One Piece: I am Imu
Chapter 344: Before the Sand Settles

Chapter 344: Chapter 344: Before the Sand Settles

In Konohagakure, Land of Fire.

The current Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, frowned as he reviewed the intelligence reports and letters sent by the other Kage.

Standing in front of him were his three longtime comrades: Danzō Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane.

"Enough. It’s been several days since we received the intel—you must have already made up your mind, Hiruzen," said Danzō, his face expressionless.

"What choice do we have? We report the situation exactly as it is. Whether they believe it or not is up to them."

The Third Hokage picked up his pipe and took a slow puff.

"You know that’s not what I’m asking."

A ripple of emotion flickered through Danzō’s normally calm eyes. "Those firearms and explosives—they’re valuable. And we need more intelligence on that giant powerhouse."

"Didn’t you already send people to investigate? Why are you asking me?"

The Third Hokage puffed again, glancing sideways at Danzō. He had, in fact, already dispatched three ANBU squads to the Land of Wind.

"What I mean is, we should send envoys to Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure to form a four-nation alliance and apply pressure on the Land of Wind!"

Danzō’s tone was firm and forceful.

"Tch. But have you even considered this? They easily wiped out over 3,000 Kumogakure troops and even captured the Third Raikage alive. What level of power does that suggest?"

The Third Hokage paused mid-puff, his gaze growing distant as he stared into Danzō’s eyes.

"Do you think our sensei could’ve pulled that off?"

"This..."

Danzō was stunned, his mouth hanging open in speechless confusion. Could their sensei have done such a thing?

He already knew the answer.

If he could, then he wouldn’t have been killed by the Gold and Silver Brothers while leading twenty jonin.

"So what you’re saying is..."

Koharu came to her senses and stared at Hiruzen in disbelief. Beside her, Homura wore an identical expression.

"I’m saying—it’s best to proceed with caution."

...

The other great nations of the shinobi world were all in turmoil over the events in Rōran.

And naturally, Sunagakure, as the ’host’ of this territory, responded even more intensely.

That day, when Rasa raised the possibility that Crocodile might not be an ally, it immediately triggered a sense of crisis among all the elders present.

Because—it was entirely plausible!

Especially after Consultants Chiyo and Ebizō confirmed that they had never heard of any legends involving a giant and that they didn’t recognize the sketch of Crocodile that had been drawn.

That sense of crisis only grew stronger.

So over the past several days, the elders had been arguing non-stop in the meeting room about whether to initiate contact with the current Kingdom of Rōran. It was only yesterday that they finally managed to organize a diplomatic team.

Meanwhile—

Sunagakure had already dispatched a large force of shinobi several days earlier to establish a multilayered, tightly-secured defensive line 100 kilometers from the border of Rōran.

After all, it never hurts to be cautious. Everyone understood that.

"Enough!"

Chiyo impatiently waved a hand to silence the arguing elders and said coldly, "Don’t forget—we’re not only dealing with Rōran. We still have to contend with Kumogakure!"

"Now that Kumogakure has lost the Third Raikage, what can they even do? I don’t believe they’d still dare to send a large army out of the Land of Lightning," one elder said with a laugh.

He believed that if Kumogakure truly dared to do so, Iwagakure and Kirigakure would definitely send troops to ambush them.

"Idiot!"

Chiyo shot to her feet and slammed the table, shouting angrily, "Have you not considered the possibility that Kumogakure might join forces with the other villages to move against us?"

"Don’t forget—the man who captured the Third Raikage alive used an absolutely masterful Sand Manipulation technique. That alone is enough to raise suspicions that he might be one of ours!"

"You think the other shinobi villages would sit back and watch if we had someone that powerful in Sunagakure?"

At the same time, she cursed inwardly. The real problem was—if that powerhouse were one of their own, it would’ve been great! It would’ve neutralized the threat of other villages becoming wary of Sunagakure.

But the issue was... he wasn’t one of their own!

"Uh—"

That elder was left speechless on the spot. Fortunately, Ebizō gestured for him to sit down and helped ease the awkwardness. He then spoke up.

"Of course, we could publicly claim that this Sand Manipulation expert has no ties to Sunagakure."

