Hearing the voice from behind him, Rasa was startled.
This voice was all too familiar. More times than he could count, he had been startled awake in the dead of night by the owner of this voice.
Even now, he still vividly remembered that terrifying power.
"Mirai Uchiha..."
Just moments ago, Rasa had been thinking how he would teach Mirai Uchiha a good lesson if they ever met face-to-face. But now, his heart couldn't help but pound violently.
Especially when he noticed Orochimaru standing beside Mirai, an ominous feeling washed over him.
One was Konoha's current acting leader, the other an S-rank rogue ninja from Konoha...
How could these two possibly appear here together?
"Rasa, don't be nervous. I'm just here to borrow something from you."
Frowning, Rasa asked, "Borrow what?"
Mirai Uchiha smiled faintly. "I'd like to borrow your head for a moment."
Rasa's pupils instantly constricted.
If not for his self-restraint and position, he probably would've already cursed out loud.
Tell me, are you out of your mind? You want me to stay calm while asking to borrow my head?
Do you really think anyone just lends that sort of thing out casually?
Those Uchiha clan ninjas really are the whole lot of them insane!
Yet recalling Mirai's strength, Rasa forced a smile onto his face. "Mirai Uchiha, have I personally offended you?"
"Since becoming Kazekage, I've ensured our village's ninja never so much as laid a finger on anyone from Konoha. I've also made intermittent war reparations to Konoha over time..."
"If there's anything about my conduct that displeases you, please tell me—I can change it."
Looking at Rasa's submissive, appeasing expression, Mirai said coolly, "Rasa, I think you might've misunderstood one thing."
"I want to kill you—what's it to you?"
Mirai's words left Rasa frozen in place.
Judging by Mirai's tone, wasn't he essentially no different from an ant in their eyes?
Like someone crushing an ant beneath their foot.
It could be on a whim, because the ant seemed annoying, or even due to an accidental misstep the person didn't even notice.
In any case, humans never cared what the ants thought, nor did they care what efforts the ants had made.
Destroy you—what's it to you?
"Mirai-kun, allow me to handle this one."
"It's been quite a while since I last engaged in battle—I'm starting to get restless for some action."
At Orochimaru's request, Mirai Uchiha simply nodded. "Fine."
In the original story, Rasa was killed by Orochimaru, although most likely through a surprise attack carried out jointly by Orochimaru and Kimimaro. Still, considering Orochimaru's strength alone, he should have been able to defeat Rasa on his own.
Seeing himself treated like an object being passed back and forth between Mirai Uchiha and Orochimaru, Rasa's pride as Kazekage ignited with anger.
Quietly, he began mobilizing his gold dust, preparing for a life-or-death battle.
Orochimaru licked his cheek and took a few steps forward. "[Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!]"
Dozens of snakes opened their bloody mouths, revealing sharp fangs as they rushed fiercely toward Rasa.
Rasa let out a cold snort. Massive amounts of gold dust rose from the sand into the air.
In an instant, all the venomous snakes were swallowed whole.
"[Gold Dust Coffin!]"
Squelch!
Under immense pressure, dozens of snakes instantly turned into pulp.
Witnessing this, Orochimaru's face showed a hint of regret.
Such good delicacies were just wasted...
"[Summoning: Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!]"
Thousands more snakes surged out, surrounding Rasa in an instant.
Instantly, Rasa wrapped himself in a ball of gold dust, using a third eye formed from gold dust to observe the outside situation.
The snakes summoned by Orochimaru couldn't even penetrate Rasa's defense.
"[Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!]"
With a low shout from Rasa, thousands of snakes were instantly dragged underground, leaving no trace behind!
"[Magnet Release: Gold Dust Domain Technique!]"
A sky-darkening wave of gold dust surged forth. Inside the protective barrier, countless spears made of gold dust pierced straight toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's lower body transformed into a snake-like form, twisting with boneless flexibility as he maneuvered swiftly within the gold dust barrier.
However, as the golden spears became denser inside the barrier, Orochimaru could no longer dodge. His body was directly skewered like a hedgehog.
"Hmph!"
Looking down at Orochimaru impaled beneath the golden lances, Rasa snorted contemptuously.
So this is all the might of the so-called Legendary Sannin.
Just as Rasa looked away in disdain, a flash of cold light cut through the air. The Murakumo Sword, infused with Wind Release chakra, instantly pierced through the gold dust defense and stabbed harshly into his shoulder.
"Damn it!"
Immediately, Rasa controlled the gold dust to fly high into the air, holding his shoulder with a frightened expression.
If the strike had shifted even slightly inward, it would have pierced his heart.
Looking downward, Rasa saw Orochimaru's long neck extending out from the sand pile, a dripping blood-stained sword clenched between his teeth.
The other end of the neck led back to the body impaled beneath the golden lances.
Orochimaru had launched his sneak attack by stretching his neck underground!
"...a failed attempt after all."
Seeing that only Rasa's shoulder had been injured, Orochimaru swallowed the Murakumo sword into his body, from which a pair of hands emerged to pry open his mouth.
A slimy Orochimaru crawled out from within.
"Is this bastard even human?!"
Witnessing this eerie sight, Rasa couldn't help muttering in disbelief.
It wasn't just him—Mirai Uchiha also muttered under his breath.
Orochimaru's current appearance wouldn't seem out of place even in a Cthulhu-like world.
Noticing that Orochimaru appeared completely unharmed, Rasa once again summoned his strength. The Gold Dust barrier launched spears toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru performed Hand Seals with both hands: [Eight Branches Technique!]
His body rapidly expanded, transforming instantly into a colossal White Snake dozens of meters tall, with eight heads.
The monstrous serpent swung its massive body and instantly shattered Rasa's Gold Dust barrier.
Seeing this, Rasa coldly snorted and gathered large quantities of Gold Dust in midair. The dust quickly condensed into a massive triangular pyramid and cylinder.
"Go!"
Both the triangular pyramid and the cylinder rushed toward the Eight-Headed Serpent, colliding violently.
The tremendous force made the ground tremble and kicked up a storm of sand.
For now, neither side could gain an advantage over the other.
"That's enough."
"We've been at this too long; Sunagakure might send someone soon."
"Orochimaru, retreat for now."
Upon hearing Mirai Uchiha's voice, Orochimaru somewhat reluctantly canceled the Eight Branches Technique.
"Mirai, if we kept fighting, I would definitely be the ultimate victor."
Approaching Mirai, Orochimaru explained.
His Chakra reserves were still full, unlike Rasa's.
Mirai Uchiha arched his brow in surprise upon hearing Orochimaru's words.
From what he remembered, Orochimaru wasn't the kind to care about such things.
Still, he didn't dwell on it and began walking steadily toward Rasa's direction.
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