"Byakugan Reconnaissance Technique!"
A Byakugan wrapped in Gold Dust was hidden in a place no one could see.
Genji looked ahead, his mood subtle and complicated.
"So the one who came is Rasa, not Pakura?"
"But it's better that Rasa came."
"If I can kill Rasa, the blow to Sunagakure will be even heavier."
"That will help Kirigakure even more."
"I hope there will be a chance."
Genji sighed.
"What a figure."
"What a pity he isn't from Kirigakure."
"If he were, Kirigakure would have won long ago."
"By now, Kirigakure might already be the strongest shinobi village in the world."
"What a shame."
"A talent like this was born in Sunagakure instead."
"The heavens do not favor Kirigakure."
Rasa's eyes narrowed slightly.
"This old dog really did what he told the Hoshigaki Clan he would do. He hid explosive tags inside his body. And to deal with a body search, he didn't tie them to his body. He hid them inside himself."
"A wooden ball, hidden in his stomach. I really don't know how he stuffed it in there."
"Old thing. Ruthless enough."
"If I hadn't received the news beforehand and possessed the Byakugan, I might really have fallen for it."
"Since he hid it so deeply, his target definitely isn't small."
"Ordinary Sunagakure shinobi definitely aren't his goal."
"His target is either me or Pakura."
Rasa gave an order directly.
"There's no rush to bring Genji and Kisame Hoshigaki over. Have them bring the supplies first."
"For however many supplies they deliver, we will return the corresponding number of prisoners."
The Kirigakure shinobi nodded.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
The two sides began negotiating the exchange.
Genji could not help frowning.
"What's going on?"
"Don't they care a great deal about me and Kisame?"
"They're actually exchanging supplies first?"
"Did Rasa notice something?"
"Impossible. I only told a few people about the explosive tags."
"And Sunagakure doesn't have the Byakugan."
Genji felt uneasy, but under the current circumstances, there was nothing he could do.
He could only wait patiently.
Wait for time to pass.
Wait for an opportunity to arrive.
One hand exchanged supplies.
The other exchanged people.
The exchange between both sides proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Genji found it stranger and stranger.
"Why does Sunagakure not care at all that Munashi Jinpachi isn't here?"
"They specifically named Munashi Jinpachi."
"To them, Munashi Jinpachi should be even more important than me and Kisame."
"Did they already know Munashi Jinpachi defected?"
"Or did Munashi Jinpachi defect to them?"
The more Genji thought about it, the more likely that possibility seemed.
Kirigakure also believed that Fuguki Suikazan had defected to Sunagakure.
Then the possibility that Munashi Jinpachi had joined Sunagakure was very high.
"Those two beasts. The village raised them for nothing. Those who betray the village deserve no forgiveness."
But Genji could only curse them in his heart.
Finally, the supplies had almost all been exchanged.
Genji and Kisame Hoshigaki stepped forward.
Genji looked at the approaching Rasa and Sunagakure shinobi, his heart beating faster and faster.
"Closer. Even closer."
"Now!"
But just as Genji felt the distance was almost right, Rasa suddenly stopped.
Genji froze.
Suddenly—
A chain made of Gold Dust drilled out from the soil beneath Genji's feet and wrapped around his ankle.
At the same time, Rasa placed one hand on the hilt of the Thunder Blade.
"Thunder Blade!"
A beam of lightning traveled instantly along the Gold Dust chain.
It engulfed Genji's entire body.
Genji immediately fell into paralysis, his whole body unable to move even an inch.
Kisame Hoshigaki was startled, but before he could react, an unknown powerful impact sent him flying.
The next moment, he fell unconscious.
When Kisame Hoshigaki woke up, he saw it.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out.
Genji had used every bit of strength he had left to detonate the explosive tags inside his body.
The terrifying explosion shook the entire ground.
The earth caved in.
Trees collapsed.
Countless chunks of soil and stone flew in all directions.
Some were stained red.
Genji's figure vanished completely.
Rasa calmly looked at the place where Genji had disappeared.
Then his gaze shifted to the Kirigakure shinobi opposite him.
"Pass down my order."
"Kill!"
Following Rasa's command, a large number of Sunagakure shinobi who had been prepared in advance rushed out fiercely.
The Kirigakure shinobi scattered and fled.
"The old thing still had some skill."
In Rasa's expectations, the best-case scenario had been to capture Genji alive and remove the explosive tags.
Then he could use that as a reason to hold Kirigakure accountable and demand compensation from them again.
But Genji still managed to explode.
And before the explosion, he had even adjusted his position.
He could not injure Rasa, but he created an obstacle between the Sunagakure shinobi and the Kirigakure shinobi, giving the Kiri ninja more time and more chances to escape.
Still, the current situation was acceptable to Rasa.
Genji's explosion had caused no casualties to Sunagakure.
Now that Sunagakure shinobi were pursuing them, they could still catch part of the Kirigakure force.
In addition, Genji's explosion had deliberately affected Kisame Hoshigaki as well.
There was no way Kisame Hoshigaki would fail to understand that.
Which meant that the possibility of persuading Kisame Hoshigaki to defect to Sunagakure had become even higher.
"In fact, if Genji hadn't pulled these tricks, Kirigakure's losses would have been smaller than they are now."
"Genji's final adjustment only barely recovered some of the losses he himself brought upon Kirigakure."
Rasa shook his head.
"So old already, yet still acting on impulse. Truly unbecoming."
"Dying quietly would have been better than anything."
Very soon, Sunagakure's shinobi split into two groups.
One group escorted the supplies.
The other escorted the prisoners.
Rasa had no intention of getting tangled up here any further. He would bring the prisoners directly back to Sunagakure.
If Kirigakure wanted to ransom them, they could come to Sunagakure to trade.
Kusayanagi was also among the escorted prisoners.
During a break, Rasa descended and walked toward Kisame Hoshigaki.
"What's your name?"
Kisame Hoshigaki froze, then seemed to understand something.
After everything that had happened earlier, Kisame Hoshigaki directly concluded that he was not a shinobi specifically named by Sunagakure.
Instead, Kirigakure had chosen him.
Otherwise, how could Rasa possibly not know his name?
In an instant, hatred toward Kirigakure's upper echelon surged within Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Those liars!"
"Why choose me?"
"What did I do wrong?"
"Or did the Hoshigaki Clan do something wrong?"
A pained expression appeared on Kisame Hoshigaki's face.
At this moment, Kisame Hoshigaki truly felt that he had been sold out by his village.
Completely sold out.