Sunagakure Village
Located in the desert, Sunagakure is one of the five great ninja villages, and it has the worst geographical environment among them. The entire village is situated in a massive canyon surrounded by towering desert mountains. On the surface, it appears to be resource-poor and environmentally harsh.
However, this unique geographical environment also grants Sunagakure advantages that other villages do not possess.
First, the massive canyon that houses Sunagakure acts like a mother's embrace, perfectly protecting the village. To enter Sunagakure, even a flying ninja like Deidara would have to pass through the canyon's entrance, a narrow chasm less than ten meters wide, nearly a hundred meters long, and almost a thousand meters high, known as the "One-Line Sky."
Second, the barren environment of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind makes other nations' ninja villages reluctant to attack. After all, the purpose of war is either land or resources, and Sunagakure and the Land of Wind lack both.
Yet, this very geographical advantage, which allows Sunagakure to both attack and defend, provides safety but also gives its ninja a misplaced sense of courage that clouds their judgment.
As Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, dressed in his white Kazekage robe, arrived at the top floor of the Kazekage building with his trusted aide, Baki, he could hear the noisy debate from the large conference room.
"Now is the best time for Sunagakure! We can't just sit back and watch anymore..."
"That's right. Kumogakure has been provoking Konoha at the border of the Land of Fire, and it looks like a fight is about to break out. Iwagakure has also sent a large force into the Land of Grass, threatening the Land of Fire's border, clearly trying to take advantage of the situation. Konoha is focusing most of its forces on dealing with Kumogakure and Iwagakure. This is our chance."
"Right now, in the entire ninja world, only Sunagakure and Kirigakure are staying out of the conflict. We're separated from Kirigakure by a vast ocean and desert, so we don't have to worry about them. The current situation is very favorable for us. Whether we attack Konoha, Kumogakure, or Iwagakure, it's to our advantage."
"We should definitely target Konoha. Even though the White Fang is dead, we can't just forget about the deaths of Lord Shinji and Lady Naomi."
"The disappearance of the Third Kazekage is also related to Konoha!"
"Why hasn't the Kazekage arrived yet? At such a critical time, for such an important meeting..."
Rasa stood outside the door for a long time, listening to the passionate discussion inside, and he couldn't help but feel exasperated.
He wanted to ask, who gave the ninja of Sunagakure the courage to join this ninja world war?
Was it Sage of Six Path?
Leaving aside Konoha's mid- and lower-level ninja, just their top-tier fighters alone—the Third Hokage in his prime, Minato Namikaze, who had become the Yellow Flash, the legendary Sannin, and even the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki—were enough to make Rasa feel hopeless. He had no confidence in defeating any of them. Each of them was capable of taking on thousands of enemies.
Not to mention, Konoha still had the Uchiha clan, which hadn't been wiped out yet, and the Hyūga clan, which was also renowned.
Even Kumogakure and Iwagakure were not opponents Sunagakure could defeat. The Third Raikage could wrestle with the Eight-Tails, and the Fourth Raikage, along with the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails Jinchūriki, had already grown strong.
As for Iwagakure, although they didn't have many famous ninja, Ōnoki's Dust Release alone was something Rasa couldn't handle, not to mention the two tailed beasts and their Jinchūriki.
And what did Sunagakure have?
Magnet Release? Puppetry? Scorch Release? Poison? Shukaku?
Comparing the two sides, they were not on the same level at all. How could they possibly fight?
Thinking of this, Rasa couldn't help but sigh.
Yes, the current Rasa was no longer the same as before.
Just last night, Rasa, who had been an ordinary office worker, was walking down the street when something suddenly hit him. He felt dizzy, and when he woke up, he found himself in the world of Naruto, having become the recently appointed Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure: Rasa.
The same Rasa who, without even taking off his Kazekage robe, was assassinated by Orochimaru, and who, in a twisted display of "fatherly love," tried to turn his son Gaara into a tailed beast weapon by sending his brother-in-law to kill him.
When he first crossed over, Rasa was very uncomfortable.
First, he was just an ordinary office worker. Although he had merged with the memories of the Fourth Kazekage, he was still not used to the idea of fighting and killing.
Second, Rasa's own potential was too weak. Compared to the bloodline limits in Naruto that could destroy the world, Magnet Release was pitifully weak. From the memories, Rasa understood that Magnet Release involved condensing chakra into a high concentration to create magnetic force, which was then used to control metal. It wasn't like Magneto's ability to control magnetic fields.
To put it simply, due to the limitations of chakra, the upper limit of Magnet Release was very low. At best, it could reach the level of Shukaku, which was impressive, but it couldn't compare to the Sharingan or Byakugan in Konoha, let alone the powers of Indra or Asura.
