Two flowers bloomed on separate branches; each had its own tale.
After wiping out the Kirigakure shinobi, Rasa's mission was essentially over. He returned to the cave and gave Baki a few instructions.
Once Baki had recovered from his injuries, he used signals nearby to search for the surviving Sunagakure shinobi. After following them discreetly for a while, Rasa returned to the village alone.
This mission had technically been a secret one, and the Alias Himura Kenshin was still useful to him for the time being. He couldn't let it be exposed just yet.
"That's everything that happened during the mission."
Rasa handed Elder Chiyo the scroll containing the stored ninja tools and said, "It was a simple mission."
Chiyo and Ebizo took the scroll and gave it a look. Their feelings were complicated. "Getting so many extra ninja tools is certainly a good thing.
"But these were all paid for with the lives of our village's shinobi. With a great battle imminent, we've lost more than a dozen shinobi as well. I don't know whether this is a blessing or a curse."
"More than a dozen shinobi is indeed a considerable loss. Sooner or later, we'll settle the score with Kirigakure.
"But Elder Chiyo, there's no need to worry. With me here, nothing will happen to the village."
Rasa felt a pang of sorrow, but before long, all these people would become his subordinates. The most important thing for anyone with great ambitions was to remain composed and unshaken by change.
Chiyo thought back to the past. In a sense, she had watched Rasa grow up. Though Rasa had once been the Third Kazekage's student, he had only been an average genius.
If he'd followed the usual path, he might have become a Kage Level shinobi around the age of twenty-five. He'd been far less confident than he was now, and preferred to use schemes to improve his odds.
This child and Lord Kazekage had been as close as father and son. They had endured the pain of parting forever. People really did grow through hardship.
"Oh, right."
Rasa suddenly remembered something and asked, "Since the village can't produce enough ninja tools to supply all our shinobi, why don't we expand production and increase productivity? Why do we have to keep sending money to the Land of Artisans?"
To be honest, the longer Rasa spent in the Shinobi World, the more he felt that Sunagakure—and indeed all the shinobi villages—were somewhat distorted. They had armies at their disposal, yet still had to obey the Daimyo.
Sunagakure was especially bad off. Among the Five Great Nations, it had the least influence and could only survive by relying on the Land of Wind's Daimyo.
"I know what you're going to say."
Chiyo sighed softly and explained, "Compared to creating things and improving people's lives, plunder brings profit much faster.
"After Hashirama Senju ended the age of chaos and established the shinobi village system, the Shinobi World was peaceful for a time, and everyone had a chance to recover.
"But people are never satisfied. The conflicts were always there; they'd only been suppressed. After Hashirama Senju died, the atmosphere in the Shinobi World changed completely.
"Every shinobi village readjusted its priorities. Even if you wanted to improve people's lives, the other villages wouldn't allow it. There were always people waiting to snatch the fruits of your labor.
"Everyone focused on developing military strength, and the vicious cycle continued until things reached their current state. Even if they had to go hungry, they still had to stockpile supplies for war.
"People had tried to take over the Land of Artisans before. Whoever gained access to its blacksmiths would undoubtedly gain the upper hand in military logistics.
"But it was a poisoned chalice—or rather, a poisoned cake. Whoever made the first move would surely be targeted by all the other shinobi villages.
"So we've had no choice but to keep sending money to the Land of Artisans."
Rasa nodded. The Five Great Shinobi Villages were like the Soviets during the Cold War. Everyone knew it was better to improve people's lives, but they also knew they couldn't afford to do so.
If they were poor, they might go hungry. If they were weak, their village would be destroyed. The choice was easy. They could only cast aside every trivial concern and train shinobi. They could even outsource logistics.
Small nations like the Land of Artisans could serve as neutral ground and profit from every shinobi village in peacetime. Once war broke out, though, they were doomed.
Take the Third Shinobi World War in the original story, for example. Even villages that didn't share a border fought like wild dogs. Where did they fight? Most of the time, it was within the small countries that served as buffer zones.
To break this vicious cycle, either everyone had to make peace. That was Yahiko's goal.
Or a peerless strongman had to use overwhelming power to make everyone understand who truly called the shots in the Shinobi World.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. I feel like going out gave me another breakthrough in my strength."
"Go on, then. Karura has been hanging around your home for the past few days. I'll come find you if anything comes up."
Chiyo waved goodbye to Rasa, then watched him walk away, lost in thought for a long time. If only she had another granddaughter.
After leaving the Kazekage Office, Rasa headed straight home, nodding to every Sunagakure shinobi he passed.
Defeating Pakura and being the Third Kazekage's student were both quite useful. Unlike Konohagakure, Sunagakure couldn't put forward three or five candidates for the Hokage's position.
Sunagakure had only two candidates: Pakura and Rasa. At present, Rasa was ahead in every respect.
As he neared home, Rasa narrowed his eyes. Karura, Pakura, and his brother-in-law, Yashamaru, were all hanging around his door. Chiyo's intelligence was wrong.
"Brother-in-law, where have you been?" Yashamaru called out excitedly when he spotted Rasa in the distance.
After Rasa came closer, he muttered, "Brother-in-law, that woman Pakura has been asking about you on purpose lately, pretending it's casual. She's always hanging around here.
"I bet she's still trying to spy on your new jutsu. Be careful. Don't let her get away with it."
"Mm."
Rasa nodded and pulled out a few bills, pressing them into Yashamaru's hand. "Go buy me a few packs of cigarettes. You can keep the change."
Though he didn't understand when Rasa had started smoking, Yashamaru took the money and happily ran to the store. Sunagakure was far behind Konohagakure, but it still sold some everyday goods.
Once Yashamaru had left, Pakura stepped forward before Karura could and quietly asked, "You went on a secret mission. Did you run into any troublesome enemies?"
Rasa glanced at Karura.
Before Karura could explain, Pakura hurriedly added, "Karura didn't tell me. I noticed you hadn't left the house for the past few days.
"I wanted to challenge you again, so I sneaked into your house after dark. But you weren't there."
Points +1+1+1...
Rasa's lips twitched. She'd snuck into his house after dark? That was a crime, young lady.
Under the uneasy gaze of Rasa and Karura, Pakura instinctively touched the Iron Butterfly in her hair.
"How did the mission go?" Karura asked, breaking the awkward silence in her gentle, soothing voice.
"Not bad. I ran into a Shikotsumyaku shinobi from Kirigakure and two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. I cut them down without a second thought."
Shikotsumyaku! The Seven Ninja Swordsmen!
Pakura was briefly taken aback, but quickly recovered. Rasa wasn't the man he used to be. He could defeat her in just a few seconds.
Naturally, the likes of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were no match for him either. As expected of the man who had defeated her!
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