[Hippowdon]
[Skills: Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Slack Off, Stone Edge!]
[Ability: Sand Stream!]
[Nature: Impish!]
"As expected, my guess was right. It really is Hippowdon."
Rasa thought for a moment.
"Hippowdon has high defense, strong containment, and powerful sustained combat ability. Its Sand Stream ability, in particular, can turn the battlefield into an environment suited for Sunagakure shinobi."
"Once it reaches the battlefield, it should perform quite well."
"It is rather afraid of water, so that needs some attention."
"Fortunately, this opponent is not Kirigakure, but Konoha. Konoha does have quite a few Water Release shinobi, but at least they are not as numerous or as proficient as Kirigakure's."
A scorpion puppet stood atop a sand dune, looking around. The moment it saw Rasa, it immediately approached at high speed.
It arrived before Rasa.
Rasa studied the scorpion puppet.
Hippowdon moved forward warily, blocking Rasa.
Just now, it had still been glaring fiercely at Rasa.
But after the contract was completed, only loyal devotion remained.
Bang!
All of a sudden, the scorpion puppet violently exploded. Countless fragments shot outward.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
Some fragments landed on Hippowdon's body, but all of them were blocked. They caused no damage whatsoever to Hippowdon.
Rasa looked again.
The scorpion puppet had already disappeared.
In the place where the scorpion puppet vanished, a metal box had been left behind.
Click!
There was a mechanism on the metal box, and it opened automatically.
A helmet appeared.
It was exquisitely crafted, possessing a mechanical beauty.
Rasa: "…"
"Sasori of the Red Sand seems somewhat dissatisfied that I, the Kazekage, asked him to do something. He deliberately made a self-destructing puppet."
"Still, it was only an expression of dissatisfaction. The power of that explosion was not even comparable to a Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
"But this kind of behavior is unacceptable."
"The next time I see him, I'll have to make this fellow show a little more respect to me, the Kazekage."
Rasa took the helmet and returned to the village.
"Kazekage-sama."
When Hyuga Neji saw Rasa, he hurriedly stood and bowed respectfully.
Rasa gave a slight nod.
"This is for you. Put it on."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama!"
Neji did not hesitate. He accepted the helmet and immediately placed it over his head.
Click!
The moment he put it on, the helmet adjusted automatically, fitting perfectly and tightly. It was the sort that could no longer be removed by external force alone. Part of it extended down to his shoulders as support, so it would not place too much pressure on Neji's neck.
It did not look discordant at all. On the contrary, it appeared quite impressive.
Rasa asked, "How is it?"
Neji replied, "Reporting to Kazekage-sama, it fits very well. It feels light when worn and does not affect my movement. It also does not obstruct my vision, hearing, or anything else."
"As long as it fits."
Rasa nodded.
"From today onward, you will no longer use your name. I will give you a code name. You will be called Kamaitachi. The Kamaitachi's palm wind restrains lightning. You should like this code name."
Rasa brought Neji before Ebizo.
"Kazekage-sama, this is?"
"This is a child from the Hyuga branch family."
There was no need for Rasa to hide it from Ebizo. As one of the village's higher-ups, Ebizo was utterly loyal to the village and had made enormous contributions to it.
It could be said that for Sunagakure to have reached its current state, the greatest credit naturally belonged to Rasa.
Then Ebizo would at least rank within the top three.
Chiyo's strength was indeed greater than Ebizo's, but in recent years, her contributions to the village were actually inferior to Ebizo's.
He had single-handedly created the rumor team and managed it extremely well.
Even now, Konoha—who hated them to the point of gnashing their teeth—had still been unable to investigate them.
As for the Stone of Gelel, which Rasa had named this world's Devil Fruit, that was also handled by Ebizo.
So far, hundreds of lower-grade Devil Fruits had already been adjusted and completed. There were also two upper-grade Devil Fruits, and both users had performed rather well on the front-line battlefield.
Because of Neji's special circumstances, he could not appear openly. Combined with the Byakugan's ability, he was also suited for intelligence-gathering work. Therefore, handing him to Ebizo was best.
"A Hyuga branch family member?"
Ebizo froze for a moment, then frowned.
"Kazekage-sama, is this child trustworthy?"
"He is. After all, he is Hyuga Hizashi's child."
Rasa was not confirming Neji's identity purely through that letter. He was confirming it through Neji's appearance in the original work.
Neji would inevitably hate the Hyuga clan.
He would also inevitably hate Konoha.
Under such circumstances, coupled with Sunagakure's deliberate guidance, Neji would have to be insane to betray Sunagakure.
Compared to that minuscule probability, the value of a pair of Byakugan to Sunagakure was far greater.
"This child will be personally taken care of by you, Ebizo. Let him be your disciple. How about it?"
Ebizo nodded.
"No problem. Since Kazekage-sama has entrusted him to me, I will properly guide him and cultivate him with all my strength."
"Then I'll leave him to you."
After saying that, Rasa turned to leave.
"Kazekage-sama, please wait a moment."
Neji suddenly seemed to think of something and called out to Rasa.
"Hm?"
"Kazekage-sama, I would like to ask whether you can tell me who the person who sent me to Sunagakure was."
Rasa shook his head.
"It is not that I refuse to tell you. That person did not reveal their identity, so I do not know who they were either. That person probably also does not wish for you to know their identity."
…
…
Border of the Land of Wind.
A figure arrived before Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru looked at the approaching Uchiha Fugaku, his brow lifting slightly.
"Uchiha Fugaku… Teacher Sarutobi sent you."
"Yes."
"Besides you, who else came?"
Uchiha Fugaku answered, "Three members of my Uchiha clan. Uchiha Yakumi, Uchiha Kuichui, and Uchiha Ishibai."
Orochimaru thought of someone.
"I heard your Uchiha clan produced a genius named Uchiha Shisui. At such a young age, he already gained the title Shisui of the Body Flicker. Why didn't you bring him?"
"Reporting to you, Shisui's talent is indeed good, but he is too young, and his strength is still insufficient."
But in truth, Uchiha Fugaku had wanted to bring Uchiha Shisui.
He had simply been refused.
If it had been before, Uchiha Shisui would indeed have wanted to seize such an opportunity.
But after being persuaded by Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui had already changed his thinking.
The more intense the war on the front lines became, and the worse Konoha's situation grew, the better the opportunity to obtain information about the Tailed Beasts.
Uchiha Shisui still did not know what kind of method the Akatsuki organization planned to use to save this broken ninja world.
But Uchiha Shisui felt that he no longer had a better choice.
"Where will the Nine-Tails jinchuriki be?"
Uchiha Shisui stood on high ground and looked around.
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