Not a Bit More! / Into the Great Desert

But in Sunagakure, this was a privilege enjoyed only by important figures.

"The Fourth Hokage." Chiyo, now sixty Chiyo, is considered quite old for a ninja.

Second Shinobi World War, she became famous throughout the Ninja World for breaking Rain Village 'Hanzo supposedly incurable poison.

Unfortunately, an even more monstrous figure emerged from Hidden Leaf Village during the same period.

"Elder Chiyo," Rasa stopped near the pool, "Are you still in good health?"

The surrounding Sand Ninja had already retreated after Rasa arrived.

No one would be foolish enough to remain "in the way" when the Kazekage has already arrived in person.

"Thank you for your concern, Fourth Hokage. I'm alright, I won't die." Chiyo turned around.

Rasa noticed that this once very powerful elder seemed somewhat dazed.

"Elder Chiyo, what happened?"

"My grandson, Scorpion, is back. He was the one who did what happened at the exam hall."

Chapter Thirty-Five – No more!

"Scorpion?"

When Rasa heard Chiyo utter that name, a weight was lifted from his heart.

That's right.

That's good.

He has nothing to fear as long as it wasn't done by villagers themselves.

If it's a scorpion, then everything makes sense.

"Because of the Human Puppet?" Rasa asked.

"Perhaps," Chiyo said, her expression returning to normal. "In that case, Sasori's actions will plunge the village into crisis."

"Perhaps," Rasa replied in the same way as Chiyo.

"What does 'Fourth Generation' mean?"

"As long as there's no traitor within the Sunagakure."

"Heh... So even the Fourth Hokage suspected me."

"Elder, there are only a handful of people in the village who possess that kind of puppetry technology."

"That makes sense, they should suspect me," Chiyo said in a low voice. "I've seen White Fang's son, and he does look quite like him."

"Well, now that we know the culprit, I'll go take care of it." Rasa turned to leave.

"Fourth Hokage," Chiyo suddenly asked, "What are your plans regarding Sasori's matter?"

"Sunagakure has always dealt with missing-nin in only one way."

Watching Rasa depart using Sand Body Flicker Technique, Chiyo and Ebizo exchanged a silent glance.

"Sister, don't think about this anymore," Ebizo said. "Perhaps we should also take action."

"Who knows..." Chiyo picked up her fishing rod again. "Even my adorable grandson won't have an easy time defeating the Fourth Hokage."

"That's true." Ebizo thought for a moment and continued fishing.

Although the Fourth Kazekage has spent most of his time mining for gold since becoming Kazekage, which has undoubtedly affected his training, he still possesses the Sand Magnet Release, making him a formidable opponent in the desert.

The scorpion is still the troublesome one.

Those were children Sunagakure; even if they were stopped, they could leave calmly.

Whether his old followers still remain loyal to him within the Sand Ninja army is anyone's guess.

Rasa returned to the Kazekage Building as quickly as possible and then announced the convening of Jonin meeting.

Under the Kazekage's command, all the Jonin Sunagakure, regardless of whether they had other matters to attend to, responded to the call immediately.

In terms of prestige, Rasa in Sunagakure is unquestionable.

He became Kazekage because he stopped the Cloud Ninja army and saved the village.

Once he becomes the Kazekage, he'll be even more formidable; the power of the Gold Dust Technique will be undeniable.

In the village, whenever the Fourth Kazekage is mentioned, everyone gives him a thumbs up and says he's great.

In the conference room, Rasa sat in the main seat, and one by Jonin who had rushed back entered the conference room.

Before entering, everyone bowed to Rasa and secretly glanced at the Lord Kazekage's expression.

I couldn't tell anything was wrong; he was the same as usual, very formulaic and expressionless.

After a while, no one else came in.

Rasa looked around and saw that more than two-thirds of the active Jonin from Sunagakure had arrived.

Fortunately, because of the Chunin Ninja Exams, he kept some Jonin and didn't send them out.

Otherwise, we really don't have enough manpower right now.

"Have Jonin from the village arrived?"

"It's all here, Lord Kazekage."

"Okay, close the door. Everyone except Jonin should wait outside. Don't let anyone near here."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage."

The Sand Ninja who Jonin- level all left and closed the gate from the outside.

Rasa tapped the table, his expression solemn.

"The content of today's meeting is top secret, and both elders are already aware of it. You should all be aware of this."

The group of Jonin up.

Everyone knows what happened during the exam, so it's clear that today's meeting must be related to that.

"The perpetrator in the examination hall has been identified as Sasori of the Red Sands."

The room fell silent for a moment, then erupted in an uproar.

Sasori of the Red Sands is a legend of Sunagakure.

It's no exaggeration to say that just as diligent as Rasa Jin was, so too was the ruthless Sasori of the Red Sands in creating puppets. He truly single-handedly supported half of the puppet production.

The puppet-making practices of the entire Sunagakure today are based on the philosophy of Sasori of the Red Sands.

