Rescue

As Kabuto Yakushi moved farther away, Rasa also drifted ever farther from the battle site. Once Rasa's chakra signature could no longer reach this place, Gold Dust's suppression of Temari and Kankuro weakened to its lowest point.

A whirling barrage of blades danced through the air, and the golden mound abruptly exploded. At last, the strength of several puppets broke through Gold Dust's sealing restraints.

Temari and Kankuro, battered and covered in blood, were exposed to the sunlight once more.

"Where's Gaara?"

The site of the once-fierce battle was left with nothing but wreckage. Gold Dust mixed with yellow sand, while traces of repeated explosions showed just how brutal the recent fight had been.

But now, everything had fallen silent.

"Probably captured."

The enemy had carefully laid an ambush, then found powerful shinobi who happened to counter Gaara perfectly. They had surely come fully prepared. The three Sand Shinobi had been forced into battle and were in a terrible position from the start; a grim outcome had been foreseeable.

"What do we do? Keep chasing them?"

Kankuro looked at Temari, who could barely stand and had to use her enormous folding fan as a crutch to keep her balance, then at his own legs, which were nearly numb.

"Let's go back and call for reinforcements. We're not strong enough. The enemy has too many powerful shinobi, and we don't even know whether they have any hidden trump cards left."

With the previous Kazekage present, even if his combat strength had been diminished, he was still not someone Temari and Kankuro could deal with so easily.

In Sunagakure, only Chiyo possessed the strength to confront a Kage-level expert head-on.

Besides that, Temari and Kankuro's teacher—Baki—was fairly capable as well. But even with him added to their side, their forces would still