Chapter 69: Rasa's Death
Bang!
A huge cloud of smoke erupted, and Manda, as large as a hill, vanished from the battlefield.
The Akasuna Couple panted heavily, their faces worn with exhaustion.
The man said, "We used up all our puppets, but at least we managed to drive that snake back."
He couldn't help feeling a pang for the puppets they had spent so long cultivating. Every one of them was worth a fortune and had cost them countless hours of effort.
Losing them all at once meant it would take a long time to replace them.
The woman stared at the broken puppets strewn across the ground, her heart aching with every glance.
She reluctantly assessed the battlefield. Sunagakure had suffered heavy losses in this battle.
"Let's retreat."
The man nodded. In the next instant, he moved both hands, and a Konoha Anbu abruptly sprang into action, raising the blade in his hand to attack his comrade.
Clang!
Fortunately, the comrade reacted in time and blocked the attack at the last possible moment.
Hyuga Quande: "Be careful! He's being controlled by the enemy!"
The woman followed suit. Chakra Threads instantly connected to a Konoha Ninja, who charged at Hyuga Quande.
"Damn it!"
Hyuga Quande blocked the attack from his comrade and swung his Chakra Blade at the Chakra Threads he could see with his Byakugan.
Blade and thread clashed, ringing out like metal striking metal.
The Akasuna Couple wore mocking smiles.
"You'll never cut through our Chakra Threads!"
Puppeteers had a well-known weakness: their Chakra Threads were fragile and easy to sever.
But that didn't apply to top-tier puppeteers like the Akasuna Couple. They had addressed this weakness by refining their Chakra Threads to a high density. Their toughness rivaled steel, so they weren't easy to cut!
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Orochimaru flicked his right hand, and a snake shot from his sleeve, baring its fangs as it lunged at the Akasuna Couple with a vicious gleam in its eyes.
The Akasuna Couple didn't panic. They took control of another Konoha Ninja and placed him right in front of the snake's jaws.
--Go ahead and attack, if you dare. See if you can bring yourself to hurt your comrade.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, displeasure showing in his serpentine gaze. He guided the snake around the Konoha Ninja in its way, only for it to drive its mouth straight into the ground and take a bite of dirt.
The Akasuna Couple made the Konoha Ninjas attack one another.
Orochimaru and the others were caught in an awkward position, unable to act for fear of harming their allies.
The Akasuna Couple fought as they retreated, secretly signaling to Karura.
Karura saw the gesture and drew a deep breath. She pulled a signal flare from her ninja pouch and shot it into the sky, where it burst.
The Sunagakure Ninjas fighting Konoha saw the flare. They looked bitterly at Konoha, then at their Sunagakure comrades, whose fates were unknown, their faces filled with grief.
"Retreat!"
At the shout, the Sunagakure Ninjas turned and fled.
"Don't let them get away! After them!"
Seeing the enemy flee, Nawaki immediately set off in pursuit.
But the memory of nearly stepping on an Explosive Tag still lingered. He sneaked a glance at his Konoha comrades and saw that they were chasing the enemy alongside him.
After waiting a while without hearing Teacher Orochimaru give an order, Nawaki felt reassured and followed his comrades in pursuit of the fleeing Sunagakure Ninjas.
"Wind Style: Kamaitachi!"
Karura swung her fan, driving back the pursuers. Seeing that Rasa was still facing off against Uchiha Chonhua, she hurriedly called out, "Rasa, we're retreating!"
She waited, but Rasa made no move. Uchiha Chonhua, standing opposite him, was just as still.
The cubes and triangular pyramids formed from the surrounding sand mixed with Gold Dust hung motionless in the air.
The sand reaching for Uchiha Chonhua had also frozen in place.
Unease stirred in Karura's heart.
Something was wrong!
"Rasa?"
The next moment, Karura's pupils contracted. Her face was stricken with horror.
"Rasa!!!!"
Uchiha Chonhua moved, slowly walking toward Rasa, his hands forming hand seals. He raised his right hand, and the gathered lightning crackled.
Uchiha Chonhua gazed at Rasa's blank expression, his own face inscrutable.
Now that he thought about it, Rasa was the first well-known character from the original story he had killed since arriving in this world.
He felt no particular regret. In the end, Rasa was simply his enemy.
Uchiha Chonhua drove his right hand deep into Rasa's chest!
The searing pain jolted Rasa back to his senses. His face twisted, and he spat out a huge mouthful of blood.
Cold sweat trickled from his brow. Rasa stared at his chest in disbelief.
Blood poured from the wound, unstoppable, while the intense pain tormented his nerves.
