Chapter 28: Highly Confidential

"Brother, it seems to me that you're just trying to look for trouble where there is none, I understand your suspicion, but the Third Kazekage appreciates his apprentice too much to put him in unnecessary danger" commented Chiyo.

"Maybe... the team that he placed his apprentice with doesn't seem strange to you either?" asked Ebizo.

"Well... I admit that the team he decided to have his apprentice participate in these Chunin exams with, yes it is quite strange"

'Two civilian ninjas, one who failed the genin exam twice for misconduct and lack of compliance in his exams, and the other a ninja who uses Suna combat techniques but only has an average level, she only excels a little in medical ninjutsu, I must say it's a strange combination if you add them to a genius like Rasa" replied Chiyo.

"Clearly it's strange, I know he said he chose these two civilian ninja, because they are the strongest among the ninja who are not yet Chunin, still it's strange, why not just assure and put Rasa with two of the six ninja specially trained in Anbu?" said a doubtful Ebizo

"Maybe he knew that if he did that, the clans would think he was over-favoring his apprentice, and that's exactly why he decided to leave the six clan ninja together and just put Rasa together with the best Genin he found in the village"

"Yeah, I may be overthinking it, but I have a feeling it's not that simple sister"

iki Clan, Rasa's House, Training Camp.

Rasa was practicing his gold dust release in the training camp he had made in his house for personal use.

He decided to spend a large sum of money to buy the land near his house and build all kinds of private facilities there.

Among all the things he had built, the one he used the most was his training camp.

Here he could not only secretly practice his Jutsus or his release of gold dust, but he could also practice and improve his level of control over the metal without having to worry about others seeing him.

Rasa had plenty of money to spend, so it was simple to build and obtain almost everything he needed.

Once he drained most of his chakra, he began to train his body.

After his first mission in Anbu, Rasa had asked the Kazekage for some Taijutsu techniques with which he could improve his close combat as he felt the need to improve in that area.

To his luck there was a civilian Jonin in Suna well known nowadays who specialized in Taijutsu, his name was Tōjūrō and he was one of the strongest ninjas in the village.

Rasa didn't remember hearing about this ninja in canon, but he supposed he must not remember him, after all, he didn't have an eidetic memory about the world of Naruto.

Tōjūrō agreed to teach Rasa some of his techniques at the request of the Third Kazekage, but Rasa first had to go through training that would allow him to learn his Taijutsu techniques.

Rasa knew that the Jonin named Tōjūrō was only willing to teach him Taijutsu to gain the favor of his master the Kazekage, but since he was the best Taijutsu ninja in the village, Rasa would not say no to something so convenient for him.

Some time passed and Rasa finally finished his training.

Exhausted, he decided to rest for a while and go to buy some things.

The instant he left his house, Skull appeared at his side.

"The Kazekage requires your presence in his office" Skull said coldly and then retreated.

'To think that the Kazekage would use someone as strong as Skull to do something as simple as telling me he wants me to go talk to him... a real waste of his time' thought Rasa as he shook his head.

Without giving it much more thought, he quickly made his way to the Kazekage's building to then go to the office where he used to converse with his Master.

"Master" Rasa respectfully greeted as he entered as he always used to do.

"Rasa, I can see that Skull called you shortly after your training, sorry about that, but there are things we need to discuss," said the Kazekage who saw the low Chakra level in Rasa as well as the obvious tension he had in his muscles from his hard physical training.

"It is no problem then Master, what do you wish to talk to me about?" asked Rasa, the relationship the two now had was quite close, but Rasa was never swayed by the Kazekage's words.

They were both using each other, the Kazekage to gain power and recognition through his apprentice, and Rasa to obtain Techniques and missions that were useful to improve his level.

Rasa knew that the Third Kazekage was a greedy person, and would do anything to accomplish his goals.

"First of all, I wanted to congratulate you, Tōjūrō informed me that your physique passed the first stage of his Taijutsu training, so in just a few years you should be able to have a physique fit enough to start learning his Taijutsu techniques."

"Yes, the physical training that Mr. Tōjūrō made me do was highly beneficial" nodded Rasa, it was extremely beneficial for him to start a routine that would improve his physique, especially when his Chakra used to run out quickly in combat.

