Over the days that followed.
Rasa went out every day, diligently gathering intelligence.
Each day, he recorded the many changes in Iwagakure's forces in his notebook.
He overlooked no detail.
But once Iwagakure began moving its troops, Rasa turned a blind eye.
He pretended not to notice.
He even encountered Deidara riding his giant dragon in the sky several times.
Each time, Rasa tightened his grip on the gold dust in his hand, then slowly relaxed it.
Much as he wanted to knock Deidara out of the sky, he held back for the sake of the plan.
At last, the appointed time arrived.
Rasa returned to the Hidden Sand Village's base.
Inside the meeting room.
Rasa pointed to the positions of the Red Hemp Forest and Iwagakure's forces on the map.
He addressed Pakura and Zhengye:
"Iwagakure's main force hasn't moved lately. I thought they were gathering water in the border towns."
"But according to intelligence from the border region, Iwagakure has prepared a large water-storage scroll."
"A single scroll can supply everyone in their force with water for a week."
"A large water-storage scroll?!" Pakura's expression changed sharply.
"How much could that possibly hold?!"
For a full four thousand people, a week's supply of water would amount to at least fifty tons.
A specialized storage scroll could certainly hold that much, but those scrolls were expensive!
The scroll alone would cost at least a hundred million, and it could only be used to store and release its contents a few times.
Who would buy a scroll like that unless they commissioned it specifically?
"Iwagakure really has money to burn." Pakura gritted her teeth and snorted.
This was a way out of their predicament that the Hidden Sand Village would never have dreamed of.
After all, their village was