A Guaranteed Pull Is Impossible

What could eighty million Silver Liang get me?

Rasa had originally thought that the more he drew, the more the lottery pool would have to give him some consolation—or perhaps a pity reward~

However...

There was nothing!

Eighty million Silver Liang meant eight thousand draws. With one item appearing every hundred or so draws on average, that meant... he should have gotten around seventy decent things.

But... reality was truly harsh~

Forget seventy. He hadn't even gotten fifty, and what made it worse was that most of them were...

Character Card: Scissor Seven

Attached Skill: Hairdressing Skills (He was best at cutting airy bangs and had always been beloved by the villagers for his quality service and affordable prices.) Duration: Five minutes

Item Card: Band-Aids ×6

Extremely effective at stopping bleeding, drawing blood, and sterilizing wounds!

Character Card: Gray Wolf

Attached Skill: I'll Be Back (He could instantly return to his original location by himself.) Duration: Once

Character Card: DIO

Attached Skill: Villain's Submission (The worse a person was, the more they could feel his charm.) Duration: Ten minutes

Character Card: Teddy

Attached Skill: Rage Against Heaven and Earth (Even if there was only one patch of land, he could still...) Duration: One hour

Skill Card: Golden Fried Rice (Each grain was golden and distinct, as though constantly leaping across the tip of the tongue.)

Item Card: Exploding Tags ×10 (There was nothing one Exploding Tag couldn't solve. If there was... then use six hundred billion!)

Knowledge Card: Old Farmer's Composting Technique (It might stink, but as long as it worked, that was enough!)

Item Card: Blue Potions ×12

There was a huge pile of random junk. He had drawn over a hundred million Silver Liang's worth and reached two-star lottery player status, yet... there was still trash, and the restrictions on advanced cards remained. It was just that... the time limit seemed to have been extended considerably. In addition, a new type of card had appeared among the two-star cards—knowledge cards. This thing hadn't even existed at one star.

Of course, there was still one card that gave him a little comfort. That was...

"What are you thinking about, Rasa?"

Karura, who was serving as his temporary secretary, furrowed her delicate brows slightly, a trace of worry in her eyes.

"You look like something's weighing heavily on your mind?"

"..."

Rasa came back to himself and silently glanced at Karura. After a moment, a faint smile returned to his face.

"It's nothing!"

The garbage classification system just needs one more category now—the knowledge-card category?

What was even the point of reaching two stars?

He might as well have stayed at one star. What a waste of anticipation. But now... what was done was done, and he was already an adult. He couldn't get a refund. What else could he do?

It had originally cost ten thousand per draw, but now... each draw cost a hundred thousand.

The eighty million Silver Liang had also been completely spent, while most of the gold being mined by Sunagakure was now being used to maintain the village's operations and support the front lines.

Seeing that Karura was still worried, he smiled helplessly.

"Really, it's nothing!"

"Don't bother trying to fool me~" Karura rolled her eyes, organized the documents in her hands, and set them down. Then she walked behind Rasa, gently massaging his head as she said warmly, "Lately, you've had to go out gold mining every morning. There are piles of things in the village that need you to handle, and there's also the battlefield... You're exhausted, aren't you~"

"..."

Rasa looked at Karura, who was gazing at him tenderly.

She was right. He really was exhausted~

As for gold mining... he returned once his Chakra was nearly depleted, and Kousa and Yashamaru were watching over the Alchemy Factory, so nothing would go wrong there. As for the village's affairs... Rasa silently glanced at Karura and the other Jonin nearby before speaking in a solemn, righteous tone.

"It's nothing. These are all things I should do as the Fourth Kazekage."

As the person managing the whole situation, he was very busy too!

As for the battlefield... there was nothing major happening there. They only occasionally sent people to ask for provisions. The only truly troublesome issue was Pakura's side. After holding out for so long, they had begun running into problems such as insufficient troops and inadequate supplies. She kept sending people to ask whether the village had any soldiers left, or whether some medical Ninja could be sent over.

However...

The village had no one left either~

As the Fourth Kazekage securely stationed in the rear, the only thing he could do was try his best to send over some money and provisions, while also asking Consultant Chiyo whether she could dispatch some people. But with the war continuing this long, everyone's forces were running low~

Rasa looked at Karura with a solemn expression.

"Now that I've put on this green hat... Ahem, become the Fourth Kazekage, I must protect the village and lead everyone toward a happy life."

He really hadn't been spacing out just now and thinking about the lottery. He had been... seriously contemplating the future of Sunagakure.

The surrounding Sand Ninja's eyes reddened when they heard his words, and they looked as though they had been injected with chicken blood.

"Kazekage..."

All the Ninja gazed at him fervently and murmured through choked voices.

Rasa waved a hand with an air of righteousness. "This is both the Kazekage's responsibility and his duty!"

After saying this, he stood up with his hands behind his back. With countless people smiling at him from behind—Karura and the admiring Jonin—he walked straight toward the door.

Recently, he seemed to have saved up quite a lot of Silver Liang through gold mining. After some time, he should be able to...

Early winter, Year 44 of Konoha.

With winter's arrival, conditions in the various Ninja villages began to grow considerably harsher.

This was especially true in the Land of Wind. Sand and dust swept endlessly through the air like blades in the freezing wind, hindering the movements of the Ninja from all the major villages. As a result, that winter became a brief respite in the war that had continued for nearly two years.

Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure all tacitly slowed their attacks at this time, using the opportunity to recuperate and prepare for the battles ahead.

By this point, the war was no longer limited to the Land of Wind. The borders of the various countries had suffered harassment to some extent, and the entire Shinobi World had fallen into chaos. Countless civilians devastated by the war began wandering from place to place. Faced with the destruction of their loved ones, friends, and homeland... all they wanted now was a quiet place to call home.

Something to eat, something to drink, and a peaceful night's sleep were all they wished for.

Unfortunately...

The entire Shinobi World was now caught up in war. How could finding a peaceful place possibly be so easy?

The end of winter, Year 44 of Konoha.

With spring of Year 45 just around the corner...

Iwagakure, posing as a temporary ally of Kusagakure and claiming to wish to discuss a deeper alliance with them, secretly sent a thousand Ninja through the Grass Ninja Village to invade the borders of the Land of Fire.

Although Kusagakure's alliance with Iwagakure had collapsed after its war with Sunagakure, and it had led its own Ninja to assist Konoha in resisting the smaller Ninja villages below, making it fair to say that it was still an enemy of Iwagakure, it...

Was nevertheless successfully ambushed through Iwagakure's schemes, causing Konoha tremendous losses!

Year 45 of Konoha...

The war entered a period of truly comprehensive outbreak. Even Sunagakure could no longer avoid it!

That spring.

Sunagakure officially announced that it was joining the Logging Operation.

And this...

Meant that all Five Great Ninja Villages had entered the war!