Konoha forehead protector...
Though he was taller and broader than others his age, he still looked like a child...
And that face...
Through his third-eye vision, Rasa carefully examined the boy standing before him and allowing himself to be scrutinized. A series of traits associated with that youth who had nearly amazed—indeed, shocked—the entire ninja world flashed through his mind.
Though he was the Kazekage, he had memorized Taki Chiba's portrait and every piece of intelligence on him just as thoroughly as the ninja beneath him had.
After all, Taki Chiba was exceptionally significant to Sunagakure, and Sunagakure's attitude toward him was quite complicated.
From the standpoint of national interests, Taki Chiba was undoubtedly a troublesome opponent, someone they wished they could kill as soon as possible. If not for his series of strategies, they might have won the Mount Kibitsu Battle. How could they have ended up in such a state otherwise? Yet from another perspective, Taki Chiba was also the benefactor of their entire village.
Without Taki Chiba, Sunagakure might already have been struck off the list of the Five Great Villages, and even its territory might have fallen into the hands of the Land of Earth or other smaller countries.
By now, they knew that after Sunagakure's crushing defeat at Mount Kibitsu, it was Taki Chiba who had persuaded the Third Hokage to form an alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure. He had also attended the meeting alone and saved Ebizo, who would later rely almost solely on his own wisdom to stabilize Sunagakure and minimize the losses from the war. Without Ebizo, Sunagakure would either have become a puppet or already been destroyed.
It could be said that Taki Chiba was both the enemy who had destroyed their elite forces and the chief culprit behind their utter