The stifling meeting finally came to an end.
Rasa walked alone through the streets of Sunagakure under the fading dusk, the last light staining the village in a dark, muddy red. It brought no warmth at all, only a harsh and striking sight. Sunagakure looked like a giant bowing its head in mourning, with the afterglow like blood slowly seeping from its body.
The day and night temperature difference in Land of Wind was extreme, and there were already few people left on the streets.
"Kazekage-sama."
"Kazekage-sama."
From time to time, hurried villagers or Ninja passed by him, lowering their heads in salute as they brushed past. Their eyes held respect for the Kazekage, but also a numb fatigue born from the cruel environment. Rasa kept his expression unchanged and nodded in return, heading deeper into the village toward the relatively spacious yet plainly worn Kazekage Residence.
His mind was still turning over the plans discussed during the meeting.
"Although I do not know how Konoha is faring in Land of Moon, it is likely still locked in a stalemate with Kumogakure. Even so, launching an offensive against Konoha sooner rather than later is still the best choice. Now that Tsunade from Konoha has vanished, Chiyo's poisons could have great effect, if Wang can prepare a powerful new one."
"It is a pity that Hanzo is stationed in Land of Rain. With that old man there, we can only take the second option and attack Land of Fire through Land of Rivers. The terrain of Land of Rivers is flat and unsuitable for large troop movements, and once we cross the border, Konoha will notice immediately, but there is no other choice."
As he was thinking, a tumbleweed rolled by with a soft rustling sound, leaving faint tracks in the yellow sand and breaking Rasa's train of thought. He lifted his head.
The familiar house came into view, unusually quiet in the dusk.
His daughter Temari and son Kankuro were not home, and as for the child who had become the vessel of the One-Tail… Rasa's eyes flickered with cold resolve as he said in a low voice, "I am the Kazekage. I am the father."
With that, he walked toward his home again, but when he was less than ten meters from the door, his steps seemed to pause for an instant before continuing. There was no change in his posture or even his breathing, and he kept his gaze forward with the same calm and steady manner. Yet deep in his hard, sharp pupils, a trace of icy light passed by unnoticed.
The night seemed to grow darker, and the sound of sand grains scraping in the wind took on a blade-like edge.
Centered on the spot beneath his feet, the tiny grains of sand around him became an invisible extension of his senses. He could tell that someone had entered his house, not Temari, not Kankuro, and not Gaara. It was a completely unfamiliar presence, inside the residence right in front of him.
"To think I cannot sense any presence at all."
Realizing the intruder was extremely skilled at concealing themselves, the muscles beneath Rasa's robes tensed like a fully drawn bow. Was it a Bounty Ninja who had taken a bounty, an assassin sent by another village, or someone inside the village who opposed the war and wanted to eliminate him as Kazekage? Possibilities flashed through his mind, but his steps did not slow as he climbed the stone stairs one by one.
kacha.
He pushed the door open slowly, the hinges letting out a faint creak that sounded especially clear in the silent entryway. The interior was dim, and Rasa raised his hand to turn on the light. As he stepped inside, his eyes carefully swept every corner of the house, and he could feel a strong sense of being watched, cold and slick like a venomous snake hidden under sand.
Yet the source could not be found.
Everything seemed normal, with only the sound of wind and sand outside the window and the beating of his own heart in his chest.
Rasa's right hand stayed hidden in his sleeve, his fingers moving slightly as threads of sand gold flowed out in silence. He walked slowly from the entryway into the living room, the overhead light casting his shadow clearly onto the floor as a sharp human silhouette. It should have been an entirely ordinary scene.
Then, in the next moment, the shadow that should have stayed still moved.
It slowly rose from the flat darkness, a humanoid head emerging bit by bit.
Chi!
The right hand that Rasa had kept gathered in his wide sleeve swept backward in a fast arc. The short blade formed from sand gold cut through empty air as a black figure sprang out of the shadow, flipping backward to crouch on the ceiling.
"What are you… supposed to be?"
Seeing the figure clearly, Rasa could not help but frown.
Its body was pitch black, as if a shadow itself had been peeled away and given human form. Its face was tightly obscured, revealing only two crimson eyes. What made it stranger was that half of its body was painted white, giving it an eerie and mismatched look.
Shadow Troop Ninja Group, Ghost Shadow.
"Shadow techniques? The Nara Clan of Konoha… no."
Rasa naturally could not identify what a Ghost Shadow was, and only associated its emergence from shadows with the Nara Clan before quickly rejecting that guess. He had seen the shadow techniques of the Nara Clan, and they were completely different from this thing, which seemed more like a pure tool. It felt like something without life, existing only to carry out a command, and carried no trace of a living aura, only cold emptiness.
It also did not seem hostile.
"What are you?" Rasa said in a low voice. "And who sent you?"
"…"
The Ghost Shadow was not a creature with independent thought, nor did it have the ability to speak and communicate, so it could not answer his questions. It only scanned Rasa up and down with its red eyes, as if confirming something. When Rasa's voice hardened and he was about to strike, the Ghost Shadow quickly reached into its clothes and took out something utterly out of place.
A letter.
Rasa stopped his attack at once, frowning as he looked at it. The Ghost Shadow showed no intent to hand the letter over, as if its only purpose was to make sure the target saw what it had brought. Under Rasa's astonished gaze, the solid black figure then sank slowly into the shadow beneath its feet, like ink dissolving in water.
The letter, never handed over or accepted, lost its support and drifted down, landing on the floor one step in front of Rasa.
"…"
The sense of being watched vanished completely, and after checking his surroundings again and again, Rasa confirmed that the intruder was truly gone. It was as if the visit had only been meant to deliver this inexplicable letter.
His brow furrowed as his gaze fell on the envelope, and he relaxed his tense right hand.
"Hmph, a sneaking coward."
He let out a cold snort, but instead of bending down, he used sand gold to cover the letter. As if pulled by invisible threads, the envelope opened to reveal the paper inside. There was no trap, only a neatly folded sheet lying quietly within.
The sand gold drew the paper out and unfolded it before Rasa.