Rasa

Rasa (羅砂) was the famous Fourth Kazekage (四代目風影) of Sunagakure.

Renowned for his ability to use the Gold Dust, Rasa's reign as Kazekage was marked by his frequent quelling of outbursts by the One Tailed Shukaku, in which he had sealed into his youngest son, Gaara.

Background

486082 541068195918301 1680448485 n — The fourth Kazekages sees that Karura is dead.

Rasa was born on the day of March 29th, and his early childhood is a complete mystery. His last name is also a complete mystery. He then became the current Kazekage when he had reached adulthood. Because the Land of Wind's daimyo had cut down Sunagakure's budget, and instead has used Konohagakure's less expensive services instead as Rasa basically saw his own village in great danger of extinction. In order to prevent that from happening at all cost, he decided to focus on increasing the quality of the ninja in the sand village. As such, he ordered Chiyo to seal the one tail Shukaku within his youngest son, Gaara, so that he could become Suna's ultimate weapon. As a result, his loving wife, Karura died from childbirth while Gaara was born premature, despite Rasa's desperation to save her life. He then taught Gaara all about ninjutsu, but he assigned Yashamaru to be Gaara's caretaker while ostracizing him from his elder siblings Temari and Kankuro. Under Rasa's watch, Gaara is attacked with kunai but to no effect.

However as Gaara grew up more and more as his abilities began to manifest, Rasa realized that this had been a poor choice, and he started to view Gaara as a failed experiment that has threatened the inhabitants of Suna, due to Gaara's unstable nature of attacking some citizens unintentionally. Being pressured including stress out by the village's dying resources and with the council declaring that Gaara was useless to them, Rasa formulated a plan with Yashamaru to test out Gaara's control over Shukaku. Upon doing this Yashamaru had committed suicide in front of Gaara, and died.

156306 541069092584878 1681399214 n — Rasa sees that Yashamaru has fail his final mission.

After this Gaara lost control, by allowing Shukaku to go run wild. Rasa then used his Gold Dust to stop the beast. After this incident Rasa thought that Gaara was indeed a complete failure as well and began issuing orders for Gaara's assassination, but all six attempts ended unsuccessfully. However, later on when Gaara began to have more control over his powers due to his new ideals of being alone, Rasa saw this as an opportunity to give his son one more chance, and to appreciate Gaara's usefulness, therefore he stop issuing attempts on his son's life, in hopes of him becoming a powerful tool.

In the anime, it was also noted that Rasa also sent Pakura to her death as part of an unfair peace treaty between them and Kirigakure where her life was to be forfeited. She was sent to Kirigakure under the pretence of being an envoy, where she was nevertheless killed. The blame for this was cast on Iwagakure who his village had a feud with at the time as a means to stir their shinobi in to war.

Also, during the Third Shinobi War, as Konohagakure wished to form a peace treaty with the Iwa ninjas, as they deliberately had the meeting on the Suna borderline, prompting Rasa and his forces to oversee the events should a battle occur. He stated he would deal with any incidents that were to happen, and with that the Iwa group retreats. Also in the anime, it was said that Rasa established a rule for the Sunagakure Ninja Academy that forbade any children who didn't possess great skill in ninjutsu, taijutsu or genjutsu to attend.

In the Gaara Hiden light novel, it is also stated that Rasa once mentored Shigezane in Water Release techniques, in order for him to gather gold dust for the Kazekage.

Personality

Befitting his status and responsibility as a Kage leader, Rasa cared deeply about the well being of his village. So much that he was thinking about allying with Orochimaru in order to destroy Konoha to bring Suna's resources back up, despite knowing Orochimaru is a highly dangerous criminal. This turned out to be a fatal mistake on Rasa's behalf, as he along with his bodyguards were betrayed, and brutally kill by Orochimaru. Upon returning from the dead, he had hoped that the Third Raikage was right about the next generation being strong enough to stop them from their mindless actions. The anime extends on his ruthless nature as a leader, where he sent Pakura to her death for the betterment of the village.

He loved his wife, and three children dearly but was also torn between his duties as the village leader, and as a father. This conflict was seen when Gaara was deemed a complete failure by the council, as he was visibly disappointed, and ultimately decided to give his son one last chance before deciding whether or not to eliminate him. To this end he was willing to set an elaborate, and potentially heartbreaking lie to see his son's determination. Seeing the failure, he chose the village's safety over his own son.

Given his eventual willingness to sacrifice, and later on ally with Orochimaru for the sake of Sunagakure, and the greater good are evidence to suggest that Rasa had a strong utilitarian mindset. He also had a habit of putting "value" on things which might be an allusion to the fact that he used gold dust.

