The Land of Rain is always raining. All year round, day and night, it never stops, as if the heavens themselves are weeping.
The mood of this country's people is the same.
Because they are trapped between three great nations, yet possess no strength to contend with them.
War, plunder, sorrow…
All kinds of misfortune constantly surround this land.
Rasa was now experiencing the feelings of this country's citizens as well.
Following the Third Kazekage, leading three thousand Shinobi into the Land of Rain, he had thought it would be a war without suspense, a clean and exhilarating victory.
But instead, as soon as the army advanced into Amegakure, they were held back by the unknown Akatsuki.
Two months passed, and the mission showed not the slightest progress.
Finally, they made up their minds to threaten the enemy into a decisive battle by breaking the Shinobi rules…
And yet, they still lost.
Not only did the Kazekage, their true and spiritual leader, die, but over a thousand Sunagakure's Shinobi also fell.
And although the enemy suffered heavy losses as well, their morale soared like a rainbow.
Many Rogue Shinobi and clans, upon learning of their spirit and strength in sacrificing themselves to protect peace, rushed to join them one after another.
Now, the enemy already numbered three thousand, with foreign Shinobi continuously joining, achieving a reversal in troop numbers.
If it were only that, Rasa wouldn't consider it a major problem.
Two thousand against three thousand… though at a disadvantage in numbers, the chances of victory were still not small.
Sunagakure's population had always been small. Since the village's founding, they often fought battles where they were outnumbered. They had endured wars even worse than this countless times.
The real key issue was morale.
In the previous decisive battle, where they held an absolute advantage, they were routed, and even the Third Kazekage died. For the Shinobi of Sunagakure, this was an enormous blow to their spirit.
Everyone would think: Back then, with the Third Kazekage still alive and with superior numbers, we still weren't their match. Now that the Third Kazekage is gone and our numerical advantage has turned into a disadvantage, wouldn't it be even more impossible to win?
And the other side was exactly the opposite.
We won when we were at such a huge disadvantage before. Now that we have the advantage, what reason is there to lose?
The Akatsuki believed in protecting peace. Their conviction was already as hard as steel. If they came into the next battle carrying the momentum of a great victory, they would be nearly unstoppable.
The morale gap between the two sides had grown so vast that there was no need to investigate… you could feel it just by listening.
The enemy camp was stationed on a hillside several kilometers away.
Yet their side was brightly lit, lively beyond measure, with endless sounds of celebration.
And their own… the vast camp was silent, deathly still, so quiet that even the crackling of the campfire could be heard clearly.
"Haa…"
Staring at the noisy camp across from them, Rasa couldn't help but sigh.
He felt that this time, it was truly difficult.
No matter how harsh the battlefield situation became, he had never been this pessimistic.
But the current circumstances were no longer simply about losing on the battlefield.
Nearly a week had passed since the Third Kazekage's death and their defeat.
Yet Sunagakure had not sent a single piece of information.
That was abnormal.
Whether it was reinforcements or a decision to retreat, there should have been some word.
But there were no instructions at all.
This gave Rasa a terrible premonition.
As the Third Kazekage's assistant and guard, he had long moved within the village's power center and understood its darker side.
He feared that with the Third Kazekage dead, the former higher-ups he had dismissed would seize the chance to stir up chaos.
Without the Third Kazekage as a mountain looming over them, the newly promoted council members were no match for those old men.
They were far behind in both experience and ruthlessness.
If something truly happened in Sunagakure, then this war would become utterly hopeless.
If it were only battlefield disadvantage, it could still be overturned through tactics, but the main base far away in the Land of Wind… he could do nothing about it.
"Sigh!"
With no one around, Rasa couldn't help sighing again.
Suddenly, footsteps came from behind.
Rasa's expression straightened, returning to his usual calm.
"Rasa-sama."
The newcomer stopped several steps behind him.
Rasa didn't turn around, only asked indifferently, "What is it?"
"The leader of the Akatsuki wishes to negotiate with you."
"Negotiate!?"
Rasa froze.
'That made no sense!'
'Since ancient times, it was always the weaker side that sought negotiations…'
'But even if the Akatsuki didn't know about whatever was happening back in Sunagakure, they still held an absolute advantage on the battlefield. There was no reason for them to come to me proactively.'
'Was there some mistake?'
Rasa was briefly stunned, then turned around to confirm. "The Akatsuki want to negotiate with me?"
"Yes. The Akatsuki hope you will withdraw your troops voluntarily. They will not pursue, nor will they demand war reparations."
Hearing this, Rasa fell silent.
He couldn't understand what was going on.
The Akatsuki clearly held an absolute advantage. If they launched a full assault with the momentum of their previous victory, they could completely win this war.
Yet not only did they fail to do so, they instead sought negotiations and even offered generous terms without compensation…
It was far too abnormal.
