With Hiruzen Sarutobi's example before him, Onoki understood very clearly how effective these interviews could be.
The interviews with Uchiha Yashiro, Hatake Kakashi, and the Fourth Raikage had caused enormous damage to Hiruzen Sarutobi. Even now, their influence still remained.
And now, such a thing had fallen onto him.
"Raikage! Rasa!"
"You two shameless brats!"
"Shameless to the extreme!"
"This is too much! The war has already stopped, yet the two of you are joining hands to deal with an elder like me?"
The words had been spoken by the Fourth Raikage.
The newspaper had been printed by Sunagakure.
Onoki hated both Rasa and the Fourth Raikage.
Hated them to the extreme.
Even without investigating, Onoki could guess what kind of impact this newspaper would bring him.
Across the entire shinobi world, countless people began discussing it.
"Did you read the Fourth Raikage's interview?"
"I did. It was about Onoki. He didn't say it outright, but the Fourth Raikage probably thinks there must be something suspicious about the contents Iwagakure announced regarding Kitsuchi."
"Kitsuchi took the blame for Onoki."
One person sighed.
"Kitsuchi was a true man. He took the blame for his father and even gave up his own life. That sacrifice was too great."
"Compared to him, Onoki is lacking. Kitsuchi was willing to take the blame, and Onoki really let him. What else would a man who doesn't even care about his own son care about?"
Someone argued back.
"But if Onoki admits that he was the one who gave the order, wouldn't Kitsuchi's painstaking sacrifice go to waste?"
"Kitsuchi is already dead. Revealing the truth won't help Kitsuchi anymore."
"Onoki's approach is rational. If things were handled according to your thinking, the situation would become the worst possible outcome for Iwagakure."
…
…
"The points are here!"
The moment Rasa saw the number on the system panel exceed three thousand, he directly began the draw.
"Thirty-pull, begin!"
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an F-rank item: One tael of gold.]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a B-rank item: Ninjutsu Scroll—Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning Technique.]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an A-rank item: Ninja Tool—Black Marlin.]
[Black Marlin]
[—Also known as Water Dragon Possession. Its appearance is that of a ring. The wearer will possess extremely powerful water manipulation ability. If the wearer uses their own blood as the material for manipulation, they can unleash even greater power.]
Rasa looked at the ring before him.
At present, most of his abilities still revolved around Magnet Release and Gold Dust. In desert regions, the strength he could display was noticeably greater than in other places.
But once he entered water, he would be somewhat weaker.
Especially the Sand Transformation Technique, which would be countered by water.
In a battle, timing, terrain, and harmony all mattered.
A Lightning Release ninja would naturally be stronger during a thunderstorm.
A Fire Release ninja would naturally be weaker in heavy rain.
A Water Release ninja could unleash their full strength at sea.
A Wind Release ninja would struggle to perform in areas packed with dense buildings.
Water could be considered an environment that countered Rasa to a certain degree.
However, with the appearance of Water Dragon Possession, that counter disappeared.
In water, Rasa could rely on this ninja tool to display extremely powerful strength. Paired with Rasa's chakra reserves, there was probably no Water Release ninja in the entire shinobi world stronger than Rasa.
"Not bad. It has filled in one of my relatively weaker areas."
Rasa did not hesitate and directly put the ring on.
The next moment, Rasa felt it.
"Rise!"
Rasa looked at the cup before him and lifted one finger.
Immediately, the tea inside the cup left the vessel and floated in midair, shifting into all kinds of shapes.
"As natural as moving my own arm!"
"As flexible as when I control sand!"
Rasa's eyes lit up.
"Does this mean that my current strength in Water Release has already reached the level the original Rasa had in sand control back then? Already at Kage level?"
Rasa calculated carefully and discovered that it was indeed the case.
But he did not find it strange.
Even among Kage, there were differences in strength.
Some weaker ones could be killed casually.
Some stronger ones could fight several Kage at the same time.
The previous Rasa belonged to the relatively weaker type.
With Rasa's current chakra, basic attributes, and the ability of Water Dragon Possession, reaching Kage level was very normal.
"The Hozuki clan has already declined."
"The current Mizukage is Chukichi, a wielder of the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai."
"The strongest future member of Kirigakure should be Mei Terumi, a dual Kekkei Genkai wielder with Lava Release and Boil Release."
"Neither of them specializes in Water Release."
"The Water Release ninja of Kirigakure in this era are honestly nothing special."
"Does this mean the strongest Water Release ninja in the world is actually in Sunagakure?"
Different shinobi villages had different environments, so their ninja naturally had different chakra attributes.
Iwagakure was strong in Earth Release.
Sunagakure was strong in Wind Release.
Kumogakure was strong in Lightning Release.
Kirigakure was strong in Water Release.
Konoha was strong in Fire Release.
However, this was only the case among ordinary ninja. For top-tier powerhouses, this rule did not apply.
Sunagakure's Wind Release, truthfully speaking, might not surpass the Shimura clan.
Among Kirigakure's Water Release ninja, there was absolutely no one stronger than Senju Tobirama.
…
That was precisely why so many shinobi villages had envied Konoha in the past.
Konoha had abundant talent of all kinds.
Many shinobi villages could not even surpass Konoha in the very attribute they took pride in.
They were proud of a certain attribute, only to find that the strongest ninja of that attribute was in Konoha.
How could that not be infuriating?
Of course, that era had already passed for Sunagakure.
Sunagakure no longer relied on Wind Release ninja.
Among its mid-level ninja, Devil Fruits were the true pillar.
"Ninja die, but Devil Fruits do not."
"Once the person dies, the Devil Fruit can be removed and transplanted into another person. That power can be passed down, giving Sunagakure's strength an enormous guarantee."
Rasa arrived at the training ground and began testing and familiarizing himself with Water Dragon Possession's ability.
At the same time, he considered how to make the Kitsuchi rumor spark discussion again and earn more points.
"Last time I drew a Ninja Experience Card—Iwagakure Chunin Version."
"I can make use of it."
Just then—
A figure hurriedly ran in.
"Kazekage-sama, big news! Big news!"
Rasa ended his training and looked up.
"What news?"
The intelligence ninja quickly said, "A huge incident has occurred in Konoha. It is said that Orochimaru was discovered conducting human experiments, and Hiruzen Sarutobi personally took action against him."
"But he failed. Orochimaru escaped Konoha."
"Konoha has already issued an enormous bounty on Orochimaru."
"He has been officially classified as an S-rank missing-nin!"
Rasa could not help revealing a strange expression.