The proceeding aftermath sent shockwaves reverberating across the village. Whispers among travelling merchants, wandering shinobi, foreign spies and the like, spread the news of the catastrophe like wildfire. Not just the village but the entire ninja world had heard of Kirikagure's failed invasion Suna.
That's not all however, amongst Kirigakure ninjas themselves there have been rumours circulating, it involved Iwagakure's hand in orchestrating the invasion.
Currently Suna isn't in a position to challenge these rumours, we are still drowning in debt from the second ninja war and the damages from this small scale invasion, only serving to exacerbate it even further. Not even mentioning the lack of a Kazekage.
Yet, amidst the chaos , there was a silver lining, the Wind Daimyo's hand was forced into sending our village relief aid and increased our village defence budget.
This will serve to lessen the impact the debt has on the village and give us leeway for a potential counterattack.
With such a cataclysmic event, public discourse was not exactly kind, the Suna council were under intense scrutiny and pressure by the general public.
Suna Council Room
Three towering statues in the image of the previous Kazekage's loom over, in the centre of the room sits a large round table, hosting twelve senior members of the Suna Council.
Bang!
The booming thud of the large roundtable echoed in the chamber, as a member of one of the twelve Suna council members demonstrates his frustration. His fist clenched and brows furrowed:
"We shouldn't have drawn out our search for the Kazekage for this long! Now look at what happened."
"News of the Kazekage's disappearance has already spread far and wide, a disgrace of this magnitude is undermining our authority with the other nations. If we even have a shred of dignity left, we must act now!"
Another council member spoke out:
"If we don't elect a Kazekage, it will only serve to further tarnish our standing as one of the five great ninja villages.", said Tojurō a member of Suna council.
"That midget Onōki is already looking down on us, after his vicious scheme with Kirigakure, we can't stand to stall this any longer!"
"He's right! What good will waiting for the Kazekage do, if our reputation drops any further, how will we secure missions in the future, we will lose a major source of income!"
"I also agree with Tojurō, I propose we elect a new Kazekage immediately", another member said, giving his opinion.
"But… Lord Third may return! We aren't sure that he's gone forever"
Upon mention of the Third Kazekage, many of the melancholic members of the council glanced at the statue in the room, showing a turmoiled expression, many losing the last vestiges of hope for his return.
"We can't change the past nor can we predict the future, the only thing we can do now think of an immediate solution to the problem. In this case the best course of action being to elect a new Kazekage." Ebizō, the leader of Suna council said.
"We need someone who's powerful enough, to stand as Kazekage, as of right now there is only one candidate currently suitable — Rasa"
"I agree, if Rasa succeeds as Kazekage, Iwagakure and Kirigakure will think twice before they scheme again."
Those in favour, all chimed in giving their take, eventually coming to the consensus that Rasa shall immediately take place as the Fourth Kazekage.
—-
Meanwhile in the workshop of a certain red haired kid, the metallic screeching
and grinding of metal echoed throughout the room.
"Sigh… my last battle really took a toll on my puppets", I muttered in dissatisfaction as I attempt to repair the disheveled Mantis puppet, the exo skeleton lying on my table in a state of disrepair."
Then— SLAM!.
Someone opens my door with ferocity.
"There you are!"
I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
I simply ignored her and continued repairing my puppet, welding a joint on my puppet with a friction welding tool I created via the same technology of my exo skeleton, the loud whirring of which drowned out her nagging... or so I hoped.
A vein protruded from her forehead as she slammed my desk in frustration, sending my puppet parts and tools jolting up in the air
"Stop ignoring me!"
"Tsk… what do you want?", I said, finally putting the tool down.
"What, you're seriously asking what do I want?! Haven't you heard, there's people in the village calling me the hero of the sand, the one who singlehandedly stopped the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
"Why doesn't anyone know that you fought with me?"
Clink Clink Clink
I picked up my tools and continued tinkering with my puppet.
"Hello! Are you even listening?!"
"I am listening. What does it have to do with me", I said flatly.
Pakura crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks slightly, clearly annoyed by my lack of response.
"So! That's your answer. That's all you really have to say?!"
"It's simple. I don't want anyone to know."
"What?! Why?"
"Think about it, I'll have a target on my head, a ten year old prodigy took down a member of the Seven Swordsmen."
"Then what about me? I'm just a fourteen year old and everyone knows about what I've done. Do you have no pride as a Sand shinobi."
"That's exactly why Kirigakure will want you dead in the future…"
"Hmph, what would you know." She said, storming out of my room.
She doesn't even realise that even without my intervention she would still be considered the hero of the sand regardless. I don't need to take credit for anything.
Pakuras image in the public eye skyrocketed after this incident. After all, she was saving civilians and battling Kiri ninjas from start to finish.
I had only intervened near the end of the battle, where there were no witnesses.
So, when she alone was hailed as hero, it shouldn't really come as a surprise to her.
Despite being berated by Chiyo for never revealing my abilities to her, I had
fortunately managed to convince her that if other villages found out that a little kid was able to kill one of the infamous Seven Swordsmen, there would be a target on my head.
So with her influence, knowledge of my intervention in the battle is kept as strictly classified information, only known to her, Rasa and Pakura.
I also highly doubt the Seven Swordsmens self-esteem will allow them to spread the information that a little kid stopped them.
—-
Atop The Kazekages Office
Around the centre of the village stands the hemispherical Kazekage office, the large red kanji for wind marked at the forefront.
And standing on top was Rasa — The Fourth Kazekage
Rasa stands behind a railing as two members of Suna council put the iconic green Kazekage cap on his head.
Cheers erupt as the ceremonial ascension to Kazekage occurs.
"So it's finally happened", my quiet mutter drowned out by the deafening roars of the crowd.