Kekkei Genkai Magnet may be awesome, but the biggest disadvantage was that it used quite a lot of Chakra.

"Well, not for nothing he is considered the best Taijutsu ninja in the village, looks like I was right to have him train you" commented the Third Kazekage.

"Now, as a reward for your achievements, I thought of several things that might interest you, and I found the ideal reward. Do you remember when you told me that you wished to take the Chunin exam?" the Kazekage suddenly continued, causing Rasa to look at him in confusion.

"Yes..., this...will allow me to take the exam then?" asked Rasa confused.

"That's right Rasa, I formally accept your request to take the Chunin exams, but not only that, you will be able to formally participate in the upcoming Chunin exams that are being held in Iwagakure in 2 months."

Rasa opened his eyes wide, he was surprised because he did not expect that news he did not believe that the Kazekage would allow him to obtain the title of Chunin until he was at least 10 years old.

When Rasa requested him to take the Chunin exam he meant the village promotion exam, not the exam that is taken in cooperation with other villages.

'Why did he change his mind, what is he looking for with me taking these Chunin exams??' Rasa wondered.

"You must be wondering why I decided to accept so suddenly for you to take these exams, well, it's simple Rasa, you have demonstrated the necessary level to participate and I wish to see your good performance in this competition, however, I have two tasks for you."

"What are these tasks Master?" asked Rasa already understanding better the purpose of his Master to send him to do these exams.

"Nothing very difficult, the first thing is that you must pass the first and second test, if you pass these two tests your promotion to Chunin will already be assured."

"Oh, you must keep in mind that the ninjas who will be participating in this Chunin exams will all be at the level of your dear fellow Nomad or even above him."

"I don't think it will be a problem Master, but it will also depend on the team with which I take the exams" Rasa was quite confident in his abilities after having done a lot of missions with Anbu, but if his team couldn't take care of themselves it was only a problem for him.

" Alright, great, and you don't have to worry about your equipment, it will be the same one you're so used to doing missions with in Anbu" the Kazekage assured him.

"Huh?... You mean Nomad and Custus?"

"That's right, believe it or not, they are both still Genin for different reasons, but this will be their chance to advance in rank and make a name for themselves, so it's a win-win."

"I understand, if so, it won't be a problem for our team to pass the first two stages of the exam, we are used to completing all kinds of missions"

"As expected from my apprentice, now the second thing I'm going to ask you is highly confidential, only you and Skull will be aware of this mission, understood?"

"You can be sure that it will be" Rasa was already used to hear from his Master the words {highly confidential}, many times he used to ask him to do things confidentially.

"Very well, you must know that I can only trust this mission to you Rasa, I don't trust anyone else to carry it out and it is extremely important..."

After discussing his participation in the Chunin exams along with his mission with his Master, Rasa left the Kazekage's building.

'Well... I wasn't expecting this news, I had never heard in the canon of a Chunin exam in which all 5 major nations have participated, it should be a very important event since this is the first time this has ever happened.'

'Hmmm, Maybe nothing really important happened and that's why it was never mentioned, but it could also be that my presence has altered things."

'But I still haven't done anything really significant enough to change the course of things.'

Rasa knew that his presence would bring changes to future events in the ninja world, but he didn't think it would be so soon.

So hearing about these Chunin exams involving the 5 great nations for the first time was something new and unexpected.

And now he had a mission to forge a relationship with Iwagakure, a relationship that he supposed would make them plan to attack Konoha together in a few years, a war in which Rasa knew Sunagakure would lose badly.

Although Rasa did not agree with starting a second ninja world war, he did agree to an alliance with Iwagakure as it could greatly improve Sunagakure's currently weak economy.

But he also knew that once Iwagakure and Sunagakure start working together to improve their economies and forces, it was likely that both would decide to take the next step and attack Konoha.

Both villages had lost in the first ninja war against Konoha, so they still had a lot of resentment, even though they were both the ones who had started that war against Konoha.

Rasa had no feelings for Konoha, but he had nothing against them either, they never provoked Sunagakure, it was true that they were the village with the best land and resources available, but that didn't give others the right to take them away from them.

And if you tried and lost miserably, it was not the other's fault, but yours.

If you are prepared to attack, you are also prepared to suffer the consequences if it goes wrong.