Rasa: You Fell for It!

"Oh?" Uchiha Chonhua was surprised. There were grains of gold dust hidden in the yellow sand.

Seeing the gold dust, Uchiha Chonhua smiled with satisfaction.

—Now this was the Rasa he knew, the one who played with gold dust.

"Ha! Gold Dust World Method!"

Rasa gave a cold shout, and the gold dust burst outward, transforming into spears that pierced everything around them.

Uchiha Chonhua hurriedly tried to leap away, but found his left foot caught in the yellow sand, which was wrapped around the gold dust.

Uchiha Chonhua's pupils contracted. When!?

Shik-shik-shik—

Uchiha Chonhua's body twisted as spear after spear pierced through him. One of the gold dust spears even went straight through his Sharingan and pierced his head!

"Lord Chonhua!"

"Chonhua!"

Everyone watching Uchiha Chonhua cried out in alarm.

Mikoto Uchiha let out an anguished cry of disbelief. Something inside her shattered, and a strange energy swirled in her eyes.

A pair of One-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in Mikoto Uchiha's eyes.

But Mikoto Uchiha didn't care about some new power. Her eyes reddened, tears welled up, and her body trembled.

Chonhua... was dead?

The sudden turn of events left the girl unsteady on her feet.

"Mikoto!"

Hizashi Hyuga knocked back an enemy with an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm and hurried to Mikoto Uchiha's side.

"Chonhua will be fine. You have to believe in his strength! What you're seeing isn't real."

Chapter 68: Rasa: You Fell for It!

Hearing Hizashi Hyuga's words, Mikoto Uchiha came back to her senses, and the feeling of panic began to subside.

Only then did she realize she was weak all over. Mikoto Uchiha crumpled to the ground, sitting there like a duck.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Hizashi Hyuga struck with his palm, knocking away a Sunagakure ninja who had come too close. Then he turned and shouted.

"Mikoto, pull yourself together! This is a battlefield. There's no time to let your guard down!"

"Yes!"

Mikoto Uchiha hurriedly got to her feet. Her body still felt a little weak, but at least she had calmed down.

She'd lost her head because she cared too much. How could anything have happened to Chonhua?

He was a genius with tremendous strength. She'd heard Nawaki and the others talk about Rasa. He was always running away—how could he possibly be a match for Chonhua?

The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Mikoto Uchiha let out a long breath, only then realizing that the world before her had changed.

Everything was sharper and clearer, and her enemies' movements seemed much slower.

This feeling...

Mikoto Uchiha ducked with ease to avoid an enemy's attack, pulled a kunai from the pouch behind her, and thrust it forward.

A few drops of blood spattered onto her face. The Sunagakure ninja twitched a few times, then fell silent.

Mikoto Uchiha was sure now: nothing had happened to Chonhua.

Even the improvement brought by a One-Tomoe Sharingan was tremendous, let alone the Three-Tomoe Sharingan Chonhua possessed.

"Honestly, what a false alarm."

Mikoto Uchiha wiped away her tears. In her field of vision, crows were flying.

Hizashi Hyuga's lips curved into a faint smile as he murmured, "A child of destiny wouldn't meet his end here."

—Only then did his own heart finally settle.

Rasa wasn't Mikoto Uchiha, much less some arrogant fool.

He had fought Uchiha Chonhua before and knew all too well how troublesome his opponent was.

The Gold Dust World Method had impaled his opponent through and through. He looked so mangled it was hard to look at.

Rasa watched in silence, his face cold.

Sure enough, the next moment, the mouth on Uchiha Chonhua's face, riddled with holes, suddenly moved.

He said with a hint of regret, "I knew I couldn't fool you."

Caw, caw—

Uchiha Chonhua's body dissolved into several crows that flew away.

Rasa swung the yellow sand wrapped around his gold dust and surrounded himself with it.

Shield of Sand.

Then the surrounding yellow sand gathered in the air, forming a lifelike eyeball.

The eyeball relayed everything around the Shield of Sand to Rasa inside it.

"He's not here. Where did Uchiha Chonhua go?"

Rasa frowned.

"I'm right here!"

Rasa's pupils contracted. The voice was very close—right beside him!

Could it be!?

The inside of the Shield of Sand was dark. Rasa's gaze swept across the sand walls surrounding him.

Bang!

A grain of sand transformed into Uchiha Chonhua. Smiling, he reached out with his right hand, grabbed Rasa by the neck, and slammed him against the sand wall.

"Ugh!"

Rasa felt a tremendous force around his neck. His throat was injured, and he coughed up a trace of blood.

