Chapter 7.1:
.....
Jiki Shima rarely lost his composure.
But that day… that day was not just another day.
Although his face remained calm and controlled, as years of experience and his position as head of the Jiki clan demanded, inside told a very different story. Frustration simmered within him.... an unspoken fury that in anyone less disciplined might have twisted into a bitter grimace across his features.
From the platform reserved for council members..... elevated and shaded to protect them from Suna's burning sun.... Shima watched everything. His eyes had followed every move Kiba made during the fight. Around him, other clan leaders and representatives whispered among themselves, some veiling their astonishment poorly, others with a clear spark of interest igniting in their eyes.
To his left, Counselor Yahiko.... a retired shinobi who served as Shima's liaison with military logistics.... leaned in slightly.
"You knew?" Yahiko whispered, arms crossed. "About the Iron Sand?"
Shima did not answer immediately. His gaze stayed fixed on the arena where Kiba had just performed the technique that changed everything.
"No," he finally said, his voice low and dry. "And that's what worries me."
Yes, the boy was a prodigy.... Shima had known that long ago. Even his own son, Rasa, had said so more than once. And Rasa didn't praise easily. So, it wasn't foolish to ignore a potential genius in his own clan. No.... quite the opposite. Shima had tracked the boy's progress closely and, once he graduated, planned to integrate him into the clan's most elite ninja ranks so he could gain experience alongside other top-tier Jiki shinobi.
Up until recently, everything seemed to align perfectly:
Two prodigies from the Jiki clan. One of them... his own son.
One who had already inherited the rare clan Kekkei Genkai: the magnetism element.
One carefully groomed to become, in a not-too-distant future, the Fourth Kazekage. At least Shima hoped that Rasa would easily ascend to that role, since all conditions pointed to him as the successor to the Third.
And everything was going so well.
So… unnaturally well.
But then, as so often happened in his long life as a ninja, when everything appeared to be ticking with clockwork precision, came the rupture.
The imbalance.
The crack.
The utter chaos in a single moment that tossed all his meticulous planning overboard.
That exact moment was impossible to ignore:
The sand trembled.
The iron floated.
And the talented blind boy they all spoke of... Jiki Kiba.... revealed that he, too, controlled Iron Sand.
It was shocking… astonishing, and a maddening pain for Shima.
Shima did not even stand up. He didn't need to. Because inside, something in him had already broken.
He was not a man without political instinct. He knew too well how things worked in Sunagakure.... he had to know, as head of the Jiki clan. And what he had just witnessed changed everything.
"The Third Kazekage hasn't taken his eyes off him since," Yahiko noted quietly, more statement than alarm.
Shima nodded, without hiding it.
"Of course he hasn't. It's Iron Sand. There's no way he doesn't want him close."
"But… we already have Rasa," Yahiko said carefully.
"Rasa awakened another variation of the magnetic Kekkei Genkai," Shima replied.
"One that, if used correctly, could enrich Suna," Yahiko added, unimpressed, not convinced Iron Sand was superior to Rasa's Golden Dust.
"That may be true, but Rasa is my son. He's tied to the clan. That limits him in the Kazekage's eyes."
"But Kiba is in the Jiki clan, too," Yahiko pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes… but he isn't tied. No political lines binding him. He's not registered internally, nor part of any circle of trust. He is… young. Malleable. Usefully unknown"
'And that' Shima thought bitterly. 'was worth more than any bloodline'
The Third Kazekage could take him firmly under his wing without opposition from the clan. Kiba was free. A wildcard. A damn brilliant and dangerous wildcard. And if he knew him well... and he did.... then the village leader wouldn't resist the opportunity to shape another Iron Sand user. One without political encumbrances. One who wouldn't be, like Rasa, burdened by the future responsibility of leading the Jiki clan.
Because yes…
Rasa, as his son, was bound to take over as clan leader in due time. Conditioned. But once upon a time, that was the ultimate advantage for the clan. Having a leader who was also Kazekage... that had been the dream… like when the first Kazekage united all in raw power to form Sunagakure.
It would be like returning to Suna's golden age.
It was Shima's hope.
…Or it had been, until there was someone else.... not bound, yet part of the Jiki clan... someone who, like the Third Kazekage, was just another clan member who awakened the magnetism element.
Yes, Kiba.
Kiba was free.
