At this moment, the Sunagakure forces, who had once been united as one, had already scattered in all directions like startled birds.
Even though they carried signal flares and various other means of communication, at this very moment, no one dared to regroup lightly.
They were terrified that Rengoku might suddenly descend again and deal them a fatal blow.
Not even Rasa himself, the leader of Sunagakure, had been spared. He was carrying some injuries.
However, this time he had led many of Sunagakure's elite on the expedition, and now it was impossible for him to abandon everyone and ride a sand cushion back to the village alone.
Just as panic filled everyone's hearts, a black shadow streaked down from overhead like lightning.
The newcomer rushed to Rasa's side, knelt on one knee, and reported urgently, "Lord Kazekage, the situation is bad! Konoha is still sparing no effort to search for us everywhere."
"However, judging from the current situation, those Konoha guys are clearly lacking real combat experience in a desert environment."
"This has directly caused their search to progress extremely slowly and with very low efficiency."
"Not only that, even the direction of their search is wrong."
"Our team is safe for now."
Upon hearing this news, Rasa couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
But as that breath left his mouth, he clearly felt an indescribable bitterness spread through his heart.
"Then let's rest here for the time being. Once the surrounding temperature drops a little, we'll continue moving."
Rasa said in a slightly weary voice.
"Yes, Lord Kazekage!", his subordinates replied in unison.
The losses Sunagakure had suffered this time were simply far too heavy. Faced with such a disastrous situation, Rasa knew full well that he was no longer fit to continue serving as Kazekage.
At this moment, he understood that only by resigning and taking responsibility could he give the village and its people the best explanation.
However, for now, he forcibly pressed all these thoughts deep into his heart, because the most critical issue at hand was, whether he could successfully make it back to Sunagakure alive.
Rasa slowly leaned against the hard sand wall beside him, then gently closed his eyes.
He tried to enter a light sleep to get a bit of rest.
After all, he had gone a very long time without adequate rest, and his mental state had already deteriorated to an extreme degree.
Unfortunately, even though he tried his best to keep his eyes shut, scenes of Rengoku controlling that enormous and terrifying Susanoo, wantonly slaughtering Sunagakure ninja, kept flashing through his mind.
Those brutal images were like a nightmare, clinging tightly to Rasa and making it impossible for him to truly rest in peace, even for a moment.
'Damn Rengoku!'
Rasa suddenly snapped his eyes open, flames of fury burning within them.
Yet beneath that blazing anger, there was also a faint trace of fear.
After all, that completed-form Susanoo was absolutely not something the current Rasa could contend with.
Just then, his heart jolted violently, as if struck by an electric current, and an indescribable intuition surged within him.
In the very next instant, his vision abruptly darkened, as if the entire world had been swallowed by darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself already standing within a strange, gray, misty space.
His gaze swept around, finally fixing on the figure sitting cross-legged and floating in the void.
This person was dressed in white, possessed an extraordinary, otherworldly air, and radiated an aura of unfathomable mystery.
Rasa stared at the person before him, his mind instantly freezing, and it took him quite a while to recover.
"Th-this… where exactly is this place? And who are you?", Rasa widened his eyes and asked in shock and confusion.
The mysterious man smiled faintly and slowly spoke, "This is your mental world."
Hearing this, Rasa's gaze fell on the other's attire. The more he looked, the more familiar it felt, yet for a moment he couldn't recall where he had seen it before.
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck his mind. His whole body trembled, and he cried out, "Could it be… you're the legendary Otsutsuki Hagoromo?"
"Hahahahaha!"
The mysterious man burst into laughter, his voice echoing continuously throughout Rasa's mental world, "That's right. I am Otsutsuki Hagoromo. The world calls me the Sage of Six Paths."
Upon hearing this, Rasa's spirit was instantly shaken. He hurriedly bowed deeply, his tone becoming incomparably respectful, "So it is the Sage of Six Paths. This junior has been rude. Please forgive me, Sage."
Otsutsuki Hagoromo gave a slight nod, acknowledging Rasa's attitude. Then his expression turned grave as he said, "Next, every word I say, you must listen to carefully."
"I am a person of an old era who has long since died. In order to witness the end of the Ninja Creed, I transcended time itself and linger in this world relying solely on chakra."
"As the founder of the Ninja Creed, the one known as the Sage of Six Paths, I have always been maintaining the peace and order of the ninja world."
"Peace and order?"
When these two words came from Otsutsuki Hagoromo's mouth, a trace of uncontrollable blankness appeared on Rasa's face.
In his memory, the ninja world had already gone through three extremely brutal wars.
Countless lives had perished in the flames of war, while so-called peace and order seemed nothing more than a distant, unattainable illusion.
However, despite the doubts and confusion filling his heart, Rasa clearly understood his own status and position.
He could only silently bury these thoughts deep inside, not daring to utter even a single word of them aloud.
As if seeing through Rasa's true thoughts, Otsutsuki Hagoromo slightly narrowed his eyes and slowly explained:
"The wars of the ninja world, when all is said and done, are nothing more than struggles between your few ninja villages over limited resources."
"This situation may not be beautiful, but it can still be considered a kind of normalcy."
At this point, he paused briefly, then raised the Six Paths staff in his hand and gently tapped it against the water-covered ground.
In an instant, ripples like water waves rapidly spread outward in all directions.
As the ripples spread, a clear image gradually appeared on the surface of the water, it was none other than Uchiha Rengoku.
Rasa's eyes went wide as he stared at the familiar face reflected in the water, crying out in shock, "Uchiha Rengoku?"
"That's right. It is Uchiha Rengoku."
Otsutsuki Hagoromo nodded gravely and continued:
"This person does not originate from the ninja world. His sudden arrival completely shattered the original balance of this land."
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