Rasa’s ninjutsu was clearly terrifying.
An overwhelming sea of gold dust filled the sky, turning everything golden like a vast golden cloud.
It transformed into a heavy, omnipresent assault and surged toward Yagami Yue.
The wind howled.
The Konoha shinobi behind Yue were all shocked.
“Everyone!
Use Earth Release!”
“Earth Release: Earth Wall!”
“Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!”
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”
With one shout after another, layers of barriers rose in front of Yagami Yue.
They stood between the Konoha shinobi and the endless wave of gold dust.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The moment the gold dust collided with the earthen barriers, enormous explosions erupted.
Rasa was a Kage-level powerhouse—terrifying and immensely powerful.
But against the combined Earth Release of dozens of Konoha shinobi, even he couldn’t break through all the defensive walls with a single attack.
“Hmph.
You think you can stop me with this?”
Rasa was becoming furious.
He was a dignified Kage-level shinobi.
And yet he had actually been stopped by a group of chūnin and genin.
Do I not have any dignity?
“Then die!”
“Magnet Release: Gold Dust Tsunami!”
In an instant, all the gold dust surged together.
It formed a massive wave of gold dust, crashing forward like a monstrous tsunami striking the shore.
At least an S-rank technique!
A super-scale ninjutsu!
When had the Konoha shinobi ever witnessed a ninjutsu of such enormous scale?
They panicked.
“Not good!”
“That technique is dangerous!”
“I don’t have enough chakra left!”
Yagami Yue stared at the raging wave of gold dust rushing toward them.
He was just about to use Mikoto Misaka’s abilities.
But at that moment—
“Summoning: Rashōmon!”
A hoarse, sinister voice suddenly rang out.
A gigantic gate appeared in front of everyone, blocking Rasa’s super-scale ninjutsu.
No matter how violently the gold dust crashed against it, the massive gate remained completely immovable.
“Lord Orochimaru!”
“Lord Orochimaru is here!”
“We’re saved!”
The Konoha shinobi erupted into thunderous cheers.
Some even shed tears of joy.
They had survived!
Sure enough, Orochimaru’s sinister figure appeared in front of Yagami Yue and the others, standing between them and Rasa.
Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Rasa.
“When did the dignified Fourth Kazekage start attacking a mere chūnin?”
“Aren’t you afraid of disgracing Sunagakure if word gets out?”
Rasa’s expression darkened.
“Orochimaru.”
“I’ve been wanting to test your strength.”
“Let’s see whether the so-called Legendary Sannin truly deserve their reputation.”
“Magnet Release: Gold Dust Burial!”
The moment his voice fell—
Countless particles of gold dust surged down from the sky.
They completely surrounded the area within ten meters of Orochimaru, trapping him inside.
Then Rasa grinned viciously and slammed his palm toward the ground.
BOOM!
All the sand suddenly collapsed downward, sinking deep into the earth.
“Not good!
Lord Orochimaru…”
“How is that possible?”
The Konoha shinobi were stunned.
Could Lord Orochimaru really have been killed just like that?
But then—
“Twin Snakes Entwined!”
With a furious shout from Orochimaru, an enormous serpent, thick as a barrel, burst out of the ground.
It slammed directly into Rasa and sent him flying into the sky.
“Twin Snakes Arm Blast!”
Another enormous serpent opened its jaws in midair and swallowed Rasa whole.
Then—
BOOM!
The giant serpent exploded!
Rasa fell from the sky.
But a moment later, the Konoha shinobi realized that something was wrong.
A massive cocoon of hardened gold dust surrounded Rasa, tightly protecting him at the center.
The explosion had left him completely unharmed.
“Heh heh heh…”
Orochimaru’s tongue flicked out slightly.
“As expected of the Fourth Kazekage.”
“Your strength is impressive.”
Orochimaru had never expected to kill the Fourth Kazekage with a single attack.
The two were essentially evenly matched.
Neither could overwhelm the other easily.
And killing the other would be even more difficult.
At that moment—
Sharp alarm signals suddenly rang out from the direction of the Second and Third Divisions.
“It’s Chiyo!”
“Not good!”
“The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu!”
“Chūnin and below, get out of the way!”
“You can’t stop them!”
“Ahhh!”
He glared angrily at the Fourth Kazekage.
“You’re using a diversion?”
“Your real target is the core combat forces of the Second and Third Divisions?”
The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu were masterpieces of puppet craftsmanship.
They represented the pinnacle of puppet manipulation.
Each puppet possessed its own weapons, ninja tools, and unique methods of attack.
Just as their name suggested, a puppeteer could control them individually with each of the ten fingers—one puppet per finger.
They were said to be capable of turning a single puppet master into an army of a thousand.
This was a weapon of mass destruction.
If such a devastating weapon were unleashed among a large force of chūnin and genin, it would become nothing less than a killing machine.
A massacre.
And that was exactly what was happening.
The Konoha forces of the Second and Third Divisions were being cut down like grass.
Every second, another group of shinobi died.
Orochimaru could no longer concern himself with the hundred-plus shinobi surrounding Yagami Yue.
He immediately rushed away.
He had to stop Chiyo’s massacre.
The Fourth Kazekage didn’t stop him.
Instead, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
His gaze shifted toward Yagami Yue.
Using a diversion?
No.
Orochimaru misunderstood.
The “mountain” isn’t over there.
It’s right here.
His target had been Yagami Yue from the very beginning!
This Konoha genius had killed hundreds of Sand shinobi.
Rasa absolutely would not allow another genius to rise within Konoha.
Orochimaru.
Jiraiya.
Tsunade.
The Yellow Flash…
These people had carried Konoha’s previous generation.
Rasa would never allow someone like Yagami Yue to carry Konoha’s next generation.
Yagami Yue!
He must die!
The Fourth Kazekage stared at Yue.
A vicious grin appeared on his face.
His Magnet Release was enough to completely counter Yagami Yue’s swordsmanship.
Killing him would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken.
“Yagami Yue…”
“Are you ready to die?”
Golden wings spread behind Rasa.
He looked almost like a divine being descending upon the battlefield.
His overwhelming presence sent chills through the Konoha shinobi around Yue.
“Death?”
Yagami Yue smiled.