Rasa let a smile touch his lips.
"Excellent."
"With this, the divisive rumors spread by the Hidden Mist will collapse on their own. The internal strife within the Sand will cease, and we can stand united as one. The Mist will no longer be able to defeat us from the inside."
"If they want war, we'll give them war—to the bitter end!"
"Announce the news tomorrow."
"Three days from now, we will officially hold the wedding!"
"That concludes today's meeting. Dismissed."
The meeting adjourned, and the attendees filed out one by one.
Outside, a group from the pro-war faction huddled together.
"It seems we misjudged Lord Kazekage. He never had any intention of surrendering to the Mist."
"Perhaps he was biding his time. After all, so many in the village were wavering. He didn't want to rely solely on his authority as Kazekage to force a decision."
"And now that the Mist has made such outrageous demands, the village's hatred for them has peaked. By taking a stand now, the Kazekage secures even more support."
"Exactly. A strong rejection of the Mist's demands demonstrates his resolve to everyone."
"And the rumors they spread? Instantly disintegrated."
"Lord Kazekage playing 5D chess out here. What a move."
"It's just... one man, two wives. There's no precedent for that."
"Who cares about precedent? The Daimyo has multiple wives. Why can't the Kazekage?"
"Fair point."
Just as the crowd was thinning out, an old man with white hair, leaning heavily on a cane, approached Rasa.
"You are being too rash, Lord Kazekage. Given our disadvantage against the Mist, is stubborn resistance really wise? For the sake of the village's peace, personal sacrifice is sometimes necessary. The village is what matters most."
"I think you should reconsider, Lord Kazekage."
Rasa frowned.
"Are you questioning me? Selling out a comrade is something I cannot do—especially when that comrade is a hero of our village like Pakura."
"But..."
"Enough. I am the Kazekage!"
Rasa's tone turned ice-cold.
"Get out!"
The old man turned to leave, casting a deep, lingering look back at Rasa. In his heart, he muttered a silent curse.
—Rasa, you will regret this!
Returning to his chair, Rasa sat down. Feeling the original Rasa's power fully integrated into his body gave him a small measure of comfort. But he had to admit, the Hidden Sand's situation was still dire.
Even if the rumor was dealt with.
Even if the village united behind his clear stance, overcoming the current crisis would be incredibly difficult.
Rasa pondered this as he scanned the documents on his desk.
According to Sand intelligence:
On the borders of the Land of Wind, there were ninja from the Hidden Grass, the Hidden Rain, and even rogue ninja from the Land of Rivers.
But they were small fry. The real problem was the Konoha contingent.
Konoha was just too damn strong.
The Sannin, the Yellow Flash, the Uchiha, the Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho...
Konoha hadn't stationed troops on the border just to admire the desert scenery. They were aiming for the Sand.
The Hidden Mist saw this, which is exactly why they dared to make such harsh demands.
"Konoha has ill intentions toward my village."
"At the end of the day, the Mist is just piggybacking on Konoha's threat."
Suddenly, an idea sparked in Rasa's mind.
"Send for Ebizo."
A short while later, Ebizo arrived.
"Lord Kazekage."
Rasa nodded slightly.
"Ebizo, this rumor attack from the Mist gave me an idea. Your intelligence network is spread across various nations. If I asked you to use them to spread a rumor, is it feasible?"
Ebizo blinked, surprised.
"You wish to strike back at the Mist with rumors? With all due respect, given the current situation, I fear rumors won't have much effect on them."
Rasa shook his head.
"I know. That is why my target is not the Mist, but Konoha."
"Konoha?"
"Correct. The reason the Mist dares to demand such harsh terms is partly because they are leveraging Konoha's presence. If Konoha has internal problems, the threat from the Mist diminishes significantly."
Ebizo thought for a moment.
"But spreading baseless rumors about Konoha... that's not realistic either."
Rasa's eyes glinted.
"Who said they were baseless? I've heard some very... reliable information regarding Konoha."
"Legend has it that during the Second Great Ninja War, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, led his six disciples to the Cloud Village for peace talks, only to be ambushed by the Gold and Silver Brothers."
"Tobirama sacrificed himself as a decoy and named Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage."
Rasa narrowed his eyes.
"But... is that what really happened?"
Ebizo looked at Rasa, genuinely curious about where this was going.
After all, that event was monumental.
The entire ninja world knew the story.
Everyone praised Tobirama for his noble sacrifice.
And everyone respected Hiruzen Sarutobi a little more because of it.
In the official story, Hiruzen was the first of the six disciples to volunteer as the decoy.
And because of that bravery, Tobirama designated him the next Hokage.
"The truth I heard is that it was only Tobirama Senju, Kagami Uchiha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi together at the end."
"The other four had gone ahead."
"When the Gold and Silver Brothers caught up, the first person to volunteer as a decoy wasn't Hiruzen. It was Kagami Uchiha."
"Tobirama promised Kagami that if he returned alive, the title of Hokage would be his."
"But the moment Kagami left, Tobirama turned around and named Hiruzen as his successor."
"In the whole affair, not only did Tobirama deceive Kagami, but Hiruzen stole the credit for Kagami's sacrifice, claiming it as his own to polish his reputation."
"After returning to the village, no one ever mentioned Kagami Uchiha's contribution again."
[DING!]
[You have spread a rumor: "The Evil Tobirama, The Hypocritical Hiruzen, The Tragic Kagami."]
[Current Activation Points: 1. Activating will boost the rumor's persuasiveness and earn points from its spread.]
[Activate this rumor?]
"Activate!"
[Activation Successful.]
Ebizo stared, stunned.
"Lord Kazekage... is this true?"
Rasa glanced at Ebizo.
"Does it matter if it's true?"
"The key is whether the Uchiha believe it."
"If the Uchiha believe it—even just a fraction of them—it will undoubtedly create problems within Konoha."
"Ebizo, do you think the Uchiha will believe it?"
Ebizo looked down, thinking seriously.
After a moment...
"To answer Lord Kazekage... knowing the Uchiha, some of them might actually believe it."