Chapter 159: Rasa's sincerity

Natsuo came to the front line against Sunagakure alone and did not bring any Konoha ninja.

He came for two reasons: to bring his wife back home and to deal with Tsunade's little plan. Although she agreed to have his children, she insisted on having a grand wedding before entering the Uchiha clan.

This was a reasonable request, as Natsuo had held weddings for all of his other wives. There was no reason for things to change when it came to Tsunade.

However, she made it clear that as Fifth Hokage, she had to lead by example. With all of Konoha's shinobi fighting on the front lines, she couldn't justify the extravagance of a wedding. But without a wedding, she refused to accept Natsuo.

In other words, she was forcing Natsuo to help her end the current Shinobi World War as soon as possible.

Although the Fourth Shinobi World War had been relatively short, the casualties were not insignificant. Especially for Kumogakure, the losses suffered during this war were severe and needed to be recovered urgently.

Tsunade was worried about Natsuo's eyes, so she concluded the negotiations with Kirigakure as soon as possible, and she also worried about the safety of the Konoha ninjas.

As a doctor, Tsunade always had a compassionate heart.

Although Tsunade played some tricks, she was able to convince Natsuo to help her once, just one more time. She had to solve the Iwagakure problem herself and she couldn't find any more excuses to ask Natsuo for help.

Naturally, Tsunade agreed to this. After all, Kumogakure had been completely defeated and Jiraiya could mobilize to take charge of the battle line against Iwagakure.

So, on one hand, Natsuo came to pick up his new wife, and on the other hand, he was helping Tsunade.

Natsuo arrived alone at the battlefield against Sunagakure, thinking that since he had already established communication with Rasa and that he would just have to come to take Temari away. But who would have thought...

"Little Natsuo, why don't you come down and die?"

"Natsuo, you are nothing! Today is the time when the name of Sunagakure resonates throughout the Shinobi world!"

"Long live Kazekage-sama!"

The Suna Shinobi were full of fighting spirit, their faces determined. Their eyes were filled with reverence and trust towards their Kazekage.

As he listened to the Suna Shinobi scream, Rasa was on the verge of tears.

Rasa was very aware of the delicate situation he found himself in. The reason why he seemed confident before was because he had already planned to bow his head and seek peace when Natsuo arrived. He really didn't want to fight with him!

[Cough, cough]

"Don't be overconfident, I still can't defeat Uchiha Natsuo."

At the same time Rasa complained in his mind: 'That's right! I can't defeat Uchiha Natsuo. So don't have strange expectations!'

However, upon hearing this, the Suna shinobi's eyes lit up.

"Now we understand."

Rasa was taken aback upon hearing what the Suna Shinobi were saying, then he began to scold them in his mind: 'What the hell do you understand now?'

"Kazekage-sama just acknowledged that he couldn't face Natsuo directly, so he had already prepared traps against him, right?"

Many Suna Shinobi became excited upon hearing this. "That must be!"

"It is impossible to directly confront the giant summoned by Natsuo."

"But shinobi are not samurai who need to fight head-on!"

"This battle will be a clash of wits, and Kazekage-sama has already taken the lead!"

Many Suna Shinobi, including Baki, looked at the Fourth Kazekage Rasa with an expression of admiration.

"Lord Kazekage, with your deep foresight, you must have already anticipated the current situation, right?"

"Although Natsuo is recognized as the strongest in the Shinobi world. Kazekage-sama must have prepared many powerful means to deal with him from the beginning, right?"

"Kazekage-sama now is the time to show your wisdom!"

Rasa: "..."

Hearing the voices of the Suna Shinobi on the other side, Natsuo's expression was a little strange.

Although Natsuo had long heard about the rumors that Rasa was the strongest Kazekage, but he really didn't expect that all the Suna Shinobi had become like this...

Everyone has transformed! It's terrifying...

Rasa's mouth twitched, and for a while, he couldn't say anything. He could only scream in his mind. 'What a fucking battle of wits?! At what point did you see me setting traps on the battlefield?!'

