If civilians are so irrelevant, why are we spending so much time and effort courting Mist yakuza? I'm not trying to be glib here, it genuinely matters how we are perceived, because this perception trickles outward. See my response below for a more detailed argument.
This isn't just about how we're perceived by Fire Country villagers, although even that kind of perception tends to percolate and travel outward. For one, merchants do exist and make their rounds through the EN, and you can bet that a prince of Leaf visiting and personally building walls for your village is the kind of event a villager will remember, and tell the story wherever they get the opportunity. In sufficient quantity (which is why it's important to dedicate like a week every couple of months to this), you can bet the news will spread.
And it'll also spread because we'd be doing all this very publicly. Anyone paying even the faintest amount of attention, would learn of it eventually. And there are powerful, influential civilians out there, whose assistance would be incredibly valuable to us, putting ninja aside. The Mist Oyabun (aka the ramen guy) is one obvious example; the first time we contacted them, Hazou was asked what he wanted, and responded with a small Uplift speech; you can bet the Oyabun remembers that, especially with our most recent publicity stunt. Or, remember the mayor of Sarubetsu? Civilian woman ruling over a city controlled by ninja clans, by cleverly maintaining a power balance and playing them against each other?
To put things simply, being seen doing what you preach is incredibly valuable. There's a reason candidates in elections spend so much time traveling and campaigning in person; farming that out to intermediaries simply isn't that effective. That simply proves that we're willing to throw some amount of money at the problem. Hazou getting his own hands dirty, and spending his own, precious (as this discussion aptly demonstrates) time, is another thing completely.
Incidentally, the mayor of Sarubetsu was such a cool character, a civilian of standing equal to powerful ninja, but nonetheless genuinely caring for her lessers. And we kind of left her hanging after the Arikada debacle - we should really go back, apologize, and see if she's interested in any joint projects. Might even get to meet snek uncle in the process.
