"What?"
Everyone revealed expressions of disbelief.
"But isn't Rasa from Sunagakure? Isn't he a Magnet Release shinobi?"
"How could he possibly use Susanoo? How could he use Wood Release?"
"Susanoo is an ability only someone unbelievably powerful, someone like Uchiha Madara, can use. And Wood Release—among the entire Senju clan, only Senju Hashirama awakened it."
"Even people like Senju Tobirama and Tsunade never possessed Wood Release."
"Rasa, on what basis does he have it?"
Some members of the Senju clan felt their teeth ache.
After Tsunade publicly announced the rebuilding of the Senju clan, many people gradually left Konoha and headed toward the capital of the Land of Fire.
Some of them were indeed former members of the Senju clan with clear records of origin.
Others, however, were not so clear about their origins. They merely wanted to use this opportunity to become members of the Senju clan and leap from commoners into a noble ninja clan.
And it was not just any clan. It was the famous Senju clan.
Their leader was Tsunade, one of the Sannin.
Even if Tsunade could not lead the Senju clan back into Konoha, the clan would still remain famous throughout the shinobi world.
Toward this situation, Tsunade chose to turn a blind eye.
After all, the current Senju clan needed strength.
Within the capital of the Land of Fire, the number of shinobi Tsunade had gathered had already reached over a thousand.
Most of them had been dug out from Konoha's foundation.
A small portion were wandering ninja.
At this moment, these members of the Senju clan had gathered together.
"Why is it that so many of us from the Senju clan cannot awaken Wood Release, yet Rasa, an outsider, awakened it?"
Meanwhile, the Uchiha in the distant Land of Water had somewhat different thoughts from the Senju clan.
As for the Uchiha who attacked Sunagakure, they directly accepted the rumor's claim and believed it was Uchiha Fugaku.
They viewed Uchiha Fugaku as a traitor to the clan.
"It's all Uchiha Fugaku's fault!"
"For some benefit, he betrayed the clan and cooperated with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others."
"The tragedy of the Uchiha clan was all caused by him."
One Uchiha seemed to think of something.
"I understand now. Uchiha Fugaku must have cooperated with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others to gain power. He deliberately targeted our Uchiha clan in order to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan."
This explanation gained the agreement of many people.
"That's right. Back then, Lord Madara and Lord Izuna awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan during wartime after personally witnessing the deaths of countless clansmen under immense grief."
"Uchiha Fugaku may have obtained some information and wanted to replicate that path."
"And he really succeeded!"
"Shameless bastard. For the sake of power, he struck against his own clansmen. Hateful!"
"Rasa did well to defeat him."
Many Uchiha began to develop a favorable impression of Rasa.
"Could it be that the true orthodoxy of the Uchiha clan lies with Rasa?"
"Even Uchiha Fugaku, who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, together with the Nine-Tails, was no match for Rasa. Just what level has Rasa's strength reached?"
One person said,
"Uchiha Fugaku awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan through an evil path, while Rasa should have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan through the proper method. That's why he is stronger."
Someone suggested,
"Since the Uchiha orthodoxy lies with Rasa, should we defect to Sunagakure?"
"Lord Rasa will definitely accept us, right? After all, the same blood flows through our bodies."
"Our life in the sailing group has indeed stabilized for now, but how long can this stability last? If a truly powerful existence attacks us, can we stop them?"
"The sailing group's strength is still too weak."
When there had been no other choice, the sailing group had indeed been a good option for the Uchiha.
But once another choice appeared, things were different.
"Sunagakure is now the undisputed number one shinobi village."
Some people yearned for it.
But others hesitated.
"What about the Akatsuki?"
"The Akatsuki and Konoha's goal is the Tailed Beasts. They will definitely attack Sunagakure again. After all, the One-Tail is still in Sunagakure's hands. If the people who attacked Kumogakure make a move against Sunagakure, can Sunagakure stop them?"
"They destroyed nearly half of Kumogakure in an instant. Their strength should be much greater than Uchiha Fugaku's, right?"
"If we go to Sunagakure now, we will have no choice but to face that danger."
Once these words fell, many people immediately grew wary.
Not many people sympathized with Kumogakure's tragic state, but many people feared it.
Even if the Akatsuki acted secretly, tried to weaken its own presence, wanted to shift all the fire toward Konoha, and attempted to portray itself as a simple ninja squad cultivated by Konoha—
Kumogakure's tragedy was too severe.
Across the entire shinobi world, there was no one who did not want to know what was going on with the attacker who struck Kumogakure.
Everyone was deeply afraid of Kumogakure's attacker.
"We must figure out his intelligence!"
"Otherwise, there's no way to fight. We can only be slaughtered at will!"
"We have to find a way to defeat him."
…
Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure…
In truth, this also included Konoha.
Danzo was in a terrible state, burning with anxiety.
Within the Land of Fire, there were two great enemies—Tsunade and Jiraiya—who had already gathered over a thousand shinobi. Among those shinobi, most had been dug away from Konoha.
That meant Konoha's number of shinobi had decreased by that much.
Outside the village, the appearance of the rumor had placed Konoha under tremendous pressure.
Since the Akatsuki could not be found, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure all wanted Konoha to give an explanation.
And this so-called Akatsuki also made Danzo extremely wary.
Danzo had never imagined that the Akatsuki would possess such terrifying strength or commit such actions.
"Before I became Acting Hokage, no one told me the shinobi world was like this!"
"This is too ridiculous."
"Why did the situation in the shinobi world become like this the moment I took office?"
"Could it be that the heavens are jealous of my abilities and are deliberately targeting me?"
"This is all the rotten mess Hiruzen left behind!"
Danzo looked at the intelligence before him, feeling as if he were sitting on pins and needles, as if thorns pressed against his back.
At this moment, Danzo suddenly hoped Hiruzen Sarutobi would wake up and face these problems himself, while Danzo returned first to his position as the Darkness of the Shinobi World.
But unlike the people of those shinobi villages, Rasa's wariness toward the Akatsuki had already dropped significantly.
From the beginning, Rasa had known the Akatsuki's intelligence.
Nagato's existence, Uchiha Obito's existence, Konan's existence—none of it was a secret to him.
Now, the Akatsuki's strength had actually fallen considerably.
With Uchiha Obito gone and only Nagato remaining, Rasa did not believe he would be unable to deal with Nagato.
"After all, the concentration of my Otsutsuki bloodline has increased again."