Chapter 121: Despair, Utter Despair
Before Uchiha Dali's attack even landed, Rasa already felt a threat akin to the descent of death itself.
The sky, torn apart by thunder, seemed to split open with pitch-black cracks.
Rasa didn't know if it was just his imagination, but at that moment, he felt as though his body was about to be crushed by the overwhelming pressure.
"This… this can't be happening!!"
Rasa clenched his teeth hard and pushed the remaining dregs of chakra in his body to the limit, forming a massive hand of Gold Dust to brace against the thunderous slash from the sky, trying desperately to stop it.
But the effect was limited.
The Fourth Kazekage, who had only recently taken office, looked like he was about to be taken out.
Suddenly, a large number of Sand shinobi arrived from all directions.
They represented the elite forces of the entire Hidden Sand Village.
Every single one of them was at least of special jōnin level.
"Everyone, together! Don't let Lord Rasa bear this burden alone!"
"So what if he's a powerful Uchiha? We will never give in so easily!"
"This battle concerns the fate of all of us—no one can sit idly by! We must give it everything we have!"
"Hang in there, Lord Rasa!"
"…"
Over a hundred elite shinobi of the Hidden Sand Village had rushed over.
As soon as they arrived behind Rasa, they immediately unleashed their best techniques to collectively resist the thunderous divine punishment-like strike descending from the sky.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…
The deafening explosions spread horizontally through the air, echoing far into the distance.
The violent shockwaves transformed the entire region around the Hidden Sand Village into a near vacuum.
Even the raging sandstorms seemed to retreat, avoiding this battlefield.
Under the combined efforts of over a hundred jōnin-level shinobi, the thunderous longsword held by Uchiha Dali's red chakra giant finally came to a halt.
The two forces clashed and locked, seemingly at a stalemate.
Having narrowly escaped death, Rasa looked behind him at the many supporters who had gathered, deeply moved. "Everyone…"
"Lord Rasa, we're not just here to help you—we're fighting for our own futures too!"
"That's right! We absolutely won't surrender!"
"There's no way we'll let the Hidden Sand fall into someone else's hands—this is our home!!"
"…"
"Thank you… all of you!"
Tears welled up in Rasa's eyes.
But as the wind blew across his face, his eyes quickly regained their clarity and resolve.
That once calm and collected gaze reignited with hope.
His nearly depleted chakra, as though reignited, began to burn once more, endlessly surging into the massive Gold Dust hand.
The supporting force became even more stable and powerful.
It seemed that with their combined strength, they might actually be able to block Uchiha Dali's assault.
Seeing this scene, Uchiha Dali smirked with a meaningful smile.
"Not bad…"
"You people from the Hidden Sand have a stronger will to resist than the Hidden Mist."
"But… so what?"
His mocking laughter made every Sand shinobi's heart sink.
So what?
Those simple words landed like a crushing blow on everyone.
They meant that all their efforts at this moment were utterly futile.
They had gone all out, believing they could withstand this god of slaughter's attack.
But in truth, it was all meaningless.
All of it was in vain!
Uchiha Dali's voice echoed over and over again in the minds of every Sand shinobi.
And just as they began to deeply doubt themselves—something truly changed.
Uchiha Dali retracted his chakra sword.
But in that moment, a colossal, sky-shrouding meteor suddenly appeared out of thin air, plummeting toward the Hidden Sand Village.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…
The meteor blazed with flames, hurtling down at terrifying speed.
The sonic boom created by its friction with the air turned everyone pale and deafened the ears.
"W-What is that?!"
"It's falling right at the village… Are we going to die…?"
"A meteor! A gigantic meteor!!"
"No way, how did it even appear?!"
"This has to be a joke… he actually summoned a meteor?!"
"…"
Watching that enormous, sky-covering meteor accelerate toward them, all of the Sand shinobi were instantly gripped by despair.
Even Rasa, faced with this force that no human could possibly withstand, felt a profound hopelessness.
He had thought that previous attack was the limit of Uchiha Dali's Susanoo.
But that had merely been an appetizer.
Yeah, so what?
All the elite shinobi of the Hidden Sand had joined forces, thinking they could fight back.
But in truth, in front of this man, they didn't even matter.
Just moments ago, Rasa's cells had been surging with chakra as if injected with adrenaline.
Now, all hope was lost. His face turned ghostly pale.
Clutching his chest, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to his knees.
In that instant, all the chakra in his body vanished. Even his physical strength had drained away, leaving him unable to move.
"Lord Rasa!!"
A Sand shinobi who saw him collapse shouted in alarm.
Immediately, a medical ninja rushed forward to check his condition.
No one had the capacity to care about the meteor anymore.
It was unstoppable anyway.
"The Fourth Kazekage has completely exhausted his chakra, and he just pushed his body to the extreme… his cells have reached their limit. He… he…"
The bespectacled medical ninja even burst into tears.
She cradled Rasa's rapidly cooling body, trembling between sorrow and helplessness.
Hearing this, all the elite shinobi of the Hidden Sand felt a crushing wave of despair and powerlessness.
They looked up at the approaching super-meteor, and all of them knew—
Today was their doomsday.
They gave up resisting.
They waited for death to arrive.
And just then, Granny Chiyo suddenly stepped forward.
"Uchiha Dali, you've already won. Why must you go so far?"
"Do you really want to annihilate the entire Hidden Sand Village?"
Those words seemed to have an effect.
The enormous meteor falling from the sky suddenly stopped.
Uchiha Dali gave a faint smile. "The people of the Hidden Sand… their indomitable spirit has shown me their unity. I acknowledge you all."
As he spoke, the meteor vanished into thin air.
And the red chakra giant disappeared along with it.