Looking at the clamoring Ninjas of the Hidden Sand Village below, Rasa's face showed a hint of worry.
While these Ninjas were still arguing about whether the intelligence sent by Pakura was true or false, Rasa already knew in his heart that it was indeed genuine intelligence.
As the Kazekage, he naturally had his own intelligence system; among Pakura's subordinates, there were naturally those who took orders from him.
One person's intelligence could be false, and two people's intelligence could be forged, but it was impossible for intelligence from all channels to be fake!?
However, even with this intelligence, he didn't dare to truly publicize it to his subordinates. Otherwise, the Hidden Sand's already rock-bottom morale might completely collapse.
But he couldn't truly bury his head in the sand and deny it, because the Sea Ninja Village could truly field a large number of Bloodline Limit Ninjas!
If the Ninjas of the Hidden Sand Village really treated it as false propaganda, once they faced the reality, they would likely collapse even faster.
Of course, everyone in the meeting room currently were higher-ups of the Hidden Sand Village. This news wouldn't be hidden from them for long... In fact, it was estimated that many had already received the true information.
"Enough, stop arguing! Our problem now is how to deal with the Sea Ninja Village, not shifting responsibility!"
Rasa finally slammed the table and shouted angrily.
"This..."
A group of Sand Ninjas looked at each other and fell silent.
The current Hidden Sand was in a state of transition, at its weakest point. The Jinchuriki was only a one-year-old infant. Among the powerhouses in their prime within the entire Village, besides Kazekage Rasa, there was only Pakura. Since even Pakura had been beaten so badly in the past, what could this group of people do?
Speaking of foundation, there were still Chiyo and Ebizo. As a standard Ninja, Ebizo was likely past his fighting prime at his age, roughly at the level of an Elite Jonin, unable to sustain a long battle and only capable of a single burst.
As a Puppet Master, Chiyo could still maintain Kage-level strength—but asking an old lady of her age to come out of retirement was worse than just sending the Kazekage to the battlefield himself!
"Do we still have the capacity to support the battlefield? The number of Jonin in the Village has already dropped to the minimum danger line!"
"Should we recall some Jonin who are out on missions?"
"But the Village doesn't have much funding left! We don't even know where to squeeze out the pension for the Ninjas who died in battle this time!"
"The only one stronger than Pakura is Lord Kazekage, but if Lord Kazekage takes action, it will be an all-out war..."
Rasa remained silent. In reality, if he were to truly fight Pakura, he couldn't guarantee he would win.
There were many reasons why Rasa was able to become the Kazekage. On one hand, as the disciple of the Third Kazekage, he was of pure lineage and inherited most of the Third Kazekage's political legacy.
On the other hand... the Magnet Release Rasa developed was slightly different from his teacher's and the Second Kazekage's. He didn't control Iron Sand, but Gold Dust. This Ninjutsu was absolutely perfect for mining and panning for gold in the desert.
It could be said that Rasa alone supported one-third of the Hidden Sand Village's funding. It was precisely because of this "God of Wealth" characteristic that Rasa could easily ascend to the position of Kazekage.
As for combat power... a gold miner shouldn't talk about combat power. Gold Dust was too heavy and slow to manipulate, and its soft texture meant its strength couldn't compare to Iron Sand. It could be said that compared to ordinary sand manipulation Ninjutsu, its superiority was limited.
Rasa's strength among those at the Kage-level was, if not a gatekeeper, just the most ordinary type. Among the current Five Kage, he was arguably the weakest.
After the group discussed for a long time without reaching any conclusion, one of the higher-ups finally couldn't help but speak up: "If all else fails, let's sue for peace with the Sea Ninja Village!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire meeting room fell silent. Everyone's expressions became very unsightly, filled with a sense of humiliation.
As early as several months ago, the Hidden Sand had already wanted to end this meaningless war. Originally, both sides were close to reaching an agreement: Kirigakure would withdraw its troops and stop harassing the Hidden Sand's coastline, and the Hidden Sand would hand over the so-called war hero, Pakura.
Although this condition always made the Hidden Sand Village seem a bit brain-dead, once any war factor is mixed with political factors, it makes people wonder if those in high positions have pig brains. So, such things were no longer surprising.
But for some reason, the original Kirigakure suddenly reorganized into the Sea Ninja Village, and the conditions that were almost settled were completely torn up. Instead, they proposed even more conditions that seemed impossible to the Hidden Sand!
For example, a large amount of rare metal and biological resources, many mineral deposits unique to the desert, and some unique biological resources... This was undoubtedly cutting flesh from the Hidden Sand Village. The Hidden Sand Village was already poor enough; if they paid more compensation, they would have to eat sand and live on air!
The Hidden Sand Village immediately stated they had no money, only their lives, and to do as they pleased—if they wanted to fight, then keep fighting!
Then the Hidden Sand Village was beaten like a dog... and as a result, they now had to eagerly sue for peace... Does my Hidden Sand Village have no shame left?
Well, anyway, it wasn't the first or second time the Hidden Sand had done such flip-flopping. For instance, in several Ninja World Wars, the Hidden Sand would take the initiative to cause trouble for Konoha and then surrender at light speed in the shortest time possible. Being thick-skinned had almost become the Hidden Sand's label, so Rasa and the Hidden Sand Village's higher-ups probably wouldn't care about their reputation.
But the various interests to be surrendered after surrendering were truly an unbearable burden for the Hidden Sand. If they really did that, the Hidden Sand Village probably wouldn't recover its vitality for over a decade.
But if they didn't surrender, the Hidden Sand really couldn't keep fighting. The current number of Hidden Sand Ninjas had dropped to an extremely dangerous level; at most, there were probably only about 3,000 people.
The number of Ninjas in the Five Great Ninja Villages generally fluctuated. For example, before the Second Great Ninja War, the Hidden Sand had a force of nearly ten thousand. After two wars, only 3,000 Ninjas remained. This number was not much different from medium-sized Villages like the Grass Ninja Village or Amegakure.
If it weren't for the fact that the Ninja World War had just ended and all Ninja Villages were licking their wounds, Villages like Amegakure might have already started challenging the Hidden Sand Village.
After a long silence, several higher-ups sighed: "It seems this is the only choice now! The Hidden Sand Village... really can't fight any longer!"
"But... we don't have that much compensation!"
"Didn't they say we could pay in installments? Although it's a bit more, at least we won't have to bleed out all at once!"
"But if we truly accept their conditions, the development of our Hidden Sand will be affected for the next decade or so..."
Finally, Rasa tapped the table and made the final decision to agree to the installment terms, while also speaking to boost the morale of the other Hidden Sand higher-ups:
"Who knows what the situation will be in a few years? Let's deal with the present first. I don't believe the Sea Ninja Village can maintain such dominance forever! Once they run into trouble, we can naturally default on the compensation!"
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