"You are all the backbone of the village who remain at this time. What do you think?"
Chiyo's old, hoarse voice wasn't loud, but it cut cleanly through the noisy chatter filling the office.
The room fell silent in an instant, proof of Chiyo's authority in the Sand Village.
After a moment of stillness, a cautious middle-aged man in his forties finally spoke:
"Master Chiyo, with the Third Kazekage missing, I believe we should mobilize all available forces immediately and conduct a thorough search inside and outside the village."
This was the most straightforward and reasonable suggestion—and it matched what most of the jonin present were already thinking.
After all, the Kazekage was not only the leader of the village but also the heart of the Sand. His disappearance was no small matter.
Chiyo nodded slightly, then turned her gaze to Rasa.
"Rasa, what do you think?"
Since she had first announced the Kazekage's disappearance, Chiyo had been carefully observing everyone's reactions.
Among them all, Rasa's composure stood out the most.
He showed no panic, only the calm of someone who seemed to have already expected this.
That was why Chiyo chose him first.
Rasa had already prepared his words. He lifted his head, met Chiyo's gaze, and said firmly:
"Master Chiyo, I don't believe that's possible."
The moment those words left his mouth, every pair of eyes in the room locked onto him.
Ignoring their stares, Rasa continued steadily:
"Master Chiyo, you know my master's character. He would never leave the village with his guards without informing anyone."
"If we rule out the idea of him leaving on his own, then only one possibility remains."
"He may have been killed—and most likely within the village itself."
Chiyo's half-closed eyes snapped open, staring at Rasa as though truly seeing him for the first time.
Before she could respond, the burly middle-aged man who had spoken earlier sprang to his feet.
His fleshy face twisted with anger, he glared at Rasa.
"Rasa, watch your mouth! The Third Kazekage is the strongest Kazekage in our history. How could he possibly be killed—here in the village, no less?!"
"That's right!" another jonin added sharply. "How could someone so powerful die silently within our own walls?!"
"And Sandaime-sama always has two elite jonin with him!"
"Who in the ninja world could possibly kill the Kazekage and his guards without being noticed by anyone in the village?"
"Exactly! To accomplish that, it would have to be done in under a minute—do you really think that's possible?"
One after another, jonin rose to their feet, glaring daggers at Rasa and firing back with harsh words.
Even those who remained seated fixed him with cold, unfriendly eyes.
The Third Kazekage was the pride of the Sand.
For years, Sand shinobi had lived under the shadow of stronger villages, but thanks to the Kazekage, they could finally stand tall.
Rasa's words felt like an insult to that pride, igniting outrage.
Yet even as more than a dozen battle-hardened jonin bore down on him, Rasa's expression didn't waver.
He held Chiyo's gaze and spoke calmly:
"Master Chiyo, you've lived through both the First and Second Ninja Wars. Tell me honestly—would you place my master in the top five among the leaders of the great villages?"
At this, Chiyo remained silent.
A flicker of sorrow crossed her aged features.
She and her brother had lived long enough to witness the world's changes with their own eyes.
How could they not recognize the truth behind the Kazekage's sudden disappearance?
But admitting it was another matter entirely.
The Sand had always been weaker, compensating for inferiority with arrogance.
The Third Kazekage had been a symbol of pride that finally lifted their spirits.
But if news spread that their strongest Kazekage had been killed near—or even inside—the village, unnoticed for a full day, the Sand would become a laughingstock.
The blow would crush morale. Fear and inferiority would deepen.
Rebellions could even break out.
Yet Rasa's blunt words shattered the illusions Chiyo and her brother clung to. Cruel as they were, they were also the truth.
The jonin who had first spoken—Aoki Jonin—looked shaken. After exchanging uneasy glances with the others, he finally sat back down, as did the rest.
Chiyo hadn't answered, but everyone understood.
The Sand's lack of resources and other factors had always left its high-level combat power trailing behind the other great villages.
The "strongest Kazekage" was only strongest within the Sand. Compared to other villages… the truth was bitter.
