Chapter 94: Rasa: Despicable Konoha, Hoarding the Dragon Vein, How Outrageous!
With the Dragon Vein taken, Sāra's last lingering attachment to the Land of Wind vanished. The survivors of Rōran were already accustomed to a nomadic life; leaving their homeland behind and seeking a new place wasn't difficult for them. It was just—
Sāra pondered for a moment. "If we leave the Land of Wind, where can we even go?"
Hearing this, Neji-kun stroked his chin thoughtfully. The shinobi world was constantly at war, but relatively speaking, the Five Great Nations were still the most suitable places to live. Smaller countries didn't offer a better environment. However, moving to one of the Five Great Nations would make them easily traceable, and the outcome wouldn't be good.
Neji-kun suddenly clapped his fist into his palm. "I'll give you two choices. First, I escort your people to the Land of Demons in the north to settle, and I pay a large sum for the Dragon Vein."
The Land of Demons? Sāra's brow furrowed slightly. The lineage of the Priestess in the Land of Demons had connections to the lineage of Rōran. Her people might find protection there. The problem was, the Land of Demons had no ninja tradition, and it was too close to the Land of Wind. If Sunagakure found them, even the Priestess wouldn't be able to protect them.
Sāra asked tentatively, "How much money are you offering?"
Neji-kun held up one finger. "One hundred million ryō."
Sāra, accustomed to poverty, gasped, her mouth forming an 'O'. Even if she sold all her people, she couldn't amass such a sum.
Seeing her reaction, Neji-kun chuckled. "One hundred million isn't a lot, but it's enough to improve the living conditions for your people." The Dragon Vein was primarily a spiritual symbol for them, worthless in practical terms. But for a ninja, it was priceless. Forget one hundred million; even a billion wouldn't be a loss.
"No, no," Sāra waved her hands quickly, astonished. "That's more than enough." She paused, then asked, "What's the second choice?"
Neji-kun lowered his voice. "I escort you to the Land of Lightning, guarantee your acceptance into Kumogakure, and ensure you live stable lives."
"So you're a ninja from the Land of Lightning?" Sāra looked startled, then understanding dawned on her face.
"Mm," Neji-kun nodded with a smile.
Sāra sipped her hot water, thinking deeply. She had heard about the way Kumo operated—if they wanted something and could take it by force, they would; if they couldn't, they'd steal it. It figured they'd come for the Dragon Vein. But Kumogakure was now the number one ninja village; they certainly had the strength to protect her people. Moreover, Kumo was known for its internal unity and camaraderie; she hadn't heard of the Fourth Raikage suppressing other clans. Joining Kumo seemed like a good option. Most importantly, now that he had revealed his origin, the consequences of refusing were clear.
Sāra glanced at Neji-kun again, muttering, "The Dragon Vein is with him. Going to Kumo... could be considered guarding it in another way?"
Taking another sip of tea, Sāra made her decision. "I choose the second option. We will go with you to Kumogakure."
A wise woman. Neji-kun nodded. "Alright. Time is short. Please instruct your people to pack quickly. We must leave the Land of Wind."
Once her mind was made up, Sāra didn't hesitate. She immediately ran out of the tent to give orders.
After she left, Izumi suddenly asked, "Are we really escorting them all the way to the Land of Lightning?"
"Of course. I'm serious," Neji-kun affirmed.
With the Dragon Vein secured, the most logical action would be to kill Sāra to silence her, or simply leave. She didn't know who he was; Suna wouldn't be able to trace him. But Neji-kun aimed to unify the shinobi world and bring lasting peace. Great things start from small beginnings. If he abandoned Queen Sāra for short-term gain, he could never achieve that grand goal.
The people of Rōran were used to migrating. Soon, the caravans were ready. Sāra didn't specify their destination, only ordering the convoy to head northeast.
Watching the caravan disappear into the desert, Neji-kun instructed, "Izumi-san, you escort them to the Land of Lightning. I'll stay here and deal with Suna's pursuit force."
"Understood," Izumi replied.
