Some people hated Konoha deeply. The moment they heard anything unfavorable to Konoha, they agreed immediately.
But others expressed doubt.
If Konoha possessed such powerful strength, why would it need to cut ties with the Akatsuki?
Would it not be enough to directly crush the shinobi world with force?
Could they still care about reputation?
…
With the Akatsuki's defeat, everyone dispersed.
Rasa brought Bunpuku back to Sunagakure.
Half a month later, Bunpuku, whose mood had improved as Sunagakure's situation improved and whose life had therefore been extended by several more years, finally reached the end of his lifespan and died of old age.
Sunagakure held a grand funeral for Bunpuku, displaying his contributions to the village.
Using his own body as a prison to restrain a Tailed Beast.
He was a hero of the village.
"All nine Tailed Beasts have been gathered."
Alone, Rasa arrived deep in the desert.
This was the westernmost edge of the Land of Wind.
In truth, it could no longer really be considered part of the Land of Wind.
Few people ever came here.
"Summoning Technique!"
The enormous Gedo Statue appeared.
Rasa took out the nine Tailed Beasts one by one.
In order, he fed them to the Gedo Statue.
And after devouring the Tailed Beasts, the Gedo Statue's form continued changing.
Until finally, it became an enormous tree towering into the clouds.
That was the Divine Tree.
"Next, all that remains is to wait."
With a thought from Rasa—
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!"
The next moment, a vast amount of sand combined under Rasa's control, forming a house.
After that, a courtyard appeared as well.
Rasa settled down here.
On one hand, he would wait for the Divine Tree to bear fruit and for the fruit to mature.
On the other, he would wait for the sixteenth rumor to generate points.
At this moment, Rasa's Otsutsuki bloodline was only a few percentage points away from reaching one hundred percent.
This meant that once the sixteenth rumor completed its point accumulation, Rasa's Otsutsuki bloodline would immediately reach one hundred percent, and he would become a complete Otsutsuki.
Then, after eating the Chakra Fruit, he would be no different from Kaguya Otsutsuki of the past.
He might even be stronger.
Kaguya Otsutsuki's strength back then was beyond question. The reason she was defeated was partly because Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hamura Otsutsuki were indeed astonishing geniuses.
But another reason was that Hagoromo Otsutsuki used natural energy—in other words, the power of Sage Arts.
When his chakra power was inferior to Kaguya Otsutsuki's, it was only through the supplementation of natural energy that he managed to seal Kaguya away.
And Rasa knew Sage Arts.
One portion came from Jiraiya.
Another came from Orochimaru.
"Learn Sage Arts."
"Raise the Otsutsuki bloodline to one hundred percent."
"Eat the Divine Tree Fruit."
"Once these three things are complete, even Otsutsuki Momoshiki and Otsutsuki Urashiki will not be my opponents."
"Let alone Otsutsuki Isshiki, who is merely possessing Jigen."
As for Black Zetsu, to Rasa, it posed even less of a threat.
Time passed little by little.
Compared to Rasa's peaceful life here, the outside world fell into chaos again and again.
Konoha and Kagakure broke out into several battles.
Konoha grew weaker and weaker, while Kagakure grew stronger and stronger.
Only the Sarutobi, Ino-Shika-Cho, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans continued to hold firm in Konoha.
The remaining forces had basically all defected to Kagakure.
A toad-man Jiraiya, and a Tsunade who had overcome her hemophobia—whether in strength or potential, both were far above Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.
At first, Kagakure feared that Konoha might possess the power it had granted to the Akatsuki.
But after probing several times, Konoha showed nothing.
This made Kagakure bolder and bolder.
Kumogakure completed its reconstruction, but after Nagato's attack, its losses had been too severe. In the short term, it was no longer possible for it to recover to its previous level. It was now more or less similar to Kirigakure.
Before leaving, Rasa handed his position as Kazekage to Pakura.
Aside from a small number of people, no one knew where Rasa had gone.
