The Battle for the Pig Talisman

--Whoosh!

The hot spring inn was already full of sand. With Rasa controlling it, huge amounts of sand soaked with hot spring water erupted outward, crashing through the entire inn. The building collapsed in an instant, and rubble rained down.

When the dust settled, the hot spring inn had been reduced to ruins amid the sand. Just as Rasa and Yashamaru were about to search through them for the Talisman, a dog's head made of magma shot out and swung a heavy punch at Rasa and the others.

"Hey! You want to pick a fight with Uncle?!"

Chixing melted the remains of the hot spring inn and emerged with a stern expression. Uncle brushed the dust from his shoulders and delivered his signature line.

"That's... Lava Release?!"

Rasa frowned as he looked at the "trench" the magma had carved behind them. The sand along its path radiated intense heat.

"Big Brother Rasa, they seem to be the 'Qi Mage' and 'unknown summoning beast' mentioned in the spy reports."

The appearance of two unfamiliar faces in Konoha, one of them with Chixing's distinctive looks, was something the spies from every village needed to report back to their own villages.

So they knew Chixing's reputation as a "Lava Release expert."

But there was no time to worry about that. They were determined to get the Talisman, even if they had to turn Yugakure upside down and cause an international incident!

Rasa was an extreme person by nature, but he wasn't usually this extreme. There was only one reason he'd become like this: the Third Kazekage.

He wasn't a fool. He could tell the Third Kazekage was deliberately grooming him. Perhaps he was destined to become the Fourth Kazekage.

Still... although he was already one of the village's top elite jonin and had learned Magnet Release from the Third Kazekage, he hadn't accomplished much for the village or made many contributions.

If things continued this way, even if he really did become Kazekage, it would be difficult to win the people's respect. That was why Rasa was taking this mission so seriously, determined to carry it out flawlessly.

"Magnet Release..."

He was just about to use his signature move when countless shuriken flew at him from the shadows. Rasa hurriedly controlled his Gold Dust to shield himself from the attack.

In theory, the Shadowkhan's ninja soldiers weren't strong enough to take part in a battle of this caliber. Qian Yu no longer expected to earn more Dimensional Points from the Shadowkhan, but there was no harm in bringing them out every now and then to make their presence felt.

"Yashamaru, take care of those black-clad ninjas. I'll handle the old man and the Starfish Monster!"

"Understood!" Yashamaru nodded and immediately formed Hand Seals. "Ninja Art: Manipulated Shuriken Technique!"

Yashamaru used threads to control a large number of kunai, clashing with the Shadowkhan's shuriken. Amid the clanging of metal, he formed more Hand Seals and unleashed a series of Wind Blades.

Yashamaru was cutting loose, but things weren't going so well for Rasa. Chixing's enormous lava fists came one after another, driving Rasa back.

"Damn it!"

Rasa kept dodging until he'd had enough. The instant Chixing swung his lava fist again, Rasa's body transformed into Gold Dust.

The moment the magma touched the Gold Dust, the intense heat produced a great cloud of steam. At the same time, the Gold Dust fused with the magma, forming an extremely viscous, glass-like rock that trapped Chixing's arm firmly in place.

"Now it's my turn!"

As he silently thought, Does this pink giant have the brains of a Ninja Academy dropout? What an idiot! Rasa was about to form Hand Seals and use Magnet Release when a streak of green light shot toward him from behind.

--Whoosh!

It was Uncle's fire magic! But just before it could hit Rasa, his body transformed into Gold Dust again.

"Still don't get it? Attacks like that can't hurt me!"

"Uncle never expected it to work. It was just a distraction."

"What?!"

Rasa whipped around. Chixing had raised a fist almost half the height of a building, encased in glass, and brought it crashing down toward Rasa's face.

--Bam! Every bone in Rasa's body shattered in an instant. As he went flying, he even felt as though his mind and body had fallen out of sync. It wasn't until he slammed into a wall that the sharp pain brought him back to his senses.

"Uncle says you shouldn't kill people for no reason."

Chixing's face was expressionless. His glass-encased hand gradually turned back into magma, and he pulled it free, easily breaking loose.

"He... he wasn't even trying before?!"

Rasa clutched his agonizing abdomen, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. If that glass-shard fist hadn't hit him just now, and it had been a magma fist instead...

The consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Big Brother Rasa!"

Seeing Rasa looking half-dead and seriously injured, Yashamaru immediately forgot about fighting the Shadowkhan for the Talisman. In a few quick strides, he was at Rasa's side, helping him up.

"Big Brother Rasa, let's retreat!"

Yashamaru cared a great deal about the man who would one day be his brother-in-law. If Rasa lost an arm or a leg... even his gentle sister wouldn't let him off the hook, would she...?

"Don't worry about me! Get the Talisman first!"

"Oh no! The Shadowkhan already have the Talisman!!"

Uncle's shout drew everyone's attention. Yashamaru had only stopped fighting the Shadowkhan for a few seconds, but they had already emerged again from every corner. The Pig Talisman was in their hands.

"Chixing!"

"Yashamaru!"

Uncle and Rasa shouted at the same time. Chixing and Yashamaru immediately charged toward the Shadowkhan.

The Shadow Ninja holding the Talisman showed no sign of fleeing. He clenched it tightly, and his scarlet pupils suddenly turned golden.

"That's the Pig Talisman's power! Get out of the way!"

A laser beam shot straight out like a swimming dragon, tearing a massive gash in the ground. The scorching heat rising from it enveloped all of Yugakure.

The laser beam consumed countless houses. By the time the Shadowkhan had fled, all that remained was a devastated landscape and a huge ravine.

While Uncle, Chixing, and the two from Sunagakure were fighting the Shadowkhan for the Talisman, the special operation teams from the other villages were also drawn together by some unknown force. They found themselves face-to-face, staring at one another.

The Land of Waves was a tiny island nation, connected to the outside world by a single bridge.

But the Land of Waves had now been taken over by a rich tycoon named Gato.

On the surface, he was the president of a shipping company, the Gato Company, and one of the few tycoons in the world. Behind the scenes, however, he used the mafia and ninja to smuggle drugs and contraband. He also controlled the Land of Waves and the sea routes around the neighboring islands through money and violence, making him a villain through and through.

But the "Gato Empire" he had only just consolidated was about to receive several "guests" who could change his fate...