"Kazekage-sama, this is…?"
Lie arrived at the Kazekage Building and froze for a moment as he looked at the scroll Rasa handed him.
"Take it."
Only then did Lie accept it, still looking confused.
Rasa smiled faintly.
"Don't be so tense, Lie. I heard you took a puppet-master aptitude test before, and your results were quite good?"
The moment he heard that, Lie's expression dimmed.
That was his sore spot.
He had clearly possessed strong talent as a puppet master, but because his father had offended the wrong people, he had been targeted by his own clan.
Not only had he been blocked from becoming a puppet master—even his path as a shinobi had been far from smooth.
"I consulted Elder Chiyo. With your talent, if you're willing to work hard, you can make up for the lost time. You can still become an excellent puppet master."
Lie's eyes lit up instantly.
"Really, Kazekage-sama?"
"With Elder Chiyo's attainments in puppet mastery, do you still doubt it?"
Rasa patted Lie on the shoulder.
"Lie, you are one of the village's meritorious shinobi. One of its hero shinobi. I want to see your talent fully realized, so you can contribute even more to the village."
"That is what I expect from you."
"Inside that scroll is a puppet."
"Train hard. I hope to see you master it as soon as possible, then take it to the battlefield and kill those damned Kirigakure shinobi—earning yet more glory for Sunagakure."
Lie looked down at the scroll in his hands.
The next moment, he straightened his back.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama. I will do everything in my power."
Watching Lie's departing figure, Rasa slowly withdrew his gaze.
Chiyo's speed in producing puppets had been even faster than he had expected.
That meant she had long since possessed experience in this field—and not just a little of it.
Added to that were the many materials she had accumulated over the years without creating new puppets.
So she had managed to complete one very quickly.
It was none other than Tongcao Jiinin.
"With this puppet, Lie's upper limit rises considerably."
"And if his talent really is as good as Chiyo says, then Sunagakure will have gained yet another talent."
Rasa glanced toward the corner of the room.
Two ninja swords rested there.
Hiramekarei—and the Lightning Swords.
As for the Blunt Sword Kabutowari and the Longsword Nuibari, Rasa considered their overall value somewhat limited. Given Sunagakure's current situation, there was no shinobi in the village who could truly wield them to their fullest.
By contrast, in the hands of the puppet Tongcao Jiinin and the puppet Kushimaru Kuriarare, those two swords would likely be far more effective.
A puppet Tongcao Jiinin wielding the Blunt Sword, and a puppet Kushimaru wielding the Longsword—even if they were somewhat weaker than in life, they would still not be far off.
For now, however, Rasa had not handed the Blunt Sword to Lie yet.
No matter how loyal someone was to Sunagakure—even as loyal as Uchiha Itachi had been to Konoha—rewards still had to be given step by step.
In truth, Rasa had an idea.
Since Kirigakure had built the Seven Ninja Swordsmen around their seven blades…
Then Sunagakure could also build a corresponding elite squad centered around puppets.
Truly gifted puppet masters were hard to find.
But puppet masters of average talent? Sunagakure had no shortage of them.
With some sorting, it would not be difficult to pick out a few decent candidates.
Even if those puppet masters were not especially strong themselves, as long as their puppets were powerful enough, the combined result could still be formidable.
And if a puppet master's individual combat ability truly fell short, a dedicated guard squad could always be formed specifically to protect them.
"The key point is that I can now confirm Chiyo truly possesses the technique for human puppets."
"This type of puppet saves an enormous amount of rare materials."
"It lowers the cost of high-grade puppets."
Of course, "lowering the cost" did not mean reducing it to something trivial.
Many necessary materials would still be required.
As for Hiramekarei and the Lightning Swords—
"The Lightning Swords suit my abilities quite well."
"Gold Dust and lightning are an excellent combination."
"They can push my offensive power to an even higher level."
Rasa retrieved a wooden box. Chiyo had sent it over together with the puppet scroll.
Inside were two sheaths.
He had asked Chiyo to prepare them specifically for the Lightning Swords.
The Lightning Swords were not one blade, but two.
Rasa slid the swords into the sheaths and fastened them at his waist. Then he turned toward the mirror and studied himself for a few moments.
With those twin swords at his side, his entire bearing seemed to shift subtly.
He looked sharper. More dangerous.
"Hiramekarei…"
Rasa immediately thought of the ideal wielder.
Hiramekarei's core strength came from killing intent made real through slaughter.
The more enemies its wielder killed, the greater the power it could unleash.
And if the question was who on Sunagakure's front lines possessed the highest killing power—
If Pakura dared claim second place, then no one would dare claim first.
"With Hiramekarei, Pakura's sustained combat power and explosive force will both rise."
"There is only one thing to watch out for. The Hozuki Clan possesses a special summoning scroll that can call those swords back. That means the ninja swords cannot remain far from their users for too long."
Rasa summoned Maki.
"Maki, you will personally deliver Hiramekarei. I'll assign a squad to accompany you."
"Yes, sensei."
Maki nodded heavily.
"I will deliver Hiramekarei safely into my teacher's wife's hands."
"Go."
The moment he left the village, Maki traveled at full speed. Before long, he reached the front lines and delivered Hiramekarei to Pakura.
Standing by the window, Rasa quietly calculated.
"Sunagakure's advantage over Kirigakure is already quite substantial."
"In terms of ordinary shinobi, Sunagakure holds the advantage."
"In terms of top-tier shinobi, even Juzo Biwa and Munashi Jinpachi together would not be Pakura's match."
"It should not take long now to defeat Kirigakure."
"I can already start thinking about how Kirigakure should compensate us."
Suddenly—
A figure rushed into the room at high speed.
"Kazekage-sama!"
Rasa turned toward the doorway.
"Ebizo? Has something happened?"
Ebizo's expression was grave.
"Kazekage-sama, bad news. Kirigakure and Konoha have formed an alliance. Konoha shinobi have already joined the Kirigakure forces."
"What?"
Rasa froze.
"With Konoha in its current state, they still dare meddle in Kirigakure's affairs? They still dare support Kirigakure?"
Ebizo shook his head.
"I have confirmed it. There are indeed Konoha shinobi within Kirigakure's army—and among them are members of the Nara Clan."
"Nara…"
Rasa's eyes flickered.
Most Nara shinobi were valued not for Shadow Possession itself, but for their minds.
It was a clan more famous for intelligence than for ninjutsu.
Within the Land of Fire, if Kirigakure received tactical help from Nara shinobi familiar with the local terrain, then the Kirigakure army's condition truly could improve.
"Instead of using this chance to kick Kirigakure while it's down, Konoha actually chose to help them?"
"I was still lacking inspiration for a new rumor."
"But now… it seems I no longer need to keep thinking."
"The second rumor has just chosen itself."
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