Chapter 42: The Kazekage's Vision
"Phew..."
Pakura stepped out of the conference room with an expressionless face. The powerful desert wind brushed against her cheeks, making her instinctively narrow her eyes.
Ever since the establishment of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Sunagakure had clashed with Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure countless times.
Of the three, Konoha had always been its greatest rival, followed by Iwagakure, then Kirigakure.
But fighting the Hidden Mist less often didn't mean there was any less hostility between them.
This time...
The village was going to bleed heavily once again.
As she passed the Mission Office, Pakura caught sight of a familiar figure inside. She paused, then turned and walked over.
"Asuka, what are you doing here?"
"Posting a mission."
Without even looking up, Asuka continued filling out the paperwork.
"The shops in your village refuse to rent space to me, so I had no choice but to post a mission instead."
"...?"
Pakura blinked in confusion before lowering her gaze to the form he was writing.
At the top, in bold letters, it read:
D-Rank Mission
Content: Sales Assistant
Reward: 1,000 ryō per day + commission
Her mouth twitched.
"...What's a commission?"
"A commission?"
Asuka set down his pen, handed the completed form to the ninja behind the counter for review, then turned back to her.
"It means I'm hiring a few genin to help me sell things."
He held up a finger.
"They earn a percentage of the sales."
"The more they sell..."
"The more money they make."
"I see..."
Pakura rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"What exactly are you planning to sell?"
Bang!
A puff of white smoke appeared.
When it cleared, two dishes had appeared in Asuka's hands.
One gave off the irresistible aroma of freshly fried chicken.
The other...
Released a sour, pungent odor powerful enough to challenge a person's sanity.
"What are these?"
"This..."
Asuka proudly raised the fried chicken.
"...is Uchiha Honey Mustard Fried Chicken."
He then lifted the bowl of noodles.
"And this is Uchiha Luosifen."
Pakura stared at him blankly.
Asuka nodded solemnly, as though recounting a forgotten piece of history.
"Long ago, Uchiha Madara created this fried chicken for his younger brother."
"Years later, I discovered the lost recipe."
"After countless experiments..."
"I finally recreated its original flavor."
He then pointed toward the bowl of luosifen.
"As for this..."
"One night, Madara came to realize that the Uchiha Clan loved more deeply than any other clan..."
"...and therefore suffered the cruelest fate."
"So he invented this bowl of luosifen..."
"...to let every clansman savor the taste of love itself and never forget their original hearts."
"..."
Pakura simply stared at him.
Inside, Asuka sighed.
What a shame.
If Senju Hashirama's descendants weren't still around...
I could've spun an even bigger story.
Using Madara's name is the safest option.
That old man probably doesn't have much time left anyway.
Surely he won't crawl out of hiding just to settle the score with me...
"Oh, right!"
Pakura hurriedly shook the image of Uchiha Madara personally frying chicken out of her head.
Grabbing Asuka by the sleeve, she pulled him into a secluded corner.
Lowering her voice, she asked,
"Have you... ever studied pregnant women?"
"...?"
Asuka gave her a strange look.
He had, in fact, researched pregnancy before.
More specifically...
Prenatal education.
There had once been a theory claiming that proper prenatal education could improve a child's intelligence and health after birth.
He had even conducted experiments.
Unfortunately...
By the time every subject reached the age of four...
Nothing particularly remarkable had happened.
After that...
He abandoned the project altogether.
Pakura, meanwhile, hadn't noticed his increasingly peculiar expression.
After cautiously checking that no one was nearby, she hesitated before asking,
"What should be done... if a pregnant woman can't give birth?"
"Oh."
Asuka answered without a second thought.
"That's simple."
"If the baby won't come out naturally, just pull it out."
"If that doesn't work..."
"Perform a Cesarean section."
He shrugged.
"With today's medical techniques, it's extremely difficult for someone to die from obstructed labor."
He looked at her curiously.
"What?
