[Rengoku's Timeline]
In the Land of Wind, yellow sand filled the sky, swirling endlessly through the air.
Rasa was suspended in midair, standing steadily atop a cushion of sand.
Fierce winds swept across the vast desert, stirring up wave after wave of sand, yet Rasa remained completely unaffected.
He was racing forward at high speed, while continuously manipulating his unique Magnet Release ninjutsu, causing the sand dunes below to churn and roll.
His gaze was sharp like a hawk's as he scanned the desert beneath him, carefully searching for precious gold dust and other mineral resources.
Although Sunagakure's compensation standards for ninja casualties were relatively low, the massive compensation costs brought about by the seven thousand casualties in this incident still forced Rasa to labor like this day after day, and it had already been a full six months.
Long-term, high-intensity work had gradually dulled his once resolute features, leaving them somewhat numb and vacant.
Yet the pressure of life left him no room to stop. He could only grit his teeth and keep working.
Fortunately, all of his debts had finally been paid off, and he felt noticeably lighter as a result.
At this moment, Rasa secretly hoped that once Iwagakure or Kumogakure learned of Rengoku's death, they would be unable to hold back and go test Konoha's true strength.
Unfortunately, he knew far too little about the personality of Onoki, the leader of Iwagakure.
Already advanced in years, Onoki had long developed a cautious and meticulous way of handling matters.
When faced with such vague intelligence lacking solid evidence, let alone sending people out to probe, he was unwilling to stir up even the slightest ripple.
What was more, he had already found a satisfactory successor and was even less willing to create trouble or complications at such a critical juncture.
After all, the previous joint attack by Kumogakure and Sunagakure had ended in utter disgrace, with them returning defeated, and even losing a Jinchuriki in that great battle.
Onoki clearly understood that without obtaining intelligence from inside Konoha, continuing to send people over would be nothing more than a futile effort, so he decisively chose not to risk anyone further.
However, Rasa at this moment had no other options left. He had completely lost control of the situation.
After the fierce battle, Sunagakure had suffered devastating damage. Most of its elite forces had been wiped out, and its overall strength had plummeted sharply.
The current Sunagakure was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, with no power to fight back.
If not for its location deep within a desolate desert, it likely would have long since become a target for other villages to attack at will.
And yet, Kumogakure, which had always been known for its aggressiveness, was unexpectedly silent this time.
It turned out that Kumogakure and Iwagakure had reached a tacit understanding regarding the exchange of intelligence about the Fourth Ninja World War.
Notably, most of the crucial information about Rengoku had been disclosed by Iwagakure.
For example, that special clone technique, as well as the powerful Fire Release jutsu capable of covering an area of more than five kilometers.
In addition, two exceptionally powerful figures had emerged on Konoha's side during the battlefield clashes: Shisui and Makumi.
Both were outstanding members of the Uchiha clan and had been famous for many years.
Among them, Shisui had been reported missing and suspected of suicide many years ago, yet he had miraculously reappeared now.
Even more astonishing was that they had both displayed the terrifying power of the Mangekyo Sharingan in battle.
However, information about excessive use of the Mangekyo Sharingan leading to blindness was still completely unknown to the outside world.
Under these circumstances, the Uchiha clan still had four top-tier experts who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
(And there was one more, unknown to anyone, Kaori.)
Even without the overwhelmingly powerful Rengoku, the Jinchuriki they would face would still be heavily restrained.
After all, after the Raikage lost an arm, Kumogakure's strongest fighting force was only Killer Bee.
With the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki gone, Killer Bee was already considered the strongest Jinchuriki.
He should have been able to dominate the battlefield with his own immense strength, yet he was rendered ineffective due to being countered by the Uchiha clan.
As for Iwagakure, its strongest combatant, Onoki, originally held an absolute advantage in the air, which made things quite promising.
However, regrettably, Uchiha Makumi's Mangekyo Sharingan ability seemed as though it had been born specifically to counter Onoki.
His light arrows were simply too fast, and their attack range was also vast.
Aside from using the Dust Release technique to defend, Onoki had no other options.
But Makumi's right eye, Dojutsu: Life Reversal, was itself an ability that reduced Susanoo consumption and allowed for partial Susanoo manifestation.
The chakra cost of Onoki's Dust Release simply could not compare with Makumi's at all.
As a result, Iwagakure was completely shut down as well.
In a situation like this, both Iwagakure and Kumogakure tacitly chose a non-military method to test Konoha.
That method was economic warfare.
These three countries were all major powers. Although the goods they exported differed somewhat, trade between them had never ceased.
After all, whether it was the Land of Earth, the Land of Fire, or the Land of Lightning, aside from the ninja villages, there existed vast numbers of ordinary civilians.
Among them, the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire were famous for their abundant and diverse natural resources.
In contrast, the Land of Lightning stood out for its wide variety of high-tech products.
Judging from the current state of development in the Land of Fire, more and more people had already solved the problem of basic survival.
As a result, demand for various electrical appliances from the Land of Lightning that could improve quality of life continued to rise.
Recently, the Land of Lightning had deliberately raised tariffs on goods exported to the Land of Fire.
Not only that, the prices of various items shipped to the Land of Fire had skyrocketed across the board.
At the same time, the Land of Earth took actions identical to those of the Land of Lightning, also raising tariffs and pushing up prices.
However, because the Land of Fire's dependence on the Land of Earth's resources was relatively low, the impact of these changes was not particularly severe.
All in all, it was clear that the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth had seized the opportunity to probe Konoha's true condition.
At this moment, the Land of Fire had only two choices before it.
One was to directly reveal its trump card and force the other side to back off.
The other was to silently endure the losses and swallow this bitter pill.
Whether it was Iwagakure or Kumogakure, their intentions were extremely obvious.
Go to war? That was absolutely impossible.
They merely wanted to take this chance to see whether Konoha had truly suffered a massive decline and become weak.
If so, they would seize the opportunity to ruthlessly squeeze a batch of resources out of Konoha.
In any case, they had already made long-term plans, slowly accumulating strength first and taking further action once the time was right.
Even though Konoha possessed powerful experts with the Mangekyo Sharingan, the fact that the village was currently short on manpower was undeniable.
Would Konoha really start a war over something like this?
After all these twists and turns, Konoha's carefully planned baiting strategy ultimately ended in failure.
And judging from the current stance of Iwagakure and Kumogakure, who were holding back and not making a move, it was clear that they had no intention of acting anytime soon.
Speaking of which, Rasa had previously made a big show of announcing that he had successfully killed Uchiha Rengoku.
But in reality, there were still many formidable figures within Konoha.
As a result, that sense of Rasa turning the tide and saving everything faded considerably.
Now there was no opportunity left for him to make a comeback. Because of this incident, the Wind Daimyo had ordered that Rasa be held accountable.
Although Rasa still held the position of Kazekage for the moment, the power in his hands had already been completely stripped away.
The changing of the Kazekage was only a matter of time.
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