Chapter 72: Bilibili
The lightning clone, in pursuit of the Sand ninja, sensed a ninja with short brown hair dressed in black. The immense chakra indicated this person was the Fourth Kazekage of the Sand, Rasa.
Kakashi didn't have much of an impression of Gaara's father, who had been a minor character in the original story. He only remembered that the man seemed to use sand as well and was killed by Orochimaru and Kimimaro.
But to have become a Kage meant he possessed extraordinary talent, at least enough to not be outshone by the other four Kage. Mei had traveled from the Land of Water, passing through four countries to reach Rōran; it would have been impossible for so many ninja to move without alerting the other nations.
The lightning clone weighed its options and decided not to act rashly. In the desert, it was hard to estimate Rasa's strength on his home turf.
Suddenly, the cavern shook violently. The ground level rose by dozens of meters, forming a small mountain on the spot.
Kakashi's main body used Earth Release to reinforce the underground platform and prevent a collapse. The civilians were pushed into a heap by the rising ground, jumbled together in a messy pile before their eyes slowly closed, drifting into a deeper sleep under the continuing genjutsu.
The ninja inside the tunnels weren't so lucky. Those who could use Earth Release managed to escape, but those who couldn't were crushed into paste. The Fourth Kazekage used his sand to hold back the crushing rock from below. The pursuing lightning clone revealed itself.
Rasa was now isolated in the passage, meeting the lightning clone face to face. He lit a torch and placed it to the side.
His dark circles made the lightning clone wonder if he hadn't slept in a month. Normal people's dark circles were faint, but to be this dark was a rare sight, especially since his hairline wasn't receding.
Just as Rasa was contemplating whether to attack directly or ask who this person was, the lightning clone spoke first with an out-of-place question.
"Are you wearing a wig?"
"A wig?"
For a moment, there was an awkward silence. Rasa's expression was unreadable, showing neither anger nor confusion.
"Are you mocking me?"
"Looks like it's not a wig," the lightning clone nodded. "Then I'm relieved. You're not that strong, are you?"
"Boy, who are you?"
It was already quite polite of him not to call this person, who was clearly a minor, "kid." The Kazekage pressed his closed right eye, and the distant scene was clearly transmitted to his mind.
"I am but a mere clone."
"I see. So you're the Prince of Rōran they say was suddenly resurrected."
"A small correction: I wasn't suddenly resurrected."
"But faked your death all along? The murderer of the previous Kazekage!"
His tone suddenly dropped, filled with killing intent. Kakashi felt another huge pot of blame being dumped on his head.
"Another correction. Even if I did attack the previous Kazekage, the one who killed him was not me, but Sasori."
"That rogue-nin is a matter for the Sand to capture sooner or later. But here and now, I will execute you, the one who dared to lay a hand on the previous Kazekage!!"
"What shameless, thuggish logic."
The lightning clone sneered twice, contemptuously dodging a barrage of sand shuriken. In this confined space, his speed couldn't be fully utilized, but he could still dodge the bullet-hell-like attack. Even if he couldn't dodge, it didn't matter; he could just slice through them with his Raikiri. As long as he closed the distance, it would be Rasa who got hurt.
"The Land of Wind intervenes in another country's internal affairs without cause and plunders their Ryūmyaku. To think you were once allies with Rōran. Do you have no compassion for the innocent civilians who have died?"
"The civilians who died were because of the Ryūmyaku explosion. What does that have to do with me?"
"Fine. Then my killing you has nothing to do with Rōran either."
The lightning clone couldn't help but imagine the joke that would spread through the shinobi world later: the Fourth Kazekage was killed in the desert by a mere clone. The Land of Wind would truly become the laughingstock of the entire ninja world.
Rasa was no fool. Seeing the fellow's undisguised attitude, he knew it was nothing more than an attempt to stall for time and create trouble for him.
As for killing him? The Kazekage had never imagined someone so arrogant existed in this world.
Did he really think that after ambushing the previous Kazekage with Sasori, he could contend with him with just a single clone?
It seemed he hadn't made a move in a long time, and the awe a Kazekage inspired in the ninja of these small countries had greatly diminished.
'Magnet Release: Gold Dust!'
Using Magnet Release to control high-density gold dust was far more powerful than ordinary sand manipulation techniques. The altered passage's length and width were advantageous for large-scale ninjutsu, leaving the enemy no room to dodge. The Fourth Kazekage controlled the flow of the gold dust with one hand. In fact, he could use the gold dust without any special hand seals, but re-channeling his chakra would further increase its power and speed.
The surging wave of sand charged forward like a beast tide. The dazzling gold dust was not only incredibly destructive but could also be sold for money. The Fourth Kazekage could be called the richest Kage in history; it wasn't without reason that he could single-handedly boost the economy of the entire Sand Village.
This was truly crushing someone with money.
Anything magnetic was under his control, and he was immune to the damage of other Magnet Release techniques. Even against the so-called strongest, the Third Kazekage, he was confident he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.
A flash of purple lightning split the golden wave of sand in two. The severed portion of the sand wave fell to the ground, no longer controllable by Rasa.
The Fourth Kazekage tried several times, but all ended in failure.
"It seems my Lightning Release is just a tiny bit stronger than your Magnet Release."
Amidst the flashing purple lightning, the clone grabbed a handful of gold dust from the ground and rubbed it between his fingers.
"Lightning can demagnetize things. An ordinary Lightning Release user can't do what I can. My Lightning Release is special. Your Magnet Release is useless against me."
After giving the Fourth Kazekage a science lesson, the silver-haired young man made his final appeal.
"Lord Kazekage, if you retreat now, I promise Rōran will not pose a threat to the Sand. The Ryūmyaku's energy is the foundation of the Rōran people's survival. Please do not take it by force."
"The people of the Sand also suffer greatly. The Ryūmyaku is the only known way to create an oasis in the desert."
"So there's no room for discussion."
Although he had expected this guy wouldn't retreat, whether for the sake of his pride or his village, Kakashi still felt disappointed. The Five Kage were all stubborn, one more than the next. His teacher was like this, the Raikage was like this, the Kazekage was like this, and even Mei, who had become the Mizukage, had been influenced.
In reality, resolving this Ryūmyaku crisis wasn't difficult. It was just that Kakashi couldn't bring himself to be that ruthless; he wanted to achieve the best result with the fewest casualties.
Purple lightning coiled around his fingertips. Kakashi took out a Rōran coin and flicked it high into the air.
In Rasa's eyes, the coin slowly fell. Alarm bells rang in his head. The surrounding gold dust frantically gathered in front of him, preparing to block the incoming attack.
'Lightning Release: Super Railgun.'
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