Uchiha Gen leaped down from Charizard's back, his eyes flashing crimson. As he looked at the sandcastle below, lightning instantly crackled in his hand.
Chidori!
The flames receded, and the sandcastle collapsed with them, revealing Rasa.
A flash of lightning streaked by. In the blink of an eye, Uchiha Gen appeared behind Rasa and thrust out with a single strike.
Thud!
A muffled sound rang out as the Chidori's attack slammed into the thick Gold Dust, leaving behind only a small hole.
At the same time, a huge Gold Dust hand suddenly shot up from the ground beneath Uchiha Gen and grabbed at his leg.
But a claw mark flashed past, scattering the Gold Dust before it could fully form.
It was Charizard's attack.
With his strike unsuccessful, Uchiha Gen quickly pulled away. The lightning in his hand faded, and Mingzun left its sheath!
Arcs of electricity danced over his body, and Uchiha Gen's speed surged.
Rasa's Gold Dust was heavy and slow to move, so Uchiha Gen immediately thought of the tactic Rock Lee had used against Gaara.
Use high speed to find an opening!
Having settled on a tactic, Uchiha Gen put it into action at once. Lightning wrapped around him as he swung Mingzun again and again.
As sparks flashed, pieces of Gold Dust were cut apart and then reassembled one after another. Beside him, Charizard also struck from time to time with Dragon Claw, attacking from a different direction than Uchiha Gen.
However, against Uchiha Gen's high-frequency attacks, Rasa defended himself like a tortoise, leaving no openings. Every so often, he countered with a Gold Dust spear aimed at Uchiha Gen.
"Uchiha Clan brat, someone your age shouldn't have those eyes. You... can't be allowed to live."
As he blocked Uchiha Gen's attacks, Rasa controlled the Gold Dust to keep surging toward Konoha's position. The moment he saw the crimson in Uchiha Gen's eyes, he shut his own and formed a sand eye, speaking coldly through it.
Uchiha Gen's clan crest told Rasa who he was, so he had avoided looking at his eyes from the very beginning. It was a precaution every ninja should take.
Still, Rasa hadn't believed Uchiha Gen could awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan—powerful enough to trouble him. In fact, he hadn't even thought Uchiha Gen had awakened the Sharingan. But the red glow in the boy's eyes made it clear that he had. Rasa simply didn't dare look closely enough to see how many tomoe he had.
Never look into a Uchiha's eyes during a fight. That was common knowledge among all the ninja of the Shinobi World.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Shuriken!"
As he spoke, Rasa formed Hand Seals. The flowing sand around him quickly merged with the Gold Dust, forming spinning shuriken that shot toward Uchiha Gen and Charizard.
"Flame Slash!"
Faced with countless Gold Dust shuriken, Uchiha Gen turned sideways and raised a hand. Several blazing slashes instantly smashed them all to pieces.
Flame Slash didn't deal much damage, but it worked very well for knocking down shuriken and other airborne weapons.
"Hmph, all flash and no substance. After all this fighting, you're still struggling with me. How much chakra could you have left? But... to make sure you don't leave here alive, Magnet Release: Gold Dust Barrier Technique!"
Seeing his attack blocked, Rasa snorted and formed Hand Seals again. The Gold Dust around him instantly formed a massive barrier a hundred meters across.
The moment the barrier took shape, countless Gold Dust spears burst from the ground around Uchiha Gen like bamboo shoots, stabbing toward the boy and his "dragon."
Looking at Rasa, Uchiha Gen raised his head with a cold expression and glanced at the sky. After Charizard had been breathing fire into it without pause, thick clouds had begun to gather overhead.
The Gold Dust spears shot out too quickly, leaving Uchiha Gen little room to dodge. He could only use the Body Flicker Technique to reach Charizard's back.
"Charizard, Smokescreen, then Rock Tomb!"
The moment he reached Charizard's back, Uchiha Gen called out quickly.
"Roar!"
At his command, Charizard opened its mouth and spewed thick smoke, which soon covered the entire barrier. Once it was done, Charizard raised a claw, and several illusory boulders formed at once before it hurled them toward Rasa.
Crackle!
As Charizard moved, lightning began to flash in Uchiha Gen's hand once more.
The battle on Uchiha Gen's side was causing a huge commotion. After evading the waves of Gold Dust Rasa had raised, all the ninja in safe positions turned their attention to the fight.
Some Konoha Ninja wanted to help Uchiha Gen, but Rasa had raised the Gold Dust Barrier not only to trap and kill him, but also to keep Konoha Ninja from reaching him.
Uchiha Gen's age had startled Rasa. So the moment he realized how terrifying the boy's talent was, Rasa gave up controlling the Gold Dust that had been surging toward Konoha's position and focused entirely on killing him.
Outside the Gold Dust Barrier, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Uchiha Ganghuo's eyes glinted with a vicious red light. His fingers flashed through Hand Seals, and he unleashed one Fire Release technique after another, blasting the Gold Dust.
But Rasa was so intent on killing Uchiha Gen that he had devoted all the Gold Dust meant to advance on Konoha's position to the Gold Dust Barrier. For the moment, even Uchiha Ganghuo, powerful as he was, couldn't break through its defenses.
"Open up already!!"
Behind Uchiha Ganghuo, Tsunade had recovered some chakra. Her face twisted with anger as she shouted, lunged forward, and punched the Gold Dust Barrier.
Boom!!!
A muffled boom rang out. The Gold Dust shattered and scattered, then slowly repaired itself. Seeing this, Tsunade punched it again and again.
"Lady Tsunade, your chakra... Let me handle it."
Seeing this, Uchiha Ganghuo spoke with concern. Because of Uchiha Gen, he felt a deep respect for Tsunade, too.
He knew that Tsunade had just used that group healing technique. Even with her Senju blood, wouldn't her chakra run out?
"Your Fire Release is too slow to break through the barrier. Damn it! Is that Magnet Release ninja from Sunagakure crazy? Brat, hang in there! I'm coming to save you right now. Damn it, why is there so much Gold Dust?"
Without turning around, Tsunade kept punching the Gold Dust Barrier over and over.
"Your smoke is useless. In a place full of sand like this, I can see everything. Brat, you should feel lucky. To kill you, I used all my Gold Dust. I'd originally prepared it for your entire Konoha force."
Inside the Smokescreen, Rasa spoke in a low voice with his eyes closed. Two floating eyeballs hovered motionless beside him.
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