Another Attack

A little earlier, Chiyo had just fired a signal flare and was now staring at the familiar figure before her with a complicated expression.

"Fourth... it really is you..."

She had heard that Rasa had assisted Deidara in capturing Gaara. Even knowing that he had become a puppet under Kabuto Yakushi's control, it was still difficult to accept—especially now that she was seeing it with her own eyes. It filled her with a deep sense of sorrow.

Deprived of free will, Rasa naturally could not answer Chiyo's question. He mechanically raised his hands and formed seals. As chakra surged, the hard ground around them rapidly softened, and layers upon layers of Gold Dust rolled forth, spreading toward the four people opposite him.

"Magnet Release and that secret technique for controlling Gold Dust... what a pain. Who would have thought Sunagakure's trump card would become our enemy?"

Of the four present, Chiyo and Kankuro were puppet masters and skilled poison users, but poison had little effect against the undead Rasa.

Only Temari's large-scale Wind Style could be of some use, but the main fighting force was not her. It was Sakura Haruno, who was better suited to dealing with this kind of situation.

Though she did not know the solemn-looking middle-aged man across from them, he certainly looked strong.

Chiyo, Temari, and Kankuro all looked grave, making Sakura a little uneasy as well. Once she learned that he was the Fourth Kazekage, however, she immediately abandoned any thoughts of cutting corners.

Devoured by the sea of Gold Dust spreading everywhere, the four of them kept sinking, on the verge of being swallowed underground and buried.

Sakura Haruno bit her finger and promptly used the Summoning Technique. An astonishingly enormous brown bear appeared, carrying the troubled group of four on its back.