Chapter 230: Rasa's Gambit
The oppressive heat of the desert seemed to press in even through the thick stone walls of the Kazekage's council room. The atmosphere inside was solidified, heavy with fear and desperation.
Every gaze – advisors, Jōnin commanders, the elder siblings Chiyo and Ebizō – converged on the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, seated at the head of the table.
Fight... or surrender?
Rasa's expression fluctuated wildly. Sweat beaded on his brow, though whether from the heat or the pressure, it was impossible to say. His knuckles were white where he gripped the edge of the table.
[Fight?]
His mind raced, a frantic calculation of dwindling resources and impossible odds.
[Fight? What would we even fight with?!]
The current Sunagakure (砂隠れの里, Sunagakure, Village Hidden by Sand) was a hollow shell. Strong on the outside, perhaps, maintaining the illusion of a Great Shinobi Village, but weak, brittle, on the inside!
Talent was dwindling. Their veteran shinobi were aging, and the new generation lacked the numbers and the experience needed to replace them. A lack of funding, a direct consequence of the Land of Wind's Daimyō cutting their budget, had crippled their training programs.
The Village's only Jinchūriki, his own youngest son, Gaara... was unstable. A monster who could lose control at any moment. A ticking time bomb fueled by the Shukaku, utterly unfit for deployment on a battlefield! He was a liability, not an asset.
[Inorin's Note: Jinchūriki (人柱力, literally "Power of Human Sacrifice") are individuals who have Tailed Beasts (尾獣, Bijū) sealed within them. Gaara contains the One-Tail, Shukaku (一尾の守鶴, Ichibi no Shukaku).]
And the opponent?
Konoha (Konohagakure, Village Hidden in the Leaves).
Konoha, overflowing with soldiers and resources, their morale soaring under a new, terrifyingly powerful Hokage. Konoha, who had just ruthlessly integrated all the vast resources of the entire Land of Fire under Uchiha Akira's iron fist!
Going to war with such a Konoha… it wasn't just throwing an egg against a rock. It was throwing an egg against a mountain.
The best possible outcome? If every Suna shinobi fought like a demon? If they bled for every inch of sand?
Maybe, maybe they could barely repel Konoha's initial assault. Force a temporary stalemate.
But after that? Sunagakure would be utterly crippled, severely weakened, its forces decimated. Completely reduced to helpless fish on a chopping block, waiting for the next blow, or for another village to pick them clean.
And if they lost the initial battle...
Then Sunagakure... would perish.
It would be wiped off the map. Completely disappear from the Ninja World, remembered only as a footnote in Konoha's history.
No!
He, Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, absolutely could not become the sinner who oversaw the destruction of Sunagakure! Not after his predecessors had fought so hard to build it!
[I must... I must find a way! A way to stall for time!]
[Time… I just need time! As long as I can drag this out! Stir up this muddy water, make it a bigger conflict... then there will definitely be a turning point! Someone else will intervene!]
In a flash of desperate, lightning-fast calculation, a crazy, dangerous plan formed in Rasa's mind!
Rasa suddenly looked up, his eyes hard, his hesitation gone, replaced by a gambler's desperate resolve.
"We can't fight!" he declared, slamming his hand flat on the table, silencing the murmurs.
"At least," he clarified, his voice sharp, "we can't fight alone! Not yet!"
"I've decided! We will split our immediate actions into two paths!"
Rasa extended two fingers, his expression grim and solemn.
"The first path! Diplomacy! Delay!"
Rasa's gaze fell on Baki, one of his most trusted and level-headed Jōnin commanders.
"Baki!"
"Sir!" Baki immediately responded, standing ramrod straight.
"I order you to immediately act as my special envoy! You will lead a small, handpicked squad directly to Konoha's forward command camp!"
"Your mission: Question them face-to-face! Question Uchiha Akira himself, if possible!"
Rasa's voice rose, filled with feigned outrage.
"Demand answers! As allies, Sunagakure and Konoha signed a treaty! Why has Konoha betrayed our trust?! Why have they brazenly launched this unprovoked invasion?! What exactly do they want? Is it land? Is it resources? Or do they have other political demands?!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Granny Chiyo could no longer hold back her fury. She slammed her own withered fist on the table, rattling the scrolls.
"RASA!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with age and rage.
"You coward! After they attacked our border posts, slaughtered our men, you still want to send people to grovel and negotiate?!"
"This is an act of a coward! It's tantamount to surrender! You are shaming all the ancestors of Sunagakure!"
"NO!" Rasa slammed his hand on the table again, shouting back with an even louder, more desperate voice, meeting her furious gaze without flinching.
"This is NOT surrender, Elder Chiyo! This is stalling for time!"
"Baki's mission is to negotiate, yes! But it is also to probe! To gauge their true intentions! And most importantly," Rasa leaned forward, lowering his voice slightly, "to use every possible method – invoking our status as allies, appealing to the supposed 'greater good' of the Ninja World, demanding a Kage Summit – to hold back Konoha's main advance! To buy us even a single day, even just a moment, to breathe!"
At these words, everyone in the room was astonished!
Baki's expression instantly became extremely grave. He understood. This wasn't diplomacy. This was walking into the executioner's chamber and trying to talk him out of swinging the axe.
[Although this isn't technically going to my death,] Baki thought grimly, [it might be harder than going to my death. Facing Uchiha Akira directly...]
Rasa ignored the shock on everyone's faces, his voice growing colder, harder.
"The second path! Information! Incitement!"
He turned sharply. "Intelligence Department Head!"
