Hatred That Could Not Be Erased

Golden quicksand reflected the sunlight, slowly rising from the center of the battlefield like a colossal tree supporting the world. Its immense shadow spread outward in every direction.

Then, golden sand spheres fell from the massive canopy like a torrential downpour, bombarding the battlefield.

Any monster or shinobi touched by that Gold Dust instantly had a huge hole blasted through them!

"How is Rasa here?"

Jiraiya stared at the scene before him in disbelief, his expression turning utterly grim.

At this point, someone as clever as Jiraiya could hardly fail to realize that the Sand Shinobi had never intended to cooperate with them properly.

They had prepared for this all along. Even the Kazekage, the head of the village, had abandoned his village and personally come to the battlefield. Their target was most likely the Jashin Cult's technologies!

But what truly shattered Jiraiya was not the Sand Shinobi's betrayal, but Simu's words before he vanished.

"Greed is the foundation of humanity."

From the moment Rasa appeared, those words had churned through his heart like a blade, leaving his desire to save this world riddled with holes.

Fortunately, Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima were not as deeply affected as Jiraiya. They assessed the situation at once.

"Little Jiraiya, don't dwell on it! We need to leave quickly. Don't let that Kazekage set his sights on us!" Sage Shima said calmly.

Her judgment was perfectly sound.

Konoha's shinobi had suffered devastating losses in the previous battle. Their commander, Jiraiya, had also endured a fierce fight and been poisoned. He had less than twenty percent of his strength left. If they dragged this out, he could not possibly be Rasa's match.

As for their other two main fighters, Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy—

The former had also just been through a hard battle,