A Man in Leaf Village: Starting with a Slap for White Fang

When he flashed into view again, he was already behind Saimon.

The blade tip, which had originally pointed toward the ground, had swung back toward the nape of Saimon's neck, looking exactly like the scene of Hawk Eye defeating Zoro.

The sea of sand falling around them also came to a dead stop, as though time itself had frozen.

Pshh—slash!

As Genetsu's Tachi returned to its normal color, a horizontal bloody gash split open across Saimon's neck.

A column of blood gushed wildly from it.

Before Saimon's head could separate from his neck and fall to the ground,

Genetsu sheathed the Tachi in his right hand, now returned to normal, then reached back with his left and caught the head before it hit the ground.

The surrounding sea of sand also lost the Chakra supply of its caster.

It turned into loose sand drifting away on the wind, completely losing its aggressiveness as it scattered in every direction.

As the sand wall collapsed, the Sunagakure Shinobi gathered nearby looked ahead once more.

They happened to witness Genetsu holding their Kazekage's head in his left hand as the headless body behind him fell to the ground.

The overwhelmingly shocking sight left the hundred or so Sunagakure Shinobi rooted to the spot.

In that one-second opening, Genetsu's figure flickered and vanished.

Only then did someone among the Sunagakure Shinobi finally react and scream:

"Lord Kazekage has been killed!!!"

The Kazekage had been killed.

Those words spread through Sunagakure like a plague.

Extreme panic rapidly swept into every corner of the village.

"Jiraiya, how much longer are we going to fight? My Chakra's almost empty!"

At the entrance to Sunagakure, Gamabunta did not even have the strength to leap aside anymore. He continuously swung the Wakizashi blade he used as a weapon, blocking ninjutsu bombardments from every direction.

Every time he swung his blade, blood splashed uncontrollably from his wounds.

His size was an advantage, but it also made him an unmistakable living target.

A Summoned Beast did not possess the Nine-Tails' absurd regenerative abilities.

"Sorry, just hold on a little longer!"

Jiraiya answered with a slightly apologetic expression, his eyes occasionally glancing toward the exit.

Wasn't Genetsu done yet?

If he didn't come out soon, I really wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

Suddenly, a wave of sand rose from beneath Gamabunta's feet and wrapped around both his legs.

"Hmm!?"

Bunta's pupils contracted as he looked down.

A red-haired boy was controlling the quicksand, trying to bind his movements.

"That little brat!"

Bunta flew into a rage and drove the short blade in his hand straight down at Rasa by his feet.

Ever since earlier, this brat's sand had been nothing but a nuisance.

Once it caught him on the ground, he had to spend a tremendous amount of effort breaking free.

He had been able to handle it at first.

But as his injuries worsened, Rasa finally found an opening.

"Sand Binding Burial!"

At the final, critical moment,

Rasa clasped his hands together a step ahead of him.

The sand waves wrapped around Bunta's legs twisted tightly, like a wrung-out towel.

"Urgh!!"

The excruciating pain of bones snapping made Bunta stumble and crash to the ground.

"Bunta!"

Jiraiya cried out.

"I really can't hold on anymore. I'm pulling out first."

After saying that, Bunta turned into smoke and returned through the summoning technique.

"Capture Jiraiya!"

They had finally taken down that troublesome toad, but Rasa was not satisfied with that. He pointed at the newly landed Jiraiya.

"Should I summon another toad?"

Watching the sea of people rapidly closing in on him, Jiraiya quickly considered his options.

If it had been Anbu or Root personnel, they would have already retreated by now.

Only a handful of people like Jiraiya would think of finding a way to keep holding the line.

"Move aside, you bunch of extras."

A voice suddenly rang out from behind.

But what made Rasa instinctively deploy the Sand Shield even faster was the terrifying killing intent coming from behind him.

The gleaming sword aura split midway through its charge, transforming into countless sword blossoms and becoming grim reapers harvesting lives.

It caught the Sunagakure forces, whose attention had all shifted to Jiraiya, completely off guard.

With a single move, they were severely wounded or killed outright.

"You blocked it?"

Having his attack stopped by the Sand Shield for the second time, Genetsu could not help giving Rasa another look.

When he noticed the red hair resembling that of the Uzumaki Clan, Genetsu had already guessed the other man's identity.

"Nothing special."

Having figured out who he was, Genetsu smiled faintly and gave that four-word assessment.

He did not follow up with another attack, merely sweeping past Rasa.

Then Rasa saw it.

Hanging from Genetsu's waist as he rushed past was a bald, still-bleeding head!

"We're leaving!"

Genetsu patted Jiraiya on the shoulder and sped toward the Land of Rivers without slowing down in the slightest.

"Run for it!"

Jiraiya instantly came to his senses as well, turning around and fleeing.

"—They killed Lord Kazekage! Chase them!!!"

Rasa snapped back to his senses and shouted at the remaining Sunagakure Shinobi.

Three days later.

On the border battlefield between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.

A streak of blue lightning, like a bloodthirsty beast, was harvesting the lives of Sunagakure Shinobi across the battlefield.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, three white-clad puppets flew through the air in a triangular formation under the control of Chakra threads, blocking the lightning.

The next second, the three white-clad puppets opened their mouths and spewed out large clouds of purple mist.

"Poison?!"

Faced with this, Hatake Sakumo had no choice but to abandon the pursuit.

His unarmed left hand covered his nose and mouth as he rapidly retreated.

"Is it a new poison? It would be too dangerous to attack rashly before Lady Tsunade develops an antidote."

Nara Shikaku turned to ask Orochimaru, the frontline commander-in-chief:

"Lord Orochimaru, should we retreat from this battle for now?"

Without much thought, Orochimaru was about to nod.

During the years of stalemate with Sunagakure, such things had become commonplace.

Whenever Chiyo created a new poison, they had to rely on Tsunade's medical skills to neutralize it.

"There's no need."

At that moment, two figures suddenly appeared at the edge of the battlefield.

One of them raised something high and shouted to the forces of both Sunagakure and Leaf Village:

"The head of Saimon, the Second Kazekage, is here."

The battlefield, which had been filled with deafening cries of battle, instantly fell deathly silent.

Thousands of people turned toward the source of the voice.

Two White Hairs had somehow appeared atop a tall rock at the side of the battlefield.

Like he was holding a basketball, Genetsu gripped a bald head in his palm and displayed it before the shinobi of both villages as if showing it off.

"L-Lord Second..."

When the future Third Kazekage saw the head in Genetsu's hand,

his legs trembled, and he even staggered and fell to the ground.

"Is... is that really Lord Second?"

"N-No way, that was something even White Fang couldn't accomplish..."

The Sunagakure Shinobi were all completely dumbfounded.

To a ninja village, a Kage was the jewel of the village.

They were also the spiritual pillar in the hearts of countless shinobi from that village.

That was even more true during wartime.

When the Leaf Ninja saw this scene, the shock they felt was not much less than that of the Sunagakure forces.

Hyuga Hiashi: "N-No way, he really killed the Kazekage..."