"Root ninja?"
Rasa recognized the style instantly.
After that, he lost all interest in capturing the man alive.
The last time Danzo had sent Root operatives into Sunagakure with Shiro-Suna Koichi, Rasa had caught quite a few for interrogation. The results had been useless. Danzo's brainwashing was too thorough. Wasting time on another one wasn't worth it.
Better to just kill him.
Right then, the giant golden sphere finished absorbing enough energy. But the storage module hadn't been built yet, so there was nowhere for all that power to go.
The energy had to be released.
A highly concentrated orb of pure solar energy formed.
It wasn't chakra, but it was every bit as dangerous.
Rasa's eyes narrowed.
"Flowing Sand Shift · Guide!"
He copied the principle of Minato's Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder. Instead of redirecting a Tailed Beast Bomb, he sent the concentrated solar energy straight to the Root ninja's hidden position.
It arrived instantly.
The Root operative never had time to react.
BOOM!
A violent explosion tore through the air. Sand erupted like a wave. The intense heat melted the sand into glass. The Root ninja's body was instantly reduced to charred remains.
A Sand guard captain saw the corpse and went pale.
"Kazekage-sama! I'm sorry!"
He dropped to his knees in front of Rasa, head lowered.
Rasa had stressed the importance of the Sun Disk more times than anyone could count. Yet someone had gotten this close and the captain in charge of security hadn't noticed a thing.
Rasa glanced at him.
"You're right. This is your fault."
"The Sun Disk is extremely important. Even if other villages don't know exactly what we're building, they've seen how many people we pulled here. They're going to get curious."
"Until it's finished, no one can be allowed to learn anything about it."
"And no one can be allowed to interrupt the construction."
"This is tied directly to Sunagakure's future."
The guard captain slapped himself hard across the face twice.
Rasa turned to Chiyo.
"Elder Chiyo, I want you personally in charge of security here from now on."
Chiyo nodded.
"I'll set up puppet traps. No one will get close."
Forget how vital the Sun Disk was to the village. Chiyo had poured too much of herself into this project. She refused to let it fail or let its secrets fall into enemy hands.
She was genuinely excited to see it completed.
The Sun Disk was art.
With Chiyo's promise, Rasa finally relaxed.
Puppets and poison. Even the best infiltrators would have a hard time getting past that. And Chiyo's experience was unmatched. She was a veteran of multiple wars. If she said she would handle it, she would.
After Rasa left, Chiyo turned her full attention back to the Sun Disk.
She didn't notice the small puppet eye watching from far away.
The eye first lingered on the half-built Sun Disk, then shifted toward Chiyo.
"Sun Disk… interesting. Who the hell came up with this?"
"The old hag?"
"No. This isn't something that old woman could create."
"Then it must be Rasa."
Sasori's eyes narrowed behind his puppet.
"That guy who learned Magnet Release from the Third?"
"He used to seem so ordinary. Turns out he was hiding this deep."
"Actually kind of interesting."
"Stronger than the old man."
"If I turned him into a puppet, he'd definitely be better than the one I made from the Third."
"The old man would probably be happy if he knew Rasa turned out this strong."
"But I don't want him to be happy."
"It's because of that selfish bastard that my parents died."
"Ninja are boring."
"Kage are even more boring."
"Only puppets are eternal."
Sasori's gaze returned to the Sun Disk.
"Still… what exactly is this thing?"
Curiosity burned in him.
But he didn't dare get closer.
No one understood Chiyo better than Sasori. And right now, he had zero interest in meeting her.
His expression stayed blank, but his eyes gleamed with something cold.
"I still have a few pieces planted inside Sunagakure. I can use them to find out more."
"Nothing like this has ever appeared in the ninja world before."
"If Rasa brought it here, where did he even get it?"
"This isn't Magnet Release."
"And it sure as hell isn't the Third's work."
A gust of wind swept past and buried the eye in sand.
But at that exact moment, a voice spoke right beside him.
"Sasori… enjoying the view?"
Sasori's heart jumped.
Another puppet eye appeared in the opposite direction just in time for him to see Rasa standing casually next to his hidden position.
"Rasa?"
"When did he—?"
"How did he find me?"
"Even Grandma didn't notice!"
Sasori went on full alert, every muscle ready to explode into action. At the slightest movement from Rasa, he would go all out.
But deep down, he was uneasy.
He knew the current state of the ninja world. He had estimated Rasa's strength—maybe even overestimated it.
Yet he had no idea how Rasa had found him… or how he had gotten so close without Chiyo noticing.
"Relax," Rasa said calmly.