Gekko Chizan suddenly tore off his jacket, leaving only a white short-sleeved shirt underneath.
It wasn't that he didn't want to take off the shirt too, but because he still had the Four Symbols Seal on his chest. If someone saw those, it would be a problem.
"Damn, if I knew I'd run into him, I'd have brought more bags."
"Tch, what a pain. Just how much money am I losing because of this?"
He ripped his shirt into strips and laid them flat on the ground.
"Chomei, get ready. I'll use Wind Cutter to slice the gold sand—your job is to use chakra to cut off the caster's connection."
"Got it!"
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter Technique!"
The power of the wind blade was immense. Although the gold sand also had defensive properties, it was nothing compared to iron sand.
As the blade swept across, a large chunk of gold sand was sliced off in an instant.
Gekko Chizan moved quickly and wrapped it in a piece of shirt.
"Chomei! Now!"
Chomei's chakra burst from Gekko Chizan's hands—beast-red chakra wrapped around the gold sand.
Then, he immediately performed a jutsu on the shirt and its contents.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
In a cave somewhere within the Land of Fire, the wrapped bundle of gold sand fell to the ground with a thud.
"Heh, it worked! Chomei, again!"
"Whether we eat better from now on is riding on this!"
Just as Gekko Chizan was about to continue, he slapped his forehead.
"Ugh, why did I use my own clothes?! That was stupid!"
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
Feeling dumb, he quickly formed hand seals and created an earthen wall. He knocked it over, broke it into chunks, and dragged it in front of the gold wall.
"Chomei, I'm going again!"
"Okay!"
Wind Cutter again—this time slicing off a huge chunk of gold sand that scattered onto the stone.
Gekko Chizan couldn't help but grin at the growing pile of gold sand.
The red chakra flared up again and wrapped around the sand.
Flying Thunder God triggered again—this time transporting the sand along with the stone slab underneath.
...
However, his actions didn't go unnoticed by Rasa.
After all, Rasa was controlling the gold sand with his Magnet Release. When large chunks started vanishing, there was no way he wouldn't notice.
"Someone else is here…"
"To destroy my gold sand like that... not weak."
"Magen, deal with them quickly!"
Sensing the direction of the disappearing sand, Rasa sprang into action.
"Damn it. I told him to retreat. Why didn't he go?!"
Haruka and Rinkaku, who were barely holding off their enemies, were stunned. They thought Gekko Chizan had already returned to the village.
Who would've thought he stayed behind... and even started stealing!
Damn it, he's a sensor-type ninja! How is he this reckless?!
"Cover me!"
"Got it!"
Rinkaku moved again—this time blending his swordsmanship with Genjutsu.
The illusion made it appear as though he vanished into dancing leaves. It bound the enemies in place and struck from their blind spot for a clean kill.
But their opponents weren't pushovers. Though the Genjutsu disoriented three of them at first, Magen immediately sensed something was wrong.
He stabbed himself in the arm with a kunai to break the illusion. Another Sunagakure jonin did the same.
Both of them rushed forward to block the attack and helped dispel the illusion on their teammates.
"Fire Style: Grand Blaze Technique!"
A blazing torrent of fire burst forth once again—this time, with no Rasa to shield them, the Sunagakure nin had no choice but to dodge frantically.
Haruka and Rinkaku seized the chance to retreat quickly.
And in just that short moment, Gekko Chizan had already transported another massive chunk of gold sand.
But that would be his last heist—because the gold's owner, Rasa, had arrived.
Rasa looked at the masked ninja before him and frowned.
"You're the one who destroyed my gold sand?"
"Hmph."
With a wave of his hand, the golden wall behind him collapsed into a swirling mass of gold sand floating at his side.
"Tsk, fast reaction."
"Too bad... I've already gotten what I came for."
Gekko Chizan meant he'd already stolen enough sand to be satisfied.
But in Rasa's ears, it sounded like: "I lured you here so my comrades could escape—mission accomplished."
Gekko Chizan: ...bro, what the hell—these people are living in a fantasy.
Still, Gekko Chizan was a bit relieved. Good thing he'd moved fast—if Rasa had seen him using Tailed Beast chakra, it would've been a disaster.
This man, after all, was one of the few experts who'd studied jinchūriki. Being seen by him was not ideal.
"The famous heir to the Kazekage—Rasa."
"What's your business in the Land of Fire?"
He had no intention of actually fighting. But talking? Gekko Chizan never lost at that.
To keep Rasa at bay, he opened with a bombshell.
Sure enough, Rasa's expression shifted immediately.
Has my identity really been exposed...?
No way... those other two didn't know who I was...
He, like Pakura, was one of Sunagakure's hidden weapons—how could they possibly know?
"Heh heh heh... you don't seriously think Konoha doesn't know your identity, do you?"
"Well then, since we've met, not fighting would feel wrong."
"Let me experience the power of Magnet Release! Let's see how you stack up to the Third Kazekage!"
Gekko Chizan suddenly flared his aura—it was a presence forged by Chomei's chakra bursting inside his body. He didn't use it externally, but the intimidation worked.
Rasa instantly entered full alert, gold sand surrounding him in a tight defense.
The next moment, Gekko Chizan vanished.
Even Rasa couldn't see where he went—and that shocked him.
That speed…!
Defense—full defense!
Rasa quickly channeled chakra to fortify the sand around him even more.
But after a moment, he realized nothing had happened. No attack came.
He frowned.
And just then—a scream rang out behind him.
He turned, stunned—realizing the masked ninja had never intended to attack him at all. It was a feint!
The real target... was his team!
Rasa's blood surged to his head, fury overtaking him.
"You bastard! You tricked me!!"
Where was Chizan? Right then, his wind-coated hand pierced straight through a jonin's chest.
No one saw how he appeared.
That jonin had just caught up to Rinkaku when a figure suddenly emerged behind him—then pierced him in an instant.
And the next moment, the figure casually flung the jonin's body aside, placed a palm on Rinkaku's back—
—and the two vanished.
Before the stunned Sunagakure team could react, he darted to Haruka, touched her shoulder—
—and they disappeared too.
A flurry of movements, and the Sunagakure squad led by Magen stood frozen, wide-eyed.
Even with their trained perception, none of them had seen how he escaped.
Only one thought echoed in their minds:
What the hell did we just witness?!
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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