Half a day later, the Sand Shinobi arrived as well.
Rasa entered Konoha once again, accompanied by Baki and a ninja he did not recognize.
Seeing Konoha recover so quickly after being reduced almost to rubble left Rasa with deeply mixed feelings.
All of Konoha's houses were brand-new now. If anyone tested them, the formaldehyde levels would definitely be off the charts.
But that was not the point. Compared with Sunagakure, where all they ever saw was endless yellow sand, Konoha was beautiful, brimming with life.
"Lord Rasa..."
"Let's go."
Rasa gazed at the unfinished Fifth Hokage Statue and let out a heavy sigh.
His grand ambition was destined to remain unfulfilled. He would never escape the yellow sands in his lifetime and could only take that dream to his grave.
Soon afterward, Mei Terumi arrived with the Mist Ninja.
They, too, noticed the unfinished carving on Hokage Rock ahead.
"So those are Konoha's Hokage of the past generations... What an overwhelming presence, even though they're only five statues."
Chojuro looked into the distance and felt a nervous tension, as though a demonic god were watching him.
This was precisely what Konoha's craftsmen had wanted: to intimidate every outsider who entered the village. Lightning patterns burned like flames in the statues' eyes, their stern majesty warning all who came from elsewhere.
"They were Konoha's Hokage, after all. Naturally, they were extraordinary."
Mei Terumi was quite pleased with this young junior. After becoming Mizukage, she had promoted Chojuro and made him one of her guards for these talks.
"That one is the First Hokage, the man who single-handedly ushered in the age of shinobi villages. He was hailed as the God of Shinobi, the finest ninja of Lord First Mizukage's era..."
She introduced them to Chojuro one by one, recounting a