We Just Wanted to See for Ourselves

How important were puppeteers to Sunagakure?

Because the Land of Wind was vast and sparsely populated, Sunagakure had a small population and was naturally at a disadvantage in ninja numbers. It was much like the Land of Water, languishing at the bottom among the Five Great Nations.

More or less like France and Britain among the five great powers.

When the Second Kazekage took office, the Second Shinobi World War was underway. Faced with Sunagakure's shortage of manpower, he developed the Puppet Technique.

It was only by relying on the Land of Wind's natural terrain that Sunagakure managed to secure its place among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Though it couldn't seize the Land of Fire's fertile territory, at least it could defend itself.

It was worth mentioning that the Third Kazekage's and the Fourth Kazekage's Magnet Release techniques had also been developed by the Second Kazekage, who had taken inspiration from Shukaku's sand-manipulation abilities. He was a true scientific genius.

Puppeteers had rendered great service to the safety of the Land of Wind. It could be said that Sunagakure's present had been built upon the countless wrecks of puppets.

That was why Chiyo reacted so strongly. To her, Rasa's words seemed like a betrayal of his teacher and ancestors.

"Chiyo, please calm down."

Rasa kept his expression unchanged. He tapped his index finger lightly on the tabletop and activated the Electromagnetic Force.

Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? The only reason I haven't attacked you on the spot is because you're the Kazekage's disciple!

Just as Chiyo was about to fly into a rage, Ebizo grabbed her.

His long eyebrows twitched slightly. Holding a finger to his lips, Ebizo whispered, "Listen."

What is there to listen to?!

No, wait. There really is something...

The rustling of windblown sand, accompanied by the clamoring of Sunagakure's ninja, drifted in from outside the room. The ground began to tremble faintly.

"Could a sandstorm be coming?

"We have to get the villagers to safety, quickly. Damn it, why so suddenly?!"

The desert was prone to storms and its weather unpredictable. It was precisely this harsh environment that had forged the Sand Ninja's resilient nature.

Cursing under her breath, Chiyo let Rasa be and charged for the door. She slammed it open, but just as she was about to rush outside, she suddenly froze.

For a long time, she couldn't come back to her senses.

"What's wrong, Sis? Did some villagers get caught in the sandstorm?"

Ebizo asked, then hurried toward the door too. They couldn't just ignore this. Every villager was a precious part of the village.

When he reached the doorway, Ebizo was about to speak, but the sight before him left him stunned.

Within a radius of 150 meters, centered on the Kazekage's Office, all the metal objects on the ground had gathered in a ring around it.

If you divided the ring into twenty-four segments, you could see the metal objects in each segment rising into the sky in turn, writhing wildly like snakes entranced by a flute.

A true Dance of the Golden Snakes!

Twenty-four metal chains rose and fell, twisting into a B one moment and a W the next, drawing the attention of every Sunagakure villager!

What did BW stand for? Big Shot!

A wonder of the world.

After about twenty seconds, all the metal objects flew back down in turn, returning to their original places. Only then did the spectacle come to an end.

Chiyo suddenly turned around, her eyes filled with indescribable emotion as she looked at Rasa: one part dismay, three parts shock, three parts relief, and three parts excitement!

The villagers had also seen the "Third Kazekage" standing at the office entrance. After a moment of silence, they all cheered.

"Congratulations, Lord Kazekage, on your great increase in strength!"

"Long live Sunagakure! Long live Lord Kazekage!"

Everyone knew the Third Kazekage's ability was Magnet Release: Iron Sand. So who else could have been responsible for this? It went without saying.

The Sand Ninja's excitement was obvious. What underling wouldn't want to follow a leader who could fight?

Why were Konoha Ninja and Kumogakure's ninja so confident when they went on missions? Wasn't it because their villages were powerful as a whole?

And the Kage was the public face of a village. Sunagakure's terrain and environment meant it could never raise a large number of ninja, so having a powerful leader at its helm was all the more important.

Pakura, who had happened to be passing by the office, stood amid the excited crowd, seeming completely out of place. She stared blankly at the Kazekage's Office.

For a long time, she couldn't say a word.

Only she knew that the Third Kazekage was already dead. Only she knew that the detestable Red-Hair must be sitting inside the Kazekage's Office right now.

Ebizo said a few perfunctory words to encourage the villagers, then returned to the office and shut the door with a bang.

Chiyo and Ebizo circled Rasa a few times, as though examining some priceless treasure.

After a long while, Chiyo finally asked in a trembling voice, "You... you can control more than just Gold Dust and Iron Sand?"

"Mm. I can control most metals," Rasa replied calmly with a nod.

Electricity creates magnetism; then you use magnetism to manipulate metal. The principle was that simple.

Chiyo grew even more excited, stumbling over her words and stopping and starting. What did it mean to be able to control most metals?

A puppeteer killer. A weak-ninja killer!

All puppets contained metal, and an overwhelming majority of ninja in the Shinobi World relied heavily on Taijutsu, kunai, and Shuriken techniques.

With Rasa, Sunagakure's weakness in ninja numbers would finally be made up for.

His display just now had shown that his control over metal was powerful and far-reaching. That meant that when he faced ordinary ninja and puppeteers, the fight would be completely one-sided.

If a hundred came, he'd kill a hundred. If a thousand came, he'd kill a thousand. Weaklings wouldn't even have the right to breathe in front of him.

"Thank goodness you're from Sunagakure. Thank goodness you're from Sunagakure..."

Chiyo murmured, repeating the words again and again.

Ebizo nodded in deep agreement. If Rasa belonged to another village, all he'd need to do was bring along a few teams of elite ninja to march straight into Sunagakure and destroy the whole country by himself.

Happiness had come so suddenly that Chiyo still couldn't believe it. She took out a Storage Scroll, retrieved more than a dozen puppets, and tossed them onto the ground. Looking hopeful, she said, "Try it. See if you can break them."

"Wouldn't that be a waste?"

Rasa glanced at the puppets on the ground. They were all fine specimens, made with top-quality craftsmanship.

"It's not a waste, not at all!" Chiyo said excitedly.

It's not that we don't believe you. We just wanted to see for ourselves.jpg

Rasa blinked. A few strange noises came from the puppets. "Done," he said calmly.

Chiyo froze. He hadn't formed any Hand Seals, and she hadn't sensed any chakra fluctuation. Was that really it?

Her fingers, which were holding the puppet strings, twitched slightly. The puppets, which should have stood up, didn't move at all. Instead, even louder noises came from within them.

All the important metal components in their joints and cores had been twisted into knots and forcibly torn out. As Chiyo moved her fingers, the pieces of metal inside the puppets clattered against one another.

Clink, clank.

Chiyo believed him now. She sucked in a breath, then another; even that wasn't enough, so she drew in a third. Rasa had left her three-breaths-in shock.

She had witnessed the birth of a puppeteer killer. Sunagakure finally had real hope of becoming strong!

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