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My Journey as Fourth Kazekage 101
🕑 Added 2025-03-08 10:20:17 +0000 UTCChapter 101: Kirigakure
"Kirigakure!?"
Sitting in the Kazekage’s seat, Rasa looked intrigued.
In fact, it wasn’t just Rasa who was surprised. Even the Anbu of Sunagakure were taken aback when they saw the leader of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure standing before them. They initially assumed he had come to cause trouble and nearly started a fight. However, to their surprise, he claimed to be delivering a message on behalf of the Mizukage and requested an audience with the Kazekage.
After reporting to Baki, Baki immediately sent someone to inform Rasa.
"I remember that Kirigakure and our Sunagakure have communication channels through the Anbu, don’t we?"
It was almost an unspoken rule. Although the great nations were often at each other’s throats, they maintained secret lines of communication behind the scenes. For a Kirigakure ninja to show up unannounced like this was reckless, it could easily spark a conflict between the two nations.
Fuguki Suikazan grinned, revealing his shark-like teeth, and took out a scroll. His demeanor was calm as he spoke.
"This time, I bring a personal message from the Mizukage."
Rasa seemed to understand something and gave Baki a look. Baki immediately walked over, took the scroll, inspected it, and, after confirming it was safe, handed it to Rasa.
Upon opening it, Rasa found that the contents weren’t particularly surprising.
It was essentially a congratulatory message from the Third Mizukage, acknowledging Rasa’s ascension as the Fourth Kazekage and expressing admiration for his two successful campaigns against Konohagakure.
Admittedly, the congratulations were a bit late since Rasa had been Kazekage for half a year already.
"Baki, arrange for this Kirigakure ninja to rest in the village for a day. I’ll give him my response tomorrow."
"Understood!"
Fuguki Suikazan nodded without objection.
Shortly after the two left, Pakura and Michikawa arrived upon receiving the news.
Michikawa remained composed, but Pakura immediately raised a question.
"I heard someone from Kirigakure has come to the village."
This also highlighted that even the Anbu wasn’t completely airtight when it came to information leaks. This was one of the reasons Rasa wanted to restructure the Covert Operations Unit since some intelligence could be shared, but some absolutely couldn’t.
"Yes."
He handed the scroll to them through Sēramu.
After reading it, Michikawa seemed to grasp the situation, while Pakura grimaced.
"What does this mean?"
Michikawa was the one to answer.
"I’ve heard that this Mizukage’s position in Kirigakure is unstable. Judging by this, it seems to be true since he's resorting to seeking outside assistance."
Pakura wasn’t slow to catch on either and quickly realized the implications. Rasa also added another point.
"Regardless, a divided Kirigakure is beneficial to Sunagakure, isn’t it?"
Michikawa nodded in agreement, while Pakura asked curiously,
"So how will you respond? Are you planning to cooperate with this Mizukage?"
"A formal response will suffice. As for cooperation, let’s wait until the Mizukage secures control over his own village. If he can't even trust his own Anbu and has to rely on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to deliver messages personally, then what’s the point of agreeing to an alliance?"
Having said that, Rasa turned to Sēramu and instructed.
"Sēramu, draft a polite and formal response in my name."
For someone like Sēramu, who was once a queen, handling such matters was a simple task.
"Um."
After settling this issue, Rasa turned to the two and asked,
"What’s the situation on the frontlines?"
Michikawa came forward to respond.
"Same as before. Things are stable for now. Although Konoha has redeployed some shinobi, most of them are weak. They don't dare enter the Land of Rivers and are simply holding the border of the Land of Fire. We've followed your original strategy and established three defensive lines—the first at the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire, the second within the Land of Rivers itself, and the third within the Land of Wind, serving as our rear defense."
Rasa nodded in understanding.
"Hmm. And how have Kumogakure and Iwagakure responded? Have they upheld our agreement by issuing missions to Sunagakure?"
Pakura let out a dismissive scoff.
"Hmph, because we crushed Konoha in the Land of Rivers, Kumogakure and Iwagakure think they don’t need us anymore. At first, they didn’t send us a single mission. But now that they’re struggling in their offensives, they suddenly remember we exist. Honestly, I think we should ignore them. Lately, many clients have been coming to our village to request missions—we don’t need work from Kumogakure or Iwagakure anymore."
Michikawa shook his head.
"That’s not the same. The missions from Kumogakure and Iwagakure are mostly A-rank or higher, while the ones from merchants are at best B-rank escort missions."
Pakura was merely venting her frustration. It wasn’t that she truly looked down on the missions from Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
After listening, Rasa summarized,
"Let’s keep things as they are for now. Sunagakure needs time. At the current pace of our development, give us five or six more years, and even if we have to face Konoha alone, I won’t be worried."
"Hai!"
Both Pakura and Michikawa had witnessed the village's recent growth and were looking forward to its future.
Seeing this, Rasa brought up another matter.
"How is your Eight Gates training going? Any issues?"
Hearing this, Pakura and Michikawa had different reactions.
Michikawa sighed, looking somewhat dejected.
"As expected of a Konoha forbidden technique, the Eight Gates is much harder to train in than I imagined. So far, I can only open the Second Gate, the Gate of Rest. However, the boost it provides is incredible. I feel at least twice as strong."
Pakura, on the other hand, puffed up with pride like a peacock.
"Only two gates? I can already open the Fifth Gate. the Gate of Limit!"
The moment she said this, both Michikawa and Rasa were stunned.
Seeing their reactions, Pakura became even more smug as she looked at Michikawa and said,
"I discovered a secret to training in the Eight Gates."
Both men were intrigued.
"What secret?"
Naturally, Rasa was interested. After all, Pakura was the woman who had developed a Secret Technique, Scorch Release on her own.
"Have you forgotten about Star Release chakra? Its ability to enhance physical activity allows for rapid healing of the injuries sustained during Eight Gates training. Using this, I developed an even stronger Scorch Release chakra mode. I call it: Super Scorch Release Chakra Mode."
Michikawa was suddenly enlightened. He hadn’t considered using Star Release chakra to assist in Eight Gates training.
However, Rasa glared at her and spoke sternly,
"This is reckless! I told you before that Star Release chakra draws its power by overtaxing one's potential. This is irresponsible to yourself."
!!!
Rasa’s sudden reprimand stunned Pakura. She instinctively wanted to argue, but Rasa’s next action left her speechless. He stood up from his seat, walked over to her, and said,
"Give me your hand."
"Eh?"
Although Pakura was momentarily confused, she instinctively extended her hand.
The moment he grasped her small hand, she felt an unfamiliar warmth flow into her body. It was an incredibly soothing sensation, and for a second, she nearly let out a strange noise… like a moan and in… sexual way. Fortunately, she controlled herself.
"Just as I thought."
Rasa could feel how greedily Pakura’s cells absorbed his Sage energy. This confirmed his suspicion—she had already begun damaging her body by overstraining her potential.
"Starting today, as Kazekage, I forbid you from using Star Release chakra in your Eight Gates training."
Pakura didn’t argue. Instead, she dazedly asked.
"Are you… worried about me?"
Rasa rolled his eyes and sighed.
"What else would it be?"