"Does one of your friends have difficult labor?"
Pakura rolled her eyes.
Her gaze drifted unconsciously toward the distant Kazekage Building.
Did she not know about Cesarean sections?
If things were really that simple...
None of this would be a problem.
Suppressing the anxiety in her heart, she forced a casual smile.
"No."
"I was just wondering what I'd do if someone close to me ever found themselves in that situation."
"Oh."
Asuka waved a hand dismissively.
"Then just cut her open."
"It's really not that big of a deal."
He genuinely wasn't worried.
Medical techniques in the ninja world were far beyond those of ordinary people.
Compared to resurrecting the dead...
Helping someone through childbirth was practically the same as treating a common cold.
---
Four nights later.
A full moon hung high above the desert.
A gentle breeze pushed dark clouds slowly across the night sky.
It was a rare, windless evening.
Yet somehow...
Everything felt unsettling.
Outside a heavily guarded safe house in Sunagakure, several elite ninja stood watch in silence, their eyes never leaving the surroundings.
"Rasa!"
Suddenly, a Sunagakure ninja rushed over and grabbed the Kazekage by the collar.
His voice trembled with fury.
"Why didn't you tell me?!
"Why didn't you tell me something this important beforehand?!"
"Phew..."
Rasa slowly exhaled.
His arms folded across his chest, he stared at the safe house ahead.
Even his usually cold expression carried a trace of worry.
"Iwagakure has been making increasingly aggressive moves."
"This decision was made at the last minute to protect the village from invasion."
He glanced sideways.
"And this matter was classified."
"With your position..."
"You weren't authorized to know."
His voice softened ever so slightly.
"Yashamaru."
"I'm only telling you now because..."
"...your sister may not survive."
"There's no longer any reason to keep it secret."
Yashamaru's hands slowly loosened.
He stumbled back two steps, disbelief filling his face.
"...My sister..."
"My sister is dying?"
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
His shoulders trembled violently.
His voice cracked.
"Why...?"
"Why is she dying?"
"She's your wife!"
"Why did you put that monster inside her?"
"Did you ever ask what she wanted?!"
Pain briefly flickered across Rasa's eyes.
"She agreed."
"It was for the village."
"I personally sealed the Tailed Beast inside Karura while she was already pregnant."
"If you want someone to hate..."
"Hate me."
"Not the village."
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
"But as a ninja..."
"You understand what a Tailed Beast means to a hidden village."
"..."
"But..."
"...that's my sister."
Rasa continued looking straight ahead.
"She's also my wife."
"And the child inside her..."
"...is my son."
"I personally sealed the Tailed Beast into my own child."
He paused.
"You know what happened to the previous three Jinchūriki after they lost control."
Yashamaru knew.
He knew all too well.
He had personally watched Rasa scatter their ashes after each incident.
Looking at the cold man before him...
He could barely reconcile him with the young shinobi he had once known.
When Yashamaru had entrusted his sister to him...
Rasa had promised to protect her.
"..."
His lips moved.
But no words came.
Whoosh...
A gentle breeze drifted past.
Dark clouds slowly swallowed the moon.
Then—
The wind throughout all of Sunagakure...
Stopped.
---
Asuka, who had been sleeping soundly on the sofa, abruptly opened his eyes.
His Sharingan spun wildly.
He sat upright and instinctively looked over the oversized sofa beneath him.
After confirming he hadn't mysteriously woken up somewhere else and was still inside Pakura's house, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted toward the second floor.
"Pakura!"
"Something huge is happening in your village!"
"The tanuki's about to tear the house apart!"
He shouted several more times.
No answer.
After checking upstairs and discovering Pakura's room was empty...
Asuka immediately realized she'd been hiding something from him.
Without another word, he packed up all of his belongings.
Then...
He neatly gathered every valuable item in Pakura's house as well.
The immense chakra of a Tailed Beast was already spilling into the air.
This Was the unmistakable prelude to a rampage.