'My genius is to hire a bunch of teachers for my daughter, in order to make her the best wife possible!'

'Maybe she ends up cajoling Natsuo so much that he ends up coming to Sunagakure. This is my wisdom!'

But even if Rasa is shameless, he can't say such things to his subordinates.

And although it is somewhat embarrassing, because he is now the 'strongest Kazekage', all of Sunagakure operates according to his orders and that gives him a feeling of accomplishment. Plus every Suna shinobi now looks at him with admiration...

He really can't help himself! Even if he is forcing the situation, he wants to force it a little more...

Rasa uses the Sand Gold to rise into the air, while looking at Natsuo with a hint of arrogance in his expression.

"Natsuo, long time no see!"

"Yeah, long time no see." Natsuo's expression is strange. "You've changed a lot."

"After all, I carry the hopes of the entire village." Rasa's voice is strong. "Naturally, there should be some changes."

This 'hope of the entire village' almost made Natsuo burst into laughter. But the Suna shinobi give him a lot of respect and cheer loudly.

"That's right! Rasa-sama, you are our hope!"

"You are the light of Sunagakure! The future of Sunagakure is in your hands!"

"Rasa-sama, please make sure to win!"

Rasa's mouth twitches, and the sand under his feet quickly flies towards the distance.

"Let's go, Natsuo. This is not the place for a battle!" His expression becomes solemn, and he says in a deep voice, "I don't want to see the bloodshed of my Sunagakure companions..."

"Come on! You and I will solve the problems between Konoha and Sunagakure in a one-on-one battle!"

"Let's have a conversation between men!"

Natsuo more or less understands Rasa's plan, so he nods and then follows him.

Rasa felt a sense of relief seeing Natsuo following him, then shouted at the Suna Shinobi. "Listen to my command, everyone stay in place!"

"Listen carefully, no one is allowed to get close, once the battle starts you could end up dying from the aftereffects!"

"It is absolutely, absolutely not allowed to come over!"

"As the Kazekage I will endure everything. You just need to trust your hopes in me!"

"I will fight for Sunagakure!"

"Do you understand?"

Saying that, he gradually moved away. Natsuo also followed leisurely.

Leaving behind only the Suna Shinobi with faces full of admiration, watching Rasa's departure with fanatical eyes.

When Rasa's figure completely disappeared, the Suna Shinobi started discussing frantically.

"Rasa-sama looked so cool!"

"Is this the magnanimity of the Kazekage?"

"Damn, why didn't he let us help? Even if I risk my life, I will create an opportunity for Rasa-sama to kill Natsuo!"

"Fool! Do you think you are the only one willing to sacrifice your life for Rasa-sama? Look around you, who is not willing to die for Rasa-sama?"

"But precisely because of this, Rasa-sama does not allow us to participate in the battle!"

"Can Rasa-sama... win?"

"He will definitely win! He is the Kazekage who possesses extraordinary intellect!"

"Hehe... I guess when Natsuo arrives on the battlefield, he will be shocked by Rasa-sama!"

In fact, as the last Suna Shinobi said, Natsuo was really surprised. After all...

Without any hesitation, Rasa knelt down and knocked his head on the ground. "Natsuo, I'm sorry. I really didn't expect it to turn out like this!"

Natsuo: "..."

Yes, who could have imagined that the shadow of a shinobi village would directly kneel?

Even Natsuo was taken aback.

Truly a disgrace to the Kage level, Rasa really embarrassed the Kage level.

"So, how did your village end up like that?" Natsuo's mouth twitched as he spoke.

"I don't know either!" Rasa looked helpless. "After Operation Destroy Konoha, all the Suna Shinobi showed me the utmost respect, and there was even some admiration in their eyes. No matter what orders I gave, they would interpret them in the best way possible..."

"I also don't understand how they all ended up like this!"

Rasa looked innocent. Although he enjoyed the title of 'Strongest Kazekage' now, he hadn't lost his sanity. He was also worried that the Suna Shinobi's morale was too high, and they might accidentally clash with Natsuo.