The office sank into heavy silence.
Everyone had considered this possibility before—but pride had kept them from admitting it.
At last, Aoki Jonin broke the oppressive stillness in a hoarse voice:
"Even so… we should mobilize the entire village to search for Kazekage-sama's remains. No matter how powerful the killer, he couldn't have left without no trace at all!"
Rasa gave him a glance, recalling from memory who he was.
Aoki Jonin was a typical puppeteer—strong-bodied but simple-minded.
Still, his close-combat skills combined with his mastery of puppetry made him one of the Sand's top fighters.
Unlike most puppeteers, his face bore no painted lines. True masters needed no such marks; their strength alone was proof.
Rasa shook his head.
"We could mobilize the whole village. But even if we did, would we truly find anything?"
"And once we make such a show of force, wouldn't the other villages catch on immediately?"
"It's been ten years since the Second Ninja World War. You all know how our strength compares to theirs now."
At these words, Aoki let out a long sigh. His rough face twisted with unwillingness, mixed with other complex emotions.
The others quickly grasped Rasa's meaning.
The Sand still hadn't recovered from the Second War. The other villages had.
Konoha and the Cloud, especially, were stronger than ever.
If they discovered the Kazekage was gone, they would seize the chance without hesitation.
This wasn't about morality or alliances. It was about survival and interests.
And the Sand's relations with the others had never been good.
Chiyo remained quiet for a long time. Finally, her withered lips parted, and her voice came out heavy with grief and indignation:
"In that case, Rasa… what do you think we should do?"
At once, the jonin around them widened their eyes and exchanged startled glances.
They understood what it meant for Chiyo to ask this.
Yet instead of objecting, they all turned to Rasa again.
This time, there was no anger in their eyes—only expectation.
Pakura too lifted her gaze, her emerald-red eyes resting on the young man beside her.
Rasa's composure and insight completely overturned her impression of him.
She had always thought of him as quiet, serious, and devoted only to training.
But now, facing furious jonin, he stood unshaken—calm, sharp, and fearless.
Her heart began to pound faster.
A strange warmth spread through her, growing stronger with each passing moment until it filled her whole chest.
She didn't understand it.
Having never known love, with little experience beyond the battlefield, she couldn't recognize this new feeling for what it was.
But it was there, undeniable.
Rasa, of course, noticed none of this.
He only let out a subtle sigh of relief, knowing he had nearly convinced them.
As a reincarnated man, he remembered the events of the original history clearly.
The Sand had once made the mistake of mobilizing the entire village to search for the Kazekage.
When nothing was found, the search expanded across the Land of Wind, and eventually even into neighboring countries.
The result was disastrous.
Within days, the Cloud discovered the Kazekage's disappearance and launched a massive offensive.
That single event became the spark that ignited the Third Ninja World War.
The Sand, still reeling from the last war, suffered catastrophic losses.
In the end, the Fourth Kazekage—Rasa himself—chose to sacrifice Pakura, the hero who had once shone so brilliantly on the Mist front.
He deceived her into going alone to the Hidden Mist to sign a so-called peace treaty.
Loyal to the village but blind to politics, Pakura never understood the truth until her final moment.
The Mist's sole demand for peace had been her death.
And by then, it was already too late.
Even more than a decade later, when Naruto took part in his first Chunin Exams, the Sand had still not fully recovered.
This also led to the then Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, deciding to take the risk of launching a surprise attack during the Chunin Exams in Konoha, using underhanded methods.
But in the end, he was killed by Orochimaru along the way, and his body was left exposed in the desert for several days before being found by the Sand Village.
From the very beginning, Rasa observed the incident as an outsider. With the help of his reincarnated memories, he deduced the entire process just from the outcome.
Naturally, it was easy to convince the high-ranking officials of the Sand Village, who were drowning in grief and confusion.
These thoughts flashed through Rasa's mind, but he didn't remain idle. Slowly, he voiced his plan: