Rasa still opened it and read.
The Will of Fire is a dream.
All people are born equal. There is no war, no bloodshed, and everyone can live and work in peace. A man may marry the woman he loves as his wife, a woman may wed the man she loves as her husband, and together they may raise children.
Rise with the sun. Rest when the sun sets.
…
Before this, Rasa had only held a faint suspicion.
But now, after reading this passage—especially the part that emphasized marrying the woman one loved—Rasa felt that this so-called Tobi was very likely Uchiha Obito.
"Instead of properly working on his Eye of the Moon Plan, he still has time to submit articles?"
"And Minato Namikaze was killed by him."
Did Hiruzen Sarutobi have anything to do with Minato Namikaze's death?
Perhaps.
But the most direct cause of Minato Namikaze's death was Uchiha Obito.
A disciple, in order to test his control over a Tailed Beast, had gone straight after his own teacher's wife.
In one move, he killed two people.
Teacher and teacher's wife—both dead.
Only Uzumaki Naruto was left behind, spending what could only be called a tragic childhood in Konoha.
"This level isn't good enough."
Rasa tossed Uchiha Obito's submission into the trash, then picked up another one.
The Will of Fire is sacrifice.
When facing danger, the older generation must sacrifice themselves first to win opportunities for the young. Because the young can create more futures. Their survival carries greater value.
Only then can the village's interests be maximized.
Only then can the village become stronger.
Rasa nodded.
He did not completely agree with this interpretation. But if this answer were published in the Ninja World Weekly, it would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It would stir discussion among Konoha's people.
And bring Rasa a large number of points.
"Hiruzen doesn't understand the Will of Fire at all."
Danzo looked at the words printed in the newspaper and let out a cold snort.
"But Minato's death probably wasn't Hiruzen's doing."
"Hiruzen is too weak. Too indecisive. At most, he's simply afraid of death."
"Not like me."
"Hiruzen is far more selfish than I am."
"I have sacrificed so many years for Konoha, and even now, I have not uttered a single word of resentment. If Teacher Tobirama knew the situation between Hiruzen and me from beneath the earth, I wonder whether he would regret the decision he made back then."
"Would he stand before me and say—Danzo, I'm sorry. The one I should have chosen back then was you. I was wrong. I misjudged him."
The matter of the bounty submission regarding the Will of Fire caused a strong reaction across the entire shinobi world.
First, because of the popularity of the term "Will of Fire."
Second, because the reward was as high as one hundred thousand ryo.
The popularity of the Ninja World Weekly was pushed to a new height.
"Now that so many newspapers have appeared, the Ninja World Weekly is still the best."
"The stories are good. Whether it was the previous Kōga Ninja Scrolls or the current One Piece."
"The news is good too. The topics they choose are always right. They almost never put those boring little matters onto the paper. Iwagakure's newspaper is dreadfully dull—one glance and you don't want to read a second."
"And they were the first to create character interviews. Every time, they pick the hottest topics in the shinobi world."
"They publish what ought to be published. They don't selectively print things just because they're afraid of other ninja villages."
"Now there's even a bounty submission section. If your article is selected, you can get a huge reward."
"Rasa really is a talented man."
"Putting strength aside, Rasa's abilities in other areas are truly powerful. He's much better than the Kage of other ninja villages. He has brought so many things that never existed before."
The shinobi world's evaluation of Rasa had already reached an extremely high level.
In terms of personal strength, because he had not truly fought Hiruzen Sarutobi or Onoki head-on, some people still harbored doubts.
But in terms of overall ability, few people believed Rasa had done poorly.
Most people believed that aside from Rasa, no one else could possibly have done better in the position of Kazekage.
This even made many people from other ninja villages feel envious.
"Why isn't Rasa from our village?"
"With a Kage like that, a village could remain powerful for at least several decades."
However, most of them merely imagined Rasa belonging to their own ninja village.
Few imagined themselves becoming people of Sunagakure.
After all, Sunagakure's environment was far too harsh.
Even under Rasa's leadership, even with transformation already underway, it was not something that could be changed in a short period of time.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A knock sounded at the door.
Rasa raised his head.
"Who is it?"
"Kazekage-sama, it's me, Ebizo."
"Come in."
Ebizo walked in, his face carrying visible joy.
"Kazekage-sama, there is good news."
"What is it?"
Ebizo took a stone from his robes and placed it on Rasa's desk.
"Kazekage-sama, this is it. An old miner offered this to Sunagakure. This stone contains a rather impressive energy. If we can make use of it properly, it will certainly help the village."
Rasa looked over, his eyes narrowing slightly.
The stone looked familiar no matter how he examined it.
The Stone of Gelel?
But wasn't that something from the movie version?
It actually existed here?
Rasa recalled the details.
The Stone of Gelel came from the ancient ruins known as the Gelel Legacy. It appeared during Naruto's era and was occupied by a merchant named Haido, who intended to use the Stone of Gelel to create a utopia.
But that was clearly nothing more than a daydream.
The Stone of Gelel did indeed possess extremely powerful energy. It could grant humans great power.
However, compared to truly powerful shinobi, it was still far inferior.
Forget comparing it to the Otsutsuki bloodline. Even compared to Kekkei Genkai, it fell short.
"Still, to Sunagakure, it has value."
The state produced when this thing fused with humans made Rasa think of something else.
Devil Fruits.
Zoan-type Devil Fruits.
When the Stone of Gelel fused with a human, it could transform the human into a half-human, half-animal form while granting them increased strength.
This was almost identical to the effect of a Zoan Devil Fruit.
It was simply not as powerful.
But with the story of One Piece exploding in popularity across the shinobi world, the appearance of something similar to a Devil Fruit would inevitably be pursued by many people.
It could be sold for a very high price.
Sunagakure could use that money to buy back large quantities of resources and build the Sun Disk and Mirage Tower.
Rasa looked toward Ebizo.
"Ebizo, send people to secure this object and bring it back to Sunagakure."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
A trace of anticipation appeared in Rasa's eyes.
Soon, Ebizo brought back more Stones of Gelel.
Inside a large laboratory, an old miner stood to the side.
"Kazekage-sama, shall we begin now?"
Rasa nodded.
"Begin."
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