Rasa and Orochimaru

"Gold Dust Wave!"

Rasa roared, flying up and down in the air on his gold mat. While dodging the snake attacks conjured by Orochimaru's hands, he also controlled the Gold Dust on the ground to surge towards Orochimaru.

"Your Gold Dust's refinement is still lacking. Both the range and quality are far inferior to that Gold Dust kid from your village..." Orochimaru held the Kusanagi Sword, two cold lights flashed, and he instantly split the meter-high golden waves on either side of him.

Rasa's face remained grim, and he said nothing, only secretly increasing the amount of Chakra surging within him.

Rasa stopped the gold mat dozens of meters away, quickly formed hand seals, and then slammed them onto the ground.

BOOM!

The sand and soil layer in front instantly turned into a thick layer of Gold Dust, and the surging Gold Dust river quickly rushed towards Orochimaru, forming an encirclement.

Seeing this, a hint of triumph flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. After sticking out his tongue to lick the edge of the Kusanagi Sword, Orochimaru's figure suddenly disappeared from his original spot.

"Huh?!" Rasa's hands were still on the ground, but his face was already a mixture of terror and shock.

Because in his perception, Orochimaru's presence was gone.

After looking around, a chill suddenly rose in Rasa's heart, as if he had been touched on the neck by a cold sword edge.

In an instant, his expression changed drastically, but fortunately, he remembered to stomp on the ground with his foot and leap up.

Just as Rasa left the ground, a cold glint shot out from the ground, aiming straight for Rasa's throat.

Rasa's body instinctively reacted, tilting his head back slightly, so Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword only opened a slit on his chest and abdomen, leaving a faint bloody mark.

Rasa, whose mind was already filled with anger and shock, didn't even feel the pain in his body. He only knew that a cold sensation had indeed brushed across his skin.

"Hah!" Orochimaru, who had also leaped up, had a ferocious and crazed look on his face, his eyes blazing with bloodlust.

Ever since his previous encounter with that Gold Dust kid, Orochimaru, who had a profound understanding of Earth Style, had learned to analyze the structure of Gold Dust. Moreover, Rasa's Gold Dust was much less refined than Souya's.

Therefore, even with a layer of Gold Dust blocking him, Orochimaru could still easily use Earth Style to conceal his presence underground.

As soon as he clashed with Rasa, Orochimaru discovered that this ninja, who also used Magnet Release and Gold Dust, was a level below Souya in terms of the amount of Gold Dust summoned and his control over it.

More importantly, Souya, wielding the Starfall Rod, could still fight evenly with Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword.

But this guy was empty-handed, only hiding in the distance and using Gold Dust ninjutsu.

And with flesh and blood alone, it was naturally impossible to block the cold, flowing treasure sword in Orochimaru's hand!

Orochimaru, who had leaped high into the air, slashed the Kusanagi Sword towards Rasa's waist. In the reflection of Rasa's golden pupils, it seemed as if blood had spurted several feet high, and his body had been cut in two, about to wail powerlessly on the ground.

However, something unexpected happened.

The Kusanagi Sword he slashed down made a "swish" sound, leaving only a white mark in the air, while Rasa's figure disappeared.

"Crack!"

Before Orochimaru could react, fist-sized, light purple Lightning Balls shot towards him.

Orochimaru's pupils suddenly narrowed. His body's flexibility was beyond imagination. Even though he was in mid-air, he easily twisted his body.

Spinning with the Kusanagi Sword, he directly split the light purple Lightning Balls, emitting bursts of explosions.

When Orochimaru landed again, he found that standing before him, besides Rasa and Souya, was a delicate young man with red hair. To the upper left of the red-haired youth, a tall humanoid Puppet was floating.

The Puppet's hands were connected to its body by bifurcated short swords, giving a sense of unity.

However, if any Kirigakure ninja familiar with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were present, they would notice upon closer inspection that this dark gray Puppet, clad in a black robe, strongly resembled Raiga Kurosuki from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!

If they also considered the short swords at the Puppet's wrists, the Kirigakure ninja would no longer hesitate. This was Raiga Kurosuki, one of their Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and one of the Seven Swords—the Lightning Blade? Fang!

Orochimaru had not had much contact with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen before. He had heard that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure were annihilated by a lower-ranked ninja in the village who had no talent.

He had even investigated at the time to see what kind of ninjutsu could possess such power, allowing an unknown lower-ranked ninja to leap to the level of a Kage-level fighter!

Therefore, Orochimaru only felt a vague sense of familiarity for a moment and didn't think in the direction of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. After all, Raiga Kurosuki's appearance had changed drastically after being transformed into a Puppet, with only his facial features remaining similar.

"Orochimaru..." Sasori murmured, his usually indifferent eyes now filled with intense longing and excitement.

This expression left Orochimaru bewildered. He was very sure that this was his first meeting with this red-haired Sand Ninja, and they had no prior grievances.

"Sasori! Calm down!" Souya, who was treating Rasa, reminded him. Getting too excited in the face of a strong enemy was not a good thing.

Rasa's chest had a deep, narrow wound, and blood was constantly seeping out, soaking his clothes.

Souya's hands glowed green as he pressed them against Rasa's wound.

"Senior Brother, the injury isn't serious. Don't worry," Souya said to comfort Rasa.

"Cough... I'm truly sorry. I didn't expect that I, the Senior Brother, would need you to rescue me..." Rasa, who had just returned from the brink of death, looked somewhat dazed.

He had intended to show off and overshadow Souya, but he had almost lost his life here.

"It's alright, it's all for the village!" Souya said with a smile.

Orochimaru hadn't applied poison to the sword, so Rasa's wound was just deep, not a major problem.

After a moment, Souya stood up.

"Where is Teacher?"

"Lord Kazekage has led the troops to attack Kikyo Mountain!"

Upon hearing this, Souya gazed at the towering mountain peaks in the distance. Birds were flying everywhere, seemingly trying to escape the dangerous area hidden beneath the lush green.

Souya didn't see the Kazekage and had a vague sense of foreboding.

However, the priority now was to deal with Orochimaru!

"Senior Brother, you go help Teacher. Leave Orochimaru to Scorpion and me!" Souya said, holding the Starfall Rod, and then ignored Rasa.