One night passed.
Rasa could clearly see that after he used the One-Night Dream Creation Card, the number in the points column on the system panel rose much faster the next day.
"From the look of it, Jiraiya must have taken some action."
"Even if he didn't fully believe it, he must have done something that caused this rumor to be discussed even more widely."
"At this rate, I should reach three thousand points by tomorrow."
A series of rapid footsteps sounded from the stairs.
"Father."
"Temari, what is it?"
"Lunch is ready."
"Alright. I'm coming down."
Rasa went downstairs and entered the dining room.
Pakura was arranging the tableware at the dining table, while Karura's voice came from the kitchen.
Kankuro sat properly in his chair.
Though he and Temari were both children of Rasa and Karura, their personalities were almost complete opposites.
"Father."
Rasa nodded and sat down beside Kankuro.
Temari immediately bounced onto the chair on Rasa's other side.
"Father, can I enter the Ninja Academy early?"
Rasa raised a brow slightly.
"You want to go to the Ninja Academy?"
"Mm-hm!"
Temari nodded and said, "I want to learn ninja things earlier, so I can fight for the village. Konoha is too hateful. I'm going to beat them up hard and drive them away."
Rasa rubbed Temari's head.
"Konoha is indeed hateful. But if you don't build a solid foundation first, Temari, then even if you go to the battlefield, you won't be able to defeat them."
"Have you completed all of Yashamaru's lessons on time?"
Temari puffed out her chest.
"All done."
Rasa looked toward Kankuro.
"Kankuro, what about you?"
Kankuro answered seriously, "Father, I completed them too."
A smile appeared on Rasa's face.
"Not bad. Since I happen to have some time today, how about I take you all shopping?"
Temari's hands shot up in excitement.
"Yay!"
Kankuro's expression did not change much, but the excitement in his eyes was still visible.
"What are you talking about so happily?"
Karura looked over gently.
"Father promised to take us shopping today."
Temari answered impatiently.
"My husband has time today?"
Rasa nodded.
"There hasn't been much going on these past few days. Most of what needed to be handled has already been dealt with. Since I finally have time, I'll spend it with you. Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we went outside together."
First, as Kazekage, Rasa truly had many matters to handle.
Second, as one of the village's hero shinobi, Pakura was no less busy.
As for the household, everything had been left to Karura, and she was not exactly relaxed either.
After Yashamaru took up his post as the children's teacher, Karura's burden had lightened somewhat, but soon she had other things to do—such as being responsible for revising manuscripts with Uchiha Kagetsu.
Pakura sat down beside Karura.
The two of them got along very well.
Their personalities were completely different.
One was impatient and strong-willed.
The other was gentle, like water.
Yet unexpectedly, they were quite harmonious together.
After lunch, the family of five walked out of the courtyard and into the village.
Sunlight poured down, a little glaring, a little scorching.
This was Sunagakure.
Even though Sunagakure had been built around an oasis, compared to Konoha, its environment could still be considered harsh.
"Once we have more resources in the future, we can build a Sun Disk in Sunagakure's central district."
"It would greatly reduce the intensity of the sunlight in the surrounding area."
Temari and Kankuro wandered here and there, looking at everything with curiosity.
Compared to ordinary children, Rasa's demands toward them were much stricter.
Study, training, assignments…
They had very little time to play freely.
But this was a shinobi world.
Without strength, one's situation in this world would be far too miserable.
Especially when they also carried the identity of the Kazekage's children.
Why had Konoha hidden Naruto's identity as Minato's son? The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi gave to the outside world was that Minato Namikaze had killed too many people during the Third Great Ninja War and offended too many enemies.
Once Naruto's identity as Minato's son was exposed, he would suffer retaliation from others.
That reason was not entirely sufficient, but there was indeed some truth to it.
"Father, I want this!"
"Father, I want to eat that!"
"…"
Suddenly—
A figure rushed quickly toward Rasa.
"Ebizo."
"Kazekage-sama, there is extremely important news."
Ebizo forcibly suppressed the excitement in his eyes.
"What news?"
"It concerns the Devil Fruits. The research over there has made new progress. Kazekage-sama…"
In public, Ebizo did not continue.
Rasa looked back.
Temari was clearly reluctant, but still raised her little fist.
"Father, go handle your work. We'll be fine by ourselves."
Kankuro nodded beside her like a little adult.
"Father, proper business is more important."
When Rasa and Ebizo arrived at the Devil Fruit research base, Ebizo immediately led Rasa to a stone platform.
A stunningly beautiful stone entered Rasa's sight.
It radiated multicolored light.
Ebizo introduced it excitedly.
"Kazekage-sama, the energy contained within this stone is far greater than the others. According to our measurements, this level of energy would provide considerable assistance even to a jonin."
Rasa's interest was immediately piqued.
The Stone of Gelel had now been named Devil Fruit by Sunagakure.
It contained powerful energy that could transform a shinobi's form while strengthening them.
But generally speaking, it was only of significant help to shinobi at chunin level and below.
It could allow an ordinary chunin to reach the level of an elite chunin.
Or allow an elite chunin to possess the strength to fight a special jonin.
But once someone reached jonin level, the effects of the Stone of Gelel became limited.
Yet this piece could help even jonin.
If a jonin received considerable enhancement, wouldn't that mean reaching the level of an elite jonin?
At this point in time, elite jonin already counted among the top-tier shinobi.
"Kazekage-sama, this Devil Fruit is extremely valuable, so we have not allowed anyone to try it. Do you have a suitable candidate?"
Rasa thought for a moment.
"Have Tatsuya come over."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Before long, Tatsuya arrived at the base.
He was an older jonin whose potential had already reached its limit. His talent among jonin was nothing remarkable, but he was loyal to the village.
"Kazekage-sama."
Rasa nodded slightly.
"Tatsuya, you have always been loyal to the village and have rendered considerable service. Here is a superior Devil Fruit. It can provide notable improvement even to jonin. I am awarding it to you. I hope you will continue contributing to the village."
Tatsuya's eyes lit up.
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama."
Rasa signaled to Ebizo.
"Begin the operation."
Soon, the surgery was completed.
Rasa looked at Tatsuya, anticipation appearing in his eyes. He also wanted to see what kind of changes this special Stone of Gelel would bring to Tatsuya.
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