That God of War–form Susanoo standing two hundred meters tall slaughtered Sunagakure shinobi like mowing grass.
As long as those Sand shinobi stood even a little close together, Rengoku's gigantic sword, over a hundred meters long, could be swung casually.
They would be cut down in wave after wave, falling to the ground like rows of chives being harvested.
Faced with such terrifying power, no matter who took command, the final outcome would likely not be much different.
The other elders argued noisily for a while. Then, after exchanging glances with one another, they truly could not find a reason to continue pressing Rasa.
Because what Rasa said was the truth.
Although most people acknowledged this explanation, it did not include those who had personally experienced the war.
Among the seated crowd below, there was someone who refused to accept it. Pakura.
She shouted angrily and unwillingly, "Then how do you explain the fact that, in the end, Kazekage-sama, you led us straight to our deaths?"
She immediately continued her accusation, "If all of us had acted separately, far more people should have been able to return alive."
"But in the end, Kazekage-sama, you stubbornly insisted on gathering us all together, and as a result, so many comrades were sacrificed for nothing!"
In fact, because Pakura hesitated a bit after receiving the message at the time, she arrived relatively later.
By the time she finally managed to regroup, Rengoku was already flying over on his God of War Susanoo.
Faced with that situation, Pakura showed not the slightest hesitation. She directly led the people beside her to turn around and retreat at once.
That was how she, along with the few who followed her, managed to survive.
At this moment, Rasa slowly stood up. His voice was icy and devoid of any emotion as he coldly stated, "The final order I gave to gather you all together was absolutely not meant to send you to your deaths."
After a brief pause, he continued, "It was meant to use you as bait to lure Uchiha Rengoku into taking the hook!"
Hearing this, Pakura's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. She widened her eyes and questioned him in disbelief, "You actually used all of our lives as bait?"
The other elders present were equally stunned, their mouths hanging open, and the entire room instantly fell into an uproar.
Someone could not help but curse out loud, "This is utterly insane!"
Others shouted angrily at Rasa, "Rasa, have you completely lost your mind?"
Still others, their emotions surging, demanded, "Why did you have to use our own people's lives as bait? Did you really think that would let you kill Uchiha Rengoku?"
As the elders' accusations against Rasa grew louder and louder, the entire meeting hall instantly became deafeningly noisy, like a bustling marketplace.
All kinds of clamor overlapped, making ears ring.
At that moment, Rasa suddenly slammed his hand on the table and roared in a thunderous voice, "But Uchiha Rengoku is DEAD!"
Those words were like a bolt of thunder exploding in the hall. The previously chaotic scene fell silent in an instant.
Everyone was stunned speechless by the sudden declaration.
However, after a brief silence, the meeting hall boiled up again like hot oil splashed with cold water.
WHOOSH!
Exclamations and doubts erupted all at once.
"How is that possible?"
Someone shouted in disbelief.
"How could you possibly kill Uchiha Rengoku?"
Another questioned suspiciously. Others cried out urgently, "If Uchiha Rengoku were that easy to defeat, why did we lose so many people before?"
For a moment, all kinds of questions and accusations surged toward Rasa like a tidal wave.
Yet faced with everyone's questioning, Rasa appeared unusually calm. He sat steadily in his chair, watching those emotionally agitated people with a composed expression.
Only after they calmed down somewhat, no longer as hysterical as before, did Rasa slowly open his mouth and say, "But Uchiha Rengoku really is dead."
In truth, Rasa did not understand space-time power at all, and in the end, he had clearly seen that Rengoku's clone still existed.
But at this moment, he knew very well that if he did not say this, there was no way he could make up for his faults.
As for whether Rengoku was truly dead, or whether he might return someday, those were no longer issues that needed worrying about right now.
As long as he could delay things for a while, and let the village realize that without him panning for gold dust the village would fall into even deeper poverty, then he would have a chance to escape disaster.
Thinking this, Rasa took a deep breath and emphasized again with a heavier tone, "That's right. Uchiha Rengoku is indeed dead."
After saying this, he quietly observed the reactions of everyone present.
They looked at one another, and for a moment, no one spoke up to refute him.
The entire meeting hall once again fell into an oppressive silence.
At this moment, every single person present was staring fixedly at Rasa.
Even Ebizo, who had just been in a state of furious rage, now seemed as if he had been frozen in place, instantly calming down.
In the deathly silence, someone finally broke it and asked, "Rasa… no, Kazekage, how exactly did you kill Uchiha Rengoku?"
Rasa first coughed lightly a couple of times, clearing his throat, then began to speak.
In fact, he had already discussed the story with Maki beforehand. Now he only needed to recite it as prepared.
After all, only he and a few trusted subordinates knew the truth of that battle.
As for what the real situation had been, who could truly know?
"After we were scattered by Uchiha Rengoku for the second time, I fell into deep thought, wracking my brain to find a countermeasure…"
Next, Rasa concealed the existence of Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
He cleverly framed the plan of using the Dragon Vein's power to defeat Rengoku as something that had come entirely from his own ideas.
After all, he had only told Maki about this matter. And Maki, as his right-hand man, was also the one who had first proposed the idea.
The logic was simple. If Rasa met with disaster or became a prisoner, then Maki's future would surely not be easy either.
And so, Rasa embellished the story, vividly describing the entire process.
He claimed that he had disregarded his own safety and bravely lured Rengoku into the core area of the Dragon Vein.
Then Rengoku fell for the trap and destroyed the Dragon Vein's seal, causing the Dragon Vein's power to lose control and erupt, ultimately tearing him apart alive.
What could have been summarized in just a few short sentences became a winding, dramatic tale when told by Rasa.
It sounded as if he had taken enormous risks, and with a bit of luck on top of that, he had finally accomplished it.
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