The next day, outside Sunagakure village.
Many villagers who had heard the news gathered around, watching the figure before them with nervous excitement.
"I heard Lord Seiki is going to create a forest using Wood Release!"
"Will we finally have fertile land of our own?"
"A forest… something like this only appears in dreams!"
"But can a forest created from chakra actually survive? Unlike Fire or Water Release, without life force, it won't last!"
"Yeah, don't let this end up just being a pile of lumber."
"Don't talk nonsense! This is Lord Seiki we're talking about—the God of Shinobi! If he says it'll work, then it will!"
It wasn't just the villagers watching in awe; even the shinobi held their breath.
Rasa nervously asked, "Seiki, should we make some preparations first? Maybe I can have someone use Water Release to moisten the ground?"
"Not necessary for now. However, after I finish the jutsu, you'll need to remember to water it for a while. That won't be needed once the environment stabilizes."
With that, Seiki released the Yin Seal and mobilized the Dragon Pulse Chakra, instantly entering Sage Mode.
He clasped his hands together and slammed them onto the ground.
[Sage Art: Wood Release – Wood Release: Nativity of a Sea of Trees!]
Driven by natural energy, the trees grew at an astonishing speed.
The ground shook as trees erupted from the earth in wild, uncontrollable growth.
In the blink of an eye, everything as far as the eye could see turned into lush, vibrant greenery!
The entire Sunagakure village was now surrounded by forest!
Witnessing this miraculous scene, many villagers knelt down and kissed the earth itself.
"This is a miracle! A miracle granted to us by Lord Seiki!"
"This isn't some dried-out timber—it's real, living forest with true vitality!"
Compared to the villagers' joy, the shinobi were more shocked by Seiki's overwhelming power.
"He's a monster—a complete monster!"
"Maybe Lord Seiki himself is made of chakra?"
Though they had heard of his strength many times before, no amount of hearsay could compare with seeing this with their own eyes!
This wasn't just a small forest—it was an enormous one encompassing the entire Sunagakure village!
They couldn't begin to fathom how much chakra had been poured into creating such an immense forest.
Furthermore, even after using this ultra-S-ranked, massive area-of-effect jutsu, there wasn't even a hint of fatigue visible on Seiki's face.
This level of chakra reserve left many shinobi, who would normally exhaust themselves after just two or three techniques, utterly stunned.
Rasa also fell silent, recalling his past battle against the One-Tail. "Was Shukaku even a real tailed beast? Somehow, its chakra seems less than even a tenth of Seiki's?"
Seiki clapped his hands together and stood up. "Even I can't change the entire Land of Wind's environment, but tweaking the area around Sunagakure is no problem. Alright, let's press on a little further."
"Just transforming the area near the village is fine," Rasa nodded repeatedly, then suddenly widened his eyes. "Wait, you're continuing right now?"
Seiki smiled. "Not even tired—at this point, we keep going."
Rasa couldn't help but cast an envious glance. If he had chakra reserves on this scale, being a ninja would be as easy as breathing.
...
On this day, every villager in Sunagakure was beaming with joy.
They had successfully shaken off the title of being the poorest nation. While they couldn't compare with Konoha, when measured against Iwagakure—whose land was littered with rocks—and the hilly terrain of Cloud Village, they had quietly begun to surpass them.
"Hehe, the idiots from Iwagakure and Cloud Village must be completely stunned right now!"
"Exactly. Those fools will never understand how satisfying it is to lean on a powerful protector!"
"If you earn the right to lean on someone strong, there's no shame in that!"
Before, the ninja of Iwagakure and Cloud Village had always mocked them for leaning on Konoha, and at the time, they had felt ashamed. But now, they finally saw the truth.
If leaning on a powerful ally allowed Sunagakure to live a better life, then why not lean?
Besides, they weren't really leaning on Konoha—they were leaning on Seiki, who was actually Sunagakure's Honorary Consultant. Close enough to being one of them!
What was shameful about relying on someone practically family?
...
After resting for a day, inside the Kazekage's office.
Rasa was overjoyed, laughing heartily. "Haha, Seiki, I'm just too happy. Thanks to you, Sunagakure can finally catch a break from now on!"
Seiki smiled. "This was originally an agreement from the Third Great Ninja War. I'm merely keeping my promise."
"To you it's a promise kept, but to us, it's a life-changing gift!" Rasa joked. "If we did a popularity poll on the streets, you might even outrank me as Kazekage!"
Seiki smiled again. "Brother Rasa, you're being too humble. Everyone knows exactly how much effort and sacrifice you've poured into Sunagakure as Kazekage!"
"That's true!" Rasa sighed. No further explanation was needed—he hadn't slept in his own bedroom for over half a year ever since allowing Gaara to become the Jinchuriki of the One-Tail. Every night, he had simply slept alone on the couch in the living room.
"Anyway, speaking of other things, Seiki, have you heard of the Greer Stone?" Rasa suddenly asked.
"I've heard of it. From what I know, it's said to be the power an ancient empire used to control its nation, possessing many miraculous effects. Brother Rasa, why are you suddenly asking about this?" Seiki answered calmly.
"You even know about this? That's just like Seiki!" Rasa praised. "It took us ages of research before we finally figured out the crystal's name!"
Seiki gave a faint smile. "Back when I was at the ninja academy, I occasionally read some random books to relax."
Rasa didn't mind and continued, "Not long ago, a ninja from Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade betrayed the village and fled. The pursuit team chased him all the way to the border between the Land of Wind and the River Country. A battle broke out there, and unexpectedly, they fell into an ancient ruin."
"The traitor obtained the Greer Stone inside the ruins, embedding it into his puppet. His strength increased dramatically, allowing him to escape. The pursuing team, seeing how powerful the stone was, continued searching within the ruins and found two more crystals before quickly returning to report."
"After our research, we believe those crystals are indeed the legendary Greer Stones. Although the traitor didn't know the name of the stone, he still managed to spread word of it."
"Of course, that traitor was actually misled by his own preconceptions. Aside from enhancing puppets, the Greer Stone also holds great value for us ordinary ninja!"
"Ohhh, so that's how it is!" Seiki nodded in an overly dramatic manner. As a matter of fact, he knew far more about this than Rasa did.
After all, this ancient ruin was something he specifically created to attract Sasori.
Unlike Sanshouo Hanzo, someone like Sasori was always on the move, making him nearly impossible to find. The best move was to make him show himself voluntarily.
And this ruin was exactly the bait intended to lure Sasori out.
Of course, the ruin itself was fake, but the crystals were real.
They were crystals he had collected here and there over the years. They weren't just meant to lure out Sasori — they were also there to bring the clan guarding the Greer crystal vein into the open!
Those few crystals weren't all that useful to him anyway — better to use them as bait to land a big one.
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