Chapter 67: The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa

Inside the Kazekage Building.

Ebizō proposed starting a War to solve Sunagakure's problems.

After Ebizō's proposal, the entire meeting room fell into stunned silence.

Everyone gawked at Ebizō in shock, including Chiyo.

After a moment of silence, Chiyo solemnly asked, "Right now, the entire ninja world only needs a single spark to trigger a full-scale War. If we start this war ourselves, it means we will be that spark. Are we really capable of handling it?"

The other elders shared Chiyo's concerns. Everyone knew Sunagakure's situation—short on funds, and both the number and quality of our ninja are no match for the other four great villages.

Whoever starts the War must bear the greatest pressure first.

Everyone worried whether Sunagakure could withstand such pressure.

Ebizō analyzed the situation for everyone, saying, "If we don't start the War, searching for the missing Third Kazekage will waste tremendous manpower and resources. Continuing like this will only worsen our village's condition. Even if a new Kazekage becomes leader, it would still be hard to reverse this trend.

Rather than continuing like this, we should roll the dice on a bold move. We can use the Third's disappearance as justification for starting the War, uniting everyone under one cause instead of staying divided like scattered sand (lacking cohesion), because then, everyone will focus outward together!

Also, the new Kazekage won't face villagers' dissatisfaction—the people's goals will align, so they'll surely obey the new Kazekage's orders.

As for the burden of starting the War, we can pass it on to other ninja villages to lighten our load. This way, our problem will be resolved."

Chiyo thought for a moment and said, "Pass the burden to other villages… You mean Konoha and Iwagakure?"

Ebizō nodded. "Exactly, Konoha and Iwagakure. Although we don't know their exact situations, it's undeniable that Konoha stole the Magnet Release kekkei genkai bearer that was originally intended for Iwagakure. We might use this matter to provoke conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure, forcing them into war with each other.

Our village has reached a critical point now—conventional methods are no longer enough to resolve these issues. Only desperate action can save us now. So, does everyone agree with my proposal?"

Chiyo was the first to voice her agreement. The other advisors carefully considered Ebizō's suggestion and felt they seemingly had no better choice, so they agreed one after another.

One advisor broke the silence and asked, "Then who will become the Fourth Kazekage?"

Ebizō replied, "At present, there is only one candidate for the Fourth Kazekage—Rasa, the Third's clan member and trusted aide."

Chiyo agreed, "Indeed, only Rasa is qualified to become Kazekage. Others fall short compared to him."

After a hand vote, Rasa was officially confirmed as the next Kazekage.

Ebizō sent a ninja to find Rasa.

Rasa arrived at the meeting room and saw that all of Sunagakure's top officials had already gathered there. He immediately figured out what was going on.

After all, so many days had passed without any trace of the Third Kazekage, and Sunagakure's situation had only worsened. Now they definitely needed to choose a new Kazekage to lead the village.

It's not like Rasa was bragging—it's just that, right now, there truly wasn't anyone else in the entire Sunagakure qualified for this role.

This was because the Third Kazekage himself had been grooming Rasa as his successor.

In their spare time, the Third Kazekage often spoke with Rasa about matters concerning various ninja villages, helping Rasa develop a clear understanding of the overall structure of the ninja world.

Ebizō informed Rasa about what they had just been discussing.

After hearing everything, Rasa's expression turned very serious.

Although his guess had been correct—being summoned here meant being asked to become Kazekage—he hadn't expected to be thrown into such a hellish situation the moment he took over the role.

Still, upon reflection, the reality did seem exactly as Ebizō described.

Since he wouldn't be succeeding the Kazekage position through normal succession but rather due to the Third Kazekage's disappearance, some people would inevitably refuse to accept his leadership, still hoping the Third might return.

To resolve this issue, Ebizō's suggestion was indeed the most feasible: start a war to shift everyone's attention outward and stop them from focusing on the missing Third Kazekage.

That way, situations where others refused to follow his orders could be avoided.

Rasa agreed, saying, "Now that the Third has gone missing and our village faces an extremely critical situation, I cannot stand aside. After becoming Kazekage, I will heed the advisors' counsel and begin preparations for war right away."

Ebizō nodded, "Then after this meeting, we'll announce your succession as Kazekage immediately. Now we need to discuss what justification we should use for starting the war."

They discussed for a while and came up with several possible plans, but couldn't reach a consensus.

At that moment, Rasa suggested, "Since we aim to incite conflict between Iwagakure and Konoha, let's first target Iwagakure. Last time, Iwagakure sent us a batch of military supplies, hoping to form an alliance with our village to attack Konoha. The Third accepted those supplies but didn't officially ally with Iwagakure. Onoki kept sending messages demanding their return.

We can use this incident as our excuse. We can fabricate evidence implicating Iwagakure in the disappearance of the Third Kazekage and then declare war outright.

Once the war begins, we'll spread rumors that Konoha took possession of the Magnet Release kekkei genkai bearer that originally belonged to Iwagakure. Because of this, Onoki of Iwagakure sought to ally with Sunagakure to strike against Konoha. In retaliation, Konoha attacked the Third Kazekage and framed Iwagakure for it.

As long as these rumors spread effectively, we can approach Onoki and explain that it was all a misunderstanding—that we were deceived by Konoha. Furthermore, since the war has already begun, Onoki will surely realize that engaging us directly offers no advantage. It would be better for him to join forces with us against Konoha."

"After attacking Konoha together with Iwagakure, we Suna ninja will gradually withdraw and let them continue fighting while we observe from the sidelines, seeking the right opportunity to seize resources."

After discussion among Ebizō and others, Rasa's proposal was approved.

"The desperate have nothing to fear from the cautious. It makes no sense for Onoki to engage in a deadly confrontation without benefit. With Onoki's personality of never acting without profit, he definitely won't do anything without benefits, but absolutely will when there are benefits involved. Attacking Konoha brings benefits."

So fundamentally speaking, Rasa's plan wasn't problematic at all. As long as they found a suitable reason to start the war and controlled the general direction properly, detailed issues could be gradually supplemented and corrected later.

After the meeting, Chiyo, Ebizō, and other high-ranking officials gathered all Sunagakure villagers together to formally announce The Third Kazekage's disappearance, while simultaneously announcing Rasa's succession as The Fourth Kazekage, who would thoroughly investigate The Third Kazekage's disappearance.

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