A Konoha shinobi, disguised as an ordinary merchant, had come into contact with Kabuto.
The amount of chakra in his body could not be considered especially large, but judging from the way it flowed, Rasa determined that this person's strength was quite decent.
Opposite him, Yakushi Kabuto faced the Konoha shinobi like a true undercover agent. His performance was natural enough that the Konoha shinobi could not detect at all that Kabuto had already betrayed Konoha.
"This is talent."
"As expected of someone who could serve as a spy for multiple sides and still gain their trust."
Rasa remembered that in the original storyline, Kabuto had once infiltrated Iwagakure, obeyed Danzo's orders, defected to Orochimaru, and even had ties with Sasori of the Red Sand. His background was complicated to the extreme.
A Byakugan, wrapped in gold dust, arrived near the two of them.
In addition—
On the ground, a thread of gold dust condensed into a line, with both ends shaped like receiver funnels.
A few faint voices entered Rasa's ears.
"Kabuto, how much progress have you made on the mission the village assigned to you?"
"My lord, Sunagakure's security is extremely strict. I have not yet had any opportunity to obtain information."
"Not even a little?"
"Yakushi Kabuto, why have you failed so badly?"
Kabuto lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
The Konoha shinobi looked at Kabuto with an expression of disappointment, as though he hated iron for not becoming steel.
"Forget it. Considering Sunagakure's current situation is indeed special, and you are alone without anyone assisting you, I won't hold the past against you. Next, there is a new mission."
"Investigate the Devil Fruits."
Kabuto nodded.
"Investigate the Sun Disks, investigate the secret behind Rasa's strength, investigate the Devil Fruits… I will do my best."
The Konoha shinobi frowned.
"Doing your best is not enough. You must accomplish it. You must produce results. Otherwise, you know what consequences await you. That lord's patience is limited."
Kabuto's heart sank.
"I understand."
The Konoha shinobi nodded, then stood up and left.
But he had not gone far.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him collapsed into a hollow depression. Before the Konoha shinobi could react, gold dust had already wound around both of his legs.
At the same time, an electric current surged through him.
The Konoha shinobi's body could no longer move at all.
Not until he sank completely beneath the ground.
Rasa's figure appeared before Kabuto.
Kabuto truthfully recounted the entire process just now. It was basically no different from what Rasa had seen and heard through his eavesdropping.
This immediately raised Rasa's trust in Kabuto by a small margin.
"Kazekage-sama, may I ask you for a favor?"
Kabuto gritted his teeth.
"As long as you help me with this, I will absolutely obey your orders from now on. No matter what you ask me to do, I will agree. Even if you order me to commit suicide."
"What favor?"
"I hope Kazekage-sama can help me rescue Nonō-sensei from Konoha."
"Yakushi Nonō?"
"Yes."
"But Yakushi Nonō is a Konoha person. If I take her away from Konoha, can that truly be called rescuing her? What if she herself doesn't want to leave? What if she goes back to Konoha on her own?"
Kabuto fell silent.
Rasa said, "You actually don't need to worry too much about Yakushi Nonō's safety. Since Danzo is using the two of you as conditions to threaten each other…"
"Then as long as nothing happens to you, Yakushi Nonō will most likely be fine as well."
"If you want Yakushi Nonō to leave Konoha willingly, then you must let her see Konoha's true face."
After a pause, Rasa continued.
"You performed well this time. You know this—Sunagakure is not a village like Konoha. Those with talent, and those who are sufficiently loyal to Sunagakure, will never be treated poorly."
"Kazekage-sama, I understand."
Rasa nodded.
"In that case, continue carrying out the mission I gave you."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Rasa returned to the Kazekage Building.
With the third set of thirty consecutive draws completed, this fifth rumor was already nearing its end.
The current point total was 256. It would not take long to reach 1,000.
Several hundred points remaining did not require Rasa to make any further moves.
The accumulation from before was already enough.
Sunagakure's rumor team.
The Minato Namikaze card in Ninja Kill.
And the discussions about the Will of Fire in Ninja World Weekly.
What Rasa needed to consider now was what kind of rumor he should create for the sixth one.
"Kirigakure is already useless. There are barely even a few famous figures left in the shinobi world. As Mizukage, Nakayoshi is someone whose name most people in the shinobi world don't even know."
"On top of that, Kirigakure's current situation is terrible. Not many people will pay attention to them."
Under normal circumstances, people only paid attention to the strongest shinobi villages.
Before, that had meant the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Now, it had become four.
"Kumogakure… I haven't had much contact with them."
"Iwagakure… apart from Onoki, there aren't many famous figures either. And recently, there has been very little discussion about Iwagakure in the shinobi world."
"After thinking it over, it still has to be Konoha."
Rasa stood behind the window and looked in the direction of the Land of Fire.
"But now, what kind of rumor about Konoha would be suitable?"
Konoha's major points of attention were only a few.
The Uchiha clan, the Hyuga clan, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura…
The Uchiha clan was currently immersed in fishing operations in the Far East, urgently gathering resources to strengthen their clan.
Before Konoha took action against them, Uchiha Yashiro wanted to seize every bit of time and make the Uchiha stronger.
The Hyuga clan lacked too much backbone.
And recently, they had made no movement.
Rasa could only search for inspiration around Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.
"But Danzo's reputation is still too weak in the end."
"As for conspiracy theories surrounding Hiruzen Sarutobi, aside from the Uchiha, there is actually one more…"
Rasa remembered.
"Konoha's White Fang. Hatake Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo."
"The current Kakashi can basically be considered the number-one genius among Konoha's younger generation. In the previous three-village arena battle, he received plenty of attention."
"Even though he lost to Retsu."
"But in the eyes of many people in the shinobi world, Retsu only gained an advantage because of his puppets."
"They believe Kakashi is the one with the higher future ceiling."
Rasa's eyes flickered.
"If I create this rumor, the attention it draws in the shinobi world definitely won't be low."
"Also, in the Minato Namikaze rumor, Hiruzen Sarutobi has already been shaped as someone greedy for power, willing to let the village's Hokage successor die for the sake of authority. That just happens to serve as groundwork for the Konoha White Fang rumor."
"It will make the people of the shinobi world even more interested in this rumor."
"And more likely to believe it."
Rasa made his decision.
"Once this fifth rumor finishes generating points, I'll have the rumor team begin spreading it."
Rasa withdrew his gaze and looked toward the system panel before him.
[Name: Rasa]
[Identity: Fourth Kazekage]
[Ninjutsu: Quicksand Displacement, Sand Soldier Manifestation…]
[Bloodline Limit: Magnet Release - Gold Dust, Byakugan]
[Remaining Activation Points: 0]
[Remaining Points: 275]
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