave some additional concessions to the Hasagawa Family. Considering nobody else actually offered an alternative, the Daimyo didn't have even a flimsy excuse to refuse. He simply could NOT refuse. Between all the bribed ministers, blackmail, no other alternative, and the fact that in the previous five years 'somebody' was sabotaging most caravans importing rice that is not from the Rice Country...

'Fucking Rasa. That damn no-good piece of trash! Five years and he, a person in charge of an entire village of ninjas, can't figure out who is attacking the food merchants? Bullshit! I am sure the Rice prick has some kind of deal with that bastard.' The Daimyo wistfully thought while inwardly sighing. He was sick of having to employ ninjas from other countries as guards for important things because, obviously, Rasa was not as loyal as his position would suggest.

Yes, the Wind Daimyo knew that Suna was suffering extreme financial problems since he and Rasa started silently feuding. That however didn't mean Rasa could just go behind his back and make deals that would in the long run hurt his country!

'If only the blasted fool realized that. I might hate him beyond all reason but Suna is my freaking main war deterrent! Yet, I can't even make use of them because of an arrogant twit who wants to play political games and then dump all the blame at my feet, saying the Suna villagers suffer because I refuse to play nice with him.'

The Daimyo started to get a bit irritated and decided to squash these thoughts as he turned towards the silent hall. With one twitch of his lips, he decided to follow the protocol and give one last customary question in the usual self-assured tone, "I ask for the last time, is there anyone else in attendance who would like to compete for the benefits of the main provider of rice for the Wind Country?"

His hopes plummeted as nobody said anything. The Daimyo knew it wasn't that nobody wanted the position. It was simply that nobody thought they could win and even if they did win, they would be disadvantaged. It simply wasn't a good deal. Most of the biggest rice suppliers already withdrew from the country anyway because of the rice shipment raids as of late.

'Well, I tried but I spotted the problems with the other rice imports far too late to do anything substantial before this meeting. Guess I will simply have to gift another five-year-long license to Hasagawas and spend more time trying to drive this filth away from my country in the following five years. I wonder if I should start employing Konoha or Iwa ninjas for that...'

Realizing the people are waiting for him, he spoke, hating how gleeful Kuroto Hasagawa looked. "In that case, the deal goes to Has-"

The people grew confused as the Daimyo cut himself in the middle of the sentence. Not long after that, their attention was drawn to the clanging sound of footsteps. Turning their heads, they saw the reason for the unexpected distraction.

A woman was walking closer towards the front of the hall, her steps echoing with confidence and purpose.

The Daimyo couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at the woman in wonder and felt as if a lump blocked his throat, preventing him from speaking. The only thing he managed to choke out was a quiet disbelieving, "Pakura…?"

The woman to whom he owed his life and the safety of his country, the hero of the third ninja war, was alive!

...

As the Daimyo was looking at the people in the hall for somebody wanting to fight Hasagawas for the rice deal, Pakura kissed Rei one last time, "I guess, that's my cue. Wish me luck."

Rei simply nodded, supportively squeezing her hand before letting go with a whimsical smirk on his face, "Give 'em hell, dear."

Pakura chuckled before silently standing up and starting to raze her path towards the front of the hall, weaving through the guests, attracting a lot of attention the closer she got.

Finally, the Daimyo spotted her and Pakura had to stifle the urge to snicker at his baffled expression when she stopped a respectable distance before the elevated platform and slightly bowed her head in a show of respect, ignoring the gasp of surprise from the right side of the hall where Rasa sat.

"I am Pakura, the representative of the Uzushio Trading Company." That elicited more surprised gasps from the audience and even a hopeful widening of the Daimyo's eyes, "We recently decided to branch out," She nonchalantly shrugged, "As such, we would like to compete for the Rice Import Agreement against the Hasegawa Family. May the better supplier win." With an amused and somewhat mocking smirk, she looked at Kyo and Kuroto who looked as if they ate a lemon.

The Uzushio Trading Company may have started operating only recently but... everyone in the hall suddenly grew restless as they realized the most important thing.

How in the hell were they supposed to compete against one of the richest international superpowers once it started encroaching on their business field!?

Just like that... the hall descended into mayhem.