As the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa found himself powerless to stop Chiyo's unilateral decisions, a reality that planted a deep, festering thorn in his heart.
Among the shinobi of Sunagakure, Chiyo was revered as the most renowned puppeteer, her fame and influence far surpassing Rasa's, who had only just ascended to the title of Fourth Kazekage.
What's more, Chiyo commanded the Puppeteer Corps, the face of Sunagakure's military might.
And Rasa?
He hadn't even gained full control over the Suna ANBU, the village's core intelligence and assassination unit.
This was no mere struggle of titles, it was a contest for true political power. If Chiyo, a woman with real authority, prestige, and legacy, had no intention of relinquishing her control, there was little Rasa could do to force her hand.
However, the outbreak of war brought with it a unique set of circumstances.
On ordinary days, Chiyo could exploit her influence to sidestep Rasa's directives without consequence. She could mobilize ninja to carry out missions behind his back, and no one would challenge her.
But launching a full-scale retaliatory strike against Konohagakure, one that mobilized the village's entire might, required an official mission scroll bearing the Kazekage's seal. Without Rasa's endorsement, she could not proceed.
After all, Sunagakure was not a dictatorship ruled by her word alone.
However diminished his authority, Rasa was still the Kage of the village.
So, Chiyo offered a deal.
She would hand over control of the Puppeteer Corps as a bargaining chip, allowing Rasa to officially authorize the mission she'd devised.
Moreover, Chiyo made another promise: once the battle concluded, she would step down from Sunagakure's leadership, retire from public life, and help consolidate the remaining departmental power in Rasa's hands before she left.
For an ambitious, capable Kage like Rasa, the offer was impossible to ignore.
Chiyo was offering far too much.
With the power transfer formalized in the war front's command tent, Rasa and Chiyo quickly moved to finalize the operation's execution plan.
And just as Veigar had predicted, everything unfolded accordingly.
After a full day and night of intense deliberation, the plan was solidified. As Rasa watched Chiyo's hunched figure slowly leave the tent, not even a flicker of sympathy crossed his mind. Instead, his thoughts were consumed with a single question:
How do I maximize my gains in this war?
To that end, Rasa prepared two contingencies.
The assassination of Ebizō, Sunagakure elder and Chiyo's younger brother, on the front lines wasn't kept secret. Quite the opposite, Rasa and Chiyo intentionally leaked the news, allowing it to spread like wildfire.
The message reached Sunagakure in no time.
And it soon echoed across the entire shinobi world.
...
Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
The moment the news arrived, it ignited a storm.
Under careful manipulation by Sunagakure's leadership, public sentiment rapidly escalated.
From ordinary villagers to hardened shinobi, everyone was swept up in the frenzy. With the village leadership's tacit approval, intense debates raged on how to retaliate against Konohagakure. All eyes were fixed on a single target: Veigar Koshima.
He had to die, for Ebizō's sake.
The movement grew dangerously unstable, like a storm on the verge of spiraling out of control, yet at the same time, it all felt orchestrated, as if guided by an invisible hand.
Sunagakure's internal divisions and discord had, for now, been redirected. All that fury was focused squarely on Konoha.
For days on end, the village's upper echelons remained silent, allowing public sentiment to build and boil over, just as they had intended.
Most followed the tide, unaware of the deeper plot brewing behind the scenes. Only a precious few realized that beneath this event lay a web of intrigue. Through layers of deduction, they arrived at a chilling conclusion:
This was all part of a grand design.
...
Land of Fire, Konohagakure.
On the desk of the Third Hokage, two intelligence scrolls lay open. Hiruzen, pipe in hand, stared at the documents with weary eyes.
The outbreak of war had already stretched him to his limits. He could barely manage his daily responsibilities. Now, with this new crisis, the pressure was overwhelming.
To discuss the content of the reports, Hiruzen had already summoned a high-level council meeting.
His aides, Danzō Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, along with the heads of all major clans, had been called to the Hokage Residence.
As Hiruzen waited for them to arrive, a new figure suddenly appeared in the room.
Clad in standard ANBU gear and a hound-faced mask, an ANBU operative knelt before the Hokage, his voice laced with unease as he reported:
"Lord Third, a new bounty has appeared on the underground black market, an open bounty."
The underground black market, a shadowy network that facilitated assassinations, espionage, weapons dealing, and mercenary hires. It was a haven for missing-nin, spies, and rogue shinobi from every village.
What the ANBU described was one of the market's deadliest services: the open-type bounty.
There were two types of assassination bounties on the black market: covert and open.
The covert type was simple: only the target and reward were listed. Kill the target, bring their head, and claim the payment. No questions asked.
But the open-type bounty was something else entirely.
In this version, the identity of the person placing the bounty was also revealed.
And that meant only one thing:
"To the death."
A blood feud where either the target or the issuer had to die.
If the target turned the tables and brought the issuer's head to the black market, they could cancel the bounty and claim the reward themselves.
Once the issuer was dead, the bounty was null and void. Even if someone killed the original target afterward, no payment would be made.
A high-risk, high-reward gamble that few dared to accept.
Hiruzen furrowed his brow. The implications were grave.
"Is the target Veigar?"
The ANBU agent flinched slightly before replying:
"Yes."
Hiruzen's voice remained calm, but his eyes narrowed.
"What's the bounty?"
The ANBU answered with a tremor in his voice:
"One hundred million ryō."
At that moment, Hiruzen's pupils shrank.
This bounty… was unprecedented.
...
Meanwhile, in the Underground Black Market.
Across the market, in the most prominent location, two bounty posters hung ominously.
Masked faces turned, one after another, their gazes locking onto the names and prices. Beneath every hood and shadow, greed gleamed like lightning in a storm.
Chiyo, the advisor of Sunagakure and puppeteer legend, had paid a price no one could ignore.
Bounty Notice
Target: Veigar Koshima
Affiliation: Special Jōnin of Konohagakure
Bounty: 100,000,000 Ryō
Issuer: Chiyo, Advisor of Sunagakure
Note: Target successfully assassinated Sunagakure elder Ebizō, younger brother of Chiyo, during a skirmish between Konohagakure and Sunagakure. Subsequently escaped capture.
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