Rasa Learns His Lesson

"Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death!"

Shinku Yuhi did not pause for even a moment. His hands flew through seals, and the crimson glow in his eyes flared brightly!

Powerful genjutsu chakra shot toward Rasa's mind like invisible chains!

In Rasa's perception, the surroundings instantly twisted.

The hard sand turned into damp earth, and countless thick, thorn-covered vines burst from the ground. They wrapped around his body in an instant, binding him tightly as sharp barbs sank deep into his skin. Numbness and mental erosion struck at the same time!

This was the Yuhi Clan's specialty, a binding-type genjutsu!

It worked!

The Jonin assault force, watching from afar, was overjoyed at the sight!

As long as they killed Rasa, Hidden Sand's offensive would inevitably fall into disarray!

Killing intent blazed in Shinku Yuhi's eyes. A kunai gleamed coldly in his hand as he leaned forward, ready to deliver the fatal blow to Hidden Sand's Kazekage!

However, just as the kunai was about to pierce Rasa's "head"—

Puff!

The "Rasa" caught by Shinku Yuhi, along with the illusionary vines wrapped around him, suddenly turned into a scattered heap of lifeless quicksand. It rustled down and instantly blended into the dune beneath his feet.

"Nani?!"

Shinku Yuhi's pupils contracted sharply, and alarm bells rang in his mind! A Sand Clone! When had he formed the seals?!

"Not bad teamwork. Unfortunately... you're too naive. Did you really think that I, the future Fourth Kazekage, would fall into the same trap twice?"

A cold voice carrying faint mockery came from not far behind him.

Shinku Yuhi spun around.

The real Rasa had appeared atop another dune over ten meters away at some point.

His purple eyes looked down on them from above, as though he were watching a pack of trapped beasts.

There was no expression on Rasa's face, but his icy killing intent spread out almost tangibly.

He raised both hands, moving swiftly as he spread his fingers and aimed them at Shinku Yuhi and the Konoha assault squad below, still briefly stunned.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Great Burial!"

As his deep voice rang out, brimming with destructive power, the entire Mount Kikyo battlefield seemed to tremble!

Rumble—!

An even more terrifying golden tide surged skyward from every direction!

This time, it was no longer a rushing flood. The earth itself was rising in fury!

Endless gold dust instantly condensed into four enormous golden hands, each as heavy as a mountain. Carrying absolute crushing pressure, they slammed together toward Shinku Yuhi and the assault force at the center!

It was as if they intended to crush everything within into dust, even Rasa's own guards!

Shinku Yuhi's face turned deathly pale. The backlash from having his genjutsu broken made his blood churn, but a resolute light burst from his eyes as his hands rapidly formed seals.

"Earth Style: Multiple Earth-Style Walls..."

"Earth Style: Stone Spears!"

"Earth Style: Rock-Stealing Staff!"

The other Konoha Jonin also unleashed ninjutsu to block it. They had no choice; even the underground was filled with gold dust, leaving Earth Style unable to provide an escape route.

However, before Rasa's full-powered Magnet Release ultimate, a disaster on the scale of a mudslide, every defense appeared so pale and powerless.

Standing atop the dune, Rasa watched the Konoha ninja below who were about to be completely swallowed. At last, a cold, satisfied curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

At that critical moment, a loud shout came from the dense forest west of Mount Kikyo!

"Yamanaka Secret Technique: Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Its target was Rasa atop the dune!

An invisible, formless yet incomparably tenacious spiritual force ignored physical distance and defenses. It crossed the battlefield in an instant and accurately stabbed into the depths of Rasa's unguarded consciousness!

The sneer on Rasa's face suddenly froze!

His raised hands stiffened in midair as though yanked by invisible threads, and the golden hands that could destroy everything came to an abrupt halt!

It was Inoichi Yamanaka, one of the Ino–Shika–Cho!

After four days of forced marching, the thousand elite Konoha vanguard troops under his command had finally arrived at the most critical moment and swiftly began supporting the precarious Mount Kikyo battlefield.

Inoichi himself stood at the front of the formation, his hands locked in a seal and veins bulging on his forehead. He forcibly occupied Rasa's mind and actively stopped the flow of his chakra.

Rumble...!

The four enormous gold-dust hands that had been about to close halted in midair as if someone had pressed pause, like they had been interrupted in the middle of, well, you know.

"Now! Retreat!!!"

Shinku Yuhi was the first to react! A genjutsu master was especially sensitive to fluctuations on the mental plane.

Enduring the dizziness from the genjutsu backlash and the churning of his blood, he screamed with all his strength.

The other Konoha Jonin also instantly snapped awake from their suffocating despair.

"Move!"

"Get out of here!"

One figure after another desperately broke out through the gaps between the four stalled gold-dust hands, through the spaces below that had not yet been completely sealed shut!

Even Rasa's original guard squad did the same. Both sides tacitly refrained from fighting, each fleeing for their own lives in the face of disaster.

Boom—!!!!

After losing the support of chakra, the enormous gold-dust hands simply collapsed where they stood.

"Damn Konoha ninja! I am the Fourth Kazekage! Don't underestimate my will!"

Atop the dune, Rasa's stiff body suddenly shuddered!

The blankness in his purple eyes was instantly replaced by cold fury, though a trace of pain and lingering fear from having his mental domain forcibly invaded remained deep within his pupils.

His face turned livid as he abruptly twisted his head, his blade-sharp gaze locking onto the western forest!

"Hmph!"

Forced out of Rasa's mental world, Inoichi Yamanaka let out a muffled grunt, tactically coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, and dropped to his knees.

Rasa was, after all, a ninja who had entered the Shadow Level. His spiritual power and chakra were far beyond what a Jonin like Inoichi Yamanaka could match.

Watching Shinku Yuhi and the others escape in disarray yet successfully, the fury in Rasa's eyes nearly burst forth.

All for nothing! His carefully prepared killing blow had actually been interrupted by a secret technique user!

"Konoha's Ino–Shika–Cho... Yamanaka..."

Rasa's voice was as low as grinding sand, carrying bone-deep chill.

As one of the Hidden Sand Village's upper echelon and the head of ANBU, he was exceptionally well-informed about Konoha.

"Reinforcements, all units charge! Target: the Sand ninja flank!"

"Third Battalion, fill the gap at seven o'clock! Fourth Battalion, cover the medical unit!"

"Medical unit, immediately support the front-line battlefield!"

Although Inoichi Yamanaka had been drained in an instant, his mind was still working. He immediately issued orders based on the general battlefield situation.

The arrival of a thousand fresh troops also stabilized Konoha's defenders, who had been on the verge of collapse.

A thousand well-rested Konoha ninja charged like tigers descending the mountain, brutally punching into Hidden Sand's attacking formation from the flank.

The Hidden Sand forces, originally focused on crushing the front line, were caught off guard. Their flank immediately fell into chaos, and their support for Rasa's main attack direction was cut off.

Rasa frowned. Inoichi Yamanaka's appearance and this efficient command style had disrupted his rhythm.

The problem was, he was not good at improvising in battle. He only knew how to follow the script.