On the windswept tower rooftop—
Hearing his sister's words, Yashamaru scratched his head with an embarrassed laugh and climbed over the railing.
"Sis, are you really going to marry Rasa?"
Karura didn't answer, still staring at the spot where Yashamaru had just climbed over, puzzled.
"Isn't your friend coming out?"
"My friend? Which friend?" Yashamaru jumped, instantly spinning around to look at the empty space behind him.
Seeing this, Karura immediately sensed something was wrong. She clapped her hands together, directing them toward Rinjin's hiding spot.
The next second, the yellow sand swirling in the fierce wind froze, then surged straight toward Rinjin's location.
What the hell? This girl's a sensory ninja?
The raging sand instantly engulfed Rinjin, scattering the gray mist that ordinary people couldn't detect.
Rinjin's form was revealed.
"You're not Yashamaru's friend! Who the hell are you?" Karura demanded sharply, all traces of gentleness vanishing from her face.
Hearing this, Rinjin tensed his body slightly, shaking off the surrounding sand, then scratched his head with an embarrassed grin.
"Well... I'm Cupid~
I saw you two getting all lovey-dovey and thought I'd shoot an arrow, but you caught me instead."
"Complete nonsense!"
Karura let out a sharp cry, gathering massive amounts of sand that instantly wrapped Rinjin into a giant sphere, leaving only his head exposed.
On the other side, Yashamaru finally caught on, staring seriously at Rinjin's utterly ordinary disguised face.
Feeling the sand ball's pressure growing tighter, Rinjin pondered for a moment, then spoke with mock humility:
"Um... Miss, how about you tell me how you found me first, and then I'll tell you my real identity?"
"The sand! I remember the scent of sand on your body! Now it's your turn!"
Hearing this, Rinjin was instantly stunned.
What does that mean?
She can remember the scent of sand?
Does Sunagakure sand come in different flavors?
You really can't underestimate any hidden village!
While Rinjin was still dazed, Karura's expression turned serious as she shouted again:
"Now it's your turn—name, origin, confess everything!"
Hearing this, Rinjin's eyes flickered as his thoughts raced.
Since he'd already been caught, might as well go all out and try to extract some intel before escaping.
After a moment's consideration, the Magnet Release power buried deep in his bloodline suddenly activated.
Instantly, the sand tightly binding Rinjin began to change.
Then, a scene that shocked the Karura siblings unfolded.
Pitch-black iron sand separated from the regular sand, slicing through the entire sand sphere like blades and splitting it cleanly in half.
At the same time, Rinjin chuckled:
"Sorry, but while sand is mainly quartz, it still contains quite a few metallic impurities."
"You're right, but now it's two against one!" came a low shout.
Rasa, who had clearly left earlier, suddenly appeared at the tower entrance, hands forming seals with golden sand floating around him like serpents.
Pale yellow sand, gleaming gold sand, and pitch-black iron sand—
Three completely different colors swirled around their respective masters like tornadoes, enveloping the entire rooftop.
At that moment, Rasa fixed his burning gaze on Rinjin and spoke slowly:
"Sand leans toward defense, iron sand excels at offense, gold sand is perfect for sealing.
I never imagined anyone from the Iron Sand lineage was still alive. How rare."
Hearing this, Rinjin remained silent, but inside he was overjoyed.
Oh~
So there's an Iron Sand lineage?
Kid, keep talking—Uncle here loves hearing intel!
Honestly, he was starting to like this stone-faced guy.
Just a few words from that mouth and his understanding of Sunagakure had deepened considerably.
Meanwhile, Karura, her emotions stirred, suddenly shouted:
"Rasa, let's take him down together! He's definitely hiding major secrets!"
With that, her hands hidden beneath her robe quickly formed seals.
"Sand Shuriken!"
On the other side, the battle-experienced Rasa attacked simultaneously from another angle.
"Magnet Release: Gold Sand Spear!"
Facing the incoming shuriken and spear, Rinjin honestly had no intention of dodging.
He could've just unleashed a ultimate move—EAAQAQAQA—and solved everything, but to avoid exposing his capabilities, Rinjin forced himself to play the ranged game.
After all, they were all artillery-type mages here.
Sure, smashing faces with fists the size of sandbags was the meta answer, but that just wasn't stylish~
Thinking this, Rinjin rapidly formed hand seals, using one of the few Magnet Release jutsu he knew.
"Magnet Release: I'm Throwing Everything I've Got Technique!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding iron sand instantly condensed into countless perfectly square black bricks, shooting indiscriminately in all directions.
While Rinjin wasn't great at precise control, with his cat's support, he had chakra quantity in spades.
Faced with this crude-to-the-extreme Magnet Release jutsu, Rasa and Karura simultaneously had platforms of sand and gold sand rise beneath their feet, lifting them high into the air.
Seeing this scene, Rinjin's lips curved upward.
Heh, aerial combat?!
Uncle Rinjin was sword-flying down mountains at eight years old!
Muttering to himself, Rinjin's hands hidden in his robe formed seals again, and the iron sand before him instantly condensed into pitch-black longswords.
At the same time, a massive door-panel-sized greatsword formed beneath his feet.
"Nameless Sword Style, First Form: One Sword to Fame!"
Shouting words Rasa and Karura couldn't understand, Rinjin shot skyward atop the giant sword.
Then with a single arm sweep, the black swords behind him shot forth like a rainbow piercing the sun, streaking straight at the two.
Seeing this, Rasa and Karura both raised spherical defenses.
The longswords struck the spheres formed by sand and gold sand, sparks flying everywhere.
However, before long, the clanging sounds stopped.
Watching the outside through their third eyes made of sand, Rasa and the others were completely dumbfounded.
This guy hid behind iron sand for so long, only to produce these garbage extended kunai?
That's it?
Not far away, standing on his door-panel sword, Rinjin watched as his black longswords clanged around uselessly without scratching his opponents, then scratched his head awkwardly.
"Uh... sorry, sorry, I'm not used to fighting like this lately."
Just as he was speaking, Rinjin froze, then clapped his hands together forcefully.
"I forgot to bring in the cup I left drying outside!
Sorry, let's reschedule for another day!"
With that, Rinjin channeled energy into the flying sword beneath his feet and, under the stunned gazes of the two, flew away toward the distance without looking back.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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