"That really is a solid defense."
Seeing that even the barrage of continuous Tailed Beast Bombs failed to break through Rasa's sand wall, Madara Uchiha's voice grew lower and more serious.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, as he faced the oncoming wave of golden sand, the Four Tails, Son Gokū, roared and slammed his fist into the earth.
The ground split open, and searing magma burst forth, forming a wave of molten lava that surged toward the golden sand tsunami.
The Five Tails, Kokuō, moved swiftly. Just before the sand wave could reach him, he stomped with both hooves and launched himself into a high-speed leap.
In an instant, lava and golden sand clashed. The earth trembled violently. Kokuō soared through the sky, directly leaping over Rasa's head, aiming to launch an attack on the village behind him, Sunagakure.
But there was no way Rasa would allow that.
"Sage Arts: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
From the massive body of the Wood Human, a wooden dragon with four claws burst forth, letting out a ferocious roar as it soared into the sky. Its serpentine body wrapped around Kokuō's midsection, gripping him tightly, and its gaping jaws latched onto Kokuō's throat.
"Agh...!"
Though the Five Tails was known for its raw strength, capable of snapping even the strongest chains, with the wooden dragon latched onto him, it couldn't resist at all. Because the moment the dragon clamped down, his chakra was being rapidly drained.
However, the wooden dragon's absorption couldn't last long, because the Four Tails had already charged forward.
Seeing this, Rasa immediately commanded the Wood Human to grab the dragon and, like swinging a hammer, hurled the Five Tails' massive body away.
Boom...!
The two mountain-sized Tailed Beasts collided midair, releasing a thunderous impact that shook the heavens and the earth.
And just as both Tailed Beasts stumbled and lost control of their bodies,
Countless streams of golden sand surged toward them again.
As long as the golden sand could fully envelop the Four Tails and the Five Tails, Rasa could then seal them completely with a sealing technique.
But how could Madara Uchiha possibly let Rasa succeed?
Just as the golden sand was about to engulf the two Tailed Beasts, they instantly exited their full Tailed Beast forms and transformed into chakra-cloaked, half-transformed Jinchūriki. They darted straight at Rasa in a surprise assault.
In this state, without the massive bodies slowing them down, both Jinchūriki had become far more agile. Their speed hadn't decreased at all, in fact, it had increased.
The Five Tails' Jinchūriki especially moved so fast that a sonic boom echoed in the air, blowing away the gold sand Rasa sent in pursuit.
At such a speed, even the massive Wood Human was rendered ineffective.
"Boil Release: Unmatched Strength!"
In the blink of an eye, the Jinchūriki was already in front of Rasa, launching a powerful kick directly at his face.
Bang!
A sand wall appeared before Rasa, but it was torn apart like paper.
"So this is the power of Boil Release... both the speed and force are flawless!"
Although Rasa's physical strength had already reached the level of maintaining the Fifth Gate at all times, he still didn't dare take this lightly.
"Monster Arm Technique!"
Rasa's right arm instantly transformed into a gigantic sand-arm and collided head-on with the Five Tails' Jinchūriki.
BOOM!
The force of their clash caused shockwaves to ripple through the air.
This time, Rasa was genuinely shocked.
He could clearly feel the force from the opponent; it had already reached a level close to the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation. But Rasa had no time to be shocked because the moment their clash ended,
Pssh...
Countless streams of scorching white steam surged out from the mouth of the Five Tails' Jinchūriki, instantly turning the entire area into a white fog. Rasa held his breath and focused his chakra, forming a layer of sand armor around his body to guard against any potential poison in the mist. At the same time, he formed a one-handed seal while keeping his eyes fixed on the Five Tails' Jinchūriki before him.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The power obtained from Shukaku had allowed Rasa to reawaken his Wind Release, and he had even learned to use senjutsu energy to cast Wind Release techniques.
A powerful gust of wind blasted directly toward the Five Tails' Jinchūriki at point-blank range.
Boom!
The force was so great that even the Jinchūriki in partial transformation was sent flying.
Just then, the Four Tails' Jinchūriki, his body gleaming with molten fire in his Lava Release Chakra Mode, attacked from the side.
"I've been waiting for this moment! Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"
The method to deal with the Four Tails' Jinchūriki had already been laid out perfectly in the original story.
And that was, using Water Release!
Rasa did not possess such an ability in the past, but after capturing the Three Tails, he regained the power of Water Release. Additionally, his vast senjutsu reserves made his Water Release even more formidable.
Ha!
In an instant, a massive tidal wave erupted beneath Rasa's feet, sweeping out in all directions. The Four Tails' Jinchūriki, his body searing hot like molten rock, was quickly engulfed. Within moments, the crater blasted open by Tailed Beast Bombs transformed into a lake.
"Amazing!"
"Kazekage-sama's chakra is terrifying!"
"He created a massive lake in a dry place like our Sunagakure!"
---
Sssshhh...
As steam hissed from the collision of intense fire and water, the Four Tails' Jinchūriki flew out from the lake, landing on the calm surface, his Lava Release Chakra Mode deactivated. He returned to his half-transformed state.
The Five Tails' Jinchūriki, blown away earlier by Wind Release, also returned to his side in partial Tailed Beast form.
The two of them, cloaked in crimson Tailed Beast chakra, let out feral howls, gazing down at the still surface of the lake.
They didn't even need to think. Rasa was definitely hiding somewhere beneath the water. However, at that moment, Madara Uchiha faced a problem.
As a combatant of his caliber, Madara's sensory and reaction capabilities were, of course, top-tier. Even if he couldn't sense Rasa's senjutsu energy, his combat instincts alone were more than enough to respond effectively. But the issue was that he was using Yin-Yang Release to control the two Tailed Beasts, and his real body was still far from Sunagakure.
This meant Madara couldn't wield the full power of the Tailed Beasts or react with perfect timing, as he could with his own body.
Still, it wasn't a major problem. If Rasa didn't come out, then Madara would force him to.
Both Jinchūriki, in partial transformation, simultaneously began forming Tailed Beast Bombs.
Massive chakra spheres began condensing at their mouths.
But just then, without any warning, two giant watery hands reached out from beneath their feet, pulling both Jinchūriki under the surface. Their Tailed Beast Bombs were canceled on the spot, and both of their bodies were dragged down into the lake.
In that moment underwater, both of them saw Rasa calmly floating beneath the surface.
At the same time, Madara Uchiha also sensed something unusual.
"These waters... they can absorb chakra too?"
Even with the protection of the Tailed Beast chakra cloaks in their half-transformed states, the water's chakra absorption wasn't enough to completely drain them right away, but staying in this water for too long would definitely be bad.
Madara instinctively tried to help the two Jinchūriki escape from the lake. But at that moment, he realized something was wrong.
"Something's wrong!"
With the speed of a half-transformed Jinchūriki, it should only take a moment to breach the surface.
So why did it feel like the distance to the surface wasn't closing at all? It was as if they hadn't moved from their original position.
Very soon, Madara figured out the cause.
"So that's it... he's even manipulating the lake itself to move with them? Impressive... but let's see just how fast you really are."
Boom!
The Five Tails' Jinchūriki exploded with white steam, triggering a massive speed boost and launching himself upward. The Four Tails' Jinchūriki didn't have the same capability.
But that didn't matter.
The Five Tails' Jinchūriki burst out of the water and into the sky, instantly condensing another Tailed Beast Bomb.