Rasa left.
The One-Day Inner Voice Listening Card had run out, so there was no further value in staying.
Besides, he had already heard almost everything he needed to hear.
If he lingered too long, he might arouse Koichi's suspicion.
"But what exactly gives Danzo the confidence to come kill me?"
"After I suppressed the Akayama Clan and killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he should already know my strength, shouldn't he? So what confidence does he have that he can kill me inside Sunagakure?"
Rasa could not quite understand it.
Even though Sunagakure had shifted most of its shinobi to the front lines in order to crush Kirigakure, that did not mean the village itself was empty.
Defensive forces were still stationed within.
"And Koichi should know my strength as well."
"If he fights me head-on, killing me is impossible."
"And even through ambush, it would still be difficult."
Then a thought occurred to Rasa.
"Unless what they're really planning is to use Karura, Temari, and Kankuro to threaten me. Even if they can't kill me outright, they could still inflict enormous damage."
"That's probably it."
"In that case, I can turn the trap back on them."
"I'll have ANBU use Transformation Technique and take on the appearances of Karura and the others, then wait for Danzo's people to come."
"As for the real Karura and the children, I'll send them to Chiyo's little courtyard."
"And I'll have ANBU positioned all around it."
This situation was different from the one with the Akayama Clan.
The Akayama Clan had too many people, and they knew Sunagakure too well.
If Rasa wanted to lure them in successfully, he had to avoid giving them the slightest room for suspicion.
But this time, the enemy was Danzo's people.
Danzo's understanding of Sunagakure was nowhere near that deep.
As for Shirasuna Koichi, he was only one man.
Even if he had subordinates, how many could he truly trust in an operation like this?
Not everyone was like him—someone with nothing left to lose.
For people who still had things they cared about, the price of betraying the village was not one most would willingly pay.
Rasa gave the order and had the ANBU make preparations.
After that, he made a trip to Chiyo's courtyard.
There, he collected two things.
One was a human puppet made by Chiyo using Kushimaru Kuriarare's body.
The other was a pair of glasses.
For the time being, Rasa absolutely had no intention of exposing the intelligence related to the Byakugan.
"As expected of something produced by Chiyo. A master puppeteer's craftsmanship really is exquisite."
"It looks far more refined than Uchiha Obito's goggles."
Rasa put on the glasses.
His own vision was unaffected, but to anyone looking at him, his eye color could no longer be seen. In other words, the presence of the Byakugan would remain hidden.
Two days later—
A team of wounded shinobi withdrew from the front and returned to Sunagakure. Under Shirasuna Koichi's arrangement, the guards at the entrance did not inspect them too carefully before letting them through.
As a village elder, Koichi still had that much influence.
After entering the village, the wounded shinobi did not immediately return to their homes.
Instead, Koichi arranged for them to stay in a separate medical building, reducing the chance of accidents.
If Rasa had not heard Koichi's inner thoughts, he likely would not have paid attention to such details.
But now, every one of their movements lay under his gaze.
"Byakugan Surveillance Technique."
One of Rasa's eye sockets turned hollow.
The Byakugan eyeball itself disappeared.
Wrapped in a mass of gold dust, it moved to a position near the medical building.
"One, two... thirteen?"
"No. When they entered earlier, there were twelve. Why is there suddenly one more?"
Rasa narrowed his eyes.
"That one looks familiar."
A little boy of six or seven, with short gray-white hair and an unusually refined appearance.
"Yakushi Kabuto..."
"In the original story, I remember Danzo sending him to infiltrate Iwagakure. I didn't expect him to be sent to Sunagakure now."
Very soon, Kabuto separated from the other twelve.
Koichi did not appear to know he was here at all.
That meant Kabuto likely had a separate mission and was not part of the same unit.
"So the twelve are here to assassinate me, while Kabuto is probably here for long-term infiltration?"
Rasa had no intention of dealing with Kabuto immediately.
Kabuto was talented.
More importantly, he was the kind of talent who could potentially be turned.
Given everything Danzo had done to him, there was no way Kabuto felt any real goodwill toward Danzo, nor much true loyalty toward Konoha.
Orochimaru had managed to win him over.
There was no reason Rasa could not do the same.
After all, aside from the system, Rasa also possessed extensive knowledge of the shinobi world—information no one else knew.
"I'll just have him watched in secret."
"At his current level, even if he infiltrates Sunagakure, he won't pose much of a threat."
Rasa withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Konoha shinobi.
"They don't look like Konoha shinobi at all."
"But that makes sense. If they kept obvious Konoha traits, it would be too easy to cause trouble for Konoha."
"Their chakra levels seem pretty good, though. Their strength should be decent."
"Danzo didn't hold back on this operation."
Rasa thought for a while.
"In that case... maybe I can use this to make Konoha pay a little more."
These twelve shinobi were not worth worrying about in the slightest, not when Rasa had already prepared.
The moment they acted, they would be annihilated.
Originally, Rasa had planned to deal with these Konoha shinobi first, then kill Shirasuna Koichi.
But now he wanted to let Koichi escape.
If Koichi fled, then after losing twelve men, Danzo would inevitably be dissatisfied and summon Koichi for contact or a meeting.
Rasa could then tail Koichi and strike whoever came to meet him.
Every additional Konoha shinobi he killed would be profit.
And if he managed to kill Danzo—
That would be a tremendous gain.
No matter how much of a stirring rod Danzo was within Konoha, his ability was still real. Removing him would weaken Konoha.
And if no one from Danzo's side came even when Koichi was nearly out of the Land of Wind, Rasa could kill Koichi then with no real loss.
At worst, he would have wasted a little time.
Gradually, the sky darkened.
The Konoha shinobi began to move.
The moment night fully fell, Rasa stepped out of the Kazekage Building and headed toward home.
The twelve Konoha shinobi reached the area around the courtyard before him.
Rasa pushed open the gate and entered.
Suddenly—
Eight figures lunged straight at him.
The other four rushed toward the ANBU who had transformed into Karura and the three children.