The Weakness of Magnet Release

Walls of gold sand rose one after another like gravestones. When the last one stood just over ten meters from the edge of the gorge, the raging flames were finally blocked completely, then slowly faded away.

The Sand Ninja all breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. Konoha's fire-style assault had finally stopped.

But Rasa felt no joy at all. His expression was dark.

Crack!

The gold sand walls shattered and collapsed one after another, reverting to a sea of sand that filled the entire area for hundreds of meters.

Yet some of the half-collapsed, damaged walls of gold sand still stood upon the earth.

That portion of the gold sand had been melted and reshaped by the Konoha Ninja's fire style, and he had lost control of it!

"How did they do that?" Rasa knitted his brows, completely unable to figure it out.

His most prized Kekkei Genkai, Magnet Release, had been countered!

Because of that, he had lost more than a dozen subordinates as soon as they clashed.

His mission this time was to launch a Surprise Attack on Konoha Base Camp, so he had brought only a small number of Sand Ninja, but every one of them was an elite.

The Feudal Lord of the Land of Wind had been continually cutting military funding, and the number of ninja in Sunagakure was already steadily declining. The number of elite ninja was even lower.

Every one of these ninja was a tremendous loss if killed. And this time, he had lost more than ten in one go...

He turned his head and saw the last group of Sand Ninja about to cross the gorge. That made him breathe easier.

They should have been moving faster, but one person had slowed them down.

His gaze returned to the Konoha Ninja, his eyes icy. A thought surfaced in his mind: I have to kill every one of them!

Otherwise, the weakness of his Magnet Release would be exposed.

On the other side, the ninja of Konoha's Surprise Attack unit looked at Sen Chisato with admiration.

As expected of Lord Orochimaru's disciple!

They'd doubted Captain Sen Chisato because of his age. They'd been blind to look down on him.

Not only had he analyzed the enemy's plan from the intelligence, he'd also led them in stopping the enemy—and achieved tremendous results with just two attacks.

The Fourth Kazekage was leading the group in person, and it was obvious the enemy were Sunagakure's elite. Killing more than ten elites in an instant was, however you looked at it, a heavy blow to the enemy.

And their captain had shown formidable strength!

They were completely won over.

"Captain, what do we do next?" someone asked, having already switched to calling him captain. The others waited for his orders, no longer harboring any doubts about Sen Chisato's leadership.

But Sen Chisato didn't answer. He stared intently behind Rasa, his heart blooming with joy.

On the gold sand bridge spanning the gorge behind Rasa, one figure among the crowd of ninja stood out like a crane among chickens.

It was an old monk with a full head of white hair!

There was no mistaking it. He had to be the current Jinchuriki of the One-Tail Shukaku—Monk Bunpuku!

Sen Chisato had bet right.

Rasa and Bunpuku alone were worth more than the eight or nine hundred people on the main battlefield. He'd struck it rich!

Seeing that Bunpuku and the others were about to cross the gold sand bridge, Sen Chisato immediately ordered, "Launch another fire-style assault!"

The ninja in the Surprise Attack unit didn't hesitate. They unleashed their fire style once more.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireballs of all shapes and sizes charged toward Rasa and the others.

"Naive." Rasa sneered. He raised a hand and manipulated the gold sand into a massive hemispherical shield, blocking all the flames.

Without Wind Release to support them, these fire-style attacks were easy for him to stop.

"Now!" Sen Chisato's eyes lit up. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique, bypassed the gold sand shield, and rushed toward the edge of the gorge.

The moment he saw the gold sand bridge, Sen Chisato finished forming his Hand Seals. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

A ball of flame several times larger than a normal Great Fireball sped toward the gold sand bridge, aimed straight at Bunpuku and the others.

The Sand Ninja tasked with protecting Bunpuku panicked.

They had no way to resist a fire-style attack this powerful, and Lord Kazekage—the one person who could deal with it—was being held up by the other Konoha Ninja!

"Damn it!" One Sand Ninja immediately stepped in front of Bunpuku, gripping his long sword tightly with both hands, his face resolute.

No matter what, he had to protect the Jinchuriki behind him!

He wasn't strong enough to cut through a Great Fireball this powerful, but at the very least he had to hold out until Lord Kazekage could come to their aid.

With that thought, the fireball was already right in front of him.

Just then, a stream of gold sand burst from the gold sand shield. It not only blocked the flames completely, but also became a giant hand that reached for Sen Chisato.

"I've got you!" Rasa grinned smugly, closing his right eye.

High above the battlefield, in the spot everyone was most likely to overlook, an eyeball wrapped in sand stared fixedly at Sen Chisato.

From the very beginning, nothing Sen Chisato had done had escaped Rasa's control!

Not only that, he'd also discovered the weakness of Magnet Release. "Gold sand is gold, but it's also sand. Water Release should be the best way to deal with it. Besides, this guy's Water Release is powerful, too. But he's used fire style twice in a row."

"So what counters Magnet Release is fire... No, it's high temperatures!"

Once the last group of Sand Ninja had crossed over, Rasa swept his right hand. The entire gold sand bridge lifted into the air and crashed down toward Sen Chisato.

Sen Chisato was retreating as he dodged the pursuing gold sand. As a huge shadow fell over him, he quickly formed Hand Seals without even looking up. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Four sturdy, thick earthen walls rose in an instant, reaching seven or eight meters high in the blink of an eye and surrounding him.

"You think you're safe now? Naive!" Rasa's expression was stern, his lips curled in disdain.

Bang!

The huge gold sand bridge slammed down onto the four earthen walls. In an instant, it smashed most of them to pieces, and clods of earth and stone rained down, completely blotting out the sky.

Not only that, a grinding sound came from all around them as cracks gradually appeared in the remaining sections of the walls.

The flowing gold sand was tearing the walls apart!

Even in such a perilous situation, Sen Chisato remained calm. He formed Hand Seals again. "Earth Style: Earth Rising Spears!"

Sharp, massive earthen spikes immediately burst out around the walls, ripping through the flowing gold sand and propping up the bridge above.

Rasa frowned and praised him. "You're certainly not to be underestimated."

First, he'd found the flaw in Rasa's Magnet Release. Then, he'd directed a force of Konoha Ninja half the size of Rasa's to hold them here.

He'd caused them trouble time and again, and his opponent was only a boy of about ten.

In terms of strength, leadership, and combat intelligence, he deserved Rasa's praise.

A true genius!

If only he were a child of Sunagakure... Rasa thought. But he showed no mercy, immediately releasing his control over the gold sand bridge.

Freed from the restraint of chakra, the gold sand bridge abruptly collapsed, becoming a massive torrent of quicksand that crashed down.

Boom!

The earthen walls were submerged, and the space within them was filled.

It still wasn't enough!

Rasa swept out a hand, and the glittering gold sand immediately began to flow at high speed. "Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!"

The Earth Rising Spears spread across the ground and the buried earthen walls were instantly ground to pieces. The immense force contained within them caused the gold sand to erupt wherever it passed.

At the same time, the Konoha Ninja's frontal assault stopped, too.

The huge gold sand shield collapsed, and the sand returned to its loose state.

For hundreds of meters in every direction, the entire world had become a sea of gold sand.

Rasa slowly lowered his arm, his gaze sweeping over the ninja in Konoha's Surprise Attack unit. "The most troublesome one's finally been dealt with. Now..."

He hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly froze.

Wasn't that brat already dead? Why was his Shadow Clone still there?