Seek Peace Through Struggle, and Peace Will Exist

If it weren't for the fact that she truly couldn't beat him, Pakura would have nearly gone berserk on the spot. The opponent who used to be a fellow bottom-feeder was now vastly more powerful, to the point where he didn't even look up to elite jonin anymore.

How stifling.

"Setting that aside, did you use the sunscreen I gave you?" Rasa asked suddenly, starting to flirt.

Points +1... +1...

Pakura was incredibly embarrassed. She had come specifically to help him; if he wasn't going to show appreciation, did he have to bring this up the moment they met?

"No!

Who would care for something sent by a stinky, red-haired guy like you? Besides, covering my back with chakra provides the same sun protection."

Case closed. No wonder Pakura's future daughter, Temari, had such great skin. Women were truly meticulous, and chakra was truly omnipotent.

Rasa's gaze was intrigued; he kept staring at Pakura without saying a word.

She definitely used it. Having circled around her just now, he could tell that the skin on Pakura's back was much fairer, smoother, and more radiant than before.

This wasn't something achievable by chakra alone. Pakura hadn't been dark-skinned before, but because she loved backless outfits, the skin on her back had been a slightly different shade than her neck.

The more Rasa stayed silent and the more suspicious his gaze became, the more embarrassed Pakura felt. Using a bit of sunscreen wasn't anything shameful, she just didn't want to lose her edge in front of the red-haired man.

Just as she was about to explain further, Rasa suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

"Hey, hey, are you trying to take advantage of me?" Pakura's cheeks flushed as she shouted.

Rasa's expression was grave as he looked toward the horizon. His spread-out microwave radar had picked up movement again, with a frequency similar to the echo Pakura had produced earlier.

But in a sense, it was far stronger than Pakura.

As it drew closer, even Pakura finally sensed the disturbance coming from afar.

Such intense chakra fluctuations, like a dormant volcano buried under snow.

No matter how much it was suppressed, and no matter how unremarkable it appeared on the surface, it couldn't hide the fact that this dormant volcano had erupted before and could erupt again at any moment.

"Who is it?" Pakura asked, instinctively lowering her voice, her heart racing.

This vast, ocean-like amount of chakra far exceeded that of an ordinary jonin. Even Rasa was slightly inferior to it, let alone herself—the difference was like heaven and earth.

"It's highly likely to be that 'missing' Four-Tails Jinchuriki. Get ready for battle," Rasa said sternly. Now was not the time for flirting.

Business came first, while he simultaneously weighed various possibilities in his mind.

Perhaps Roshi had truly lost his way in the Land of Wind, or perhaps after Mahiru returned to Iwagakure, Roshi had been dispatched to investigate matters related to Luo Yongxin.

The latter was more likely. He had hooked a big fish. Rasa set up a mental scale, analyzing whether to fight and the potential gains and losses.

He definitely possessed Kage-level strength, but since he had already used the Luo Yongxin persona, he could only use his metal-based abilities if he didn't want to expose himself.

The metal abilities he had developed so far were all for bullying the weak; it would be fine if he could take Roshi down before he transformed into his Tailed Beast.

If he gave him the chance to transform, and he couldn't come up with new moves, he wouldn't be able to suppress him in a short time. He might have to make a strategic retreat and advance like the wind.

Fighting was definitely in his interest. Taking down the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, whether by killing him or extorting Iwagakure, would change the original plot and net him a haul of points.

Not fighting would be embarrassing. A Jinchuriki from a hostile village had run into the Land of Wind—this was a blatant overstepping of boundaries.

As the leader of the organization, if he didn't show some backbone, his subordinates would look down on him in the future, and he would look down on himself.

What was the point of wearing a suit and tie and carrying a big phone if he was such a spineless boss? There was no future in following a coward.

At this moment, the opponent's extremely volatile chakra fluctuations suddenly surged, only to stop about two hundred meters away. Limited by the undulating sand dunes of the desert, neither side could see the other.

But that massive chakra, like a dormant volcano, was as distinct, as outstanding, and as dashing as a lighthouse in the eternal night or a pork prince in a wet market.

"The enemy seems to have stopped. What do we do?" Pakura asked nervously, her palms sweating.

She had grown up to this age, and this was the first time she had faced a Jinchuriki other than Bunpuku.

Bunpuku was a monk in a Sunagakure temple who had been the One-Tail Jinchuriki for a long time. He had a good relationship with Shukaku, understood each other, and was described by Shukaku as having the qualities of the Sage of Six Paths.

That was why, until Bunpuku passed away, Shukaku had never rampaged.

"Take him down. We must take him down.

A Jinchuriki from another country has run into the Land of Wind. If we don't act, they will only become more brazen next time."

Rasa said firmly. A great man once said that if you seek peace through struggle, peace will survive; if you seek peace through compromise, peace will perish. He would always keep those words in his heart.

"Can we win?" Pakura asked again, her hands trembling slightly—perhaps from nerves, perhaps from fear.

A Jinchuriki was what the major villages called a weapon of war. Pakura had never seen a Jinchuriki in action, but she knew that the well-behaved Bunpuku had always been imprisoned in a temple.

Once released, they were beasts that would devour anyone.

Rasa glanced at Pakura, reached out to take her hand, and said confidently, "I won't say I'm invincible, because there are still a few people in the Shinobi World stronger than me.

But a mere Four-Tails Jinchuriki is nothing."

If he couldn't take him down with metal manipulation, he would use lightning-style abilities to finish Roshi off directly. Even if it meant killing the goose to get the golden egg, he wouldn't let this goose run away today!

"Mm." Pakura nodded, seemingly encouraged. She forgot to pull her hand away and added, "I'll cover you."

"No need. I am enough on my own."

With that said, Rasa squeezed every ounce of chakra from his cells, his Kage-level chakra fluctuations erupting into the sky; as long as Roshi was paying attention to this area, it was impossible for him not to notice.

This behavior was akin to driving with high beams on a streetlit road at night, or a singer pointing at the audience during a concert and shouting, "Hello, friends on the other side!"

Sure enough, within his sensory range, Roshi hesitated for a brief moment before darting toward them at high speed, his powerful chakra fluctuations closing in from afar.

Upon reaching the crest of the sand dune, Roshi finally stopped. He was momentarily stunned at the sight of the forehead protector on Pakura's head; given such powerful chakra, he had assumed it was Luo Yongxin.

He had not expected to encounter experts from Sunagakure, and seeing how young they both were, he quickly deduced their identities.

They must be the Third Kazekage's disciples: the Magnet Release Gold Dust user Rasa, and the Scorch Release user Pakura. He hadn't expected Rasa to possess Kage-level chakra reserves already, and here in the desert, no less...

He had miscalculated. It was like climbing over a wall to pick someone else's cucumbers, only to be caught red-handed by the owner—how embarrassing.

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