"Teacher wants to see me?"
Rasa held the Third Kazekage in high regard. He stood up, picked up his coat, and said to Karura:
"Teacher usually wouldn't summon me this late. I'm afraid it must be something important.
Look after the children at home. I'll go see him."
Karura nodded and reminded him:
"Don't panic if something's happened. There'll be a way to solve it!"
Only then did Rasa follow the Anbu directly under the Kazekage and leave using the Body Flicker Technique.
Once Rasa was far away, Temari breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Mom, why is Dad so scary?"
Karura smiled and kissed her little cheek.
"Your father is a Jonin of the village and the Third Kazekage's most prized disciple.
He has so much weighing on his shoulders,
and he doesn't mean to be harsh with you.
Try to be more understanding of him, all right?"
Temari nodded without really understanding and went back to playing with Kankuro.
The Kazekage's Office.
Rasa knocked before entering the familiar office.
All this time, when he wasn't traveling around collecting gold dust, he was here helping the Third Kazekage handle official affairs.
Seeing Rasa enter with a serious expression, the Third Kazekage, who wasn't wearing his hat, gestured for him to sit down.
"Teacher, you summoned me in such a hurry. Has something serious happened?"
Rasa asked in puzzlement.
The Third Kazekage looked at the disciple he was most satisfied with,
shook his head slightly, and said in a low voice:
"Elder Chiyo and Ebizo just came to ask me for a place in Shukaku's trial."
Rasa knew that the Puppet Combat Unit, led by Elder Chiyo, was the Gold Dust Corps' main rival for supplies.
And although the success rate of the Shukaku Trial was astonishingly low,
the places in the trial were currently the best leverage the Kazekage's faction had over Sunagakure's ninja clans.
Those places were the Third Kazekage's exclusive preserve, just as command of the Puppet Combat Unit was Elder Chiyo's.
She had never touched them before.
Rasa frowned deeply and said:
"Teacher, are Elder Chiyo and the others trying to use Pakura's situation to force you to make concessions?"
The Third Kazekage took a deep breath and took a small box from beneath his desk.
He opened it in front of Rasa, revealing the Chakra Metal inside.
"Elder Chiyo didn't use Pakura's situation to pressure me.
Instead, she offered terms I couldn't refuse.
Ten jin of Chakra Metal, and top-grade material with a forty percent Chakra conductivity rate, which Elder Chiyo and the others purchased themselves!"
Rasa picked up a thumb-sized piece of Chakra Metal and channeled Wind Release Chakra into it.
A pale blue-green mass of wind immediately appeared around the Chakra Metal.
Judging by the size of the wind mass, it really was top-grade Chakra Metal!
The value of the pile of Chakra Metal before him was simply beyond measure!
Rasa naturally understood why the Third Kazekage was willing to agree to the deal.
There was no other reason. They had simply offered too much!
Chakra Metal this good rarely appeared on the market.
Even when it did, it was usually bought up by other, wealthier ninja villages.
Rasa put down the Chakra Metal in his hand and said to the Third Kazekage:
"Teacher, with this Chakra Metal, the village's combat strength can improve considerably at once.
You should be happy.
Besides, the success rate of Shukaku's trial is astonishingly low. Elder Chiyo cares most about Sasori, so there's no harm in letting him take part."
"Sasori specializes in the Puppet Technique, not nature transformation techniques.
The place Elder Chiyo requested isn't for Sasori.
She asked for it for Sasori's playmate, Mukai."
"Mukai? I remember now. He's the dead last at the Ninja Academy, the one called Komushi, right?
Sasori's only friend, they say. The kid Elder Chiyo made an exception to send to the Ninja Academy,
and who graduated as an exception too, then got assigned to the same team as Sasori?
He's really lucky. By riding Sasori's coattails, he not only managed to become a ninja,
but even got a chance at the Shukaku Trial. Tsk, tsk!"
Rasa held the obscure nobody in utter contempt.