Upon detecting the anomaly in the sky, Sunagakure immediately dispatched ANBU to the Rōran ruins to investigate. By the time they discovered the Dragon Vein was stolen and reported back to Rasa, five hours had passed.
Hearing the report, Rasa's facial muscles trembled violently with rage. Forcing down his anger, he looked at the two grim-faced elders, Chiyo and Ebizō. "Who could have stolen the Dragon Vein?" Rasa asked, his voice hoarse.
Chiyo rested her chin on her interlaced fingers. "The seal Minato Namikaze placed was incredibly intricate. We've studied it for years and still weren't certain we could break it completely. Yet this mysterious ninja did it easily. Therefore—"
Ebizō interjected, "Isn't it obvious? Only a Konoha ninja could break that seal! It must have been Konoha!"
Rasa slammed his fist on the table. "Despicable Konoha! They want to hoard the Dragon Vein for themselves! This is outrageous!"
Chiyo added, "Rasa, subduing the Dragon Vein is nearly impossible without the Queen of Rōran's help. If we follow Queen Sāra's trail, we'll surely find clues about the thief." She paused. "If it really was Konoha, I will personally go there and demand an explanation from Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Swish!
Just then, an ANBU agent rushed into the room. "Lord Kazekage, the Rōran survivors are migrating towards the northeast border! It seems they intend to leave the Land of Wind!"
Ebizō stood up. "Rasa, dispatch a pursuit team immediately! We absolutely cannot let them leave the country!"
Rasa considered, then nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Let Pakura handle it."
After the meeting, Rasa formed hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!" A lizard appeared on the table in a puff of smoke. It was about three feet long, golden, with a large 'Scorpion' (蠍) character on its back. Rasa quickly wrote a message on a slip of paper and put it in the lizard's mouth.
Kumogakure.
Samui arrived at the Kumo administrative building to find it packed with over a hundred shinobi, all Jōnin. The Fourth Raikage summoning so many clearly meant something major had happened.
Samui quietly found a spot at the back, glanced at Darui, who had his sword strapped to his back, and asked, "What's going on?"
Darui shook his head. Even as a member of the Kage Guard, he didn't know the reason for the emergency summons.
Before long, the village's top officials, surrounding the Fourth Raikage, arrived on the rooftop platform: Yugito, Dodai, Uchiha Shisui, Yotsuki Kazeki, and others. Samui even saw Killer Bee, whom she hadn't seen in ages.
The noisy rooftop immediately fell silent.
The Fourth Raikage stepped forward, scanned the assembled shinobi, and announced loudly, "Three hours ago, we received intelligence from the border. Two days ago, Kirigakure launched a surprise attack on the Land of Lightning's eastern border!"
Hearing this, the uninformed ninja erupted in murmurs.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Six years had passed since the Uchiha joined Kumo. The Five Great Nations had recovered and regained the strength to wage war. As the number one village, Kumo naturally drew the hostility of the other four. Among them, Konoha and Iwa held the deepest grudges and conflicts of interest. But no one expected the first move to come from Kiri, a village that usually kept to itself. It was baffling.
The invasion brought back chilling memories of the Third Great Ninja War.
The Raikage raised his hand for silence. "The Kiri commanders are the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kisame Hoshigaki."
Hearing that Kiri had deployed a Jinchuriki and Kisame, the Cloud ninja began murmuring again.
Samui frowned. "Just the Six-Tails Jinchuriki and one sword?" Even before the Uchiha joined, Kumo hadn't taken Kiri seriously, let alone now. Kiri had lost four of its seven swords in the Third War against Konoha. With Jūzō Biwa and Kurosuki Raiga defecting later, Kisame was the only one left. What could they possibly achieve with such meager forces?
Darui muttered beside her, "Kumo is facing hostility from all four villages. If Kiri attacks now, maybe the others will seize the opportunity?"
Samui shook her head. "That's just a possibility. Kiri has no reason to take such a huge risk. If Konoha and Iwa don't move, wouldn't Kiri look like fools?"
Darui rubbed his nose. "True. I can't figure out where Kiri gets its confidence either, but it's the only explanation."
