"Only punish the ringleader. Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Yuzuru's voice boomed across Sunagakure like thunder. A flicker of hesitation flashed through the eyes of the village's shinobi.
The morale Rasa had painstakingly rebuilt cracked in an instant.
For over a month, they had clashed again and again with the Thunder-Fire Allied Army led by Yuzuru. Every single battle had ended in crushing defeat.
If they had not already been driven back to their own doorstep with nowhere left to retreat, the shinobi of Sunagakure would never have chosen to face the enemy head-on.
Still, they had been carefully trained as elite ninja. They would not be swayed into surrender by a single sentence.
The wavering in their eyes lasted only a moment before resolve returned once more.
Seeing this, Yuzuru spoke again.
"I know your determination to protect your village. But do not become tools for others to use."
The shinobi of Sunagakure frowned in confusion, lifting their heads.
"What do you mean? How is protecting our village being used?"
"Don't think a few words can shake us. We're not cowards afraid of death."
"No matter how strong you are, we'll tear a piece of flesh off you!"
"Remember this! Even if Sunagakure falls today, one day we will rise again and avenge our shame!"
"We would rather die standing than live kneeling!"
As several of Rasa's loyalists shouted, morale surged once more.
If they surrendered now, how could they face the comrades who had already fallen?
Even if they survived, would they not become the laughingstock of the entire shinobi world?
Watching the unity below, a rare smile finally appeared on Rasa's perpetually gloomy face.
He rose into the air as well, coldly staring at Yuzuru.
"Yuzuru, don't underestimate the shinobi of our village. They won't betray Sunagakure because of a few sentences from you!"
Yuzuru let out a soft snort.
"Pakura. Karura. Come up."
The moment those two names were spoken, Rasa's pupils shrank violently.
A sense of foreboding rose in his chest.
Before he could react, Pakura and Karura were lifted into the air by swirling sand, arriving beside Yuzuru.
Karura spoke in a low voice.
"Rasa. Back then, for the sake of the village, I willingly sacrificed myself and was sent to Kumogakure as a bargaining chip."
"I did everything I could there to maneuver through the situation. It was because of me that Sunagakure gained breathing room. Even after provoking Kumogakure, the village avoided retaliation."
"You promised to take care of my family. What did you actually do?"
"To extract intelligence from me, you imprisoned my younger brother, Yashamaru, in a dungeon and used his life as leverage."
"Was he not a shinobi of Sunagakure as well?"
"In your eyes, aren't all the village's shinobi just tools to be sacrificed for your own ends?"
Karura's ordeal had been strictly sealed away. Only a handful of Sunagakure's upper ranks knew of it. Now, hearing her account, the village's shinobi could not help but whisper among themselves.
"Something like this really happened? That's… disgraceful."
"She was already traded away as a bargaining chip. How could they threaten her family too?"
"She protected the village as a hero, and her family ended up imprisoned in a dungeon… How could they do that?"
Sensing the shift in mood, Rasa said coldly, "Everything was for the village. I never truly intended to kill Yashamaru."
"And later, didn't I personally send him to Kumogakure to reunite with you?"
"And now you aid the enemy? If anyone is ungrateful, it's you!"
Karura trembled with anger, stunned by his shamelessness.
"That was because you were threatened!"
Rasa remained unmoved. "Nonsense."
Karura tried to continue, but Pakura stopped her.
She looked at Rasa, killing intent blazing in her eyes.
"You can't deny what you did to me."
"After the Third Great Ninja War ended, my achievements and prestige were no less than yours. But because you possessed the Magnet Release kekkei genkai, the village chose you as Kazekage."
"I was disappointed, but I remained loyal to the village."
"But you…" Pakura's voice rose, loud enough for every shinobi below to hear.
"To consolidate your position, you feared my strength and influence. You sent me to Kumogakure, and used Yashamaru's life to force Karura to reveal intelligence about Kumogakure."
"I risked my life and completed the mission."
"But when I returned, I discovered that during my absence, you had secretly sent people to slaughter all of my former subordinates!"
"Rasa, you truly deserve to die!"
Rasa's expression darkened as though it could drip water. Below, the shinobi of Sunagakure stood stunned, mouths agape.
"No wonder Lady Pakura suddenly defected to Kumogakure… Was there something like this behind it?"
"Now that I think about it, during that time, many shinobi in the village disappeared without a trace… Was that why?"
"Damn it! We were comrades of the same village. How could he do such a thing?"
"We've been risking our lives for someone like this?"
"Rasa, what kind of Kazekage are you?!"
Feeling the surge of emotion below, Rasa finally panicked.
"Don't listen to her nonsense! It's all lies! She has no proof!"
But since Yuzuru had arranged this scene, how could he possibly be unprepared?
He glanced down at Uchiha Shisui below. The latter immediately understood and nodded.
In the next moment, more than a dozen Anbu who had been standing at Rasa's side suddenly dropped to their knees, sobbing.
"It was me. I'm sorry. I'm the executioner. My hands are stained with the blood of my comrades!"
"As Anbu, we could not defy the Kazekage's orders. But from that day until now, we have suffered endlessly."
"At last, we are free. Let our lives serve as an offering to those comrades we killed with our own hands."
After speaking, the Anbu drew their kunai and took their own lives.
The scene stunned everyone present—and completely cut off any path for Rasa to deny it.
He could not understand why the Anbu who had been utterly loyal to him would suddenly act like this…
But when he saw Yuzuru watching him from high above with a mocking gaze, realization dawned.
Genjutsu.
It had to be genjutsu.
His subordinates had all fallen under an illusion.
Rasa opened his mouth—but in the end, said nothing.
They were already dead. Anything he said now would only sound like an excuse.
He had always been a calculating man. He understood clearly.
On the brink of life and death, having just glimpsed a righteous path to survival, the people below would never allow him to defend himself.
The Kazekage… was about to be abandoned.