A series of sharp piercing sounds rang through the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
These "bullets" formed from finger bones charged straight toward the solid defense line built from Rasa's gold dust with overwhelming force.
Rasa had originally believed with complete confidence that hiding inside the gold dust sphere would keep him safe, but he never expected the Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets enhanced by Sage Mode to be this terrifying.
In an instant, the seemingly indestructible gold dust sphere was easily pierced through.
Pfff! Pfff! Pfff! Pfff!
Four dull impacts sounded one after another as Rasa's shoulder, side waist, thigh, and ankle were all struck.
Even though the gold dust sphere and Sand Armor served as solid layers of protection and blocked most of the attack's force, his Sand Armor still suffered severe damage, becoming covered in dense cracks running in every direction.
"H-How can it be this strong?"
Rasa's face filled with shock as he stared at what had happened in disbelief.
When he lowered his head to look at his body, he discovered in horror that what had hit him were pale finger bones.
'Finger bones? Could it be Shikotsumyaku?'
Gaara's natural talent was already enough, but who could have expected these other two people to also possess special abilities.
One had the rare Ice Release bloodline limit, while the other was an even rarer inheritor of Shikotsumyaku.
Earlier, he had already thought the white-haired young man's makeup looked somewhat strange, with red around the eyes and strange brows. He had not expected him to actually be from the Kaguya clan.
What Kimimaro displayed next showed exactly what a high-speed taijutsu ninja was.
Right after using Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets, his figure shot out like lightning and instantly landed firmly on the ice mirror created by Haku.
Then he kicked off with both feet, releasing a powerful burst of force from beneath him.
A sharp cone made from intertwined bones had already appeared in his hand.
Carrying overwhelming momentum, he charged at the gold dust sphere at extreme speed.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Rasa was desperately trying to repair the Sand Armor that had already been battered full of cracks.
Suddenly, the gold dust sphere burst open without warning, and a huge thick spike shot out from within, stabbing straight through Rasa's abdomen.
A muffled "pff" sounded, followed by Rasa's miserable scream, "AAAAAAAHHH!"
Along with the scream, he spat out a huge mouthful of blood that splashed across the ground.
At the same time, the gold dust around him seemed to panic and instantly went berserk, turning into countless sharp spikes that stabbed wildly toward Kimimaro from every direction.
Kimimaro crossed both arms in front of his face, and huge amounts of bone spikes instantly burst out from his arms and chest.
Shikotsumyaku, Dance of the Larch!
Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!
At such close range, Rasa did not even have time to react before large numbers of bone spikes pierced into his body.
Rasa's entire body was hung up on the bone spikes like meat skewers.
Kimimaro slightly frowned, 'Will Rasa really die just like this?'
When he reached out toward Rasa, Rasa suddenly spat out another huge mouthful of blood.
Then a massive amount of chakra erupted from Rasa's body.
If carefully sensed, it could be identified as the mixed chakra of Rasa and Shukaku.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Large amounts of sand wrapped around Rasa, and a gigantic sand hand swung toward Kimimaro.
The attack carried a heavy sound of rushing wind. Kimimaro did not block it directly and instead flipped backward to retreat.
At this moment, Rasa was negotiating with Shukaku inside his inner world. He looked up at the sky.
Although Minato's new formation could not be seen with the naked eye, that terrifying sea of lightning earlier had all been transferred away.
That represented a level of power from Namikaze Minato that he simply could not fight against.
["You saw that formation just now. Minato is this strong. If you don't want to stay sealed forever, then lend me your chakra and let's escape together."]
After coming out earlier and causing chaos for a while, Shukaku had already vented some of his emotions, so he was at least in a state where communication was possible.
Using his unique shrill voice, he hissed: ["What Minato's power? Humans can't have that much chakra. That was the stinking fox's power!"]
["What? The Nine-Tails?"], Rasa froze for a moment before immediately reacting.
["The Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato is the Nine-Tails jinchuriki?"]
This hit him like an electric fly swatter to the head, his whole mind went numb.
["Konoha actually has the Nine-Tails? Wasn't their Nine-Tails lost?"]
Rasa said in disbelief.
Shukaku let out a strange screech:
["Kek... I'll never forget that stinking fox's chakra. There's no mistake. It can only be him."]
'Konoha deliberately hid the Nine-Tails to lure other villages into attacking?'
'So the last ninja world war was Konoha's scheme from beginning to end.'
Thinking about these things, Rasa suddenly felt cold all over.
It was like being swallowed by a massive quicksand pit. That powerless suffocating feeling almost made him unable to breathe.
But the pain in his body quickly brought him back to his senses.
["We need to leave now. If Minato gets here, we won't be able to escape anymore."]
Shukaku let out an unhappy screech.
["Kekekekeke... You're scared of the stinking fox. I'm not."]
Rasa had not expected Shukaku to feel no fear toward the Nine-Tails at all. Instead, he even seemed eager to try fighting it.
He felt sealing Shukaku into his body was the stupidest decision he had made in his entire life.
["Even if you can beat the Nine-Tails, Konoha still has so many experts. The Uchiha haven't even appeared yet, and they have the Mangekyo Sharingan."]
At this time, Rasa did not argue with Shukaku and instead went along with him.
The moment the Mangekyo Sharingan was mentioned, Shukaku's arrogant attitude clearly stalled.
Because over the years, he had no idea how many times he had suffered because of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Whenever the Uchiha appeared, he became like a helpless fool waiting to be slaughtered.
["At least while you're inside me, you can still come out sometimes. But if the Uchiha capture you, don't even think about ever coming out again."]
Seeing Shukaku's expression loosen, Rasa immediately pressed further.
Shukaku snorted unwillingly and spoke in his shrill voice, ["After we get back, you have to let me out every day..."]
At this point, there was no way Rasa would bargain with Shukaku. He quickly agreed.
No matter how long the conversation lasted in the mental world, only an instant passed outside.
At this moment, Rasa suddenly released even more chakra.
The chakra continuously wrapped around his body, including the side waist that had just been pierced through, which was completely sealed shut with sand.
In the end, Rasa transformed into a humanoid miniature Shukaku.