After being reincarnated and seeing his son has become the Kazekage, and even formed strong bonds with his friends. He comes to regret the horrible life he put Gaara through with the choices, and mistakes he made concerning him. Even solemnly thinking he wasn't worthy to be called his father. Upon being defeated he acknowledges Gaara had long surpassed him. As a last request he tearfully entrusts the safety, and future of his village to his son. He was also happy that he was given a chance to reconcile with him in the end.

Appearance

The Kazekage aka Rasa had dark auburn hair, tan fair skin, dark black eyes, thick eyebrows and was usually depicted with a very stern look on his face. He wore a simple black jacket and pants with mesh armor underneath. He carried a small canister strapped to his hip. As he got older, he gained two creases around his mouth. When using his Gold Dust, dark markings appeared around his eyes that bore strong resemblance to Gaara's own dark markings. During his time as the Kazekage, he wore the standard attire of the Kazekage which consisted of a loose fitting blue kimono with a white jacket, and the signature hat with the kanji for wind (風) written on it.

Abilities

Rasa was a very powerful shinobi, as evidenced by his title of the Fourth Kazekage. He could even subdue a fully released tailed beast like Shukaku. The prospect of his retaliation was enough to keep a great group of IWa nin from sparking a conflict at the Land of Wind's border. He was shown to be quite observant, pinpointing Gaara's Third Eye that was spying on him and the other reincarnated Kage after Mu sensed his chakra. He employed a stationary-type fighting style where he manipulated his Gold Dust to attack his opponents. The fact that Rasa was actively developing new techniques for the benefit of Suna indicates that his intelligence was rather high.

Nature Transformation

With profound research and knowledge of ninjutsu and with exceptional talent, Rasa learnt the Third Kazekage’s kekkei genkai Magnet Release, a simultaneous usage of earth and wind elements. When in use, it caused dark rings to appear around Rasa's eyes, similar to the permanent ones around those of his youngest son. He utilized this ability to manipulate quantities of Gold Dust, being capable of summoning vast amounts of these particles as necessary seemingly from the immediate vicinity around him, over relatively short spans of time. When used offensively, Rasa tended to form dense, fast-moving surges that could range in size from narrow streams to colossal waves, intended to injure a target by violently crashing the compacted material into them. However, when used defensively, he instead created thick barricades of the dust that were durable enough to block large blockades of sand.

He was also able to use the Third Eye technique. Due to the fact that gold is heavier than sand, and he was able to use this additional weight to subdue even Shukaku whenever it went on a rampage and later stopped a massive amount of sand during his battle with his son, simply by mixing the two substances together. Rasa was also proficient in Water, and Yin Release.

Naruto (Part I)

Invasion of Konoha arc

When Orochimaru approached Sunagakure with the proposition of joining forces in invading Konohagakure, the Fourth Kazekage agreed due to the economical decline brought about by the Land of Wind's daimyo using the shinobi of Konoha. Hoping that the success of the invasion would prompt additional funding for Suna, the Kazekage planned to have Gaara unleash Shukaku from the centre of Konoha during the Chunin Exams to put the Konoha shinobi at a disadvantage from the get-go. However, before he could see his plans unfold, the Kazekage was murdered by Orochimaru impaling him in the chest with the Sword of Kusanagi. Having to also killed the Kazekage's guards, and ditching the corpses in the desert, Orochimaru uses his Vanishing Facial Copy Technique to pose as the Kazekage until the invasion began, making it easier to manipulate Sunagakure.

Naruto Shippuuden (Part II)

Fourth Shinobi War arc

In preparation for the Fourth Shinobi War, the Fourth Kazekage was reincarnated by Yaskushi Kabuto alongside other deceased Kage, in order to fight against the Allied Shinobi Forces.

When Mu, despite his camouflage, is later on detected approaching the Fourth Division, Kabuto has him summon three other Kage in order to provide support. Amongst this number is the Fourth Kazekage who, during the conversation between the others, discloses that he was only aware of their exploits due to his elders. He then declared that whilst the Second Hokage had died many years before his own lifetime, the wretched ability used to reincarnate them had come into the possession of another, a shinobi named Orochimaru. While the others are preoccupied by their mutual desires to confront each other, only the Fourth notices his son's Third Eye observing them from afar.

Pursuing the retreating division throughout the night, each of the Kage lament the possibility of opposing shinobi from their own respective village, with the Kazekage remaining sceptical of the Third Raikage's belief that the current generation had surpassed their own. Confronted by an enormous wall of sand, he integrates his heavier Gold Dust into the approaching wave in order to slow it down, under the presumption that Gaara had already unleashed Shukaku. Divulging that it was this very method which allowed him to stop the beast in the past, just as his son manages to restrain them with arms of sand, he then dwells on their strength having to increased. When Gaara finally comes into view, he is shocked to see his son before him rather than Shukaku, causing him to question about the beast's location, receiving in reply that Gaara was no longer the jinchuriki his father had created.

