Reborn wind shadow: Attack the country of fire in the beginning

#154 - Chapter 154: Pressure from the Daimyo

Unlike the last time, when the Daimyo only secretly sent his chief retainer, Oota, to deliver a letter,

this time, the fanfare was quite lively!

Although the leader was still the samurai named Oota, one could tell from the grand entourage entering Sunagakure that the Daimyo definitely had ulterior motives, especially at such a crucial moment.

Sunagakure, the Kazekage Tower.

As the Kazekage, Rasa once again met with Oota, a confidant of the Daimyo.

In addition to him, there was also an elderly man beside Oota.

The process was still familiar; Oota took out the Daimyo's handwritten letter from his pocket.

Then, the elderly man who had newly arrived immediately questioned Rasa with an arrogant tone.

"Kazekage, I am Aoki Yasunao, a close retainer of the Daimyo. I have come to Sunagakure this time on the Daimyo's orders. The Daimyo-sama wishes for me to personally ask you, why is Sunagakure undermining this alliance with Kumogakure and Iwagakure? Kazekage-dono, do you know what you are doing?!"

Upon hearing this, both Maki and Shingu beside Rasa immediately changed their expressions.

Rasa was the Kage of their village, yet this fellow named Aoki Yasunao dared to question the Kazekage in such a manner.

Rasa, however, seemed not to have heard the man's words at all, only glancing at the Daimyo's handwritten letter, deep in thought.

It must be said that the Daimyo's people had come at too convenient a time, so convenient that Rasa believed it was no longer a coincidence.

Recalling that the timing of this alliance was originally recommended by the Daimyo himself.

It seemed that this Daimyo's dissatisfaction with Sunagakure was more serious than Rasa had imagined!

It seemed that Sunagakure's past obsequiousness to the Daimyo had indeed led this Daimyo of the Land of Wind to treat Sunagakure as a vassal to be ordered around at will.

Seeing that Rasa had not spoken for so long, the minister named Aoki Yasunao said even more displeased.

"Kazekage, why don't you answer me? Don't forget, I am speaking to you on behalf of the Daimyo-sama."

The anger on Maki's face was already undisguised, and Shingu also stepped forward, about to say something, but was stopped by Rasa.

As for the samurai named Oota, he simply sat there quietly.

Rasa calmly put the letter aside, then turned to look at the old fellow with an icy expression and asked.

"Aoki Yasunao, is it? I ask you, which Daimyo are you representing when you speak to me? The Land of Lightning, or the Land of Earth?"

Aoki Yasunao immediately frowned and asked.

"Kazekage, are you a fool? Or are you mocking me?!"

"Hmph!"

Rasa snorted lightly, making the old man even more displeased, before slowly saying.

"Whether I am a fool is clear to me, but whether some people are clear is unknown."

Aoki Yasunao said with a gloomy expression.

"Kazekage, what do you mean?"

"What do I mean? As a close retainer of the Daimyo-sama of the Land of Wind, you come here spouting nonsense without even investigating the matter clearly. Could it be that all those around the Daimyo-sama are trash like you?"

Rasa's undisguised words directly made Aoki Yasunao tremble with anger, his eyes wide, seemingly not expecting the Kazekage to dare speak to him like this.

"Kazekage, you actually dare to call me trash, and even dare to insult the Daimyo-sama! If you don't give me an explanation, I will definitely report everything that happened here to the Daimyo-sama."

"Explanation? As the Kazekage of Sunagakure, why should I give you an explanation? Spouting nonsense here without even investigating, how can a useless fellow like you still remain by the Daimyo's side? It's truly pathetic."

"You... you..."

Aoki Yasunao was so angry that his beard was bristling and his eyes were wide.

Just then, Oota, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

"Kazekage-dono, you've gone too far, Aoki Yasunao..."

Oota was about to continue speaking, but felt a terrifying killing intent envelop him. Looking up, he met Rasa's icy gaze. In that instant, Oota finally remembered that the person before him was not an ordinary ninja, but stood at the pinnacle of ninjas, the Kazekage of Sunagakure.

"Gone too far? Oota-sensei, do you think I said something wrong? Isn't this old fellow trash? Do you also agree with what he said?"

Rasa's forest-like voice sounded.

Feeling Rasa's forceful attitude, Oota was startled. He also knew that when he came, the Daimyo's instructions might not be so easy to fulfill. However, he still challenged his own mentality and said.

"Kazekage-dono, Aoki Yasunao-sensei is a little anxious, but what he said also makes sense. I have heard of some things that Kumogakure and Iwagakure have done in Sunagakure, but in the face of the righteousness of the three-nation alliance, I feel that these contradictions can be temporarily put aside. After all, the land of the Land of Fire is too fertile. If our three countries unite, we can definitely defeat Konoha and divide the Land of Fire."

Rasa did not refute, but instead asked.

"Oota-sensei, you keep talking about the three great nations uniting, defeating Konoha, and dividing the Land of Fire. Then, I would like to ask, Oota-sensei, why do you think that after defeating Konoha, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth will let our Land of Wind also become a part of the division of the Land of Fire."

Oota was stunned, but Aoki Yasunao immediately found a place where he could interject and said.

"Of course, our three great nations have an agreement!"

"Agreement!? Has our Land of Wind already confirmed an alliance with the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth?"

"Of course not, I have come here to facilitate this matter? If Sunagakure does not first reach an alliance with Kumogakure and Iwagakure, how can the alliance of the three great nations be discussed?"

Rasa, however, completely ignored this fool and instead said to Oota, who looked slightly smarter.

"Oota-sensei, do you know how many ninjas are currently registered in Sunagakure?"

At this point, Oota, who had roughly understood Rasa's meaning, also calmly asked.

"How many?"

"Even if this year, due to Sunagakure's good development momentum, the number of ninjas has increased to a certain extent, but even with the ninjas who graduated this year, it is only barely four thousand. And how many ninjas do Kumogakure and Iwagakure have? Not to mention those hidden ones, just from the number of ninjas that the two ninja villages have invested in the Konoha battlefield this time, Kumogakure has more than ten thousand people, and Iwagakure also has eight thousand."

"!!!"

This time, not only Oota, but even Aoki Yasunao was extremely surprised.

"The gap is actually so big?"

Oota said in shock.

Aoki Yasunao then asked fiercely.

"Kazekage, isn't this your problem? What did you do with the funds that the Daimyo-sama allocated to the village? Why is the number of ninjas in Sunagakure so small?"

"Fool!"

Rasa rolled his eyes at the old fellow before saying to Oota.

"The training of ninjas takes time. Only eight years have passed since the last Shinobi World War. Sunagakure suffered heavy losses last time. It is impossible to restore the previous number of ninjas in eight years, especially since the environment of Sunagakure is so harsh, so..."

Rasa looked at Aoki Yasunao.

"Aoki-sensei, instead of questioning me here, you should ask the Daimyo to allocate more military expenses to Sunagakure."

After saying that, Rasa ignored the teeth-gritting Aoki Yasunao and said to Oota.

"Please trouble Oota-sensei to go back and report to the Daimyo-sama. In terms of Sunagakure's current strength, even if our three countries unite, the Land of Wind will not be the one to get the biggest piece of the cake in the end. We may even disappear because of this. After all, war is about death, and the current Sunagakure can no longer withstand a war..."