"Bestow S!"
More Hellhounds kept splitting. The sand soldiers took heavy losses as the beasts attacked without any regard for their own lives. But just like fatal wounds didn't actually kill the Hellhounds, losing sand soldiers barely cost Rasa anything. A tiny bit of chakra at most.
Rasa stood with Samehada on his back and the Lightning Blade at his waist. Even though his bond with Samehada wasn't as deep as Kisame's, raw power made the blade obey without question.
He didn't bother drawing either sword. Instead he gathered a massive cloud of gold dust above the Hellhounds and made it spin.
Magnetism could generate electricity.
Rasa had toyed with the idea before. Turn magnetic force into lightning for faster, more violent attacks than plain gold dust weapons. The problem had always been efficiency. The chakra-to-power conversion wasn't great, and with the Lightning Blade already in his arsenal, he'd shelved the concept.
But now he had Bestow S/N. Combined with Magnet Release, the conversion rate skyrocketed. It was basically a brand-new fusion technique.
Gold dust swirled faster above the beasts.
"Bestow S/N!"
Lightning crackled inside the spinning cloud. The faster the dust moved, the brighter and stronger the electricity became.
Crack!
A lightning bolt thick as a barrel slammed down, engulfing several Hellhounds at once. Their bodies locked up, twitching violently under the current.
Rasa's eyes gleamed.
"Not bad. At this chakra-to-power ratio, the Lightning Blade is basically useless to me. Sand gold is way more flexible."
The Lightning Blade could only be used in his hand. Gold dust could float anywhere and change shape on command.
Another bolt faded. The Hellhounds roared in fury.
Rasa poured in more chakra.
The lightning intensified.
"Lightning Strike — One Hundred Thousand Volts!"
The gold dust cloud grew enormous. Bolts rained down like a thunderstorm, turning the entire area into a sea of crackling light. From outside it looked like the desert itself was burning.
Rasa nodded, satisfied.
"This compound jutsu is extremely versatile. Can scale up or down, attack or defend, close or long range…"
"My offensive power just jumped hard."
"Born from Magnet Release and Bestow S/N… high-voltage lightning from spinning gold dust. Let's call it Sand Gold Thunder Cloud."
He waved his hand. The storm vanished.
The Hellhounds were still standing. Barely. Rasa raised an eyebrow.
"Still alive? That vitality is ridiculous."
The lead Hellhound glared up at him, pure hatred in every eye. No fear. Just rage.
"If I keep hitting you with full power you'll just keep splitting and never submit. Fine. I'll drain every drop of chakra out of you instead. Once you're empty, you'll behave."
Rasa looked down.
"Antlion!"
The ground beneath the Hellhounds collapsed into a swirling vortex of quicksand. The beasts sank fast, unable to find any footing. Only their heads remained above the surface.
Rasa landed and grabbed Samehada's hilt.
The blade resisted.
A faint, disgusted thought pushed into his mind.
—Tastes like shit. Smells worse.
Rasa snorted. "It probably does. Eat it anyway. Finish and I'll feed you some Tailed Beast chakra later."
Samehada grumbled but started draining. The trapped Hellhounds could only watch helplessly as their chakra was sucked away.
When they were almost empty, the lead Hellhound finally lowered its heads in submission.
The summoning card in Rasa's hand split in two. One half flew to the Hellhound. The other stayed with him.
[Hellhound]
[Ability — Split]
Rasa flicked his wrist. The quicksand stopped moving. Samehada reluctantly returned a portion of the stolen chakra.
The Hellhound leapt free, shook itself off, then looked at Rasa with pure puppy-dog loyalty. The hatred hadn't disappeared though. It had simply shifted targets.
Now it stared at Samehada with pure murder in its eyes. If Rasa hadn't been standing right there, it probably would've lunged already.
Rasa studied his new summon.
Yatagarasu could rain explosive eggs from the sky. This Hellhound could attack from the ground, was nearly impossible to kill, and multiplied on damage. Together they could take on a small army.
He had barely stepped back into the Kazekage Tower when an ANBU rushed in.
"Lord Kazekage."
"What is it?"
"A Leaf shinobi slipped into the village and tried to contact Yakushi Kabuto. Kabuto reported it immediately. We haven't moved on the intruder yet. He's still inside the village, disguised as a merchant."
Rasa's eyes narrowed.
"Leaf, huh?"
Kabuto turning the guy in was a pleasant surprise. Even with the evidence Rasa had planted about Danzo, he still didn't fully trust the kid. But this at least proved Kabuto was leaning his way.
"Lord Kazekage, how do you want to handle it?"
Rasa thought for a second.
"I'll go see for myself. Take me there."
"Yes, Lord Kazekage."
Two figures blurred toward a quiet corner of the village.
Kabuto was already waiting.
So was the Leaf shinobi, dressed like an ordinary merchant.