Sunagakure's Century-Long Plan

"Lord Rasa, that red-haired woman..."

"That's right. Just as you thought, she's a member of the Uzumaki Clan."

"So that's really the case?" Moomu froze for a moment, remembering the technique Lord Rasa had unleashed that night. After a brief silence, he said, "Lord Rasa, this... isn't a good idea, is it?~ Lady Karura is still waiting for you back in the village!"

And besides, wandering ninjas... they were all untrustworthy.

"What are you thinking?" Rasa looked speechlessly at Moomu, who was shaking his head solemnly in front of him. He said irritably, "Think carefully. What have we been lacking all this time, for our Sand Ninja Village to remain so weak?"

"Money?"

"That's one of the reasons, but..." Rasa sighed and shook his head, looking somewhat disappointedly at the still-confused Moomu. "The most important thing is talent! Just look at our Sand Ninja Village... Aside from me having Magnet Release and Pakura having Scorch Release, what other bloodlines do we have?"

Besides...

His Magnet Release couldn't be inherited. He could only synthesize it himself.

"None!"

"So now that there's a homeless wandering Bloodline Ninja, shouldn't we bring her home to help develop the village? Are we really going to stand by and watch her go to another Ninja Village?" Rasa slightly furrowed his brows as he looked at Moomu, who had grown more serious after hearing him. He patted Moomu's shoulder dolefully and said, "Comrade, life isn't good enough yet, so how could you forget Sunagakure's fine tradition of thrift and frugality?"

"..."

He, he had a point!

A moment later, under Rasa's melancholy words, Moomu lowered his head in shame. With a self-reproachful look in his eyes, he sighed.

"I'm sorry, Lord Rasa. I didn't even think of these things!"

What was the Uzumaki Clan?

They were an ancient clan that had once been capable of rivaling the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. If that war back then hadn't been so brutal, and if the Uzumaki Clan hadn't been wiped out due to various reasons, perhaps by now... the Uzumaki Clan would have long since become the most powerful clan.

And now...

Only Konoha still had a current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. It was rare to see any other Uzumaki Clan Members in the shinobi world.

So... the lone Uzumaki Clan Member before them... was incredibly rare in the shinobi world. As long as they brought her back to the village and let her reproduce for a few generations... wouldn't she become a member of Sunagakure? Their village even had the One-Tail... The benefits were enormous~

Just as Lord Rasa had said... Sunagakure was simply too short on talent. Konoha was known as a cradle of geniuses, producing several ninjas every year who were capable of shouldering Konoha's future. As for Sunagakure...

Its population was small to begin with, and whether a genius capable of shouldering Sunagakure would appear... depended on luck~

"Then Lord Rasa plans to..."

"Bring her back to the village and let her experience the warmth of home." Rasa gave Moomu a meaningful smile. "Let her clearly understand... once she comes to Sunagakure, everyone will be family!"

"Home? Family?" Moomu was stunned for a moment before nodding seriously. "I understand now. Then about last night..."

"...Forget about that matter, and make sure the other ninjas keep their mouths shut." Rasa thought for a moment before sighing. "That method draws on the vitality of the Uzumaki Clan. If we keep doing it for too long, it will cause the long-lived Uzumaki Clan to face death, or even result in infertility. Our plan would be ruined then."

"Th-this serious?" Moomu's eyes widened in shock. After a moment, he nodded seriously again. "I'll make sure the people below keep quiet."

"Thank you. Don't worry... Sunagakure definitely won't disappear just like this." Rasa looked at Moomu just as seriously, his tone firm and confident. "Because I'm here!"

As long as I work hard enough to spend money... there's nothing I can't accomplish!

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to Moomu, who stood rooted to the spot, looking at him with admiration, emotion, and longing. He walked straight into the tent of Karin's future mother.

And Moomu...

He remained standing where he was, watching Lord Rasa's back as he entered. After a moment, he took a deep breath, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth as he murmured, "As expected of the disciple of the Third Kazekage, Lord Rasa..."

He would definitely surpass the Third Kazekage.

