After presiding over the Sand Memorial Festival, Rasa accepted the Kazekage hat and ceremonial adornments from the representatives of the Elder Council—Chiyo and Ebizō—under the gaze of the entire village, formally declaring his assumption of office as the Fourth Kazekage in Sunagakure Year 43.
Once Rasa took the stage, the pace of war accelerated sharply.
The area around Kikyō Mountain saw a rapid increase in troop deployments. Massive quantities of supplies were transported there, and the number of stationed shinobi quickly approached six thousand.
Konoha, unwilling to fall behind, responded in kind—reinforcing its own defenses. Both sides began strengthening fortifications on opposite sides of Kikyō Mountain.
The rising tension between Sunagakure and Konoha sent ripples through the other three great nations.
Iwagakure and Kirigakure waited cautiously, intending to decide their next moves based on the outcome of this conflict, while Kumogakure continued to quietly stockpile its strength.
Surrounded by the other four great nations, Konoha understood better than anyone how critical this battle was.
If Konoha showed even the slightest sign of weakness, the remaining villages would swarm like sharks catching the scent of blood.
At this time, the Third Hokage was still in his prime. The Legendary Sannin were at the height of their fame, and clans such as Uchiha and Hyūga anchored the village. Konoha possessed no shortage of Kage-level combatants—on paper, it even seemed capable of opening four fronts at once.
But paper strength was one thing; reality was another.
Despite the Fire Country's wealth, its supply lines could not sustain more than three major battlefronts simultaneously. After careful evaluation, Konoha chose to concentrate its forces—trading time for space.
Sunagakure was the weakest and currently the most aggressive.
So Konoha decided to deal with the Sand first.
As the Fire Country's war machine roared to life, the pressure on Sunagakure increased dramatically.
Most notably, Ōrochimaru and Tsunade—two of the Sannin—were both dispatched to Kikyō Mountain.
Sunagakure, in response, had no choice but to send a Kage-level combatant of its own.
Tsunade aside—her abilities were particularly troublesome for Sunagakure—even Ōrochimaru alone was an exceptionally dangerous opponent.
Beyond the two elders, only Rasa and Pakura qualified as Kage-level fighters in Sunagakure.
Rasa, however, was the Kazekage. Politically, it was inappropriate for him to appear on the front lines so soon—especially since his techniques were still being used to generate funds for the village.
Thus, the burden of Kikyō Mountain fell squarely on Pakura.
Pakura understood this clearly.
Although she was considered Kage-level, her overall strength still lagged behind Tsunade and Ōrochimaru. Her primary objective at Kikyō Mountain would not be victory—but containment.
High-end combat power had always been Sunagakure's greatest weakness.
Still, according to frontline reports, Tsunade had yet to appear at Kikyō Mountain. Ōrochimaru had arrived, but contrary to his usual style, his offensive aggression was unusually subdued.
He didn't seem… invested.
This puzzled Sunagakure greatly. No one could quite grasp what Ōrochimaru was planning.
During an Elder Council meeting, a suggestion surfaced—one that nearly drove Rasa mad.
"Should we deploy the One-Tail to assist Pakura?"
"Shukaku is still sealed and has no jinchūriki," Rasa replied coldly. "Even if we hastily choose a host, it wouldn't help Pakura. We'd be facing one enemy with three liabilities."
At present, Shukaku was sealed within the village's ceremonial shrine. The harsh lessons left behind by the Second Kazekage were still fresh in collective memory—Sunagakure remained extremely cautious about using jinchūriki.
"But Ōrochimaru—"
"If necessary," Rasa cut in, "I will personally join Pakura."
As the situation steadily drifted toward its worst possible outcome, the ANBU finally lifted their surveillance on Shiraishi after several days of observation.
Shiraishi returned to Team Nineteen.
Together with Maki and Shirogaki Tsukasa, under Pakura's leadership, they continued studying basic medical support techniques—ensuring higher survival rates on the battlefield.
Because of Shiraishi's recovery period, Team Nineteen's overall progress initially lagged behind the others. However, his learning ability was exceptional. Over the following days, he rapidly reviewed and absorbed everything he had missed.
Several teams were completing their final day of training. Including the Aida brothers, they all passed their concluding assessments and officially completed their D-rank mission.
Theoretical knowledge of chakra control, correct usage of various medicines, and identification of wild medicinal herbs formed the core of this training period.
After reviewing Tsukasa's and Maki's notebooks, Shiraishi began studying intensively on his own.
"It's fine, Shiraishi," Maki said gently. "Take your time. We'll wait for you."
Shiraishi shook his head.
"If it takes too long, it will affect our mission evaluation. Dragging the whole team down is unacceptable."
He refused to become dead weight.
Sitting alone, he buried himself in reference materials, rapidly cramming. Once prepared, he moved through the medicine distribution area and herb-processing workshop, carefully observing and recording everything.
After completing his review, Shiraishi approached Maki—earning a surprised look.
"I'd like to take the assessment."
"This exam must be completed independently," Maki said sternly.
Given the stakes, he had no intention of letting Shiraishi rely on ninjutsu-assisted cheating as before.
"Understood, Maki-sensei."
Since Shiraishi insisted, Maki did not stop him.
The assessment immediately began—three major sections:
Medicinal identification, selection, and preparation of basic healing ointments, and foundational treatment theory.
Throughout the process, both Maki and Pakura watched closely.
Unlike the previous exam, there were no tricks this time. Shiraishi worked with complete focus.
When the final paper was submitted, the assessment ended.
"…723 points."
Before Shiraishi, the highest score had been 715.
Across all previous genin assessments, only two people had ever surpassed Shiraishi's score—and the highest of them was Sasori of the Red Sand, idol of all puppeteers, with 730 points.
Shirogaki Tsukasa was stunned.
"So this guy acts low-key all the time, but when it counts, he just goes all out?"
Low-key on the surface—lethal when it mattered.
More than a few people felt their eyes burned by that score.
Among Shiraishi's own generation, including the Aida brothers, most simply thought he was impressive. But genin from earlier cohorts found him irritating—especially considering the Chiyuki incident.
That glasses-wearing kid was getting more and more unpleasant to look at.
Most scores hovered around 600.
He missed several days… then came back and dropped a bomb like this.
Feeling the unfriendly gazes behind him, Shiraishi didn't care in the slightest. He walked over to Team Nineteen's gathering spot and stood quietly behind Tsukasa—letting his teammate soak up the attention.
"…Why do I feel like I'm the one being stared at now?" Tsukasa muttered.
Without looking up from his book, Shiraishi replied calmly,
"You're my important partner. Endure it for a bit."
Hearing that, Tsukasa's sense of responsibility surged. Puffing up like a fighting rooster, he glared back at the crowd.
This only made the seniors more annoyed.
Team Nineteen—just like their instructor, Pakura—was infuriating.
Meanwhile, Shiraishi's attention was elsewhere.
Inside his glasses' system, a notification appeared:
Iai Slash — Proficiency: 100%.
Immediately after, three branching paths unfolded—each linked to a completely different skill card, complete with descriptions and marked locations.
When proficiency reached 100%, the system automatically unlocked the next-stage branching skills, clearly indicating where the corresponding cards were located.