It must be said that the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, regardless of his combat strength, was at least exceptional at using ninjutsu to mine gold.
In the original work, relying solely on his Ninjutsu to extract gold from the vast desert, Rasa was able to maintain Sunagakure's military budget at the level of one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, even after the Land of Wind's Daimyo had outsourced all the country's missions to Konoha.
No wonder Gaara could kill whomever he wanted within the village… his father was truly the breadwinner.
Working day and night, Rasa's mining caused Sunagakure's military funds to skyrocket, and the village's war preparations advanced rapidly.
However, all this had nothing to do with Sora, it was a matter for later.
Completely ignoring the storms brewing outside, Sora returned to face the astonishment of his own villagers!
"To have a Mizukage like you, how fortunate our Kirigakure is!" Holding the news of Kumogakure's withdrawal, Genji was utterly shocked.
"Sora... actually charged into Kumogakure single-handedly and killed the Fourth Raikage!" Mei's beautiful eyes shone with a fanatical light.
Looking at Sora, her expressive eyes seemed to shimmer with moisture.
Clearly, deeply shaken by Sora's power, Mei was having trouble restraining herself.
And Mei's feelings evidently represented those of many others.
"Sora, come to my house for dinner tonight! My parents have been wanting to meet you for ages!" Meigetsu said.
"Sora-sama, you can have dinner at the Hozuki House, but after eating, can you come to my place? My family just got a new cat. It's big, soft, and has great texture. I want you to see it!"
Kurumi refused to be outdone.
Her words made Meigetsu glare at her heavily. "You got a cat? Since when? Is it a real cat, or a 'thieving cat'? The kind that smells... fishy, perhaps?"
"Hmph, whether it's a 'thieving cat' or not doesn't matter. Being able to 'steal' is what counts."
"Besides, I'm much more direct than certain hypocrites!"
Kurumi said with a sarcastic tone: "Meigetsu, how come I heard that your parents just left on a mission not long ago? Which 'parents' are wanting to see him?"
"You!" Faced with Kurumi's masterful sarcasm, Meigetsu was somewhat defenseless.
But as the Hozuki Clan's heiress, she had some tricks up her sleeve.
Glancing at Mei, who seemed to be enjoying their dispute, Meigetsu's bright eyes shifted, and she suddenly had an idea.
'Wait a minute, why were we fighting amongst ourselves? The biggest rival was right there!'
"You're right, Kurumi. My parents really are away!" Meigetsu's sudden concession was unexpected.
Before Kurumi could say anything, Meigetsu added: "How about this? I do want to invite Sora for a meal."
"In that case, Kurumi, why don't we do it together? I'll host the banquet at your place. After everyone eats, we can still look at the cat!"
"You..." Hearing Meigetsu's words, Kurumi was caught off guard.
But following Meigetsu's gaze towards Mei, Kurumi understood and revealed a charming smile: "Alright, that works! Sora-sama, what do you say?"
Kurumi looked at Sora.
Yuki Sora naturally had no problem with it… it was just Kurumi and Meigetsu, after all.
However, before Yuki Sora could speak, Mei finally panicked!
Her original plan was to be the 'dog that bites doesn't bark'… just let the other two fight while she waited for the dead of night to sneak in and claim the prize.
But who knew these two would join forces?!
As the one who had followed Sora the longest and shared the earliest bond with him, Mei had always been in the lead. She couldn't let these little vixens steal her prize!
Mei decided to intervene.
"Wait, wait! I'm coming too!" Mei said hastily.
"You?" Kurumi glanced at Mei and retorted sharply: "This is a family dinner between me and my sister Meigetsu. Terumi-san, I think we're just ordinary friends. You'd better not come!"
"What did you say, Kurumi?" Mei looked at Kurumi in disbelief, 'After fighting side-by-side so many times, we were now just 'ordinary friends'?!'
Mei was instantly broken!
"Damn it! Maybe we should just settle this the Kirigakure way!"
Mei started rolling up her sleeves.
And what was the Kirigakure way?
Simple. The beauty belongs to the strong. Fight it out, and everything is resolved!
Hearing Mei's words, even though neither she nor Meigetsu had reached Kage-level yet, they weren't afraid of her.
Who wasn't a genius Kunoichi here?
"Bring it on! Let's go right now!"
With that, the three young women eagerly prepared to duke it out.
Watching their rapidly shifting objectives, Sora was also speechless.
He wanted to say he could handle all three of them at once, so was this really necessary?
Sora was about to speak.
But then, he was interrupted again.
Seeing the three about to start an internal conflict, Genji, who had been smiling jovially, finally changed his expression.
"Enough! How far do you plan to take this foolishness?!" Genji scolded.
Although Genji had completely relinquished power after Sora became Mizukage, his voluntary step down, combined with his past good reputation, only made his authority more imposing!