Rasa returned to the village from the Wind Daimyo's mansion with a belly full of resentment and dissatisfaction.
Because Sunagakure had not been able to select a qualified Jinchuriki over the past few years, the Wind Daimyo was very dissatisfied with Sunagakure, whose performance in the Third Shinobi World War had already been poor.
Although during the routine meeting, he had not openly said he might reduce Sunagakure's military funds, judging from how repeatedly he had asked about Rasa's control over Sunagakure and whether the One-Tail's Jinchuriki could be stabilized, the Wind Daimyo's patience was already running thin.
"Damn it. The postwar recovery period already requires enough funding to cultivate a qualified new generation of shinobi. If that old bastard cuts Sunagakure's funds further from the current level, how is the village supposed to recover…"
Thinking of how the Wind Daimyo had praised the expensive seafood imported from the Land of Water while also openly and covertly hinting that he might cut Sunagakure's military funds, the young Rasa's anger immediately flared.
He did not understand.
If Sunagakure's condition kept worsening, would the Land of Wind's military strength not weaken along with it?
Without the protection of Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, how exactly did the Wind Daimyo intend to defend this vast land of the Land of Wind?
By relying on the endless sea of sand to persuade invading enemies to retreat?
When Rasa returned to Sunagakure with a dark expression, a jonin who seemed to have been waiting there for some time came up to him with a strange expression and spoke in a low voice to the already unhappy Rasa.
"Lord Kazekage, Lady Chiyo is looking for you."
"What is it?"
Rasa asked gloomily.
"Not long after you left for the Daimyo's mansion to make your routine report, Nagato, the leader of the Land of Rain's Akatsuki organization, took the initiative to visit Sunagakure and expressed that he had important intelligence he wished to exchange with us.
Because you were not in Sunagakure, Lady Chiyo received him. Now that you have returned, please meet up with Lady Chiyo as soon as possible."
Hearing the village jonin mention the name of Akatsuki's leader, Nagato, Rasa could not help showing a somewhat puzzled expression.
"The leader of Akatsuki? I heard they overthrew Amegakure and Hanzō's rule and became the new rulers of the Land of Rain, didn't they? Why would he suddenly come here…"
"This subordinate does not know."
The Sunagakure jonin shook his head.
"But judging from Lady Chiyo's serious attitude, this leader of Akatsuki is probably quite difficult to deal with…"
"The Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure stands behind him. Of course he is not easy to deal with… I hope his purpose for coming is not too bad."
Rasa irritably adjusted his Kazekage hat, then followed the jonin and quickly headed toward the Kazekage's office.
…
"This must be His Excellency the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa?"
Inside the Kazekage's office, Nagato, who had changed into Akatsuki's official black robe and was sitting opposite a solemn-faced Granny Chiyo, looked at Rasa as he pushed open the door and entered.
Nagato greeted him politely.
"This is our first meeting. I am Nagato of the Land of Rain's Akatsuki organization."
"I know you. You are the one among Akatsuki's three leaders who is famous for combat ability."
Rasa looked warily at Nagato's mysterious pale purple Rinnegan, then turned his head toward Granny Chiyo on the other side.
"Lady Chiyo, we should not have received an official exchange request from Akatsuki, correct?"
"No."
Granny Chiyo shook her head.
"Lord Nagato suddenly appeared near the entrance connecting Sunagakure to the outside world and requested a visit with you, Fourth. Rather than saying this is an official exchange prepared in advance, it would be more accurate to call it an impromptu visit after a secret infiltration failed."
Nagato noncommittally shrugged.
He did not explain the matter of the failed infiltration further.
That was to avoid provoking Sunagakure's sensitive and fragile self-esteem, making the following communication difficult to continue.
He lightly moved his fingers and spoke calmly.
"Because the incident occurred suddenly, there was not enough time to send an official notice to Sunagakure… I think that after hearing my intelligence, Lord Kazekage should be able to understand why I did this."
"What intelligence?"
Rasa asked cautiously.
"Intelligence concerning the recent emergence of three Kirigakure jonin being assassinated within the Land of Wind, as well as several Konoha chunin and jonin being killed within the Land of Wind before their bodies were discarded within our Land of Rain.
Because of this, both Kirigakure and Konoha have dispatched elite Anbu to the Land of Wind to investigate the truth behind the incident."
Nagato used an incomparably calm tone to state terrifying news that struck both Rasa and Granny Chiyo like lightning.
"Someone… assassinated jonin from other shinobi villages inside the Land of Wind!?"
Rasa turned to look at Granny Chiyo in shock.
He wanted to see some concealment, or some sign of prior knowledge, on the face of the person in charge of intelligence.
But what left him somewhat at a loss was that even Granny Chiyo wore the expression of someone who had only just learned this news and was deeply shocked by it.
How could this be…
This clearly happened on the soil of the Land of Wind.
Why was Sunagakure the last party to know about it?!
