Chapter 6: These Guys
There was something Rasa wasn't sure whether he should say or not.
Why were all these Iwa-nin chasing only him?
Was it really just because he was known as the student of the Third Kazekage? Was that enough to draw this much hate?
Weren't all the other villages spreading rumors that the "disciple of the Third Kazekage—Rasa—had suffered mental trauma and lost his sanity"?
So… was it really okay for them to be chasing down a lunatic like this?
It was only after all the Iwa-nin had started going after him that Rasa realized—most of their Jōnin and Chūnin had joined in on the hunt!
Was the group of Suna-nin back there actually the safest place to be right now?
[What the hell?!]
Rasa sighed lightly and glanced behind him at the relentless Iwa-nin in pursuit, all while sensing his chakra rapidly draining.
[These bastards… they're really trying to kill me!]
He absolutely couldn't let things go on like this.
He glanced at the impure gold dust he was controlling and thought:
[I wonder… can this stuff be converted into currency?]
As soon as the thought formed—
[Yes. Exchange rate: 60%.]
That familiar voice, the one from when his golden finger (cheat ability) had first activated, suddenly rang out again.
Only sixty percent? That's daylight robbery!
Even if it was impure gold dust, he'd painstakingly extracted it from the desert himself!
But in this situation—
[Do it!]
As soon as he made the decision, the interface blinked—he received 99 silver coins.
"…"
All that gold dust… for just 99 coins?
Had the system made a mistake?
Even the gold dust under his feet and surrounding him for defense had been converted, and still only 99 silver coins?
Was he being scammed?
But a moment later, he considered: this was the desert. If the sand here had high gold content, would it still be a barren wasteland?
Rasa sighed and shook his head, murmuring, "When you think about it… I really do have it rough."
Just a bit of impure gold dust, and yet he had to rely on it—mining alone in the middle of the desert—to feed an entire village…
What an impossible task that was.
He glanced at the silver coins, still not enough for a lottery draw, and quickly gathered another pile of gold dust from under his feet. Then—under the confused and wary eyes of the Iwa-nin—he turned and ran off again.
"…What's he doing?"
The Iwa-nin blinked, staring in confusion as Rasa dispersed his chakra, then immediately started gathering it again.
[Could this be… some kind of trap?]
Though this Sand ninja's mental state seemed questionable, the Iwa-nin respected his guts. He'd drawn them away on his own to protect his fellow shinobi—clearly a man of resolve.
But still… he had to die.
As the student of the Third Kazekage, if nothing unexpected happened, Rasa would surely be the next Kazekage.
If they could really kill him here…
It would be a massive blow to Sunagakure.
So—
"Keep chasing him!"
And just like that, the desert chase continued.
It made for a truly bizarre scene.
One man, riding on a wave of golden sand, fleeing at the front.
Behind him—a whole group of Iwa-nin in hot pursuit.
And whenever the Suna-nin up front dispersed his sand and came to a stop… the Iwa-nin didn't dare make a move.
[These guys… are the ones who've really lost it!]
Having just converted another batch of gold dust, Rasa looked speechlessly at the Iwa-nin keeping their cautious distance.
He was standing still, and they still didn't dare approach.
So what exactly were they chasing him for?
Did they think if they caught him, they could… do something unspeakable?
He took a breath and pulled out a small blue bottle he had once drawn from a gacha pull with 100,000 silver coins courtesy of Pakura. It restored 100 chakra per second—enough to maybe use a Shadow Clone.
Duration: one minute.
It was part of a set—twelve bottles in a pack.
Sighing, he ignored the Iwa-nin who still weren't attacking and activated his Magnetic Sand Shield right where he stood. Once it had stabilized, he began another conversion. But to the Iwa-nin watching, the process looked exactly like he was dispersing his chakra again.
Gather, disperse. Gather, disperse. Gather, disperse. Pop a chakra potion...
He kept repeating the cycle.
"A trap! This is definitely a trap!" one of the Iwa-nin shouted—a short man with tiger-stripe whiskers on his face. He pointed at Rasa with a serious expression that practically screamed I've figured it all out. "He disperses his chakra just to gather it again? This student of the Third Kazekage is clearly baiting us!"
"You've got a point! I was thinking the same—no ninja would keep doing this for no reason!"
"Isn't it obvious?" the Iwa-nin commander snapped. "Everything about this is suspicious!"
You think I became commander just by pulling strings? he thought bitterly.
But still…
"What kind of trap could it be? Are we just going to stand here and watch?"
"Well…"
The Iwa-nin exchanged awkward glances.
A moment later—
"How about we just wait for him to burn through his chakra? There's no way he can keep this up for long."
"Smart thinking," the commander nodded. Then he turned to the one who'd made the suggestion, glaring coldly. "You! Yeah, you! Go see what kind of trap he's hiding."
"…"
The chosen Iwa-nin froze, glancing nervously at his comrades and then at the commander. "Sir, I—"
"Go!"
With a dismissive snort, the commander sent him off.
What, you think I'm stupid enough to walk into a trap myself? the commander scoffed, then said coolly, "Watch closely. Be ready to back him up at the first sign of trouble."
This was the Land of Wind, after all. Harsh, desolate, wind-swept—but still Sunagakure's territory. The longer they lingered here, the greater the risk of something unexpected happening.
And wait?
The real reason they had come was twofold: one, to investigate the possible disappearance of the Third Kazekage; and two, to probe the Land of Wind's defenses. If things went well, perhaps Iwagakure could take advantage of their weakness.
But never did they expect—
—to run into the Third Kazekage's disciple himself.
As the dispatched Iwa-nin approached Rasa—
The student of the Third Kazekage gathered his chakra again… and then ran off.
"…Chase him! I want to see what his damn plan is!" the commander barked.
Teeth clenched, face twisted with suspicion.
Clearly, Rasa's hiding something big. If only one Iwa-nin approaches, there's no way he'll unleash his trump card just yet.
But what was the trump card?
A siege weapon? A terrain destroyer? The One-Tail?
Or perhaps… a secret weapon Iwagakure hadn't even heard of yet?
[We have to record this—warn the others later.]
And so, the chase continued across the windswept desert.
It was… strangely cheerful, like some bizarre game of tag.
"These guys seriously have issues…" Rasa muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as he kept exchanging sand for coins. From time to time, he'd glance back at the cautious pursuers still trailing behind him.
"What are they trying to do?"
Of course…
His curiosity lasted only a moment. Once he converted another batch of gold dust from underfoot—
Tears welled in Rasa's eyes.
"I finally… I finally have enough for a draw?"
It had not been easy.
Not. At. All.