Rock and earth collapsed—the end was at hand!
Amid the chaos, Munashi Jinpachi tasted blood in his throat. Forcing himself to endure the damage from the explosion's aftermath, he stubbornly maintained the chakra beneath his feet, darting and weaving through the falling rocks as he climbed upward!
At the bottom of the cavern, Rasa likewise raised a shield of gold dust. While blocking the rocks raining down from above, he pursued the fleeing Munashi Jinpachi against the flow!
One chased while the other fled.
The swift figure and the all-pervading gold dust raced after one another, with the gap between them often no more than a hair's breadth. It seemed that if the gold dust surged just a little more urgently, it would catch his ankle and completely cripple the assassination target's mobility!
Yet at the brink of life and death, the survival instinct it stirred in Munashi Jinpachi ultimately allowed him to create a miracle...
Just as Rasa exhausted all his strength to bind Jinpachi's legs with gold dust, a cloud of disorienting smoke abruptly rose.
The perfectly timed Substitution Technique not only rendered the gold dust's deadly surprise attack futile, but even provided him with a midair foothold, becoming a crucial aid in Munashi Jinpachi's ascent through the final stretch!
"Heh heh, you want to catch me? You're still too green, Sand Ninja devil!"
Planting Exploding Blade Shibuki into the ground, he once again used the recoil to break free.
And this time, nothing stood in Jinpachi's way after he broke through layer upon layer of restraints!
The damp, salty sea breeze and sunlight heavily obscured by thick mist fell over his head together. The thrill of surviving disaster even gave the wielder of "Shibuki," a man long accustomed to slaughter, the illusion that an age had passed.