And he hadn't even forged ties with the Jiki inner circle yet...since he wasn't fully a ninja, Shima hadn't had the chance to integrate him as intended. And Kiba wasn't the son of any prominent clan member, so even those ties were minimal… which was a problem for Shima. A sudden, massive problem he'd never expected to face.
Kiba was perfect to be taken under the Third Kazekage's wing... and to take the potential Kazekage position away from Rasa.
That's why now Kiba was a threat.
A bright, damn dangerous threat.
Shima didn't even need to exchange words with the other council members.
He knew some were thrilled by the revelation. Others were bewildered. A few.... saw it as an opportunity.
As always.
"Shall we take action?" Yahiko asked, more serious now.
Shima shook his head.
"Not yet. If we do, we'll suffer more consequences than we can afford."
"So we do nothing?"
"For now, just watch him. In silence. I want weekly reports—who he talks to, what he does, where he trains. Everything. And if he's assigned a mission, inform me immediately."
"Understood."
Shima returned his gaze to the center of the arena.
Kiba had won... and not just the match.
"Damn boy…" he murmured softly, barely audible even to Yahiko.
He knew precisely when to reveal his hand.
He was brilliant. Calculating. And now, potentially, a direct threat to Rasa's future as Kazekage. No—he was already a concrete threat.
Yet, deep down, Shima couldn't help feeling something dangerously close to respect. Because it was just as obvious to him that Kiba had concealed his power with intent—knowing exactly when to reveal it so that nobody could do anything about it.
Ha…
Part of him truly wished he'd been more vigilant—had more eyes watching the boy to uncover this earlier… so he'd have had time to plan how to handle this major complication before it exploded in his face in the worst possible moment.
The rest of him… was already plotting the next move, because as a shinobi, one must always adapt to the situation—whatever it may be.
...
...
A few meters away, Rasa watched the scene with another kind of silence.
His eyes... calm as always.... were now fixed on Kiba. No longer as someone looking at a respected comrade after sharing blows, but as one sizing up a future rival. A problematic one, to make matters worse.
Rasa didn't need an explanation for what he had just witnessed. The Iron Sand… just seeing it in action, wielded by anyone except the Third Kazekage, sent a cold current through him.
The blind boy… the one who had left such a strange impression on him from the first day he met him in personn...after trying to talk to Karura at the academy... now represented a real obstacle.
Now the blind boy… no—Kiba, in his eyes, was a rival who Rasa already understood was destined to oppose him for reasons far bigger than the two of them.
He had already accepted that Kiba was different.
He had, in fact, developed some respect.
But now… now he knew that their paths were bound to clash. And at some point, he accepted it with cold determination.
He understood it as inevitable. Though he would have preferred to maintain good relations with Karura's best friend…
"What a shame…" Rasa murmured to himself, without averting his gaze. After all, this could complicate things with Karura.... but he could at least admit that after their fight, he'd come to admire the boy beyond just being Karura's friend.
"Were you saying something?" asked one of his cousins, who had approached quietly. Just from the stunned expression, Rasa could tell he hadn't yet recovered from witnessing Iron Sand wielded by another Jiki clan member.
"Nothing important," Rasa replied. His voice was calm, but firm.... as if his mind were tying knots that he didn't plan to loosen.
Kiba was a rival. And he knew it. Not out of hatred. Not childish rivalry. It simply made sense. Two paths intersecting for reasons beyond personal matters.
"Are you going to invite him to the private dojo?" his cousin asked, half joking, half curious. A fan of the Third Kazekage who wanted a closer look.... or maybe even to face the famous Iron Sand.
Rasa smiled faintly.
"I don't think so."
His cousin could only sigh in frustrated resignation, but he wasn't foolish enough to press him... he knew that if Rasa said that, there was a reason. Something not pleasant.
Rasa could already assume that Kiba, despite his age, had coldly chosen the precise moment to unveil his ability. It wasn't accidental. It wasn't emotional. It had been… strategic.
Something that even he, older and more experienced, didn't believe he could have executed so perfectly. And that irritated him greatly.
So yes, unfortunately for Rasa, things were only getting more complicated than he would have liked. But he would always put his clan above everything.... and would follow his father's wishes… even if they might eventually involve the possible death of Kiba in the future. A grim possibility, but certainly imaginable... knowing his father.
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