"No. Absolutely not."
"Wouldn't that be placing Kazekage-sama in grave danger?"
"The ninja of the Akayama Clan may not be especially strong individually, but they are still one of the largest ninja clans in Sunagakure. Their numbers are no joke."
"If you face that many shinobi at once, even you, Kazekage-sama, could lose your life."
"And if you were to die, Sunagakure would fall into chaos all over again…"
Rasa cut Ebizo off.
"It's decided."
"Ebizo, I would only make this decision because I am absolutely certain of it. The Akayama Clan cannot harm me. By dawn, I will be completely unharmed."
"And tell me—do I look like the type to throw my life away for no reason?"
"It's not as though I owe the Akayama Clan some favor great enough to repay with my life."
"I have wives. I have children. More than anyone here, I want to stay alive."
Ebizo fell silent for a long time.
"…Very well, Kazekage-sama. I will do as you've instructed."
Rasa watched Ebizo and Akayama Hyena leave, then slowly withdrew his gaze.
He had not made this decision recklessly.
First, his current strength was nothing like before.
Even among Kage-level shinobi, he was no longer at the bottom.
The jutsu Sand Soldiers Manifestation was extremely powerful.
And in a place like Sunagakure, it would receive a tremendous boost.
On top of that, he had his summon—Yatagarasu.
If more than a dozen explosive eggs came crashing down at once, who could possibly withstand it?
Second, the Akayama Clan's strength was only average.
Sunagakure was a poor village.
Not only was its land barren and its resources scarce, but even its ninja talent and overall combat power were equally lacking.
There were only a handful of shinobi in the entire village worthy of mention.
Rasa. Pakura. And Chiyo, now retired.
Even Ebizo's combat ability was nothing special. His real value lay elsewhere.
There were only a few who could truly be called genuine elite jonin.
There was a reason Kirigakure looked down on Sunagakure so openly.
The Akayama Clan was nowhere near the level of the Uchiha Clan, let alone the Kaguya Clan.
As for himself—
"My strength now should be above Hiruzen Sarutobi's, shouldn't it? Even the Third Mizukage is likely inferior to me."
The matter of the Akayama Clan had to be dealt with sooner or later.
Either now.
Or slowly, over time.
After weighing the pros and cons, Rasa made his choice.
"The odds of success are over eighty percent. And as for the remaining twenty—even in failure, I still won't die. At worst, a few Akayama shinobi might escape and stir up some trouble in the village."
"But it still wouldn't be as serious as the chaos the Uchiha caused in Konoha."
"And with the Kaguya Clan in rebellion, Kirigakure won't be able to seize this chance to launch a full-scale assault on Sunagakure."
"If I drag this out, too many variables could appear."
Ebizo was so worried only because he knew too little.
He knew nothing of the turmoil inside Kirigakure.
And he had no idea what Rasa's true strength was now.
Night fell.
Rasa walked toward the courtyard where Uchiha Hanatsuki was staying.
"Kazekage-sama?"
Hanatsuki looked puzzled by his sudden arrival.
"Uchiha Hanatsuki, help me put on a show."
"What kind of show?"
"A date."
Rasa said, "Tonight, pretend to go on a date with me. I'll choose the location. If you agree, then once everything is over, I'll arrange for you to spend a full day with Uchiha Izumi."
Hanatsuki's eyes lit up at once.
"Deal!"
As for dating Rasa... Hanatsuki understood her situation very clearly.
From the moment she had been brought to Sunagakure, her fate had no longer been her own.
How she lived depended entirely on the whims of others.
Especially Rasa's.
A Kazekage in Sunagakure was no different from a Hokage in Konoha.
Even now, Hanatsuki still could not understand how the Uchiha Clan had ended up where it was today.
Konoha said it was all the Uchiha's fault.
The Uchiha said it was all Konoha's fault.
Even if this were a real date, Hanatsuki knew she had no right to refuse.
Let alone a fake one.
"Then come with me."
Hanatsuki followed behind Rasa as the two headed toward a relatively remote part of the village.
Eventually, they arrived at a training ground that had long since been abandoned.
"Come in."
Rasa opened the door to the training room and stepped inside.
Hanatsuki followed.
Bang.
The door shut behind them.
From outside, no one could see what the two were doing within.
Hanatsuki could feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
But Rasa had no stray thoughts at all.
There was a very high chance that an intense battle would break out soon, and he had no intention of wasting his focus on anything else and allowing himself to fall behind.
Meanwhile, Ebizo and Akayama Hyena were already moving.
Inside the Akayama Clan compound, a great number of clan members were gathering.
"What happened?"
"Why are we suddenly holding a clan meeting?"
Then the clan head, Akayama Tsuchiha, appeared before them, standing atop the meeting hall platform and looking down on the crowd with an extremely grim expression.
"Everyone, there is bad news you need to hear."
"Our clan's sale of village intelligence to Kirigakure... has been discovered by Kazekage-sama."
"He is already investigating the Akayama Clan and has uncovered quite a few things. It is very likely he will take action against us soon."
The moment those words fell, every face in the hall darkened.
"How could this happen?"
"We were so careful!"
The Akayama clan members erupted in anger.
"And besides, what we sold wasn't anything major—just trivial bits of intelligence. We never targeted Rasa directly."
"And for that, he wants to move against us? Punish us?"
"He only became Kazekage because our Akayama Clan supported him."
"Without the Third Kazekage-sama, he never could've reached his current position."
"He knows perfectly well what ties our Akayama Clan has to the Third Kazekage-sama."
"The Third Kazekage-sama is only missing—not dead!"
"If the Third Kazekage-sama returns, how will Rasa explain himself after laying hands on us?"
Akayama Tsuchiha gave a dry cough.
"Everyone, things have already reached this point."
"We all know that what we did was not excessive. We merely sought a bit of profit. It never once harmed Rasa's interests. And we've already stopped doing it."
"By reason and by sentiment, Rasa should not pursue this matter."
"But he has."
"So the question now is... what do we do?"
"Flee Sunagakure?"
"Or kill Rasa and take the Kazekage seat for ourselves? After all, our Akayama Clan is the true orthodox line inherited from the Third Kazekage-sama!"
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