About twenty or thirty minutes later, in a heavily guarded secret residence somewhere in Konoha.
"Creak..."
With the long scraping sound of wood dragging, the door slowly opened. Then, a foot slowly stepped onto the clean floor, making a faint sound.
"Heh..."
This was followed by a sigh full of exhaustion and helplessness.
He had never expected things to turn out this way.
Amid that sigh, such a complicated thought flashed through Rasa's mind.
"Lord Kazekage, you're back."
At this moment, the four Sunagakure guards Konoha had assigned to this place gathered around him, their faces carrying a hint of surprise.
"Mm."
In response, Rasa looked at the guards, composed himself, and put away the complexity on his face before speaking.
"How did it go?"
At this time, the guard ninja with the sternest expression, who also appeared to be the oldest, spoke.
His words took the form of a question.
He seemed to be asking about the Hokage's "welcoming reception" for Rasa.
"Take a look, Senior Monobe."
Hearing this, and as the guards tactfully stepped aside, Rasa pondered briefly before finally taking a scroll from his robes and handing it to the stern-faced, solidly built, remarkably steady-looking ninja he called Senior Monobe.
At the same time, the gentle voice of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, echoed in his mind.
If you cannot give an answer right away, please take it back and consider it carefully. Lord Kazekage has endured a tiring journey, so this is not a suitable time to discuss business. Let us all return and rest properly.
The formal negotiations can begin tomorrow evening.
Because of those words, Rasa had been able to leave the so-called welcoming tea gathering early and return ahead of time to the residence Konoha had arranged for him.
However, Rasa did not