Rasa stood on a floating mass of sand, slowly lowering his arms from his chest.
Fox?
Information about Fox flashed through Rasa's mind: killed the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Ryūjin; killed Uchiha Madara. Rasa felt the back of his collar grow damp, realizing he was unconsciously sweating cold sweat.
Yōkō said, "Originally intended to prevent the Land of Rivers war with an assassination, but I didn't expect you to collude with Akatsuki.
I wanted to give Sunagakure a dignified way out, but you insist on resistance. Now the arrow is on the bowstring; you must die."
Hearing Fox's words, Rasa felt deeply insulted.
He was a Kage. Was he some random thug to be killed at will?
Everyone in the town was looking in this direction.
Many Suna-nin camping outside the city were rushing here.
"Wood Release: Four Giant Trees Formation!"
Four enormous maple trees burst from the ground, growing towards the sky at an exaggerated speed.
Clusters of dense maple leaves covered the trunks, blotting out the sunlight.
The light around Rasa suddenly dimmed.
He was surrounded by four colossal maple trees, hovering about meters in the air, but the trees were visibly growing to fifty three hundred meters.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Cube!"
A massive gold dust cube smashed towards the trunk of the giant tree to the southeast.
If he could break the trunk, he could fly out.
A wooden knot grew on the trunk, rapidly transforming into a wooden hand.
The wooden hand grabbed the gold dust cube. A wooden dragon grew from the wrist of the wooden hand, absorbing the chakra within the cube. The gold dust cube was crushed into powder by the wooden hand.
Rasa knew Konoha's Fox was strong, but only when facing Fox did he realize how troublesome Fox was.
Just the Wood Release's chakra absorption alone—he couldn't think of a way to counter it.
Rasa dared not delay any longer, shooting upwards.
Seventy meters, eighty, one hundred, two hundred meters!
The canopies of the four giant trees were converging three hundred meters above the ground.
Rasa poured all his strength into the sand mass beneath his feet, finally flying out at the last moment.
The convergence of the four towering trees' canopies slowed by a fraction, ultimately leaving an opening for Rasa.
Over a dozen maple leaves were sent flying high into the air by the sand mass.
Rasa felt his calf burn.
When he broke through, something seemed to have patted his calf—like a branch, or a wooden hand, or someone's hand.
The residents of Tori Castle stared in terror at the four three-hundred-meter-tall trees appearing where the noble mansion stood.
Was this a divine miracle? Why were such enormous trees here?
Yōkō scanned the surroundings, spotting the person he was looking for.
Pakura entered the city from outside, bringing people as if to aid their Fourth Kazekage.
Meeting Fox's gaze, Pakura gave an almost imperceptible nod.
She untied the Bunpuku's Tea Kettle from her waist and said to several Jōnin beside her:
"Only a Tailed Beast can deal with Wood Release that reaches the heavens!"
With that, Pakura threw the Tea Kettle towards one of the towering trees.
At the roots of the southwestern giant tree, violent wind and sand erupted.
A grating, teeth-grinding sound came from within the sandstorm.
The tree, over thirty meters in diameter, actually broke from its roots, slowly toppling over.
Kakashi Body Flickered to Uchiha Yōmomo and Nohara Rin's side.
Uchiha Yōmomo anxiously whispered to Kakashi, "Kakashi, what's in that sandstorm? It can break Lord Fox's Wood Release?"
Kakashi said, "It's Shukaku. Sunagakure's Tailed Beast."
His father's famous battle was killing Sunagakure's genius puppeteer couple, Toci and his wife. Kakashi usually paid attention to Suna intelligence.
"What do we do?" Uchiha Yōmomo asked. "A Tailed Beast is out. Can we still retreat safely?"
Kakashi thought and said, "Don't worry. Sunagakure's Shukaku hasn't appeared on the battlefield for over thirty years.
It didn't appear at all during the Second Great Shinobi War.
The village lacks intel on Shukaku. If I had the ability, I'd test Shukaku's true combat strength here."
Kakashi saw Minister Fox turn his head and give him a slight nod.
Nohara Rin excitedly tugged Kakashi's sleeve. Minister Fox approved of Kakashi's judgment!
Uchiha Yōmomo coughed, wanting to say he thought the same, but remembering Minister Fox's formidable reputation, he didn't dare boast falsely to the Minister.
Kakashi's eyes changed. The direction the tree is falling...
The three-hundred-meter tree was falling outside the noble mansion grounds.
The tree's diameter was over thirty meters, but crucially, its canopy was exceptionally vast. If it landed solidly, it would crush many residents outside the mansion.
Towns in the Land of Wind were built around oases, with extremely high building density. This fall would kill at least a hundred innocent residents.
Kakashi looked at Minister Fox, finding the Minister hadn't moved at all.
The lower part of the giant tree fell slowly, but the tree's canopy was accelerating towards the ground at an exaggerated rate.
The canopy was too large; people beneath it couldn't escape.
Screams rose one after another.
Kakashi looked at Minister Fox again, finding the Minister still unmoved.
Nohara Rin couldn't hold back and hurriedly reminded:
"Lord Fox, if too many civilians die, wouldn't it damage Konoha's reputation?"
"You're right. However, Konoha would only lose some reputation. Sunagakure would lose much more." Yōkō said:
"The Provincial Governor of Tori Castle and his family were killed, the town destroyed, civilians dying in ninja combat. They are more anxious."
The trunk fell. Civilians ran in panic, covered by the tree's shadow.
Some fell in the chaos, looking up in despair at the tree blocking their entire view.
Yōkō felt somewhat puzzled. What is Rasa doing?
He slightly raised a finger, then quickly lowered it.
A massive amount of gold sand surged from the ground, forming numerous pillars that crashed into the giant tree, propping up the trunk.
Rasa descended from the sky, standing on his sand mass.
The ground was a mess. Rasa desperately analyzed the current situation.
The cult members who killed the Governor's family with bizarre methods were withdrawing towards the city outskirts. Blood trails marked their path, their wounds still bleeding—truly a strange bunch.
Konoha's Fox stood beneath the tree roots, putting immense pressure on Rasa.
Truly Konoha's Fox. His mind is truly malicious.
His own Wood Release was about to crush a crowd, yet he remained unmoved, forcing Rasa to act and consume chakra.
And Pakura, throwing the Bunpuku's Tea Kettle.
Shukaku's hysterical cries echoed through the town.
Rasa waited for Shukaku's choice, wondering if Shukaku would attack Konoha ninja for Sunagakure.
When Rasa looked for Konoha's Fox again, he found Fox and Namikaze Minato's three subordinates had vanished.
Shukaku waved away the sandstorm, first seeing the three towering trees.
"Huh? Wood Release? Konoha people?"
Before finding the Konoha ninja, Shukaku saw Rasa manipulating gold sand to move the three-hundred-meter giant tree outside the city.
"I'm out! I'm out again!" Shukaku bellowed. "You Suna-nin will never seal me again!"
He slapped his belly furiously. Wind Release: Air Bullets shot towards Rasa.
Outside Tori Castle, Yōkō appeared with Kakashi and the other three via Body Flicker. He looked at Kakashi:
"Let me test you with a question, Kakashi. Why didn't I continue dealing with Rasa?"
(End of Chapter)