The instant his Haki erupted, the atmosphere across all of Rōran turned completely on its head.
Even Rasa could not avoid the blast of Haki affecting his mind. His movements faltered, and his attack immediately became a defensive stance.
He had never seen power like this!
But he refused to retreat. It was too late, and his opponent was too close.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!!"
With a low shout from Rasa, the vast quantities of golden sand around him instantly transformed.
The fine sand used by ordinary Sunagakure ninja rapidly congealed, compacted, and turned metallic, becoming heavy layers of gold dust that gleamed with a cold metallic sheen as they surrounded him.
The high-density gold dust was heavy and sharp, with an inherent magnetic binding force. Combining offense and defense, it was his trump-card ninjutsu.
His gold dust defense would definitely stop his opponent.
That thought had barely settled in his mind-
Miki Yūya moved.
The ground beneath his feet collapsed with a thunderous crash, sending crushed stone and dust exploding outward.
The explosive force instantly shattered the air beneath his feet, and Miki Yūya vanished completely from where he stood.
Fast!
Absurdly fast!
So fast that the naked eye could not follow him, so fast that all he left in the air was a distorted afterimage of swirling wind and a trail of black-and-red lightning.
Rasa's pupils shrank to pinpoints. For the first time, bone-deep terror rose in his heart.
His gold dust defense had not even fully spread out, yet his opponent was already upon him!
"What kind of speed is that?!"
Shaken to his core, Rasa instinctively drew all the airborne gold dust together, forming a thick metallic barrier in front of himself to withstand the surprise attack.
The next second.
BANG-!!
A fist coated in pitch-black