This caused ambition to rise within Onoki's heart. He began to wonder whether there was some problem with Sunagakure's Magnet Release users. The Third Kazekage had disappeared, and now the Fourth Kazekage had disappeared as well.
Iwagakure began attempting all sorts of probes against Sunagakure.
"This is an opportunity!"
"As long as we defeat Sunagakure and obtain their resources, Iwagakure can immediately become the greatest shinobi village, bar none. And we will be able to maintain that position for a long time."
This tempted Onoki greatly.
"Kazekage-sama!"
An intelligence ninja rushed quickly into the Kazekage Building.
Pakura raised her head.
"What is it?"
"Our ninja at the border have discovered traces of Iwagakure's army."
"Iwagakure's army?"
Pakura's expression changed.
"Does Iwagakure want to oppose Sunagakure that badly?"
"Do they truly think Sunagakure is no match for them, that we are easy to bully?"
"If they want war, then Sunagakure will accompany them to the end!"
Previously, Pakura simply did not want too many casualties, so she had not responded too strongly to Iwagakure's probing. She had not expected Iwagakure to become even more aggressive.
Now they even wanted to start a war with Sunagakure.
They had secretly sent troops into the Land of Wind, intending to launch a surprise attack on Sunagakure.
"What does Sunagakure have to fear from Iwagakure?"
Even without Rasa present, Pakura did not think Sunagakure was no match for Iwagakure.
Following Pakura's order, Sunagakure's army quickly gathered.
The atmosphere became tense.
Onoki's figure floated high in the sky, looking down below.
For this operation, Onoki had decided to personally lead the army and defeat Sunagakure with the greatest possible speed.
"Whether Rasa comes back or not, now is the best opportunity."
"All the losses we suffered at Sunagakure's hands before—this time, I will take them all back."
A figure appeared in Onoki's mind.
"Kitsuchi, your father will avenge you!"
Below, Pakura raised her head and saw Onoki as well.
But she showed no fear at all.
Even if the other party held air superiority and possessed Dust Release, a Kekkei Tota with terrifying destructive power—
Pakura tightened her grip on Hiramekarei.
A large amount of Scorch Release chakra poured into it.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Just as the largest war since the Third Great Ninja War was about to erupt—
At that moment—
A figure appeared without anyone noticing.
He stood in the sky out of nowhere.
His hair was pale red, and he wore a brown-gold cloak.
Rasa looked down at Iwagakure's army below and frowned. Then he took out a handful of pea seeds from his pocket.
He scattered them downward.
"Inari!"
The moment those pea seeds fell, they violently took root and sprouted. Then they grew at extreme speed—enormous and endlessly long.
In an instant, they enveloped the entire Iwagakure army.
This sudden change startled Sunagakure's forces.
"This is?"
"Fourth Kazekage-sama?"
Pakura hurriedly raised her head.
"My husband?"
Under Rasa's attack, the entire Iwagakure army collapsed in a single blow.
Panic appeared on Onoki's face.
"Rasa, this is a misunder—"
But before he could finish speaking—
A pitch-black spear had already pierced into Onoki's body.
Puchi!
Onoki's eyes widened. He lowered his head and saw a fist-sized hole in his chest.
Blood burst out violently, and his body seemed to lose all strength.
The next moment, he fell straight downward.
"Tsuchikage-sama is dead!"
"Avenge Tsuchikage-sama!"
An Iwagakure ninja shouted in rage.
But even more Iwagakure ninja revealed terrified expressions and fled in all directions.
The Sunagakure ninja cheered.
"It's Fourth Kazekage-sama!"
"Long live Fourth Kazekage-sama!"
Rasa looked down calmly.
After returning to Sunagakure, Rasa convened a village assembly.
All the high-ranking officials gathered.
Rasa swept his gaze around the room.
"Everyone, the time has come."
"Next, this will be Sunagakure's era."
"We will proceed steadily according to this plan."
"Our objective is the entire shinobi world."
"Within three years, we will complete it."