Rasa, unaware of Pakura's mental spiral, let out a quiet breath of relief.
He knew—he had just about won them over.
He had the memories of his past life and the knowledge of canon events, so he knew what would happen if he let Sunagakure continue on its original path.
In canon, Sunagakure had gone insane, mobilizing the entire village to search for any trace of the Third Kazekage.
When they couldn't find anything locally, they expanded the search across the entire Land of Wind, and eventually even into foreign lands.
The result?
Within days, Kumogakure caught wind of what was happening—and immediately launched a large-scale invasion.
That event became the trigger for the Third Great Ninja War.
Still battered from the last war, Sunagakure was utterly unprepared.
The village was devastated—again.
Eventually, Sunagakure was forced to fight on multiple fronts against several other Great Nations, brought to the brink of collapse.
And it was because of that desperation that, in canon, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, chose to use Pakura—a celebrated war hero from the Kirigakure front—as a sacrificial pawn to appease the enemy.
He tricked her into going to Kirigakure alone under the pretense of signing a peace treaty.
Loyal to the core and politically naïve, Pakura didn't realize the truth until the moment of her death:
The only condition for peace was her head.
Even with her death, the effort was too little, too late.
Years later, during Naruto's first Chūnin Exams, Sunagakure still hadn't recovered its strength.
This was what drove the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, to later take a gamble—launching a surprise attack during the Chūnin Exams hosted in Konoha, employing deception and misdirection.
But the result?
He was killed by Orochimaru en route, and his body lay exposed in the desert for several days before Sunagakure finally found it.
From the very beginning, Rasa had viewed all of this from the perspective of an outsider, and with the benefit of memories from his past life, he had been able to reverse-engineer the future from its consequences.
And so, convincing the emotionally compromised, short-sighted Sunagakure leadership had been surprisingly easy.
These thoughts flashed through his mind as he calmly continued laying out his plan:
"In my opinion, we must begin preparing for war now—operate under the assumption that conflict is imminent.
We should begin discreetly stockpiling supplies and quietly gathering our elite shinobi. Deploy them to the borders as a precaution."
"At the same time, we need to immediately increase the training intensity for our reserve forces—train them under wartime conditions."
At this point, Rasa turned his gaze to Ebizō.
"Elder Ebizō, I believe you should publicly appear as the Kazekage in disguise. There's no need to show up often—too frequent appearances would only increase the risk of exposure.
Just one or two public sightings per day at irregular times should be enough to maintain the illusion for at least ten days or half a month."
"Even if the other Hidden Villages grow suspicious, they won't dare act rashly."
After a moment's pause, Rasa added, knowing Sunagakure lacked his canon knowledge—and still believed the Third Kazekage might be alive:
"Of course, searching for Lord Kazekage must continue.
We can discreetly dispatch trusted shinobi who are currently idle—give them a variety of cover assignments while secretly tasking them with the search."
Pakura's eyes lit up as she listened.
Her gaze, already warm, became even more intense.
Her towering chest—so large Rasa would need both hands to barely hold one—shifted up and down with every breath despite being tightly bound by clothing, drawing elegant arcs in motion.
Her long, sleek, perfectly smooth legs pressed together instinctively, knees brushing as she sat straight-backed.
Her core warmed as she felt her fold moistened from Rasa's decisive, and handsome figure.
Meanwhile, in one of the office's shadowy corners...
A tall woman stood with her arms crossed beneath a black windbreaker. Her massive chest looked even more dramatic in that posture.
Her face was hidden behind an ANBU mask, making her identity unclear—
but her eyeswere visible, reflecting the sharp, confident figure of Rasa in vivid clarity.
She stared silently at him, and for a moment, a flicker of excitement passed through her previously calm eyes.
It vanished just as quickly.
She nodded slowly—clearly in full agreement with Rasa's reasoning—then turned her head gracefully to observe the others.
Chiyo, having heard everything, looked openly pleased and gratified.
She instinctively exchanged a glance with Ebizō, and the two elders nodded in unison.
Initially, Chiyo had only summoned the remaining village jōnin to inform them of the situation and unify efforts in searching for the Third Kazekage.
She hadn't expected this disciple—Rasa, whom she had always thought of as quiet, reserved, and buried in his training—to possess such clarity of thought, boldness of vision, and emotional control.
Even though his own teacher had gone missing—and was likely dead—not a trace of sorrow showed on his face.
For a normal person, that might seem cold.
But for a future leader, a Kazekage, it was a tremendous asset.
It meant he wouldn't act recklessly out of anger, nor make impulsive decisions that would cost lives.
It was a rare quality in a village like Sunagakure—where resources were scarce, and short-term thinking often dominated decision-making.
As a result, Sunagakure was notorious for producing brash, muscle-brained shinobi.
Chiyo exchanged another look with Ebizō.
Both nodded again.
In that silent exchange, a decision had clearly been made.