The Hidden Mist was loving every second of the chaos. After everything that had happened, they'd basically been kicked out of the "Great Village" club. Now they were just "the strongest village below the Four Greats." Even that title felt pathetic when you remembered the villages that used to hold it—Uzumaki Village back when they were powerful enough to marry into the Senju, Takigakure with their own jinchuriki, and Amegakure under Hanzō.
And the worst part? Compared to Minato's card, Yagura's was straight-up insulting.
[Yagura – Fourth Mizukage]
[Ninjutsu 1: Frame – Target one player and apply a negative status.]
[Ninjutsu 2: Suicide – After killing yourself, deal damage to the entire team.]
Minato got Flying Thunder God and Will of Fire—iconic technique plus the Leaf's sacred ideal. Yagura got "Frame" and "Suicide." No Water Mirror Technique. No perfect jinchuriki status. Just two ugly words that screamed "traitor who got himself killed."
Everyone saw the message loud and clear. Sand wasn't just satisfied with killing Yagura—they wanted to bury his reputation forever. Every time someone picked up that card, they'd think "frame" and "suicide" instead of anything he actually accomplished.
"Sand wants to nail Lord Yagura to the pillar of shame forever," one Mist ninja muttered. "People won't remember what he actually did. They'll just see those two abilities and think he was a backstabbing coward who died for nothing."
The anger was real, but so was the helplessness. The power gap between Mist and Sand had grown too wide. Almost nobody was willing to actually go to war over it.
Inside Sunagakure, the new cards weren't causing much buzz—except for one name.
Sasori.
A genius puppeteer. A village treasure. And now just… gone.
"If Sasori were still here, Sand would be terrifying," older shinobi kept saying. "Four Kage-level fighters in one village. Even Konoha couldn't match that."
People wondered why he disappeared. They wondered about the Third Kazekage too. And every time the conversation circled back to those losses, someone would quietly thank whatever gods watched over the desert that they had Rasa now. Without him, Sunagakure would've been in ruins.
Then the rumor hit.
"Did you hear? Sasori didn't just vanish. Rasa killed him."
"He was afraid Sasori would steal the Kazekage seat!"
The story exploded across the Land of Wind overnight. Danzo had thrown serious Root resources at it—agents, money, everything. He hated coming here. He wanted to stay in Konoha and wait for Hiruzen to finally step down so Orochimaru could take the hat and Danzo could run everything from the shadows. But he also hated Sunagakure with a burning passion. Too many Root operatives had died here. He'd lost an arm to Rasa. If Minato hadn't shown up, he probably would've died too.
"Let it burn," Danzo thought coldly. "You like spreading rumors, Rasa? Taste your own medicine. Let's see how you handle the village turning against you."
Ebizo stormed into the Kazekage's office, face dark.
"Lord Kazekage."
Rasa looked far calmer than his advisor. "Any leads?"
"Nothing solid yet. Whoever's behind this is careful."
"No rush. Start the investigation pointing toward Konoha. Our rumors about Hiruzen and Minato clearly rattled them. They're panicking."
Ebizo hesitated. "Lord Kazekage… I know you would never do something like that. Sasori was talented, but he was never a real threat to your position. You had no reason to kill him. My sister has suffered too many losses already—she's very attached to that boy. She might… not think clearly for a while. Please be patient with her."
Rasa waved it off. "I'll speak with Elder Chiyo myself. Don't worry."
Ebizo nodded and left, promising to investigate with everything he had.
Once he was gone, Rasa called for Saki.
"Lord Kazekage."
"Next week's issue of the Weekly—add a new Bounty section. The question is simple: 'What is the true Will of Fire?' Open it to submissions from anyone in the ninja world. Pick the three best answers and publish them the week after. Each winner gets one hundred thousand ryō."
Saki's eyes widened. That was serious money. A B-rank mission only paid eighty to two hundred thousand. This would bring in hundreds of submissions.
Rasa smiled faintly. "The more people arguing about the Will of Fire, the better. Right now the symbol of that ideal is Minato Namikaze. Let's make sure everyone remembers exactly who truly lived by it."
He leaned back in his chair.
"First time doing something like this, we need to pay top dollar. You have to spend money to buy the bones of a good horse."