As he saw it, Mukai had only gotten such a good opportunity thanks to Sasori.
The Third Kazekage paid no attention to the sourness in Rasa's voice. He comforted him:
"Just as you said, this batch of Chakra Metal is very important to the village.
Monk Bunpuku is growing weaker and weaker. This Shukaku Trial may be the last one before the Jinchūriki is replaced.
Let's do Elder Chiyo this favor and let that lucky kid take part!
As for how much a civilian ninja can comprehend, or whether Shukaku will frighten him out of his wits, that's beyond our control!
Of course, any ninja who awakens Magnet Release is an asset to the village!
I'll leave the preparations to you. Any problem with that?"
Rasa said solemnly:
"Rest assured, Teacher. I'll make sure everything is ready for this Shukaku Trial!"
"Thanks for your hard work! Get to it!"
Mukai's workshop, an oasis on the border of the Land of Wind.
"You little brat, you've been busy for so many days, and this is all you made?
You're not trying to take advantage of your teacher, are you?"
Pakura folded her arms across her chest and looked suspiciously at Mukai, who was holding a strange garment in front of her.
Over the past few days, Pakura had watched Mukai and Sasori bustling around the workshop.
All she heard were terms like conductivity and components, making her feel as though she were surrounded by hypnotic words. She was sleepy every day.
Someone who knew better would know the two boys were improving their mecha. Someone who didn't might think they were chanting spells.
Sasori had added quite a few things to his enormous puppet mecha,
and Mukai's tall, handsome mecha also seemed to have undergone quite a few changes.
Pakura couldn't make sense of it, but she could tell it looked cool.
And now this thing the boy had brought her looked like a piece of clothing. Could it even be called a mecha?
This was no way to fob off his teacher!
And he had to help her put it on?
If Mukai hadn't been only seven, Pakura would have dealt with him the way she dealt with perverts.
Seeing Pakura's guarded expression, Sasori merely muttered, "What a troublesome woman,"
then went off to inspect the Mountain God Puppet Mecha Improved Model.
Mukai's mouth twitched with anger.
"Oh, Teacher Pakura, all bust and no brains!
You haven't even looked at how many good materials went into this mecha.
I went to all that trouble out of kindness, and even designed it specifically around your fighting style.
If you don't want it, I'll melt it down and sell it!"
Only then did Pakura spread her arms.
"You have so much Chakra Metal, but you couldn't bear to use any of it on my mecha. And you say you used good materials?
It's just some thin threads woven together with a few armor plates. What's so special about it?"
Mukai endured Pakura's complaints as he helped her into the mecha that looked more like clothing.
Pakura's White Phoenix Mecha was white overall, with gold decorations at the joints and other places.
The fitted, narrow-waisted design made it impossible for Mukai to help her put it on without feeling her up.
Of course, this time he did it on purpose. That was what Pakura got for wrongly accusing him earlier.
Besides, he was still a seven-year-old child. Hmph!
Pakura examined herself in the mirror. Overall, it looked like a high-collared hooded jacket,
with armor plates only at vital spots such as her neck, shoulders, and lower abdomen.
The whole suit was extremely light and didn't hinder her movements at all.
This counted as armor?
It was nothing more than a nice-looking, close-fitting outfit!
The back she was most proud of was actually covered up. Terrible!
Pakura looked at the silver-white gloves Mukai had fastened for her and couldn't help complaining:
"Kid, I'm a nature transformation ninja!
Won't nice clothes like these burn up when I use Scorch Release?"
Mukai pointed a thumb at himself and said:
"My foolish teacher!
Why don't you try it and see whether it burns?
That mecha you're wearing is my proudest work yet!"
Pakura clicked her tongue in disbelief.
She tried to form a fireball of Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder at her fingertips.
That way, even if it burned, only one glove would be ruined.
Then something unexpected happened.
As she channeled her Chakra, a tiny flame spread not only over her fingers, but along the glove and up her arm.
Immediately afterward, orange-red flames ignited everywhere the mecha covered her body!