It seems the pressure of having no Kazekage caught up and using the ceremony as a big spectacle, is their means to announce to the other villages that the village is still stable.
Rasa steps forward, taking a deep breath in.
"We've stopped the Kirigakure invasion! With me as Kazekage the stability of the village will never be in question again!"
"We'll aim to hit Iwagakure where it hurts, for daring to scheme against us!"
The crowd erupts into a thunderous cheer, except one kid who's watching this spectacle yawning.
"Man… this is so boring, Granny Chiyo won't realise if I leave right?" I push through the crowd, heading back to my workshop, but as I do, Rasa's eyes hovers over my scarlet red hair pinpointing it amidst the large crowd, staring at me with intrigue as I leave.
…
Rasa moves into his new office as Kazekage, haphazardly stacked scrolls of unfinished administrative work piled up in the absence of his predecessor.
Around him are members of Suna Council including Chiyo and Ebizō, guiding him to help settle into his new position.
"Lord Fourth, now that you've taken this position, you must address the key issues we are facing", Ebizō said subtly reminding him.
"Yes we should counter attack Iwa and Kiri!, that dastardly nation schemed with Kiri, if we don't show them that we're a fearsome nation they'll only take advantage of our weakness.", said Tojurō, an outspoken member of Suna Council.
Rasa leans forward on his desk, contemplating:
"Yes… I've been meaning to address that, however, our priority should be Iwagakure, despite Kiri attacking us, they were ultimately used as pawns by Iwa to test our might."
"If we attack Kirigakure, Iwa will take advantage of our close borders to attack. We simply cannot sustain battles from two fronts."
"As of right now, Iwagakures main target still stands to be Konoha, if we attack their supply lines, we'll weaken them and let Konoha do the brunt of the work."
"If we use the puppeteering brigade at the forefront of our small scale attacks, we can minimise casualties. I also plan to use four man cells to launch small scale attacks."
"Lady Chiyo. Your grandson is quite the talent isn't he?"
"Lord Fourth he's only a child… Don't tell me your thinking of using him?!"
"He managed to kill one the Seven Ninja Swordsmen didn't he?"
Many members of the Suna Council all gasp in shock.
"Lady Chiyo, did your grandson really stop the Seven Ninja Swordmen?!"
"I thought Pakura, the scorch user had done it herself"
"Such a talent… we can't waste such a valuable asset to the Sand village even if he's just a child.
Chiyo sighed…
"He asked me to keep it a secret… but I guess there's no helping it", she mumbled to herself.
"We can raise him to be a fine shinobi, this will be good experience for him Lady Chiyo.", Rasa said trying to coerce her to lend Sora over.
"Just promise to keep him safe , he's my only family left other than my brother. My son already died to war. I don't want his son to meet the same fate."
"Don't worry he's safe with me", Rasa said with a slight smirk.
"Now continuing with the plan…"
…
Achoo!
"Is someone talking about me?", I grumble to myself
These past few days I've been solely focused on maintenance and repair. Naturally repairing my puppets along with making a new Tarantula puppet with additional upgrades of which included a chakra shield, my system once again had updated a while ago.
[Puppets (3/10) - Completed(8)
Puppet and Baryon fusion reactor knowledge (17.0%)]
This incremental increase of knowledge seamlessy integrated. It was exactly what I needed to upgrade my exo skeleton even further.
And having received the knowledge required for such crucial breakthrough, I've already spared no time utilising it diligently upgrading my exo-skeleton.
Heading out to a training ground I lugged the scroll containing the newly upgraded exo skeleton with me.
…
On training ground located on a large sandstone platform.
"Alright… Mk II," I muttered, slipping the modified brace onto my arm. This iteration was lighter, the joints reinforced with a steel-carbon alloy, the composition of which I personally formulated.
I flipped a small switch embedded into the wrist plate. Click. The exo-skeleton hummed softly as chakra channels carved into the frame lit faintly, drawing on my reserves to enhance movement efficiency.
"Moment of truth…", I muttered as I slipped on the metal gloves of the new design.
I flexed my fingers the shape intricately measured allowing movement in a smooth fluid motion. Perfect. Next, I clenched my fist, testing force output, punching the air as the following air pressure generated rippled through the air.
CRACK!
I lunged forward at a blistering speed almost losing my balance upon landing . The initial step leaving spiderweb like cracks weaved into the ground.
"Woah! This will take some time to adjust to."
Then I flicked my wrist, a hidden compartment popping out, inside — a small metal tube and a magazine attached to it lying flat on my wrist, housing metal in the shape of a bullet.
I realised that if I use the capacitors to compress chakra, I can launch it out of a tube and whatever's inside will accelerate and launch at incredibly fast speeds, functioning almost like a gun. The issue is I have to load the capacitor to its full capacity each time before each shot and it's accuracy isn't the most reliable, so I decided on putting the compartment on my arm, point blank range, using a spring reloading mechanism.
This would work the best, as I can aim and fire the moment I charge the capacitor to its maximum.
Unfortunately, the capacitor takes about a minute to fully charge and drains about five percent of my total chakra with each use. It is still extremely useful nevertheless.
Aiming at the ground, I charge the capacitor filling it to the brim, then a piercing shot followed.
The bullet shot out a speed invisible to the naked eye.
A long narrow hole penetrated the ground, a proud grin tugging at my lips. "Good. Very good."
But I wasn't done. The final test was a very special blade I installed on my wrist. The various nodes trailing the groove of the blade, designed to burst out all the stored chakra at once unleashing a fierce detonation.
I took inspiration from the Shibuki blade but this time with my own personal twist.
BOOM! A shockwave erupted out the blade as I swung the air. The recoil flinging my arm backwards.
"I guess I have to adjust the power output on the blade… but if it lands it will have devastating consequences."