Seven days later, Sunagakure, Kazekage's Office
Late at night.
The office was brightly lit. The Third Kazekage sat alone behind his desk, reviewing a thick stack of documents.
The financial troubles of recent days had left him deeply furrowed and unable to sleep.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
The door was pushed open, and Rasa walked in. His prosthetic limb gleamed with a cold, hard light beneath the lamps, but his face carried a rare hint of excitement.
"Kazekage-sama, I apologize for disturbing you so late."
Rasa walked up to the desk, took a map from his robes, and spread it across the tabletop.
"But I have made an important discovery that I must report to you immediately."
The Third Kazekage put down his documents, his gaze falling upon the map.
Rasa pointed to a remote stretch of desert on the map.
"Here, roughly thirty minutes from the village. Hardly anyone ever goes there.
These past few days, I followed your orders and went out to search for Gold Dust. I found something unusual in this area.
There are strong metallic readings across the surface. Preliminary exploration suggests that this place not only contains abundant Gold Dust.
It also appears to contain several rare minerals, though you may need to confirm them personally, Kazekage-sama."
The Third Kazekage's eyes lit up.
He knew that Rasa had been going out every day lately to search for minerals.
He had originally thought Rasa was merely doing all he could and leaving the rest to fate. He had never expected...
"I sensed it with Magnet Release. The metal readings deep underground are incredibly strong, though I have not determined what kind of minerals they are.
But there is a great deal of it. If mined, it would be enough to ease