"Even though it was just a one-day trial card, the feeling was all too real."
"No."
"When Pakura returns, I'm definitely going to give her a good spanking to get even."
As Rasa came downstairs from the third floor, he saw Temari hitting Kankuro.
"Father."
Hearing footsteps, Temari turned around. Seeing Rasa, she quickly stopped, hid her hands behind her back, and put on a slightly embarrassed expression as she explained herself.
"Kankuro wasn't listening, so I had to hit him."
"Where is your mother?"
Temari let out a sigh of relief and pointed toward the kitchen.
"In the kitchen."
Rasa nodded.
"Take Kankuro back to his room."
"Yes, Father."
Temari looked at Kankuro.
Kankuro stuck a finger in his mouth, tears swirling in his eyes.
Temari narrowed her eyes.
She picked Kankuro up and carried him into the room.
"Crying again!"
"If you keep crying, I'll give you something to really cry about!"
When Rasa arrived in the kitchen, Karura was busy preparing dinner.
Rasa hadn't used up the full duration of the "Gengetsu Hozuki" trial card.
Originally, he had wanted to stay a bit longer to see if he could pull off any more maneuvers to increase the Mist's losses.
But Pakura had pursued too quickly.
So, while Rasa had used the card late at night in that timeline, in reality, it was only approaching evening now.
Rasa quietly approached Karura from behind.
"Karura."
Only when his warm breath tickled her ear did Karura realize he was there. Her face instantly flushed red.
"Husband."
She didn't scold him, but gently accepted his teasing.
Rasa wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her entire body.
Inhaling her scent and feeling her softness, Rasa felt a wave of calm wash over him.
Aside from these moments at home, Rasa was constantly tense.
The situation in the Hidden Sand was simply too dire.
He had to rack his brain constantly, scheming and planning just to improve the village's condition step by agonizing step.
But Rasa knew one thing clearly.
While he was plotting for the Sand, the other villages weren't sitting idle.
Take, for example, the Mist's plan to ambush Pakura using a traitor within the Sand ranks.
Rasa felt that if he hadn't happened to use the trial card and create Gengetsu Hozuki, even if Pakura hadn't died in the ambush, she certainly wouldn't have escaped so easily.
And the Sand's casualties would have been far higher than they were.
Let alone the bonus achievement of wiping out dozens of elite Mist ninja during the counterattack.
"Husband, will you be eating dinner at home tonight?"
Rasa shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. I still have a lot of urgent official business to handle. I'm counting on you to take care of Temari and the others."
Karura nodded, though the light in her eyes dimmed slightly.
Rasa turned her around to face him.
"When the ninja world is at peace, I won't be this busy."
"But not now. After all, I am the Kazekage. I must find a way to get the Sand through this crisis. That is the priority. I leave the home to you, Karura."
Karura gave a gentle smile.
"Husband, don't worry. I will take good care of our home."
Watching Rasa's retreating back, Karura stared for a long time before withdrawing her gaze.
"When will the ninja world ever be at peace?"
"Why do these villages have to wage war? Isn't it enough to just live our lives in peace?"
Arriving at the Kazekage Building.
Rasa immediately began tackling the mountain of documents piled on his desk.
Being the Kazekage involved an absurd amount of paperwork.
Even though he had cleared a significant portion before using the trial card, a new pile had already accumulated.
It gave Rasa a headache.
"These Kage hold onto too much power themselves."
"No wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi has to burn the midnight oil at his age."
"Naruto had the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu and it still wasn't enough—he was always exhausted, panting, and hunched over."
"The main problem is that the Kage here do everything."
Rasa looked at the document in his hand.
It was just a minor dispute between villagers. A trivial matter, yet it was sent to his desk for him to handle personally. It was ridiculous.
And here, a C-rank mission request that he had to review and approve.
"This is insane!"
"Reform. There must be reform."
"Once the village stabilizes a bit, I'm initiating reforms."
"I'll delegate the less critical powers."
"I'll delegate the trivial matters."
"With power separated and proper oversight in place, there won't be any major issues. Besides, this is a ninja world. As long as I possess enough strength, the people below won't be able to overthrow me."
Rasa really didn't want to waste his time on such petty things.
"But that brings us back to one problem."
"Talent!"
"The Sand has too few talented people."
"I need to cultivate talent, or poach it from other villages."
Rasa's first thought was Konoha.
Konoha had talent overflowing.
Then, he thought of the Hidden Mist.
The Mist actually had quite a bit of talent too. Although the Sand and Mist were currently at war, the Mist was hardly a united front internally.
Clan exterminations didn't just happen in Konoha; they happened in the Mist as well.
"The Kaguya clan... there's a possibility of absorbing their talent."
"Especially after the Mist launches their extermination campaign against them."
A name floated into Rasa's mind.
"Kimimaro."
As a member of the Kaguya clan, after leaving the Mist, he was fiercely loyal to Orochimaru—valuing Orochimaru's orders above his own life.
The sky grew darker.
Rasa finally finished processing the documents on his desk.
"Summon Ebizo."
"Yes, Lord Kazekage."
Soon, Ebizo arrived at the Kazekage's office.
"Lord Kazekage."
Rasa took out a sketch he had drawn.
"This is?"
Ebizo took it, confused.
"Do you recognize this person, Ebizo?"
Ebizo stared at it for a moment.
"He looks familiar."
"I think this is someone from the Beniyama clan. I saw him when the Beniyama clan invited me to their family celebration a while back. Lord Kazekage, what's wrong? Do you have business with this man?"
Rasa's brow furrowed involuntarily.
"The Beniyama clan..."
"Ebizo, how has the Beniyama clan been faring these past few years?"
In the Sand Village, the Beniyama clan wasn't small. They were roughly the size of Konoha's Aburame clan, specializing in Wind Style and ninja tool combat.
"The Beniyama clan has been prospering. Their population is growing, and their businesses seem to be doing better and better... To achieve this in the current environment, their current clan head is quite capable."
Rasa narrowed his eyes.