CH-9. Rem

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He was also one of the famous strong men in the Sand Village.

During the Second Ninja World War, Aoki, who had just become a Jonin, became famous for killing more than a dozen Anbu from the Hidden Cloud Village in a single battle with his superb puppet techniques.

Throughout the long years of the war, Aoki killed more than twenty Jonin, including some who were on the verge of making a name for themselves. His military achievements were truly outstanding.

Even Pakura herself wouldn't have much chance of winning against this senior who had long been renowned.

She thought that lasting fifty moves against him would already be an achievement.

In Pakura's impression, although Rasa was stronger than her, his strength had its limits.

If Rasa still went to her house for dinner this afternoon, how would he have the time and energy to recharge for the battle tomorrow morning?

Besides, skipping a meal wouldn't be a big deal for a day or two.

Rasa's thoughts, however, were simpler. His most important task now was to stabilize the village and eliminate any obstacles that dared to stand in his way of becoming the Kazekage.

As for other things like eating and maintaining social ties, they had to be put off until later.

Rasa also had some darker thoughts in mind.

Right now, Pakura's favorability towards him was only in the 20s, so nothing significant would happen even if he dined at her house.

But if her favorability doubled by tomorrow, then things would be different.

Faced with Rasa's reasonable request, Aoki could not refuse and could only nod silently.

"Okay, remember to be there on time tomorrow!" With those words, Aoki Jonin left without looking back. The thought of soon becoming the Kazekage made the blood in Aoki's body rush faster.

In the past, he had been overshadowed by the Third Kazekage, the strongest Kazekage in history.

Aoki had once believed he would live under the Third Kazekage's shadow for the rest of his life.

But no one had expected the Third Kazekage to mysteriously disappear, and it was very likely that he was no longer alive.

With the Third Kazekage gone, only the elderly Chiyo and Ebizo remained.

Although there were still two or three ninjas in the village as strong as him, Aoki believed that if they fought to the death, he would most likely be the victor.

All he had to do now was defeat Rasa, the strongest of the younger generation, and make a name for himself.

Then his chances of winning the battle for the Fourth Kazekage would be very high!

Thinking about his future as Kazekage, a hearty smile appeared on Aoki's rough face.

Although the Sand Village was the poorest among the five great ninja villages, and the Kazekage's power was heavily constrained by the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and the village elders, it was still far better than being a Jonin.

Being Kazekage was dangerous, but being a Jonin wasn't exactly safe either.

Rasa silently watched Aoki's retreating figure and shook his head.

There was no mention of this Aoki in the original timeline.

That could only mean one thing—Aoki likely perished in the Third Ninja World War, leaving no lasting impact.

Rasa turned his gaze toward the increasing number of ninjas gathering around him.

After greeting Pakura briefly, he headed toward his home.

With only 370 skill points at the moment, he didn't even need to consider high-level combat items.

But based on his memories, Aoki was at least a top-tier Jonin, even stronger than Maki would be a dozen years later.

Still, Rasa wasn't too worried. After all, he had a system. Embarrassing as it was to admit, the system was undoubtedly part of his strength.

Once he got home, he would convert all his skill points into favorability-boosting items and try his best to raise others' favorability toward him.

With two days before the battle, he could accumulate several thousand skill points by then.

While it wouldn't be enough to exchange for something like the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan or Rinnegan, he could still get other powerful abilities.

After all, he had only skimmed the first page of the system's redemption list, which contained 100 items.

There were still 900 billion pages and 90 trillion redeemable items waiting to be explored.

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In a seemingly unremarkable room in the center of the Sand Village, Chiyo sat expressionlessly on a chair.

"Let them fight. Aoki has always had his eyes on the Kazekage position, and now he finally gets his chance." She said.

Ebizo, sitting beside her, chuckled, "Haha, sister, Aoki always likes to play clever tricks." He said, "This is why, despite his excellent talent, he has been unable to make further progress in terms of strength."

His faint smile did not reach his cloudy eyes. After all, the two siblings had already made their stance on Rasa's candidacy clear.

No one had objected at the time. Yet Aoki had immediately challenged Rasa after the meeting. Such underhanded behavior was a direct challenge to the authority of the siblings.

"Do you need me to warn Aoki?" A soft female voice suddenly spoke. The speaker wore a black windbreaker and a rabbit mask.

Even with her body mostly concealed, her silhouette suggested an impressive figure.

She wore black half-high heels, standing at 1.7 meters tall. Her fair and delicate feet peeked out slightly, smooth and unblemished. Her exposed neck, however, bore faint wrinkles—a sign of a seasoned puppeteer.

She was the same masked woman who had observed the earlier meeting from the shadows.

Chiyo considered the offer but ultimately shook her head.

"No, Aoki's challenge was reasonable, and Rasa accepted it. In that case, we have no grounds to interfere. Even if we did, the dissatisfaction among the villagers wouldn't go away."

Ebizo nodded, "If Rasa hadn't agreed, we would have had reason to step in. But since he did, there's nothing we can do." He sighed slightly, looking regretful.

The position of Kazekage did not necessarily require the strongest fighter in the village. But at the very least, the candidate needed to be among the top five or six.

Although both siblings were optimistic about Rasa's talent, based on his past performance, it would take another year or two for him to reach that level.

Their initial plan had been to delay the impending war as much as possible, buying Rasa more time to grow stronger before becoming the Fourth Kazekage.

But Rasa had rashly agreed to Aoki's challenge.

Did he not understand the implications of victory and defeat in this fight?

Or did he see through them but still accept out of pride?

Either way, it made them question whether Rasa was truly ready to become Kazekage.

Ebizo sighed, "After all, Rasa is only 23. He has spent most of the past year in the village and hasn't been on many missions."

Chiyo remained silent for a moment before looking at the woman in the rabbit mask, "Rem, go watch the match tomorrow in person. Report back to us immediately after the results are out."

Rem hesitated for a brief moment.

Chiyo immediately understood why and softened her voice, "Don't worry. We two are not dead yet. We can still protect ourselves. Besides, whoever killed the Third Kazekage is long gone. As deputy commander of the Shadow Guard, it's time for you to assess the future commander of the Guard."

Hearing this, Rem nodded silently, "Okay."

With a slight bow to the two elders, she vanished in the blink of an eye.

The Shadow Guard always obeyed the Kazekage's direct orders.

But with the Third Kazekage missing for over a day and likely dead.