Rasa first ruled out the possibility that the Akatsuki's leader was an idiot.
Though they had only fought for a little over two months, the enemy had used their familiarity with the terrain to make Sunagakure, despite having several times the manpower, suffer greatly.
If the Third Kazekage hadn't threatened civilian lives, even if Hanzo had returned from the Land of Iron, they might not have been able to catch even a trace of them.
Such leadership could not possibly belong to a fool.
'So, since the Akatsuki's leader wasn't foolish, then giving up a victory within reach wasn't stupidity… it meant there was another motive.'
'What could it be?'
Rasa pondered deeply, his mind racing.
'Was the negotiation itself a trap, meant to win without losing a single soldier? Or did they simply not want their hard-won forces to suffer too great a loss, thus abandoning the victory they could claim?'
First, he dismissed the possibility of a trap.
As the temporary leader of Sunagakure, even if he agreed to negotiations, he would certainly make thorough preparations. He would never walk alone into danger.
'Then… he doesn't want his forces to take too much damage?'
After eliminating other possibilities, Rasa arrived at this conclusion.
Thinking further…
The Land of Rain already had Amegakure as a Shinobi organization. There was no space for another major force to survive.
If it were only a few hundred people, perhaps they could scrape by on what Amegakure left behind.
But the Akatsuki had now grown to more than three thousand, and their numbers were still increasing every day… At this level, they were already comparable to a weaker mid-tier Shinobi Village.
They had begun to threaten Amegakure's status within the Land of Rain.
Whether the Akatsuki's leader intended to overthrow Amegakure or not, in the end, only one could survive.
Either Amegakure would absorb the Akatsuki, or the Akatsuki would swallow Amegakure.
The two forces were destined to fight eventually.
Preparing in advance at this moment was understandable.
"To be thinking that far ahead already… this Yahiko will definitely become a famous figure in the Shinobi World."
Rasa couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
In these two months of fighting the Akatsuki, he had seen Yahiko more than once.
He was a young man with a bright, cheerful face, eyes full of confidence. Even in moments of crisis, he always has a reassuring smile.
Though his strength still needed improvement, he was undoubtedly a qualified leader.
And through this understanding, Rasa's impression of him deepened even further.
At the same time, he felt pressure.
They said the new generation pushes aside the old, but he, as part of the 'new wave', hadn't even fully risen yet before being nearly crushed by an even newer wave.
'Sasori of the Red Sand, Senki Ryuji, Yahiko…'
'This generation's newcomers are terrifyingly strong!'
Rasa couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Um…"
Rasa looked up and saw the messenger hesitating, as if wanting to speak but holding back. He asked, "Is there something else?"
"Um, um…" The subordinate opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to say it.
He wanted to say that the Akatsuki's leader wasn't who Rasa thought he was, but he feared that interrupting and contradicting his superior might offend him.
Rasa frowned, irritated. "Speak plainly."
The messenger's heart sank. Gritting his teeth, he said, "The Akatsuki sent word that they are negotiating for the sake of peace, because they don't want more people to die. They also hope you will think of peace and the lives of brothers from many villages, and not make meaningless sacrifices."
"Mm, I see."
Rasa wasn't angry, but instead said thoughtfully, "Although the reason of 'for peace' sounds too fake, in this era, it is indeed a very effective slogan."
The Shinobi World was endlessly plagued by war.
Back when Shinobi existed as clans, war never ceased.
In the era of Shinobi Villages, there were brief periods of peace, but soon even longer wars would follow.
Take this Third Shinobi World War for example… it had only been some time from the Second Shinobi World War ended, and there was already the Third Shinobi World War. Even Shinobi who made their living through war had grown disgusted and longed for peace to arrive quickly.
At such a time, someone standing up under the banner of peace could easily move people and inspire them to strive together.
That was exactly the Akatsuki's situation now.
Of course, that 'easily' depended on others truly believing you were doing it for peace.
If it were only empty slogans without real action, it would be absolutely impossible to achieve this level.
And precisely because of that, Rasa believed Yahiko was formidable.
As for whether Yahiko was truly working for peace…
Born in war, raised in war, and at barely over ten years old already involved with village power struggles alongside the Third Kazekage…
With such a background, Rasa simply didn't believe anyone could truly stand up for peace.
Because Shinobi lived by fighting, and fighting divided people into sides and bred hatred. Sides and hatred, in turn, expanded the scale of battle.
War would inevitably follow one after another.
To eliminate war, one would have to eliminate Shinobi, and become the enemy of the entire Shinobi World.
No one could do such a thing.
And Rasa didn't believe any intelligent person would try.
Rasa acknowledged Yahiko's ability, and thus was even more convinced that he could not truly be standing up for peace.
In Rasa's eyes, Yahiko's previous actions were nothing more than methods to win hearts and gather forces in order to build his own power.