And this was Sunagakure's proud bloodline limit.
Finally, Sunagakure's own potential was also disappointing. The village's environment made it difficult to be self-sufficient, and it heavily relied on the daimyo's support. Even the ninja forces within the village were limited, with very few bloodline limits. If it weren't for puppetry and Shukaku, Sunagakure probably wouldn't even qualify as one of the five great ninja villages.
However, uncomfortable as he was, since he had crossed over, he had no choice.
Fortunately, heaven never seals off all exits.
Just as he resolved to take on the responsibilities of the Fourth Kazekage in this world, his golden finger, though delayed, finally arrived!
Rasa noticed a black diamond-shaped mark on his palm.
Luckily, when Rasa crossed over, the non-flammable "Boruto" series had become flammable due to changes in the plot, allowing Rasa to watch some related video explanations and recognize the black diamond-shaped mark on his hand.
It was the Ōtsutsuki clan's: Kāma!
Kāma is a tool used by the Ōtsutsuki clan to replicate and digitize themselves, which is then implanted into another person's body, waiting to gradually thaw and resurrect within that person. It's somewhat similar to possession in fantasy novels.
"So, does this mean I've become a vessel for an Ōtsutsuki's resurrection?"
He didn't remember this happening in the Naruto storyline!
However, Rasa wasn't one to dwell on such things. The most important task now was to adapt to this new body and identity. As for whether the diamond mark was truly the Ōtsutsuki's Kāma, he would deal with that if and when it showed any reaction.
After all, compared to being possessed, the fact that he had crossed over was already bizarre enough.
This was also why, on such an important day, Rasa had only arrived at the meeting after the sun was high in the sky.
He had spent the entire night processing the memories of the Fourth Kazekage and familiarizing himself with the Fourth Kazekage's powers.
To put it simply, the situation wasn't optimistic.
On one hand, Sunagakure was too weak. On the other hand, Konoha had "Gundams"!
Although Rasa had inherited all of the original Rasa's powers due to the memory fusion, he still had no chance of winning against Konoha's monsters.
Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, Jiraiya's Sage Mode and Mount Myōboku summons, Orochimaru's immortality and Ryūchi Cave, Tsunade's medical ninjutsu and Shikkotsu Forest, Kushina's Nine-Tails and Uzumaki clan physique, the Uchiha's Sharingan, the Hyūga's Byakugan—none of these were things Sunagakure could match. Not to mention the "Professor of Ninjutsu," "the strongest Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi".
Fortunately, he wasn't entirely without hope.
If the diamond mark on his palm was truly the Ōtsutsuki's Kāma, then at least before being possessed, the power of the Ōtsutsuki clan should give him some self-preservation abilities in the early stages of Naruto.
But how did Kāma work?
Aside from remembering from the movies that it could absorb ninjutsu and chakra, serving as a vessel for the Ōtsutsuki's resurrection, he had no idea what else it could do.
Chakra, huh?
Sunagakure did have a massive source of chakra: the One-Tail, Shukaku!
Maybe he could try that.
However, even though Rasa was now the village leader, the Kazekage of Sunagakure, many things in the village were not under his control.
For example, Shukaku was currently in the hands of Chiyo, the elder who controlled Sunagakure's sealing team.
And Chiyo was the sister of Ebizō, who controlled Sunagakure's puppet forces.
This meant that the two strongest forces in Sunagakure were not under the Kazekage's control.
Fortunately, Rasa also held a significant leverage over both of them.
As for the upcoming Third Great Ninja War, Rasa naturally had no desire to participate.
The outcome was already predetermined—Sunagakure could not gain any benefits from this war.
But as mentioned earlier, sometimes he didn't have the final say in the village.
However, he had already made up his mind. If Sunagakure was forced to participate in the war, then how the war would be fought would have to be decided by him.
If anyone disagreed, they would have to be dealt with.
Although he had no confidence in facing Konoha's monsters, dealing with the disobedient elements within the village, given his current power and position, wasn't too difficult. Especially with Kāma's ability to absorb ninjutsu, which was almost invincible at this stage.
So, Rasa had made up his mind. The most crucial task now was to solidify his position in Sunagakure and fully control the village as the Kazekage.
Everything else could wait.
With this in mind, Rasa had a clear plan.
At that moment, a strong, elderly woman's voice rang out from the conference room.
"Enough of this noise! Since the Fourth has arrived, let's hear his opinion."
Hearing this voice, as if influenced by the original Rasa's emotions, he let out a dissatisfied snort.
"Tch... that old hag..."
Baki, standing beside him, broke out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, Rasa was just venting his emotions and didn't make any further moves.
He knew it was time for him to make his entrance, so he pushed the door open and walked in...