He had stayed out of this war from beginning to end and had even taken the initiative to extend goodwill to Konoha.
The more Rasa thought about it, the wiser and more formidable he felt he was.
But soon, intense envy and jealousy surfaced on his face again.
"How does Konoha keep producing monsters like this?"
"When will Sunagakure produce an Uchiha Minamoto of its own?"
Naturally, the Fourth Kazekage's questions received no answers.
Rasa sighed, picked up his pen, and began writing a letter to Konoha.
Since he had already sent a diplomatic mission to extend goodwill to Konoha, he might as well adopt an even humbler attitude.
After all, Sunagakure was so poor now that it had nothing left but sand. It had no face left to lose.
Iwagakure.
The Tsuchikage's office.
Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki was also reading an intelligence scroll sent back from Konoha, his brows tightly knitted.
"This young man..."
The "young man" Ōnoki referred to was, of course, not Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi.
Mei Terumi becoming the Fifth Mizukage had indeed caught Ōnoki by surprise.
But the man standing behind Mei Terumi was the true "grave threat" to Ōnoki, and even to Iwagakure.
Just a few months ago, the Five Great Shinobi Villages had still held one another in check.
Though Konoha had been strong, it had not been strong enough to leave the other villages struggling to breathe.
But ever since that brat named Uchiha Minamoto had burst onto the scene, everything had changed.
First, he had captured the Two-Tails Jinchūriki alive. Then he had defeated the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, turning Kirigakure from Konoha's enemy directly into his own ally.
Even though Konoha and Kirigakure had yet to issue a public declaration of peace.
The mere fact that Mei Terumi had risen to power