"Hokage, what do you mean by this?"
Rasa pretended not to understand.
Seeing Rasa lie through his teeth, Ronglin could not help but smile. He rather rudely propped his feet up on the desk and swung them back and forth twice. "Let's not beat around the bush, Rasa. I'm actually quite curious—who gave you the courage to keep setting traps for me back then? Were you hoping that Ōnoki and I would fight, causing the Four Kage Summit to fall apart?"
"Tsk tsk, not bad at all!"
"When Kumogakure attacked Konoha, you backed down. I won't say anything about that. Sunagakure had always been weak, and you, Rasa, had always been soft. I couldn't be bothered to judge you anyway. After all, it wasn't Konoha that got extorted by Ōnoki."
"But I never expected you to set a trap for me."
Ronglin smiled and called him out directly. "Feels good jumping into that pit, doesn't it? Being despised by the Daimyo, targeted and guarded against by the Daimyo, having your power divided up... You can't even do what Elder Chiyo can do. It must feel wonderful, Rasa."
If he was going to slap someone in the face, he might as well do it hard. Otherwise, why bother?
"Creak~~~"
Rasa clenched his fists tightly beneath the table. His grip was so forceful that the skin on his hands turned white, and even his bones protested with cracking sounds.
Ronglin's words were like slaps across Rasa's face, making his cheeks sting with pain. Yet Rasa could not fight back and could only endure it.
"Rasa, remember this: dignity is earned, not handed out by others. I, Uchiha Ronglin, once helped you earn some dignity, but unfortunately, you couldn't hold on to it yourself. So don't expect me, Uchiha Ronglin, to generously give