If he remembered correctly, in this war, Rasa was supposed to use Magnet Release: Gold Dust on the Hidden Cloud Village's battlefield to repel their invasion, protect the village, and rightfully claim the title of Fourth Kazekage.
But now… no matter how you looked at it, he had no chance to leave this front, let alone show off on the Cloud Village's battlefield!
Rasa, keeping himself hidden, rubbed his chin. These past two months had been surprisingly fruitful. Panning gold from morning on, he could manage a ten-pull draw every day and a half. Over two months, he'd racked up five or six hundred pulls, but…
The drop rate was still abysmally low. Most were useless junk or attribute-point boosts, and he'd only gotten three two-star items.
Counting the initial rare two-star card, that meant roughly one two-star item per hundred one-star pulls. The odds were brutal.
Of course, with all those attribute points stacking up…
Rasa noticed he'd grown noticeably stronger, especially from the repetitive gold-panning, which honed his control over Magnet Release. After this, he might actually be able to seal the One-Tail one-on-one in the desert.
But to flex like the God of Shinobi? That was a long way off~
After all, the Nine-Tails could take on eight Tailed Beasts, but the God of Shinobi… could pin the Nine-Tails' neck with one claw among nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine hands.
The gap in power was just too wide~!
As for the piles of junk—apple cores, pear pits, assorted kitchen scraps—he'd sorted them meticulously.
Most were useless, but a few had special descriptions like [Use it right, and you might get unexpected results~]. He'd stored those "mutant" scraps carefully.
Yet…
So far, they seemed no different from the kitchen waste he'd toss after eating.
Rasa gazed at the Grass Village's camp in the distance. Spring had arrived, but the Land of Wind remained parched, with no spring rains. Rain was rare here, no matter the season.
The climate barely changed, posing no obstacle for those already prepared for war!
And this front had no reinforcements—most had been sent to the Hidden Cloud Village's battlefield.
So, losing… was pretty normal, right~
Though the Hidden Sand Village's puppet techniques could offset their numerical disadvantage, advanced puppet control wasn't something everyone could master~
Without a Kage as their pillar, the village was already half-defeated in morale.
Facing multiple ninja villages and still holding on this long was impressive enough.
Rasa had checked on the Sand ninja a few days ago. Things weren't great—fewer ninja than two months ago when he'd left, and more young, inexperienced faces.
He knew… to compensate for their manpower shortage, the Hidden Sand Village had started sending academy kids to the battlefield, a common practice among ninja villages. These clueless children had little impact in combat and could even hinder others if they panicked or froze, but in terms of numbers and morale… they kept the village from looking weak.
That's why a certain Kage, always shouting about dancing leaves or whatever, pushed for early graduations during wartime to bolster forces.
Some leaders made grand slogans; others just issued orders and let subordinates handle it.
The Hidden Sand Village, with a birth rate second only to the future Village Hidden in the Mist, still couldn't match other villages' numbers, even with kids on the front lines.
Everyone knew it, but… there was no other way~
As someone who might become the village's Kage, Rasa felt a pang of pity seeing those naive kids~
After all, the future economy… might depend on them. Otherwise, who'd fund his ten-pull draws?
These…
"Are money~"
So, he'd made up his mind!
Time to fire a big shot!
Rasa narrowed his eyes, staring at the Hidden Sand Village's camp.
…
Though the Hidden Rock Village had allied with the Grass Village to strike the Hidden Sand Village directly, ninja couldn't be judged by normal logic.
Even the closest allies kept their distance in times like these, whether Rock or Grass ninja.
Not too close, but not too far.
Near the Grass Village's camp was the Hidden Rock Village's. As temporary allies, the two held occasional strategy meetings, especially since the Grass Village was a Hidden Leaf ally. They might glean intel on whether the Leaf would intervene and how.
At that moment…
"Still no word from Hatsu's vanguard?" In the temporary command tent, a stocky middle-aged ninja with a Rock headband frowned at his subordinate. "With so many Jonin in pursuit, even if they were outmatched, it's impossible for them to vanish without a trace."
"Lord Loess, we've found no information on Lord Hatsu," the Rock ninja said, shaking his head helplessly. "Even the Hidden Sand Village's Rasa, the Third Kazekage's disciple, disappeared."
"The Third Kazekage's disciple? The one supposedly broken and unstable?" Loess frowned, pondering. "They both vanished at the same time?"
Could this Rasa really be that strong?
Did he take down Hatsu's team in a last stand?
As the Third Tsuchikage's son, a veteran of multiple wars, Loess couldn't think of any other reason for both sides to disappear.
As for the Third Kazekage…
No need to guess—the Hidden Leaf did it!
Though his father was powerful, erasing a Kage without a trace was something only the Hidden Leaf could likely pull off.
It might sound like he was downplaying his village's strength, and they often boasted that the Hidden Rock was the strongest, claiming the Leaf had declined.
But as the Third Tsuchikage's son, he knew better.
Slogans were just to attract more mission contracts. Losing sight of reality would spell doom.
"Keep investigating. If…"
If Rasa was really that strong… Hatsu's sacrifice wasn't in vain. At least the Hidden Sand Village wouldn't find a capable Kage anytime soon.
But before he could finish…
"Lord Loess! Lord Loess!" A Rock ninja rushed in, panicked.
"What's the matter? Why the frenzy?" Loess said, displeased, eyeing the panting ninja. "Have you forgotten our Will of Stone—resilient, unshakable, a fine quality?"
"But… the Grass Village…" The ninja took a deep breath to calm himself. "The Grass Village is under attack by unknown enemies!"
"?!"
(End of Chapter)