Many puppets are simply things that people don't bother to take with them when they leave.

Such a powerful figure has actually returned, and even killed Sand Ninja! How can anyone remain calm?

"Scorpion's true purpose is currently unclear, but it can be determined that collecting materials for Human Puppet is one of his goals, as evidenced by his abduction of some examinees." Rasa continued to drop bombshells, "As you all probably already know, the missing examinees all possess Kekkei Genkai."

"Lord Kazekage, which villages have students who have gone missing?"

"The main Kirigakure; no one from Hidden Leaf Village or Iwagakure is currently missing," Rasa said.

He secretly grumbled to himself, "You old Hidden Mist Village have so many bloodline limits, now look what's happened, you're being targeted."

At the same time, he felt a pang of sadness.

Sunagakure is not only built in the desert, but its bloodline resources are also at the desert level.

As is well known, the number of bloodlines a ninja army possesses is very important.

The Sunagakure's Puppet Technique was essentially a way to compensate for its lack of human resources.

"That's roughly the situation." Rasa cleared his throat. "Therefore, I hereby announce that, given the danger posed by Sasori of the Red Sands, everyone must remain vigilant during the upcoming exams. If you spot a target, immediately raise the alarm. Everyone must support each other. I will arrive as soon as possible."

"Lord Kazekage, should we keep Sasori of the Red Sands?"

"Kill him first. We can't afford to take any chances with someone like him," Rasa said. "I doubt anyone wants to be turned into Human Puppet."

Hearing this, a chill ran through everyone.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage!"

"That concludes today's meeting. Everyone, please go and prepare yourselves."

The Jonin all got up and left.

Just like Rasa said, no one wants to be made into Human Puppet.

Rasa sat in the chair and waited until everyone had left before slowly getting up.

A Kage Guard appeared beside him.

"Tell the mine that I won't be going there for a while."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage." The Kage Guard answered readily, but only readily when answering, his face showing hesitation.

This expression is called "Sir, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should."

"The village is out of money again?" Rasa's expression changed, and he looked very nervous. "Didn't they just dig some up the day before yesterday? How come it's gone so quickly?"

"Lord Kazekage, as you know, the village is running a deficit from Chunin Ninja Exams..."

"Damn Leaf Village!" Rasa indignantly, "They said they were co-organizing, but they didn't contribute a single penny."

It's understandable that Kirigakure) wouldn't contribute financially.

It's normal that Iwagakure doesn't contribute money.

The Chunin Ninja Exams were organized by Leaf Village itself, and you didn't contribute a single penny!?

The Fourth Hokage, what a disgrace!

"Then..." Rasa gritted his teeth, deciding to take the plunge. "I'll go one more time today, but I really can't go for the next few days! I'm serious! Sasori of the Red Sands is no weakling, I need to be prepared!"

"Of course, Lord Kazekage," the Kage Guard quickly reassured him, "Don't be angry, everyone knows you've had a tough time."

"Sigh..." Rasa let out a long sigh, feeling utterly distressed.

"Alright, let's go! Come with me! Hurry up and come back! Only one hour of digging today, no more!"

Chapter Thirty-Six: Entering the Desert

The actions of Sunagakure did not escape the notice Jonin the group of Jonin leaders.

The Sand Ninja didn't intend to hide it; they made a big show of it, as if they were afraid these Jonin from other Jonin n't know.

Uchiha Shingen had already been at the destination of the first exam for four days.

Each team of candidates can only carry enough fresh water and dry rations to last seven days, meaning that if they cannot reach this place after seven days, they will be eliminated.

But starting from the third day, the atmosphere became strange.

Some of the candidates who arrived at their destination appeared shaken.

When their leader asked, they learned that they had been attacked by unknown ninjas.

The opposing side also killed the proctoring ninja who tried to stop them.

The leaders of the different villages showed different attitudes towards this.

The leaders of the smaller ninja villages were generally quite nervous, and some even asked Sand Village to temporarily suspend the competition. However, Leaf Village, Hidden Mist Village, and Iwagakure insisted that their own Jonin to enter the examination hall.

Terumi Mei was quite insistent on this point because she discovered that Kimimaro had not yet reached his destination.

Kitsuchi also had these concerns, but he couldn't act as helpless as those from small ninja villages, even though he was actually extremely nervous inside.

Deidara hasn't arrived yet either.

The three Jonin of Leaf Village were not so worried, because those attacked were all bloodline ninjas.

As for the Konoha Ninja participating this year... sorry, not a single one has a bloodline limit.

This was also the advice that Uchiha Shingen gave to Namikaze Minato.

Ninjas with bloodline limits should avoid going out if possible, not for any other reason than that bloodline limits can easily attract unnecessary trouble.

Leaf Village certainly doesn't have nearly as many bloodline Hidden Mist Village, but their quality is much higher. Going out just creates a problem for their movement...

Of course, that's not how it should be said. To the outside world, it should be claimed that it's extremely rare and that efforts should be made to favor ordinary ninjas.