"But would they believe us?"

"Even if they did—what if they then demand to send troops to sanction Rōran? Are we just going to let them waltz into the Land of Wind? Rōran is part of our territory, after all."

Either way, the whole situation was deeply awkward and troublesome. No matter what they did, it seemed like there was no perfect solution.

"There’s only one option left."

At that moment, Rasa—who had remained silent until now—finally spoke up. Once all the elders had turned to look at him, he said in a deep voice: "We must do everything we can to make that man one of our own."

In his view, as long as that person was stationed here, none of the other shinobi villages would dare launch an invasion.

Because this was the Land of Wind—where there was nothing but desert upon desert.

But of course, if they did that... his position as Kazekage would be lost. After all, the only thing Sunagakure had to offer as leverage to recruit such a powerful individual—was the title of Kazekage itself.

It pained Rasa. As a Sunagakure shinobi, who didn’t dream of becoming Kazekage?

He had been so close to achieving that dream—and now, this situation had emerged.

Who wouldn’t be frustrated?

But the current circumstances left him with no choice but to prioritize the bigger picture. If Sunagakure were to fall, then what use would the title of Kazekage be?

Meanwhile—

So engrossed were the people in the meeting room with their heated discussion that none of them noticed the wind and sand outside the window growing stronger and stronger, the entire world turning increasingly yellow.

Then again, such weather was far too common for Sunagakure.

"Sigh, another sandstorm already?"

A Chūnin standing guard on the outer wall at the edge of Sunagakure felt the sudden rise in wind pressure and saw the sky fill with swirling yellow sand. He let out a helpless sigh.

"The weather looked so nice earlier... I was planning to take Yukiji out to play today."

A nearby Chūnin pulled out a white mask from his waist pouch, slipped it onto his face, and replied, "What else can we do? This damned environment and climate of ours!"

But over time, people began to sense that something wasn’t quite right.

They noticed that the wind and sand swirling above their heads... didn’t seem entirely natural. Its flow appeared to be subtly rotating—clockwise.

It wasn’t obvious. Just a vague, creeping impression.

"Look over there!"

"This is—"

But for the shinobi standing watch beyond Sunagakure’s outer perimeter, the view was all too clear.

The entire village—its sky and everything above it—had become enveloped in a massive, slowly rotating storm of wind and sand.

The scale of it was simply staggering.

"Is this... an enemy attack?"

A Sunagakure Genin glanced uncertainly at his Chūnin squad leader. The latter was staring, wide-eyed, unable to speak for a long moment.

If this was an enemy attack—what kind of terrifying enemy could possibly cause it?

"So what do we do now?"

That same question arose in every shinobi stationed outside the walls.

It did seem like an enemy assault—but where was the enemy? What should they do? No one had a clue.

"Search the area—see if there’s a caster nearby!"

Thankfully, a few experienced Jōnin quickly considered that possibility and immediately organized the others to scout the surroundings.

At the same time—

"What in the world..."

Rasa, Chiyo, and the others had already realized something was wrong. They rushed out of the meeting hall to the wide rooftop and were now closely observing the surging sandstorm.

"He’s here!"

Rasa was the first to react—because he was the only one among them who had personally witnessed the battle between Crocodile and the Third Raikage.

That massive sand twister... it was still vivid in his memory.

"What?!"

Chiyo and the other elders all turned pale. But Rasa didn’t bother responding to them.

He immediately activated his Magnet Release: Gold Dust.

In the blink of an eye—

Massive plumes of golden sand burst from the streets and alleys of Sunagakure. These were all materials Rasa had secretly buried throughout the village ahead of time, specifically in preparation for a potential assault.

Of course, if the village ever needed to raise funds, they could always dig it up and sell it.

"Controlling gold, huh? Reminds me of a certain pompous bastard..."

Suddenly—

A raspy, magnetic voice rang out from the swirling winds, accompanied by a gust that cut through the sandstorm.

Rasa, Chiyo, and the others instantly tensed.

Roughly 20 meters ahead, suspended in mid-air, a swirling mass of yellow sand rapidly began to converge.

"He’s here!"

Rasa’s pupils contracted sharply.

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