Rasa's face grew ghastly pale. His eyes flew wide, fixed on Uchiha Chonhua's cold gaze.
Those eerie, crimson Sharingan!
"I clearly... prepared so many ways to guard against your Sharingan..."
Uchiha Chonhua replied coolly, "Your preparations were useless. You don't understand the Sharingan."
Rasa fell silent. He truly didn't understand the Sharingan. All the precautions he had taken had been for nothing.
He had fallen for it after all. He had been caught in a genjutsu.
He remembered what had just happened: enormous iron stakes had suddenly appeared and pinned him down, leaving him unable to move freely.
The stakes had driven deeper and deeper, leaving him drenched in cold sweat and wracked with pain.
He had gritted his teeth, stifling his groans as he endured, until a wave of unbearable pain finally let him break free of the stakes and shatter the world of the illusion.
The world had returned to reality, but reality was no better.
Rasa gave a bitter smile and coughed up blood. Fragments of flesh came up with it.
"What was that genjutsu called?"
His life was ebbing away. Rasa asked one final question.
Uchiha Chonhua granted his dying wish and gave him the last answer he would ever hear: "Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"
Uchiha Chonhua's expression shifted. He glanced at Rasa.
"Save your strength. I've already destroyed your chakra network and burned your cells with lightning. Don't tell me you're hoping to make one last desperate move before you die."
"Don't delude yourself."
Uchiha Chonhua leaned closer and whispered into Rasa's ear, "Without me, you would have become the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure."
Rasa was exhausted and wanted to drift off to sleep. Hearing Uchiha Chonhua's words, he felt a question rise in his heart.
--What was that supposed to be? The victor's pity?
What a perverse sense of humor, Uchiha Chonhua.
But when he thought of becoming Kazekage... Rasa's face showed his regret. He would never fulfill his dream.
"Still, you weren't much of a Kazekage. Your village kept getting weaker, and you even became estranged from your children."
Uchiha Chonhua chuckled. "So I came to spare you those troubles in advance."
"Uchiha Chonhua!" Rasa glared at him. "You're insulting me!"
What did he mean, Rasa wasn't much of a Kazekage? Why would the village grow weaker under his leadership, and how could he become estranged from his children?
Rasa had no idea what Uchiha Chonhua meant. He assumed he was making up stories to insult him as he died!
Rasa dreamed of becoming Kazekage, and with that dream came the ambition to help his village grow stronger.
He trembled with rage. Uchiha Chonhua was denying his dream—and his abilities!
Seeing Rasa's fury, Uchiha Chonhua blinked innocently.
Crackle--
The lightning of the Chidori in Uchiha Chonhua's hand flared.
"Cough..."
Rasa's body went limp. He tried to lift his head and look at Uchiha Chonhua, but his eyelids weighed a thousand pounds, and the light in his eyes rapidly faded.
Thud!
Rasa collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant, his consciousness gone.
Uchiha Chonhua dispelled the lightning in his hand. Behind him, the sand collapsed now that its master was gone.
"Everything I said was true."
Chapter 70: Hatake Sakumo: Surprised? Didn't See That Coming?
"Lord Rasa?!"
"Rasa?!"
Rasa's death stunned the Sunagakure forces.
Rasa was their youngest elite jōnin, a student of the Third Kazekage who had learned the Third Kazekage's Magnetic Release secret technique.
Many in Sunagakure admired Rasa, but...
They stared in shock at Rasa's motionless body on the ground, as though they couldn't process what they were seeing.
That Sunagakure genius, Lord Rasa... was dead?
"Rasa!!"
Karura glared at Uchiha Chonhua, hatred written across her face. She gripped the Three-Star Fan tightly.
Her mind went blank, and her body moved of its own accord.
She had to avenge Rasa!
"Big Sister!" Yashamaru cried out in alarm, hurrying to stop Karura.
"Let go, Yashamaru! I'm going to avenge Rasa!"
Karura struggled, but Yashamaru held on tightly.
"We can't beat Uchiha Chonhua!"
Rasa had died at Uchiha Chonhua's hands, and the way he looked, he still had plenty of strength left.
If Uchiha Chonhua could kill Rasa, he could kill Karura too.
Yashamaru was terrified. He couldn't let his sister rush in and get herself killed!
Yashamaru managed to stop Karura, but he couldn't stop the other Sunagakure Ninjas who wanted to avenge Rasa.
"Damn Uchiha! I'll avenge Lord Rasa!"
A Sunagakure Ninja roared and controlled his puppet. A poisoned blade thrust straight at Uchiha Chonhua.
Uchiha Chonhua glanced at him indifferently.
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