The Raikage continued, "Yugito and I will accompany you to the eastern coastline to repel the Mist invasion."
"Yes, sir!" Feeling the Raikage's iron will, the Cloud ninja responded confidently.
"Go prepare," the Raikage ordered. "We depart in one hour."
Swish, swish, swish!
Figures flickered away from the rooftop. Seconds later, only the Raikage, Killer Bee, Yugito, Dodai, Shisui, and a few others remained.
"Kiri's attack is inexplicable," the Raikage said. "Besides them, we must guard against the other three villages." Only now did he truly feel the pressure Konoha had faced when fighting four nations. They had to prepare for the worst. Konoha and Iwa might very well stab them in the back while they were engaged with Kiri. Suna had no major grudges or conflicts with Kumo, and their countries were far apart. Logically, Suna shouldn't attack. But in this absurd world, logic often didn't apply. During the Third War, Suna and Kiri, despite having no direct conflict and being separated by the Land of Fire, had fought each other savagely for some unknown reason. So, Suna attacking Kumo wasn't impossible.
"Bee, head to the western border immediately. Guard against Iwa." Killer Bee stepped forward and accepted the order.
The Raikage looked at Shisui. "Clan Head Shisui, the defense line in the Land of Hot Water is entrusted to the Uchiha clan."
"Understood." A fiery glint appeared in Shisui's eyes as he stepped forward.
"Dodai, go negotiate with Sunagakure. Discuss an alliance."
"Yes, sir!"
After giving his orders, the Raikage thought, 'The winds of war are rising again. If Kumo emerges victorious from this conflict, perhaps we can finally take that step...'
Land of Wind.
Neji-kun sat cross-legged on a dune, drawing power from the Dragon Vein stored in the Amber Purifying Pot. Perhaps because it had been buried for so long, absorbing earth energy, the Dragon Vein's chakra contained a portion of natural energy. Since he hadn't learned senjutsu yet, he couldn't absorb it directly. He had to filter out the natural energy before converting the rest into Tenseigan chakra. The process took some time.
Chakra wasn't like internal energy in novels; it was more like a spark. Once refined, if unused, it would gradually dissipate. Of course, for a Tailed Beast-level source like the Dragon Vein, this dissipation was negligible.
"My chakra pathways are saturated, almost overflowing." Feeling a sense of fullness, Neji-kun stopped absorbing. He closed his eyes, sensing the dissipation rate of his Tenseigan chakra. He calculated that, without fighting, a full charge could last about two hours. In combat, it would fuel five to ten minutes of unrestrained power usage. That was already quite long; after all, Ultraman only lasted three minutes.
Screech!
As Neji-kun meditated, a bird's cry echoed from above. He looked up to see an eagle with a two-meter wingspan circling overhead.
"They're finally coming?" Neji-kun raised an eyebrow. This was a specially trained bird of prey, fast and with few natural enemies, used by all major villages.
The Rōran survivors still needed two days to leave the Land of Wind. Eliminating the pursuit force was necessary. Besides, Neji-kun wanted to test his current combat strength.
Poof!
Just as he prepared to face the Suna forces, a puff of white smoke appeared. A Maneki Neko (beckoning cat) emerged, waving its paw. "Can of cat food, please."
Neji-kun's face darkened. He handed over two thousand ryō. The cat took the money, stuffed it into the pouch around its neck, and waved its paw again. "You still owe me two thousand."
Neji-kun was confused. "Why?"
The cat replied matter-of-factly, "Today's my day off. Shouldn't I get double pay for working overtime?"
Neji-kun's mouth twitched. "...You should."
After paying another two thousand, he took the intelligence scroll from under the cat's belly. He opened it, scanned the contents, and his brow immediately furrowed.
"Kirigakure invaded the eastern coastline?"
"That Obito guy... he really can't sit still."
In the original story, Obito had laid low for a long time after the Uchiha massacre, only resurfacing three years into the main plot. For the past six years since the Uchiha joined Kumo, Neji-kun had been wary of Obito making a move. After six years of silence, was he finally acting?