Uchiha Chonhua didn't stop attacking. He bent his right leg and drove his knee forward.

Pfft—

Rasa reacted quickly, hastily gathering yellow sand in front of himself to block Uchiha Chonhua's knee strike.

The next second, Rasa swept both hands outward. The sand walls inside the Shield of Sand shifted, and spears studded with gold dust stabbed down.

Seeing this, Uchiha Chonhua let his chakra erupt and completed the nature transformation to Lightning Release Chakra in an instant.

Lightning coiled around his body, its light illuminating the inside of the Shield of Sand.

The spears were shattered one after another by the lightning.

Even with gold dust mixed in to increase their density, they couldn't withstand Uchiha Chonhua's lightning.

—The concentration of my Lightning Release is higher than yours!

Uchiha Chonhua's hair stood on end from the electricity. His blood-red Sharingan glared fixedly at Rasa.

The sight was like a heavenly god descending to earth to smite an evil creature!

"I'll send you to your grave!"

Uchiha Chonhua spread his left hand, and a ball of deep-blue chakra floated into the air.

Rasa's pupils contracted, his expression turning grim.

A hand-seal-free jutsu!?

Uchiha Chonhua raised his hand and struck.

Rasengan!

Just as the highly concentrated chakra ball was about to hit him, Rasa pressed his lips together, his face twisted.

"Ha!"

Rasa gave a low shout. A huge amount of yellow sand burst out of the gourd at his waist, breaking through the Shield of Sand in an instant. The sand roared into the sky and spread in all directions!

The sudden burst of sand caught everyone present off guard. Before they could react, they were buried beneath it.

"Cough, cough."

Mikoto Uchiha poked her head out of the sand and coughed several times, clearing the sand from her mouth.

Hizashi Hyuga's long hair was a mess as he rose from the yellow sand. His Byakugan looked toward the center of the sand pile.

The Rasengan in Uchiha Chonhua's hand stopped in front of Rasa.

A thread of blood trickled from the corner of Rasa's mouth. His neck smelled of scorched flesh, burned by the lightning enveloping Uchiha Chonhua.

His gaze was vicious. He glanced at the Rasengan right in front of him, then looked at Uchiha Chonhua.

Rasa said, "Looks like you've figured out why I did this."

Uchiha Chonhua replied coldly, "This enormous expanse of sand covers the Konoha and Sunagakure ninjas in the surrounding area."

"I know you have a technique that can crush people to death with sand, but..."

Uchiha Chonhua explained slowly, "The wider the range, the less precise your control. You haven't acted yet because you can't tell friend from foe, and you're afraid this move will hurt the Sunagakure ninjas."

"Exactly." Rasa opened his left hand and said, "All I have to do is clench this hand, and everyone surrounded by the yellow sand will be crushed to death."

"You want to live."

Uchiha Chonhua said it flatly.

Rasa sneered. "As a Sunagakure ninja, what kind of trash begs the enemy for mercy, wagging their tail to stay alive?"

"Now that you've got me, I can't escape death. Before I die, let me make one last contribution to Sunagakure!"

Smack!

Rasa clenched his left hand tightly.

Uchiha Chonhua looked at Rasa impassively.

His words sounded noble, but his actions told a completely different story.

The yellow sand beneath Uchiha Chonhua came under Rasa's control and transformed into spears that stabbed toward him.

Yellow sand whirled through the air. A cube and a triangular pyramid formed in an instant and crashed down from above.

At the same time, the yellow sand behind Uchiha Chonhua rose like a tsunami and reached for him.

"You're wrong! Uchiha Chonhua! Let's see how much longer your chakra can sustain that lightning!"

Why resort to such an extreme measure just to break free of Uchiha Chonhua's hold?

Uchiha Chonhua had guessed part of it right. Rasa's control really was less precise. If he used Sand Waterfall Funeral, it would hit friend and foe alike. The Konoha ninjas would suffer heavy casualties, and so would the Sunagakure ninjas.

He loved Sunagakure. Of course he wouldn't choose to do that.

What he'd said earlier had only been a ruse to buy him some time to refine his chakra.

Rasa gave a mocking smile. Uchiha Chonhua had fallen for it. He really thought Rasa was the kind of man who would recklessly risk everything just to stay alive.

—Let go of me. Dodge the attacks. Then sink beneath the yellow sand!

Facing attacks from every direction, Uchiha Chonhua stayed calm.

"How long can I keep up the lightning? Heh, longer than you could possibly imagine."

He was a man with chū-ton of chakra. This little bit of chakra was nothing.

However...

Uchiha Chonhua released his grip on Rasa's neck.