"Here, Lord Kazekage!" The gaunt, pale head of Suna's Intelligence Department immediately stood up.
"Activate all our highest-level secret communication channels! At all costs! Spare no expense, use every asset we have hidden abroad!"
Rasa's eyes glinted with cunning malice.
"Spread the news! Spread it like wildfire! Konoha has launched a massive, unprovoked invasion of my Land of Wind! Their intent is clear: to annex Sunagakure!"
"Flood the information networks! Make sure every village, every Daimyō, every mercenary outpost from the Land of Iron to the smallest farming village hears of Konoha's aggression!"
"Especially," Rasa leaned forward again, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "ensure two individuals receive this intelligence immediately. Personally."
"That old immortal fence-sitter from Iwagakure, Ōnoki!"
"And that reckless, hot-headed brute from Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage, A!"
"Deliver this intelligence directly! Place it on their desks! Ensure they understand exactly what Konoha is doing!"
Ebizō, Chiyo's brother, who had been silent all this time, stroking his chin thoughtfully, instantly understood Rasa's entire, desperate intention!
[Drive the tiger to devour the wolf!]
[No... drive the other wolves to attack the tiger while it's busy devouring us!]
Rasa intended to drag the entire Ninja World into the fray! To use the inherent greed, fear, and rivalry of the other Great Ninja Villages to buy time for Sunagakure!
"That old fox Ōnoki," Rasa continued, his voice filled with venomous certainty, "will never stand by and watch Konoha grow so powerful, breaking the delicate balance between the Five Great Nations! He fears Konoha more than he hates us!"
"And A of Kumogakure! That hot-headed brute with muscles for brains! He certainly will not miss this excellent opportunity to fish in troubled waters! To tear a chunk of flesh from the rich, weakened Land of Fire while Konoha's main army is occupied here!"
Rasa almost grinned, a terrifying sight on his usually stoic face.
"As long as we can firmly tie Konoha's main forces down here, in the endless deserts of the Land of Wind! Make them bleed for every step!"
"Then, the armies of Iwagakure and Kumogakure will be able to form a pincer attack on the Land of Fire from the north and east!"
"The strategic situation of the Third Great Ninja War will repeat itself!" Rasa declared, his eyes blazing with desperate hope.
"By then, Konoha will be attacked from front and back! Unable to fend for itself! Our Sunagakure will then be able to find a glimmer of hope from this desperate situation of certain death!"
"We will be able to snatch life from the very jaws of death!"
When his words finally fell, the entire conference room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone was stunned into silence by the sheer audacity, the ruthless pragmatism, of Rasa's plan.
Every person present, including the furious, honor-bound Chiyo, had to admit a cruel, bitter truth.
This... this was currently the only way. The only path that didn't lead directly to annihilation.
Granny Chiyo, who had been radiating killing intent just moments before, was now silent. Her wrinkled hands were clenched, but she said nothing more.
No matter how angry she was, no matter how much she despised Rasa's perceived cowardice, she clearly knew the alternative was extinction.
The current Sunagakure absolutely could not withstand Konoha's swift, overwhelming attack.
Although Rasa's plan was despicable, relying on manipulation and sacrificing Suna's reputation... it was the only strategy that offered Sunagakure a glimmer of hope. A chance to survive. A chance, perhaps, to make Konoha pay a heavy, bloody price!
[As long as Konoha can be made to bleed...] Chiyo thought, her heart cold. [As long as I can avenge my son, my daughter-in-law... does the process still matter?]
"I agree."
Ebizō was the first to speak, his calm voice breaking the suffocating silence.
"This is currently the most reliable method. The only method."
"I... agree."
Baki took a deep breath, his face grim but resolute. He accepted his near-suicidal mission. He also expressed his opinion.
"Good!"
Rasa suddenly stood up from his Kazekage seat, his authority returning. He surveyed the room, his eyes sharp. He issued a series of unequivocal commands.
"Baki! Select your personnel immediately! Four Jōnin, no more. Depart at once! Speed is crucial!"
"Remember, your mission is to stall! You must show our anger, our confusion, our betrayal! But the bottom line is, you cannot give them an excuse to immediately escalate to all-out war! Buy us time!"
"Intelligence Department! Send out the messages! Use every asset! Do not fail!"
"All other ninja! Immediately enter the highest state of combat readiness! Abandon all outer strongholds and non-essential border posts! Retract all defensive lines to the inner sectors!"
Rasa slammed his fist on the table one last time.
"We will let Konoha's scum know! If they want to chew through our Sunagakure, they will have to break their teeth! They will have to pay with their lives!"
"YES, LORD KAZEKAGE!"
The extremely suppressed, desperate roar finally erupted in the conference room!
With a shared, grim purpose, the entire Sunagakure leadership began to operate frantically, moving with an unprecedented, terrifying efficiency born from the threat of extinction!
Less than ten minutes after the meeting ended.
Several figures, cloaked and moving like shadows, darted out from the Kazekage Building.
They did not stop for a moment, speeding across the rooftops, heading towards the borders – messengers carrying poisoned words towards the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
At the same time.
At the heavily fortified main gate of Sunagakure.
Baki stood silently, expressionlessly adjusting his forehead protector. The Suna symbol glinted dully in the harsh sunlight.
Behind him stood only four elite Jōnin, their faces equally solemn, equally resigned. Five shinobi forming a desperate envoy group.
Five shinobi marching towards the might of Konoha's invading army.
"Let's go."
Baki said only those two words. He then led his subordinates out of the gate, breaking into a run, speeding off into the vast, unforgiving desert towards the east. Towards Konoha. Towards destiny.
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