In the vast desert of the Land of Wind.
A falcon plummeted from the sky and tossed a scroll downward.
Waiting beneath its fall was a young figure dressed in a Blood-Red Cloud Robe.
The young man had short red hair and exceptionally handsome features. He was none other than Sasori of the Red Sands, who had already defected from Sunagakure and joined the Akatsuki.
Sasori reached out and easily caught the falling scroll, then opened it to read.
"Rasa has finally left the village. And he's going somewhere so far away, too. What a perfect opportunity, served up on a silver platter."
After learning of Rasa's movements through spies planted in the village, Sasori wasted no time and set off in pursuit.
Not long after Sasori left, a somewhat hunched figure arrived at the same place. After looking around, the figure followed in the direction Sasori had gone.
So I was his real target?
Ha!
What an arrogant claim. What did he take the leader of a village for?
Since when had there been someone so brazen in the Ninja World?
Rasa glared at the figure wearing the Gale Mask, still fuming over the man's arrogant words.
He had no interest in investigating the man's identity now. Once he captured him, the people in the village had a hundred ways to make him talk.
Rasa slowly raised his hand. As he opened his palm, countless grains of Gold Dust rose behind him, floating overhead like golden clouds.
He swept his hand downward. The clouds of Gold Dust churned, then turned into countless bullet-like droplets that rained down on the masked man. This was Magnet Release: Gold Dust Rain.
The Sunagakure Anbu members in the distance watched Rasa unleash his Magnet Release attack, their faces alight with excitement.
Even across the entire Ninja World, the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai was exceedingly rare. Rasa was the only person in Sunagakure who controlled the power of Magnet Release: Gold Dust. In the village, mastering the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai practically gave someone the qualifications to become Kazekage.
They were so convinced of Magnet Release's power that, when the masked man still hadn't moved as Gold Dust Rain bore down on him, the Anbu assumed he was so terrified that he had forgotten to run.
Of course, in their eyes, the attack was so wide-ranging and dense that even if he wanted to flee, it was already too late.
Rasa looked at the mysterious masked man, who still hadn't moved, and a flicker of doubt crossed his eyes. He certainly didn't think the man was too frightened by his attack to defend himself, as the Anbu did.
The man still looked utterly unafraid. He clearly had something up his sleeve. But Rasa's Magnet Release attack was already upon him. Even if the man tried to form Hand Seals to defend himself now, he would be too late. What would he do?
As Rasa wondered, chakra began to surge around the masked man. The moment Rasa sensed the man's chakra, his eyes widened as if he'd seen a ghost.
The masked man made no visible movement, yet black sand rose from beneath his feet, then formed an Iron Sand Shield overhead.
Clang, clang, clang...
The droplets of Gold Dust struck the Iron Sand Shield, ringing out incessantly. Under the relentless barrage, the shield's surface grew pitted and uneven, but it quickly repaired itself as more Iron Sand filled in the gaps.
And so, the masked man's Iron Sand Shield withstood the seemingly endless Gold Dust attack.
"This... This is Magnet Release: Iron Sand!"
"How can you wield this power?"
Rasa struggled to contain his emotions as he stared at the black Iron Sand swirling around the masked man.
It was no wonder he was so shaken. The Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai meant far too much to Sunagakure—especially since the man before him wielded the ability to control Iron Sand.
The last person to wield Magnet Release: Iron Sand was the missing Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history.
The man before him was masked and wielded the same Magnet Release: Iron Sand. Could he have some secret connection to the Third Kazekage?
Or was he the Third Kazekage himself?
Rasa found the possibility almost impossible to accept. He had already become the Fourth Kazekage. Even if the Third Kazekage returned, he would never give up his position as Kazekage.
Rasa would do anything to become Kazekage. He would even eliminate anyone who might threaten his position.
As Rasa gaped at the masked man's Magnet Release, the Sunagakure Anbu who had been watching were left speechless as well.
They had imagined all sorts of outcomes, but never that the mysterious masked man would also possess the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai.
The black Iron Sand immediately brought the once-renowned Third Kazekage to mind. Now, they couldn't help wondering who the masked man really was.
Magnet Release users were already pitifully rare in the Ninja World, and the Third Kazekage had been the only person to master Magnet Release: Iron Sand. So, at the sight of the masked man, the Anbu began to doubt the news that the Third Kazekage had been killed.
Could the Third Kazekage still be alive? Could this mysterious man before them actually be him?
In fact, Rasa and the Anbu were right. The masked man before them was the Third Kazekage.
But he was the Third Kazekage who had been killed by Sasori and turned into a Human Puppet, and the one controlling the Third Kazekage Human Puppet at that moment was Lan.
The Tenseigan could grant puppets sentience and allow them to move freely. But Lan's Tenseigan Dojutsu Power was still too weak to give the puppets much sentience. That might be enough when fighting someone weak.
But against an elite jonin or even someone at Kage Level, a puppet's own sentience was nowhere near enough. Even though Sasori had perfected the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, that weakness remained. A puppet's strength still depended primarily on its puppeteer's control.
At that moment, Lan was using the Tenseigan's power to send his spirit out of his body and possess the Third Kazekage Human Puppet. That way, he could wield its abilities as he pleased.
By using his spirit to possess the Human Puppet, Lan could make the Third Kazekage Human Puppet far stronger than it had been under Sasori's control—strong enough to rival the Third Kazekage in life. That was why Lan was confident he could deal with Rasa.
"Instead of worrying about who I am, you should be more concerned about your current predicament."
With that, Lan raised the Third Kazekage Human Puppet's hand and repeated the same motion Rasa had just made.
Vast quantities of black Iron Sand surged up from the desert beneath their feet and flew into the sky, gathering like dark clouds over Rasa and the others.
"This... This range is just... just ridiculous!"
Seeing the same Magnet Release technique unleashed with vastly greater power, the members of the Sunagakure Anbu squad panicked...