Has Sunagakure already become so overwhelmed with its own problems that things have reached this point?!
"What you said… is it true?"
Rasa's voice was somewhat hoarse.
It was clear he was in an indescribable state of dry-mouthed shock.
Nagato merely nodded lightly and continued.
"This is the intelligence I possessed before departure. As for now, I do not know whether more victims have appeared, or whether more have been discovered.
But even if there are only the previous attacks, Sunagakure will likely find it difficult to remain uninvolved in this storm.
Especially since at the scene where one of Kirigakure's Kekkei Genkai-bearing victims was attacked, the remains of Sunagakure's distinctive puppets and damaged hidden weapons appeared."
"Someone is scheming against Sunagakure. They want to provoke conflict between us and Konoha and Kirigakure."
Granny Chiyo's eyes widened.
She stared fixedly at Nagato and spoke word by word.
"We have no reason to issue such a vile provocation to Konoha and Kirigakure under the current circumstances."
"I know. But relying only on such pale and powerless denial will not make others believe Sunagakure truly has nothing to do with this incident."
As Nagato spoke, he quickly formed hand seals entirely different from ordinary ninjutsu.
Boom!
Nagato's action made Rasa and Granny Chiyo instantly smash through the wall of the Kazekage's office and retreat from his side.
The two strongest people in Sunagakure at this moment clenched their teeth.
They glared at Nagato as if facing a mortal enemy and shouted sharply.
"Brat from Amegakure, do you intend to provoke a war between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain?!"
"No. I merely pulled over another person who can judge the current situation, so he can communicate with you face-to-face."
A blurry illusion, one where only the outline of a human body and a pair of eyes could barely be seen, appeared beside Nagato, whose tone remained calm and undisturbed.
That figure wore a Kage hat similar to Rasa's and a robe that looked somewhat like a ceremonial haori, yet possessed eyes filled with drowsiness and boredom.
He glanced around at the surrounding environment, then looked at Rasa, who had already completed his hand seals and was ready to activate Magnet Release at any moment, and Granny Chiyo, who had summoned several puppets with scrolls to protect herself.
He asked in a very puzzled tone.
"What is going on? Nagato, why did you run all the way to Sunagakure and end up in a standoff with the Kazekage?"
"Because after thinking about it, if I act as an intermediary to pass information along, bias and personal interpretation will inevitably appear during transmission.
Since Mizukage-sama, from the beginning, also did not believe Sunagakure was the mastermind behind this assassination incident, direct communication with Lord Kazekage should allow him to understand your thoughts more directly."
While maintaining the Rinnegan's unique Magic Lantern Body Technique, Nagato said this to the illusion of Rei Kaguya he had summoned from thousands of kilometers away.
"Huh. Why did you suddenly come up with such a… dignified and righteous idea?"
Rei's illusion looked Nagato up and down with a somewhat surprised expression.
"I thought you would act like a normal shinobi. Investigate intelligence, track clues, then locate the enemy's base and let those audacious lunatics properly experience the pain of war…"
"Because I am the leader of Akatsuki. The leader of a peace organization, not a jonin of Amegakure."
Nagato shook his head and spoke somewhat emotionally.
"If I continue using shinobi methods and shinobi thinking to handle a vicious incident involving multiple countries, then Akatsuki is nothing more than another shinobi village wearing the skin of a peace organization."
"Shinobi are a profession born from assassination, espionage, and conspiracy. If we only use shinobi methods to solve problems, the shinobi world will never welcome true peace. That is a principle you taught me. Do you not remember, Mizukage-sama?"
"…I simply did not expect you to suddenly understand this principle and even start applying it flexibly."
After coughing lightly and ending his casual chat with Nagato, Rei's illusion turned around.
He looked at the deeply frowning Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
The originally lazy look in his eyes gradually gained a confident and composed sharpness.
"Lord Kazekage, this should be the first meeting and exchange between the leaders of Sunagakure and Kirigakure outside a Five Kage Summit, yes? Although it is not very formal, that also happens to mean we do not need to adopt overly solemn official postures.
I am Rei Kaguya, Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure, and also the person who commissioned Akatsuki to investigate the attacks targeting Kirigakure jonin in the Land of Wind…"
"To avoid unnecessary conflict and bloodshed between our two sides, Lord Kazekage, I assume you do not mind exchanging some intelligence with me regarding this assassination incident?"
Rei asked with complete confidence.
Behind him, Nagato turned his head away with a strange expression.
He had indeed used the Magic Lantern Body Technique to pull a portion of Rei's thoughts over from Kirigakure.
But before this, the two of them had not exchanged intelligence.
In other words, Rei still did not know that Sunagakure actually knew absolutely nothing about this assassination incident.
This counts as sprinkling salt on the wound.
I hope the Fourth Kazekage has a broader mind and will not get so angry over such a small matter that something happens to him…
Watching Rasa's and Chiyo's faces gradually show signs of overheating, Nagato thought with a rather guilty conscience.
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