Early the next morning, Rasa went to find Chiyo.
For one thing, Chiyo was highly capable, whether in terms of combat strength or other areas.
For another, Sunagakure truly lacked manpower at the moment. More often than not, one person was doing the work of two.
Only Chiyo remained in a half-retired state, with plenty of free time on her hands.
So Rasa felt that the capable ought to work more.
"Kazekage-sama."
"Chiyo-senpai, I need a puppet. It has to be capable of large-scale printing, and the text on it needs to be changeable. Roughly once a week."
A daily newspaper, Rasa felt, was unrealistic in the current circumstances.
There simply was not enough content to fill it.
A monthly publication, on the other hand, would be too slow.
A weekly paper was the most suitable compromise.
"What are you planning to do with something like that, Kazekage-sama?"
"Fight a war of public opinion."
Rasa said, "I'm sure you've already seen the results of the last two card campaigns."
"Whether it was the first one or the second, both achieved pretty good effects and drew a lot of attention."
"So I want to strengthen that strategy."
"I plan to launch a newspaper."
"One half of the pages will carry recent events from across the shinobi world."
"The other half will serialize stories."
Chiyo thought for a while.
"If that's the case, the investment won't be small. I'm not talking about the cost of making the puppet."
"I mean the paper, the ink, the materials needed to produce enough newspapers for the level of influence you want."
Rasa waved his hand dismissively.
"That's fine. In the early stage, I can fund it personally. After a few issues, we should be able to find ways for it to turn a profit."
"Since Kazekage-sama has already thought it through," Chiyo said, "then I have no problem with it."
"It should take me about a week to make the puppet."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Chiyo-senpai."
When he returned to the Kazekage Building, Rasa pulled out a chart.
On it was Sunagakure's list of upper-level and mid-level appointments.
At present, the internal structure of the major ninja villages was more or less the same.
One Kage. A few elders.
Below them, several departments.
ANBU. Mission Department. Security Department. Intelligence Department. Medical Department. Ninja Academy...
And under each department were the various cadres and officials.
Rasa read through it slowly.
"Shaji. Senior cadre of the Security Department. Contributed quite a lot to the village in his youth. Retired from the battlefield after being crippled. Skilled in Wind Release."
"This person's mind is fairly flexible. A newspaper president's position should suit him well."
"His disability won't affect work like this."
"With his contributions, the post of senior security officer is actually a bit beneath him. But there hasn't been a better position available."
"Promoting him to newspaper president would count as a real rise."
"And his loyalty isn't something I need to worry about."
"After all, Shaji is Baki's father."
Rasa gestured, summoning an ANBU shinobi inside.
"Kazekage-sama."
"Go and bring Shaji here."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Very quickly, Shaji arrived.
He was getting on in years, but not yet truly old—about the same generation as Sakumo Hatake.
In Sunagakure's age structure, he belonged to the latter half of the generation beneath Chiyo and Ebizo.
He was deeply respectful toward Rasa.
From the very beginning, Shaji had been one of Rasa's staunchest supporters.
Otherwise, Baki would never have become Rasa's disciple.
And after the incident where Rasa had crossed a thousand miles to save Baki and killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen by himself, Shaji's gratitude had only grown.
"Kazekage-sama, is this something related to Baki?"
For his own part, Shaji did not think Rasa had summoned him over anything concerning himself.
Most likely, it had something to do with Baki.
After all, he himself was already crippled.
He could not even properly handle all the responsibilities of a senior security officer anymore.
"No, it has nothing to do with Baki. This time, Shaji, I called you here because there is a very important matter I intend to entrust to you."
Shaji froze. Then he gave a bitter smile.
"Thank you for your trust, Kazekage-sama. But look at me now. What exactly can I still do?"
"This is not work that relies on physical strength or combat ability," Rasa said.
"It's work that relies on the brain."
He pointed at the chair opposite him.
"Sit. I'll explain it to you slowly. I plan to start a newspaper..."
Rasa explained his thoughts in detail.
Only after a long while did Shaji finally understand.
"Kazekage-sama, you mean to establish a newspaper office? And have me serve as its president?"
Shaji's eyes brightened.
Ever since being crippled, the light had gone out of his eyes.
Nearly all of his hopes had been pinned on Baki, hoping his son would make something of himself—at the very least, something greater than what he had achieved.
But now, with the creation of this newspaper office, Shaji suddenly saw the possibility that he, too, still had a role to play.
"That's right."
"If Kazekage-sama trusts me, then I will absolutely devote everything I have to doing it well."
Shaji straightened his back and made his pledge.
"I'll assign you a vice president as well. The cadres beneath you can be chosen by the two of you."
"Within three days, I want to see the newspaper office fully staffed."
"Kazekage-sama, I, Shaji, guarantee the mission will be completed!"
Three days later, the newspaper office was officially established.
After finishing work, Rasa personally paid it a visit to inspect the place.
It had not begun formal operations yet, but from how neat and orderly everything was, Rasa could tell that Shaji was taking the matter extremely seriously.
He would do it well.
And after that, the only thing left was content.
On the way home, Rasa kept thinking.
"The article about Danzo is a certainty. That's my primary goal."
"As for the rest of the news, Shaji can handle it himself and fill it as he sees fit."
"But the truly critical part... is the story section."
"A good story is what will make people actually want to read the paper."
A flood of possibilities passed through Rasa's mind.
In the end, however, he settled on a work related to ninja.
The Kouga Ninja Scrolls.
Rasa had watched the anime, but that itself had originally been adapted from a novel.
Now he only had to reconstruct the novel from what he remembered of the anime.
"I'll need someone with decent literary ability. I can provide an outline, and they can flesh out the details and refine the prose..."
"There's no way I'll have that much time. And there's no way I can afford to spend so much of it on this."
Karura, who was in the kitchen preparing dinner, heard him and poked her head out.
"Lord Husband, I do have someone I can recommend."
"Who?"
"Hanazuki."
"Hanazuki?"
Rasa paused.
"Karura, do you mean Uchiha Hanazuki?"
"Yes."
Karura nodded.
"Ever since Hanazuki came to our village, she has had far too much free time. Out of boredom, she started writing stories to pass the time."
"I've read some of them. She writes very well."
Rasa considered it for a moment.
Having Uchiha Hanazuki handle the task was not impossible.
Not at all.