"Big Brother Duy, we're here! You can stop using the Eight Gates Technique now!" Minato called out to Might Duy, his face full of concern.
Might Duy nodded. He was already at his limit. Seeing Yuki Seisui and the others arrive, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
If no backup had shown up, he would've been forced to forcibly open the Seventh Gate and take these three down with him.
But now that Yuki Seisui and the others were here, that wasn't necessary anymore.
He deactivated the Eight Gates, and his body immediately collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this, Pakura quietly let out a breath of relief. Her gaze locked onto Yuki Seisui, eyes filled with seriousness. For someone this strong to entrust his life to another… that person must be even stronger.
Uchiha Haru noticed her intense stare and took a few steps forward, blocking her line of sight.
"Your opponent is me," he said coldly.
As he spoke, he drew his sword and, imitating Yuki Seisui's stance, pointed the tip at Pakura.
Rasa, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes slightly at the black blade pointed at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the fallen Might Duy.
"To let such a powerful shinobi pose as a mere genin… Konoha, you are truly the rats of the sewers."
"Deceitful, filthy, cunning… and despicable," Rasa spat out each word with contempt.
Behind him, Karura's hands silently formed seals, causing sand to rise around them.
Karura was Gaara's mother. She died during childbirth, but in her final moments, she used her power to protect her son.
The sand that instinctively guarded Gaara wasn't Shukaku's doing, it was the lingering will of Karura.
And even just this residual power allowed Gaara to manifest Mother's Protection.
To be capable of that, Karura's talent had to rival, or even surpass, Pakura and Rasa.
Naturally, her subtle movements didn't escape Yuki Seisui's notice. Seeing the sand beginning to converge, he sneered.
"Then stop wasting time with empty words!"
With that, his figure vanished from sight, reappearing and flickering across the battlefield.
"Iaijutsu: Water Severing Strike!"
Seeing this, Rasa brought his hands together. The surrounding gold dust condensed into sharp spears, firing rapidly at Yuki Seisui.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Spear!"
The gold dust spears were lightning fast, but Seisui's movement was erratic and unpredictable, appearing ahead one moment, then to the side or even behind.
The spears couldn't even graze the hem of his clothes.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Barrier!"
As Yuki Seisui drew closer, Rasa quickly brought his hands together again, condensing the gold dust into a shield before him.
Yuki Seisui smirked at the sight. A shield?
"If that's all you've got… then this is where you both stay!"
He flashed to Rasa's side, blade swinging down for the kill.
"Damn it!" Rasa's expression changed drastically, he had no time to dodge.
At that critical moment, Karura's voice rang out.
"Sand Hands!"
She had been silently eroding the earth beneath them into sand. Now, seeing Rasa in danger, she didn't hesitate, even if there wasn't enough sand.
From beneath her feet, two massive arms of sand surged up, reaching toward Yuki Seisui.
Reacting swiftly, Seisui twisted his body mid-air, narrowly evading to the side.
Rasa exhaled in relief as the attack missed.
The Sand Hands crashed down onto where Seisui had just stood, blasting two deep craters into the ground.
Seisui took a deep breath. That strike just now could've easily killed Rasa. But if he had followed through with it, he would've been caught by the Sand Hands as well.
"Damn it, why are ninjas so squishy?" he cursed inwardly.
He had more than enough power to overwhelm both of them, but his physical durability made it impossible to end things quickly.
"If you like using sand so much, then try this on for size!"
With that, he quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Barrage!"
The moment he finished, a large mass of water formed beside him, condensed from chakra.
"Up you go!" Seisui sent the water sphere into the air, then started spitting out a rapid stream of water bullets at Karura.
"Damn it!" Rasa's face darkened. As her comrade, he knew her weakness well.
If Karura's sand got soaked, while not entirely unusable, her combat strength would be at least halved.
His gold dust, however, remained unaffected.
Seeing their expressions shift, Yuki Seisui smiled again.
All just sand? Then this would be like Luffy vs. Crocodile, classic elemental counter.
Even if it didn't completely neutralize her sand, it would definitely weaken it.
Rasa turned to Karura and said, "Let's use that technique. Together."
Karura hesitated, glancing at Yuki Seisui. There was a flicker of pity in her eyes, but she still nodded. "Alright."
Rasa nodded back and clasped his hands together.
"Magnet Release: Grand Sand Burial!"
The scattered gold dust on the ground and in the air suddenly surged together, forming a massive torrent.
Yuki Seisui leapt into a nearby tree, watching the gold dust writhe like a living river beneath him.
"This guy's supposed to be a genin?" he muttered.
"And we're not done yet!" Rasa growled, veins bulging on his forehead. He was nearly out of chakra, pushing himself to control the massive gold dust flow.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Spears!"
Hundreds of spears shot up from the ground, flying straight toward Seisui.
"Sandstorm!" Karura quickly formed seals. Despite her efforts, much of her sand had already been soaked, making it harder to control.
Still, she managed to conjure a swirling sandstorm and sent it barreling toward Seisui.
From the ground surged the gold dust, followed by the spears, while the air was filled with the roaring sandstorm. Even a seasoned Jonin wouldn't be able to withstand such a triple assault.
But as Seisui dodged and weaved through the attacks, he formed seals once more. Moments later, the summoning was complete.
"Come forth, Panda Wu!"
With a roar, a massive twenty-meter-tall panda crashed down onto the gold dust-laden ground.
The moment it appeared, it began to sink slightly into the gold dust.
Rasa's eyes lit up with a crazed intensity.
"Die!"
He tried to manipulate the gold dust to bury Panda Wu alive.
"Huh?" Panda Wu looked down, sensing the pull of the gold dust, and immediately lit up with excitement.
"Hahaha! Finally, a real fight!"
With that, he ignored the golden currents beneath him, a white aura shimmering over his body.
"ROAR! I am PANDA WU!!"
The giant panda bellowed and charged toward Rasa and Karura. The gold dust beneath his feet had no effect on him, and even the spears that struck his body let out the sound of metal striking metal.
Seisui gently leapt atop Panda Wu's head, now towering over the battlefield, and looked down at the pair with calm disdain.
"Mere grains of sand… not even half my equal."
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