"No!"
One sand soldier alone had already made things miserable enough for Kuriarare Kushimaru. With two of them on him at once, he did not even need to think to know how this would end.
"Someone help me!"
At that moment, Kushimaru regretted more than anything his earlier decision to entangle the sand soldier.
It was practically the same as delivering himself into the enemy's hands.
He first looked toward Jinin Akebino.
Only to see Akebino clutching his backside, his face twisted with humiliation and fury.
So Kushimaru turned to Black Hoe Raiga instead.
Of the three of them, Raiga was clearly in the best shape.
The sand soldiers contained a large amount of metal.
And because of that, Lightning Release naturally had a certain restraining effect on them.
In this world, Lightning Release was one of the five basic chakra natures, but compared to the others, it possessed more than a few advantages.
The Hydrification Technique. Deidara's bombs. Both were countered by Lightning Release.
"Raiga!"
Holding a blade in each hand, Black Hoe Raiga's eyes flickered when he heard Kushimaru's shout. Then he raised one of his swords.
"Lightning Release!"
A bolt of lightning surged violently toward the sand soldier pressuring Kushimaru.
But before it could hit—
A net woven from gold dust rose up in front of it.
It absorbed the lightning directly, then guided it into the ground.
Lightning Release had some advantage over metal.
But by the same logic, Rasa could also make use of metal's conductivity to redirect the electricity.
The two sand soldiers suddenly yanked hard.
Rip!
A thin red line instantly opened across Kushimaru's palm.
The pain made him stumble. Seeing himself about to be dragged forward, he hurriedly let go.
At once, the Nuibari—the Longsword: Sewing Needle—fell into the sand soldier's hands.
With a thought from Rasa, the soldier threw the sword toward him, then picked up its shield and spear before charging Kushimaru.
Even while armed with his blade, Kushimaru had already been pushed onto the back foot.
Now that he had lost it, his strength fell sharply. There was no way he could stand against two sand soldiers.
All he could do was struggle to hold them off. His defeat was only a matter of time.
Akebino grew anxious.
"Raiga, if you don't stop holding back, we're all going to die here!"
Hearing that, Raiga's expression hardened. He shot Akebino a resentful look, clearly blaming him for the situation they had ended up in.
They were supposed to be here to bully some brat from Sunagakure and vent their anger.
But Akebino had insisted on dragging things out.
And sure—he had dragged it out long enough for Sunagakure's real monster to arrive.
Not only had Rasa come, but his strength had far exceeded all their expectations.
Even after hearing about the Hongshan Clan incident, none of them had imagined this.
Six sand soldiers of such power, summoned all at once.
And he had not even used Yatagarasu yet.
The three of them were already being suppressed.
Rasa himself had barely even made a move.
How were they supposed to fight that?
"…Then it has to be me."
Black Hoe Raiga took a deep breath.
The next instant, a massive amount of chakra gathered.
"Lightning Release: Dragon Tornado!"
A dragon formed from lightning suddenly appeared high in the air. It absorbed the electric glow from the Kiba blades and became almost like a living creature as it looked down upon the battlefield.
An overwhelming pressure spilled out.
"Go!"
Raiga pointed toward Rasa.
Rasa lifted his head.
A mass of gold dust gathered into a net, one end linked to a golden pillar.
And at that exact moment, Black Hoe Raiga bared his teeth in a grin.
The lightning dragon, which had been charging toward Rasa, suddenly changed direction.
At terrifying speed, it shot toward the two sand soldiers flanking Kushimaru—
And pierced straight through them.
But it did not stop there. It rushed onward toward the two sand soldiers facing Akebino.
A feint at Rasa. The real targets were the four sand soldiers.
The violent surge of lightning blasted through them, and for an instant, all four bodies stiffened.
Akebino seized the chance, flashing to Kushimaru's side.
"Lightning Release—Kiba!"
Raiga launched another electric strike, forcing back the two sand soldiers in front of him.
But just as he prepared to turn and flee—
His face changed violently.
Because he realized his legs would not move.
At some point, two streams of gold dust had wrapped tightly around them, binding him in place.
This time, the one smiling was Rasa.
"You thought I fell for it."
"But what you didn't know… was that I let you think I had."
"Compared to those two, you were the one I wanted dead first."
"Thanks for the opportunity."
"Yatagarasu!"
High above, Yatagarasu let out an excited cry.
The next moment, one explosive egg appeared overhead—directly above Black Hoe Raiga.
As if sensing something, Raiga looked up.
Then he saw it.
A huge white, oval-shaped explosive egg.
He struggled frantically as lightning crackled around him.
But it was useless.
There was no time left.
All Black Hoe Raiga could do was stare at the falling explosive egg in despair, utterly helpless.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupted.
The ground shook violently.
Countless rocks and grains of sand blasted outward.
And mixed into the explosion was one final curse from Black Hoe Raiga—filthy to the bitter end.
When the dust settled—
A massive crater had appeared in the earth.
The twin swords of Kiba lay scattered nearby.
And at the very center, Black Hoe Raiga's corpse lay motionless.
Burned black like charcoal.
A trace of relief flashed through Akebino and Kushimaru's eyes.
After all, the one who had died was not them.
But almost immediately, both their faces turned ugly.
In this situation… did they still have any chance to survive?
"Damn it!"
"This Rasa is too cunning!"
"And where the hell is Hozuki Kumo already?!"
Akebino cursed inwardly.
Then, all at once, he seemed to see something, and his eyes lit up.
"Kushimaru, move!"
Kushimaru froze. "?"
"Don't hesitate! This may be our only chance! Kumo is here—we need to create an opening for him!"
Before he had even finished speaking, Akebino charged forward.
Kushimaru clenched his teeth and could only follow.
The sand soldiers were a step behind.
Just one step.
But only one step was enough.
The spears in their hands would pierce straight through Akebino and Kushimaru's bodies the instant either of them slowed.
But now, the two of them could no longer care about that.
"Rasa, die!"
Akebino raised his blunt sword high overhead.
Beside him, Kushimaru formed hand seals at high speed as he ran.
The two of them threw everything into drawing Rasa's attention and buying Hozuki Kumo an opening.
But suddenly—
Both men froze.
Because they saw that one of Rasa's eye sockets had gone pitch-black, like a hollow abyss.
The eyeball that should have been there… was gone.
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