So, before losing himself to glory, he deliberately tried to make the Suna Shinobi realize that he was not invincible or all-powerful by issuing some incorrect military orders and making mistakes.

However, it was futile.

Rasa remembered a time when he forcefully ordered a squad to attack a camp in Konoha. According to the intelligence, it was an absolute mistake in terms of the power balance.

However, to his surprise, when the squad stormed into the Konoha camp, they found only a few shinobi but a large amount of supplies.

It turned out that the commander at that time, due to lack of personnel, had to bluff and release false information about the camp, trying to scare the Suna Shinobi for a few days, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. But this flaw was exposed due to Rasa's erroneous order at that time.

Konoha suffered a huge defeat, while Sunagakure gained a large amount of resources. It was an almost miraculous victory.

The Suna Shinobi cheered together, praising the Kazekage for his wisdom and cunning. They also expressed that the Kazekage had seen Konoha's tactics long ago and therefore ordered the attack.

Instead of diminishing the Suna Shinobi's meaningless admiration for him, he seemed to have intensified it.

This kind of thing has happened more than once. He didn't know if it was because Sunagakure had been blessed with good luck, but the Suna Shinobi had repeatedly achieved similar overwhelming victories.

Sunagakure's inexplicable troop movements not only caused no losses, but disrupted Konoha's defenses, forcing Konoha's commander to move troops randomly and ultimately suffer a major defeat.

After a few times, even the Kazekage himself gave up. But even if he gave up, he still had to work hard for Sunagakure.

That's why Rasa didn't hesitate to kneel, because he knew that Sunagakure's safety rested on his shoulders. His actions would directly determine the fate of Sunagakure...

"Oh? So you're saying that Sunagakure intends to surrender." Natsuo rubbed his chin. "Tsunade should accept it, but your Suna Shinobi just scolded me harshly earlier."

"Don't you plan to compensate me?" Natsuo looked at Rasa with a half-smile.

"You can name your price." Rasa said straightforwardly. "I'll accept whatever I can accept, and if I can't accept it, I'll fight to the death."

After all, that's how reality is.

Upon hearing this, Natsuo chuckled softly. "Very well then... I don't want anything excessive. I heard that the elder of Sunagakure, Chiyo, has a Forbidden Technique called 'Kisho Tensei' that can bring the dead back to life... I want that."

'Does Elder Chiyo have a secret technique like that? Why didn't she know?' Rasa felt puzzled, but still readily agreed, "Okay, I will immediately request it from Chiyo. As long as she has it, I should be able to get it back!"

After all, he was the strongest Kazekage in Sunagakure. He had righteousness on his side.

Even just by listening to Natsuo's description, Rasa knew that the Forbidden Technique was extremely important, but he didn't hesitate.

"Okay, then I agree." Natsuo shrugged. "Have Sunagakure send ninjas to Konoha to admit defeat and sign the treaty."

"Oh, by the way, where is Temari? I came this time intending to bring her back."

Saying this, he turned around and was about to head towards the Sunagakure camp.

"Wait! Natsuo-sama!" Rasa reached out his hand and said: "Could you please do me a favor?"

"Hmm?" Natsuo frowned as he looked at Rasa.

Rasa felt a little embarrassed and said: "As you know, I am currently the strongest Kazekage in Sunagakure, and I am burdened by the responsibility of that title... Can you please use your strongest technique and pretend to fight me?"

There's no other way. If there's no action at all, then his reputation as the strongest Kazekage will be gone. Although Rasa knows it's self-deception, he still wants to keep the title of the strongest Kazekage.

Natsuo's mouth twitched, and he glanced at him. "My appearance fee is not cheap."

Hearing this, Rasa did not hesitate and said: "To be honest, I have hired a number of teachers for Temari, even specifically inviting many experienced Oiran... Cough cough..."

"To teach her what she needs to know before marrying into a big clan like the Uchiha clan."

"Can my sincerity cover this time's appearance fee?"

Natsuo fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. It must be said that Rasa's 'sincerity' moved him quite a bit.

"Okay, I'll help you create an epic battle."

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