They would never forget how, when they had faced a desperate situation the previous night... Lord Rasa had displayed that terrifying technique and outstanding qualities as a ninja. Just like the last time he had lured away the Stone Ninja, Lord Rasa had used his broad, reassuring back to face all the enemies alone and protect them as they retreated. And yet... in the end, Lord Rasa had still withdrawn unscathed.

What awe-inspiring strength!

By now, they had already formed a guess. That group of Stone Ninjas...

They had definitely been dealt with by Lord Rasa!

Lord Rasa... might become the Fourth Kazekage and lead Sunagakure back to glory.

Just like... just like...

At this thought, Moomu suddenly realized that Sunagakure seemed to have never been glorious in the first place~

The First Kazekage had relied on shamelessness and strength to establish Sunagakure in the desert. The Second Wind Shadow had created the Puppet Technique and sand manipulation, giving the Sand Ninja a foundation on which to stand. The Third Kazekage had researched Magnet Release... allowing Sunagakure to finally possess its own Magnet Release... but... after so many years of war, aside from bullying a few minor Ninja Villages, Sunagakure had never truly been glorious. It had even grown worse and worse.

After all...

Their savings were nearly used up, and the higher-ups weren't sending them any money. Just keeping the Ninja Village running was already difficult, let alone anything else.

Thinking of this, Moomu's heart was once again filled with helplessness and hope. "Sunagakure... a Ninja Village built in the desert!"

A single barrel of water had to be shared by ten households.

When... would they finally grow truly strong?~

Meanwhile...

After entering the tent, Rasa looked at the red-haired Uzumaki woman lying quietly on the bed, her limbs wrapped in bandages and covered by a white quilt. He sighed and shook his head.

That's right, the bandages on her body were the Band-Aids he had drawn.

All six bundles had basically been... assigned to female ninjas to use on her limbs. Don't be fooled by the fact that the single rate in the Sand Ninja Village ranked first among the Five Great Ninja Villages, with even the First through Third Kazekage remaining single until death.

But... Sunagakure still had female ninjas. As for medical ninjas... aside from Chiyo, the poison expert, having trained a group of them, there weren't many.

After all, during the Second War, Tsunade, one of the Konoha Sannin, had only just proposed a plan emphasizing the importance of medical ninjas. But during the Second War, not many Ninja Villages had paid attention. It was only after the war ended, when the horrifying casualty figures emerged, that the major Ninja Villages began to value medical ninjas and reform their medical-ninja systems.

Unfortunately...

Training a medical ninja cost several times more than training an ordinary ninja. It was simply beyond what the defeated Sunagakure could afford at the time.

So later, faced with the helplessness of defeat and unwilling to fall behind the other Ninja Villages, the Third Kazekage had Chiyo begin by simply training a batch of them.

Rasa slightly furrowed his brows and glanced at the short red-haired woman lying quietly on the bed. After a moment of silence, he said, "She still hasn't woken up?"

Who knew how he had managed to flee a thousand miles while carrying someone in his arms the previous night~

The crazed Grass Ninjas behind them had pursued them relentlessly. As for Iwagakure... they had probably given up after chasing them for a while, once they realized the situation was hopeless.

At that time...

They had probably been more concerned with the information they had obtained that night, as well as their guesses about the Stone Ninjas he had buried in the desert... all of that definitely had to be reported to the Tsuchikage.

After all...

He, Rasa, had shown off a little. The impact that terrifying strength could have on the battlefield was obvious.

Although the strength he had displayed the previous night had only been temporary, who could say for sure?

Thus, with a group of exhausted Grass Ninjas pursuing a group of equally exhausted and wounded Sand Ninjas... the result was obvious. Neither side could do anything to the other!

Did the Grass Ninjas really dare to venture deep into the Sand Ninja's territory at a time like this? That would simply be courting death.

In the end, after realizing that they had missed the best opportunity, the Grass Ninjas gave up on continuing the pursuit.

Sitting directly in the chair beside the bed, Rasa fell into deep thought. Judging from the situations at Iwagakure and Kusagakure... they probably wouldn't withdraw their troops so quickly.

Then what about Kumogakure...

"How will the battle situation change from here on?"

After he said that...

"Mm~"

A moan came from the bed beside him.