Konoha.
A few days later.
The Sunagakure delegation was the first to arrive in Konoha.
Rasa stood before Konoha's broad gates.
The towering walls resembled an insurmountable mountain.
Endless merchant caravans came and went, along with large numbers of Konoha ninja wearing green flak jackets.
Compared to the backwater that was Sunagakure,
this place was practically paradise.
Rasa narrowed his eyes.
Sunagakure had endured some hard years.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind had continuously cut military funding, and the village was nearly unable to afford food.
And Konoha?
After Qianye took office, he not only subdued Kumogakure, but also introduced some Merit Points reform.
They said even Konoha's stray dogs ate better than Sunagakure's Genin.
Baki followed behind Rasa, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Kazekage-sama."
"Konoha's defenses... are a little excessive."
At the entrance alone,
two teams of elite Chunin stood guard in plain sight.
In the shadows, no fewer than ten presences had locked onto them.
Rasa snorted coldly.
Of course he had noticed.
But he had also noticed that several of those presences possessed the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.
Using ninja from a Kekkei Genkai clan as ordinary guards.
The Fifth Hokage was showing off his military might.
"Let's go."
"This time, we are guests."
Suppressing the bitterness in his heart, Rasa stepped through Konoha's gates.
Shops lined both sides of the street, and cries of vendors rose one after another.
Several Konoha Genin passed by together, holding brand-new Kunai and even discussing their insights into training C-Rank Ninjutsu.
Rasa's eyelids twitched as he listened.
C-Rank Ninjutsu.
In Sunagakure, it was not something that could be taught casually.
Yet in Konoha, it had become commonplace knowledge that Genin could discuss at will.
Senju Qianye... what kind of monster was he?
They had to cling tightly to this thick