"But you're our strongest Kazekage, Lord Third!"
"Even if it means bringing down the entire village, we'll avenge you at any cost!"
Ebizo's eyes burned brightly.
Because of the Third Kazekage's sacrifice, Sunagakure had joined the Third Shinobi World War, a war with no winners, and they would not hesitate to wage another Great Shinobi World War.
They, the Sand Shinobi, were willing to offer their hearts to the Strongest Kazekage of All Time.
"Shut up!"
The Third Kazekage rebuked Ebizo, his face full of displeasure.
"Not another word!"
"It's not as though you've taken me seriously as Kazekage anyway."
"Otherwise, why would you turn your weapons on your own comrades barely twenty years after my sacrifice?"
"Ebizo, tell me, what exactly are you and Rasa planning to do?"
This was not the reunion he had imagined.
Ebizo and Chiyo should have greeted him with smiles, his old comrades should have raised their kunai in acknowledgment, and the younger generation of Sand Shinobi should have rushed toward him with tears in their eyes.
Not like this, with so many shinobi watching one another with wariness and hostility.
He did not understand.
One was the Kazekage, and the other was a senior village official.
They should have been building the village together in harmony.
How had they brought the village to such a tense standoff? Weapons were not meant to be pointed at their fellow villagers.
At those words, Rasa lowered his head in shame.
He was the Kazekage. Sunagakure's current situation could be said to be entirely his doing.
After a long silence, Ebizo slowly spoke:
"Repeated wars failed to achieve their intended results, and Sunagakure now faces collapse on multiple economic and political fronts."
"We have no choice but to wage war abroad to divert the intense pressure within