Gold dust gathered into the shape of a rope and wrapped itself around Uchiha Obito's arm.
Lightning surged along the gold sand.
A sharp sting and a wave of numbness struck him at once.
Obito's expression changed, alarm flashing across his face.
"Kamui!"
Everything before him had completely exceeded his expectations.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand how Rasa had discovered him in advance while he himself had remained utterly unaware.
In an instant, Rasa had appeared beside him.
And launched an attack.
His genjutsu had missed completely.
"How is that possible?"
Obito stared in disbelief.
But he was still young, and his reactions were fast.
A young man who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
The moment he realized something was wrong, he immediately used Kamui.
A formless vortex appeared, and his body turned intangible before vanishing.
Plop.
A drop of blood fell to the ground.
Bright red against the sand.
There was also a scroll left behind.
Rasa frowned.
"Uchiha Obito…"
"What is he doing in Sunagakure?"
"If he was going anywhere, shouldn't it have been Kirigakure?"
Rasa had never expected Uchiha Obito to come to Sunagakure and attempt a sneak attack on him. By the time he noticed, it was already too late to arrange a proper trap.
And Obito's ability truly was troublesome.
Capturing him would not be easy.
"Could it be…"
"He was trying to control me?"
"Control me, and through me control Sunagakure as one of his pieces?"
"But that shouldn't be right."
In the original story, Obito had never done anything like this.
Rasa ordered a sand soldier forward. The soldier picked up the scroll from the ground and opened it.
There was nothing strange about it. It simply revealed the contents within.
The scroll was filled with information about the shinobi world.
Rasa quickly noticed the section concerning Nohara Rin.
"I understand now."
"In the original story, the main reason Uchiha Obito controlled Yagura was to take revenge on Kirigakure, because Kirigakure was the true culprit behind Nohara Rin's death."
"But now, Obito isn't sure anymore."
"There are too many versions in this intelligence."
"Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Konoha, the Uchiha, and the Kaguya clan…"
"That's why he came to Sunagakure. He planned to control me with genjutsu and find out whether Sunagakure had designed the scheme against Nohara Rin."
"That little bastard."
"The next time I see him, I won't let him get away so easily."
Rasa had absolutely no goodwill toward Uchiha Obito. He despised him.
Even toward an enemy like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Rasa did not feel this level of disgust.
Obito had done something unforgivable to Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, two people who had never done anything to wrong him.
More than that, they had shown him kindness.
After something as serious as the Uchiha rebellion, Obito, as a member of the Uchiha clan, had still been able to move around freely outside, while even Uchiha Shisui had come under surveillance.
Why?
Wasn't it only because Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had vouched for him?
And that was only a tiny fraction of the benefits Obito had received.
Given the relationship between teacher and student, there was no way Minato had done only that much for him.
When Rasa fought Minato, he had noticed the pained look on Minato's face after that Konoha ninja delivered a message.
If Rasa had to guess, it had most likely been news of Uchiha Obito's death.
"Since you came looking for trouble in Sunagakure…"
"Then I'll make sure you have some trouble of your own."
Rasa had already decided what kind of third rumor he was going to create.
"Call Ebizo here."
The ANBU ninja departed at once.
Not long after, Ebizo arrived at the Kazekage's office.
"Kazekage-sama."
Ebizo was in an excellent mood.
He looked as though he had grown younger by several years.
Kirigakure's surrender had changed everything for Sunagakure.
Throughout the entire Third Great Ninja War, Sunagakure had not achieved a single proper victory.
This was the first.
But that alone was enough.
Because this victory marked the end of the war.
Winning first was not truly winning. Winning last was what mattered.
Every member of Sunagakure, except for the traitors, was thrilled and overjoyed by it.
"Ebizo, I have a task for you."
"What task?"
Rasa said, "Konoha and Kirigakure have already turned against each other, and the war is over. But I need their relationship to grow even worse."
"That will be better for Sunagakure."
"Otherwise, if Konoha and Kirigakure form an alliance again, the first target they'll turn on will definitely be us. That is not what I want to see."
"Sunagakure cannot be dragged back into war so soon."
Ebizo nodded.
"Kazekage-sama, what would you have me do?"
"We can start with the attack by Kirigakure ANBU on the Konoha ninja squad."
Rasa extracted that portion of the intelligence and handed it over.
"Spread the rumor in secret that this entire affair was staged by Konoha, designed by Danzo in order to cast aside Kirigakure, a burdensome ally."
"And make sure to mention that Danzo personally came to meet me with Orochimaru and proposed a peace agreement."
Rasa disliked neither Uchiha Obito nor Shimura Danzo.
And both of them had already taken action against Sunagakure.
Ebizo thought for a moment.
"But Kirigakure will definitely investigate the matter on their side. What if they discover it really was arranged by them?"
"That's impossible. It would bring Kirigakure no benefit whatsoever."
Rasa was certain.
Not merely because he had reasoned it out in terms of利益, but because he knew this had been Madara Uchiha's design all along.
Kirigakure was indeed a victim.
"If Kazekage-sama is certain, then there's no problem."
[Ding!]
[The rumor you spread—"The evil Shimura Danzo, the betrayed Kirigakure, and the innocent Konoha ninja"—has begun to spread.]
[Current remaining activation points: 1. After activation, this rumor's persuasive power will increase, and its spread will generate points.]
[Activate this rumor?]
"Activate!"
[Activation successful.]
Before Ebizo had even walked out of the Kazekage's office, Rasa could already see the points on the system panel beginning to change.
Slowly, but steadily, the number was rising.
Rasa lifted a brow slightly.
"So there was already a rumor like this floating around the shinobi world, and the one I created just happened to line up with it?"
"But the speed is too slow."
"If I didn't have Ebizo actively pushing it forward, who knows how long it would take before I could draw again?"
Rasa watched Ebizo leave.
Then, with a thought, he took out the Confrontation Points Exchange Card.