"Quicksand Shift!"
The eight Konoha shinobi outside saw Rasa's figure vanish into thin air in an instant, and all of them froze.
"Where did he go?"
"How did he suddenly disappear?"
"The Body Flicker Technique?"
"Since when did Rasa have a Body Flicker that fast?"
At the same time, the three ANBU inside dropped their Transformation Technique the moment the attack arrived.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The three figures reverted at once to their ANBU forms.
The four Konoha shinobi's pupils shrank.
"What?"
"They're not Rasa's wife and children? They're three Sunagakure ANBU?"
"A trap! This is a trap!"
"Shirasuna Koichi lied to Lord Danzo!"
"That shameless Shirasuna Koichi!"
"That shameless Sunagakure!"
"I knew it! What kind of village elder would sell out his own village and even lead people to ambush his own Kage? Lord Danzo may be dissatisfied with the Third, but even he's never done anything like that!"
"Shirasuna Koichi is a liar."
"Lord Danzo never should have trusted him."
The moment they realized the truth, the four Konoha shinobi immediately sent out a signal.
"Run!"
Then they turned and retreated without hesitation, splitting into four different directions.
The eight Konoha shinobi outside also received the signal and instantly fell into chaos.
"Run toward the crowded areas!"
"Run toward where the civilians are!"
But very soon, they realized escape was no longer possible.
"Sand Soldiers, appear!"
Dozens of sand soldiers emerged, forming a complete encirclement around the entire area.
The twelve Konoha shinobi were forced together.
"Damn it!"
"It's a trap!"
"At this point, the only thing we can do is break through!"
One Konoha shinobi gritted his teeth and spotted what looked like a relatively safe direction. There was only a single sand soldier puppet there. If he got past it, he could escape the encirclement.
But just as he was about to close in—
"Quicksand Shift!"
Rasa's figure instantly appeared beside that sand soldier puppet.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!"
A large amount of gold dust surged out and wrapped around the Konoha shinobi in an instant.
Then Rasa placed one hand on the hilt of the Thunder Blade.
Chakra poured into it.
A burst of lightning erupted, racing along the cord of condensed gold dust and instantly striking the Konoha shinobi's body. Violent arcs of electricity exploded across him.
"Argh!"
The Konoha shinobi suffered a heavy hit, his body convulsing violently as all resistance vanished.
Bang!
A moment later, he slammed hard to the ground.
Rasa gestured to the side.
Three ANBU rushed over and quickly restrained the fallen Konoha shinobi.
The remaining eleven Konoha shinobi stared at the scene with grim expressions.
"Just as fast as before!"
"But before he vanished—this time he appeared out of nowhere."
"Can the Body Flicker really be that fast?"
"There isn't a single person in all of Konoha whose Body Flicker can reach that level, right?"
"It's practically comparable to Lord Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Since when did Rasa have such an ability?"
Two ANBU held down the captured shinobi, while the third walked up beside Rasa.
"Kazekage-sama, should we call in the ANBU waiting outside?"
Rasa shook his head.
"No need."
He intended to use these Konoha shinobi to test his new jutsu.
Simple tests and actual combat were two completely different things.
Besides, he could attack these Konoha shinobi as he pleased. Even killing them all would not matter.
At worst, he would simply have fewer prisoners to interrogate.
And since they belonged to Danzo, there was a high probability they would not yield much information anyway.
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was troublesome.
Also, if things ended too quickly here, it would be harder to let Shirasuna Koichi find what looked like a chance to escape.
What Rasa needed was for Koichi to believe he had found an opportunity on his own.
Not to suspect that Sunagakure had intentionally given him one.
The eleven Konoha shinobi stared at Rasa.
"What's wrong with this Rasa?"
"He's not letting the ANBU outside come in?"
"Is he planning to fight all of us alone?"
"His strength is definitely impressive—he defeated four of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen by himself. But as Kazekage, is it really wise for him to make such a risky move?"
"We're not weak either."
"For the sake of his own amusement, he'd do something like this? For a Kage, that's completely unqualified behavior."
"He's not some lone wandering shinobi fighting for himself."
These were men handpicked by Danzo to infiltrate Sunagakure and carry out an assassination. Their strength was unquestionably solid.
Even if Shirasuna Koichi had assisted them.
Even if they had been counting on the advantage of a sneak attack.
The incidents with the Akayama clan and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had already forced the shinobi world to reassess Rasa's strength.
So the shinobi Danzo had sent were certainly not ordinary.
"But for us, this is a good thing."
"He's strong, sure, but we still have eleven people. It's not like we have no chance."
"He'll pay for his arrogance!"
But in truth, they had no chance at all.
From high above, the Byakugan could observe the entire battlefield. No matter where an attack came from, it was within Rasa's sight. There was no possibility of him being ambushed.
This was the Byakugan.
And Rasa had also created another sand soldier outside the battlefield.
If real danger arose, one Quicksand Shift would let him leave instantly.
After obtaining Sand Soldier Manifestation and Quicksand Shift, Rasa's ability to preserve his life had risen to an extremely high level—far beyond anything these Konoha shinobi could threaten.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Wave!"
Before the Konoha shinobi could even act, Rasa's attack had already arrived.
A mass of gold dust roared forward like a tidal wave, crashing toward them.
The Konoha shinobi's pupils shrank as they scattered in a hurry.
They were not defensive specialists. Since Danzo had chosen them to infiltrate Sunagakure and carry out an assassination, each of them excelled either in offense or in control.
When twelve of them joined forces, one attack could flow into the next, wave after wave. If they could catch their target off guard, they could cause enormous trouble.
But because Rasa had already prepared for them, they had never been given that opening.
Forced apart by the gold dust wave, none of them dared face it head-on.
They scattered in all directions.
One Konoha shinobi's expression turned fierce.
"Everyone, attack together! This is our only chance!"
Two Konoha shinobi circled behind Rasa, planning to exploit his blind spot and launch a sneak attack.
But what they did not know was that Rasa had already clearly tracked all of their positions and movements.
Before the two could even make a move, Rasa's figure vanished first.