Who exactly were these people before him?
And what scheme lay behind their seizure of the tailed beasts?
Questions flooded Rasa's mind, making his expression shift constantly as he fixed his eyes on the man before him.
Crushing pressure bore down on him. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and his fists clenched without him realizing it.
It was the instinctive response of an ordinary person facing an opponent he could not possibly defeat.
"Hand over the One-Tail, and we'll leave."
River spoke calmly.
He could see the Fourth Kazekage's tension and gravity, and he had no interest in taking his life.
As River recalled, the man before him seemed to have died at the hands of Orochimaru and his group.
"How could I possibly do that?!"
Rasa gritted his teeth, his voice low.
His gaze sharpened at that moment, and his aura rose, turning stern and icy.
"If war comes to Sunagakure, then I will be its last line of defense!"
"If you want to lay a hand on our village's jinchūriki, you'll have to go through me first!"
The wind howled. Yellow sand suddenly whirled wildly, blotting out the sky above him before rapidly gathering into an irregular shape.
"Heh!"
River laughed.
"I admire your courage and spirit."
"But unfortunately, your life won't change the outcome."
At the same time, footsteps sounded beside him as figures approached and gathered on either side of him.
Pain, Obito Uchiha, Itachi, Sasori, Kakuzu, Konan, and the others had all fought their way over.
"As a Kage, dying for my country is my ninja way!"
Rasa roared.
He abruptly raised both hands and spread them apart.
The yellow sand overhead rapidly swirled, forming golden dust.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!"
With that roar, the gold dust overhead surged forward in a vast torrent,