Unable to comprehend the circumstances surrounding his son's revival after the extraction of the One-Tail, especially in regards to how he obtained friends, the Fourth Kazekage's surprise only escalates when informed that Gaara does not hate him, due to his role as Kazekage now providing perspective into the motives behind his father's previous actions. Recollecting the past, including both his son's birth and eventual descent into failure as a jinchuriki, the Fourth Kazekage supposes that there is some value in his reincarnation as it allows him to determine the worth of his child. Questioning whether Gaara was truly capable of surpassing him, the battle between father and son recommences with the collision of gold and sand, resulting in a mixture of the two. However, by attempting to protect two of the other Kage from an aerial barrage, Gaara's sand is able to restrain all three in an inescapable embrace that adopts the form of his late wife.

Admitting the growth of his son as his counters continue to fail in the face of Gaara's Shield of Sand, the Fourth Kazekage comes to the realization that all a parent needs do is trust in their children, contradicting his prior concepts of value. Declaring that Gaara's strength comes not from Shukaku but instead from his mother, he tells his son that Karura truly loved him and explains that it was he who had ordered Yashamaru to lie about his mother simply as a test. Apologizing to his son for all that he had stolen from him during his childhood, he acknowledges that for all his failures as a parent and having no right to call himself a father, he was still glad that Karura's strength had helped Gaara throughout his life. After hearing Gaara forgive him, before the Fourth is sealed, he tearfully recognizes that his son had surpassed him and gladly entrusts the village's future to him.

Later, with the release of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, a light of sorts encased Rasa's sealed body as the technique was dispelled and his soul was returned to the afterlife. When Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated, Rasa appeared in Gaara's dream along with his entire family while telling a young Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto not to play outside too long.

Subsequent to Otsutsuki Kaguya being sealed by Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, he and the other deceased Kage were summoned from the afterlife by Otsutsuki Hagoromo to aid him and the Hokage in summoning Team Kakashi, the tailed beasts and Uchiha Madara from Kaguya's dimension. Later, his and the other Kage's souls were returned to the afterlife.

Video Games

Rasa is a playable character in the Following video games:

Naruto Shinobi Collection Shippu Ranbu
Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Blazing
Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
Naruto to Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Online

Quotes

(To Gaara) "You've truly grown Gaara… The only thing a parent needs to do, is trust in their children. That's all… And that in itself has true value."[10]
(To Gaara) "It appears that I didn't have an eye for value after all. The sand will always protect you… It's not Shukaku's strength that you wield, but your mother Karura's. Your mother truly loved you."
(To Gaara about Karura) "Your mother was truly strong… Even in death, she continues to believe in you and protect you… That's what helped you bring you to where you are today."
(To Gaara about his shortcomings) "Now that you've become the Kazekage… And you've made real friends… and you have real connections with people. Those are all the things I stole. …But I, your father, never did a thing for you. …No… I couldn't even call myself your father…".
(To Gaara before he is sealed) "More than I ever could have hoped. You've surpassed me… I entrust the village to you now… Gaara…".

Video Games

Your too soft Temari

Orochimaru

Knownable Relatives

Unnamed Mother
Unnamed Father
Yashamaru (Brother In law/dead)
Karura (Wife/dead)
Nara Temari (Daughter)
Kankuro (1st Son)
Gaara (2nd Son & Successor for the Kazekage title)
Nara Shikamaru (Son in law)
Nara Shikadai (Grandson)
Shinki (Foster Grandson)

Trivia

The name "Rasa" literally means "demon sand" (羅砂).
His hair color was a dull purple color in his first appearance, but it is now auburn in other appearances.
Rasa is one of only seven known Kage to predominantly wear the position's official uniform — the others being Gaara, A, Ishikawa, Senju Hashirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hatake Kakashi, and Uzumaki Naruto.
A scene of Orochimaru killing him was shown only in Kimimaro's flashbacks in the anime; however, it was not seen in the original manga.

According to the databook(s):

His birthday is March 29, & his bloodtype is A.
His favorite food was any dish with meat.
His star sign is a Aries.
He shares the same english voice actor as Uchiha Itachi.
In the fourth databook, Hiden is listed among Rasa's special characteristics, though none of his techniques are known to be classified as such.
While they have no names in the anime and manga, in his video game appearances, Rasa's Gold Dust techniques are named after his son's techniques.
As revealed in the Gaara Hiden, Rasa's direct bloodline is highly valued in Suna. When his daughter married a Konoha shinobi named Nara Shikamaru, the Suna Council demanded his two sons take brides and start families as they feared losing Rasa's direct bloodline to Konoha.

Rasa has many similaries to Namikaze Minato.

They both were the fourth Kage of their village.
They both were married to a woman.
Their wife's blood type was pass down to their child.
Both entrust the safety of the village to their sons.
Both were the strongest Kage during their lifetime.
Both were kill by someone that was evil. (For Rasa : Orochimaru. Whereas for Minato : Kurama the Nine Tail Demon Fox)