To Kill You

Uchiha Gen leaped from the back of Charizard, the scarlet hue in his eyes flickering as he stared at the sand fortress on the ground. Lightning erupted from his hand in an instant.

Chidori!

The flames dissipated, and the sand fortress crumbled along with them, revealing the figure of Rasa.

A flash of lightning streaked by; Uchiha Gen appeared behind Rasa in the blink of an eye, thrusting his strike forward.

Bang!

A dull thud echoed as the Chidori was blocked solidly by a thick Gold Sand Barrier, leaving behind only a small hole.

At the same time, a massive hand of gold sand suddenly erupted from the ground beneath Uchiha Gen, lunging fiercely toward his thigh.

However, a flash of claw marks swept past, and the forming gold sand was instantly scattered.

It was an attack from Charizard.

Having failed his initial strike, Uchiha Gen quickly pulled back, the lightning in his hand dissipating as he drew Mingzun!

Arcs of electricity danced across his body, and Uchiha Gen's speed surged.

Rasa's gold sand was heavy and his movements relatively slow, so Uchiha Gen immediately recalled the tactics Lee used against Gaara.

Relying on high mobility to find openings!

With his strategy set, Uchiha Gen acted immediately, his body enveloped in lightning as he swung Mingzun repeatedly.

Amidst a flurry of sparks, piece after piece of gold sand was sliced and reformed. Nearby, Charizard also struck out with its dragon claws from time to time, attacking from different angles alongside Uchiha Gen.

However, facing Uchiha Gen's high-frequency assault, Rasa remained as impenetrable as a turtle, occasionally thrusting out spears of gold sand to counterattack.

"Little brat of the Uchiha clan, you shouldn't possess these eyes at your age. You... cannot be allowed to live."

While parrying Uchiha Gen's attacks, Rasa manipulated the gold sand to roll toward the Konoha lines. Upon seeing the scarlet in Uchiha Gen's eyes, he immediately closed his own, manifesting an eye made of sand to speak coldly.

Because of the clan crest on Uchiha Gen's attire, Rasa naturally knew his identity, so he had avoided looking into Uchiha Gen's eyes from the start—a precaution born of his experience as a ninja.

However, Rasa did not believe in his heart that Uchiha Gen could have awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, which would have been troublesome for him. He didn't even think Uchiha Gen had unlocked the Sharingan at all, yet the red glow in the boy's eyes made it clear that he had; he simply dared not look closely enough to see how many tomoe were present.

In battle, never look into the eyes of an Uchiha—this was the consensus among all ninja in the shinobi world.

"Magnet Release: Gold Sand Shuriken!"

As he spoke, Rasa formed hand seals. The flowing sand around him quickly fused with the gold sand, transforming into spinning shuriken that shot toward Uchiha Gen and Charizard.

"Flame Slash!"

Facing the countless gold sand shuriken, Uchiha Gen turned sideways and raised his hand in a grip, several fierce flame slashes instantly shattering all the projectiles.

Although the damage of Flame Slash wasn't high, it was excellent for swatting down flying objects like shuriken.

"Hmph, flashy tricks. After such a long battle, you're still tangled with me—how much chakra do you have left? But... to ensure you stay here forever, Magnet Release: Gold Sand Great Burial!"

Seeing his attack blocked, Rasa snorted and formed seals again. The surrounding gold sand instantly formed a massive barrier a hundred meters wide.

The moment the barrier took shape, countless spears of gold sand erupted from the ground around Uchiha Gen like bamboo shoots, stabbing toward the boy and his "dragon."

Looking at Rasa, Uchiha Gen raised his head to look at the sky with a cold expression. Thanks to Charizard's continuous fire-breathing, thick dark clouds had begun to gather overhead.

The gold sand spears thrust out with extreme speed, leaving Uchiha Gen no room to dodge; he had no choice but to use Body Flicker to land on Charizard's back.

"Charizard, Smokescreen followed by Rock Tomb!"

The moment he landed on Charizard's back, Uchiha Gen spoke rapidly.

"Roar!"

Obeying the command, Charizard opened its maw, spewing out a thick cloud of smoke that covered the entire interior of the barrier. Once that was done, Charizard raised its claws, and several illusory boulders instantly condensed and were hurled toward Rasa.

Crackle!

Following Charizard's movements, lightning flashed once more on Uchiha Gen's hand.

The commotion of the battle on Uchiha Gen's side was immense. After dodging the waves of gold sand raised by Rasa, all the ninja in safe positions turned their gazes toward the scene.

Among them, some Konoha ninja wanted to support Uchiha Gen, but the Gold Sand Great Burial released by Rasa had a dual purpose: not only to trap and kill Uchiha Gen, but also to obstruct any Konoha reinforcements.

Uchiha Gen's age terrified Rasa, so the moment he realized the boy's terrifying talent, he abandoned his assault on the Konoha lines to focus entirely on killing Uchiha Gen.

Outside the Gold Sand Great Burial, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in Ganghuo Uchiha's eyes flashed with a fierce red light. His fingers moved in a blur of seals, releasing one Fire Release technique after another to bombard the gold sand.

However, Rasa, determined to kill Uchiha Gen, had diverted all the gold sand previously used to push the Konoha lines into the barrier. For a time, even the powerful Ganghuo Uchiha could not break the defense of the barrier before him.

"Open up, damn it!!"

Behind Ganghuo Uchiha, Tsunade, having recovered a bit of chakra, wore a furious expression as she lunged forward, slamming her fist into the gold sand barrier.

BOOM!!!

A dull roar echoed as the gold sand shattered and flew, only to slowly repair itself. Seeing this, Tsunade threw another punch, and then another.

"Lady Tsunade, your chakra... please, let me handle this."

Ganghuo Uchiha, standing nearby, spoke with concern. Because of Uchiha Gen, he held Tsunade in high regard.

He knew full well that Tsunade had just used that mass-healing jutsu; even with her Senju bloodline, her chakra reserves couldn't possibly hold up, right?

"Your Fire Release is too slow at breaking this barrier! Damn it! Is that Magnet Release user from Sunagakure insane? Kid, hold on! I'm coming to save you—damn it, why is there so much gold sand!"

Without looking back, Tsunade continued to hammer her fists into the gold sand barrier, blow after blow.

"Your smoke is useless. In this place filled with sand, I can see everything. Kid, you should feel honored; to kill you, I've used all my gold sand—this was originally prepared for your entire Konoha ninja force."

Within the smokescreen, Rasa spoke in a low voice with his eyes closed. Beside him, two floating eyes hovered silently.