Chapter 119: Did I Overestimate Him?
The contract was finalized. With that, Rasa no longer had any concerns holding him back.
He began taking off his Fourth Kazekage robe and handed it to Karura, who stood beside him.
Then, in a low voice, he ordered, "All of you, get away from here."
Rasa knew exactly how strong he was.
And he was even more clear on how terrifying Uchiha Dali's strength truly was.
Once they began fighting, it would undoubtedly be a battle that shook the heavens and the earth.
At that point, there was a real chance the entire Hidden Sand Village could be destroyed.
So, he had everyone clear out to avoid getting caught in the aftermath.
"Let's fight outside the village," Uchiha Dali suggested with a calm smile.
"Just at the village entrance—it won't take too much of your time."
With that, he didn't bother waiting for Rasa's reply and turned to walk toward the Hidden Sand Village's gate.
Seeing him leave, Rasa immediately followed.
The two quickly arrived outside the village.
Endless wind and sand blotted out the sky.
As far as the eye could see—it was sand, sand, and more sand.
This could be considered Rasa's home turf.
For someone with the Magnet Release Bloodline Limit, who could control Gold Dust, fighting in an environment like this increased his combat power by at least twenty percent.
"After you," said Uchiha Dali as he stood calmly in place, making a gesture inviting Rasa to attack.
His demeanor was relaxed, as if he didn't consider Rasa a threat at all.
Rasa's gaze darkened. After taking a deep breath, chakra surged within him like a dam bursting: "Then I won't hold back—Fourth Hokage!"
The ground began to shake violently.
Responding to his chakra, the gold dust hidden beneath the earth came alive.
With a deep rumble, countless streams of gold dust erupted from underground, rising in all directions to form towering walls of golden sand.
Under Rasa's control, these golden barriers moved to crush Uchiha Dali from every direction.
"Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!"
Rasa gave a low shout.
In an instant, vast quantities of ultra-dense, ultra-heavy gold dust fused together to form a massive pyramid, completely encasing Uchiha Dali within.
Then, as if the earth itself had melted, the pyramid began to rapidly sink underground amidst the swirling yellow sand.
Rasa's chakra spread through every inch of the golden pyramid. He could clearly sense that Uchiha Dali was still inside, seemingly immobilized and trapped.
But… could it really be that easy?
A deep doubt rose in Rasa's heart.
This Gold Dust Imperial Funeral was an exceptionally powerful technique.
It sealed the enemy in ultra-dense gold dust, buried them deep underground, then detonated the structure.
Even the One-Tail could be easily suppressed by it.
Rasa couldn't understand why Uchiha Dali hadn't dodged.
But now, it no longer mattered.
The massive pyramid of the Gold Dust Imperial Funeral had already been driven 300 meters underground.
Without any hesitation, Rasa triggered the detonation.
Boom—
The earth trembled violently again.
That was the explosion of the golden pyramid deep below, unleashing a tremendous shockwave.
The ground above collapsed rapidly.
The epicenter was far beneath the surface.
Massive amounts of yellow sand fell into a bottomless abyss, quickly forming a crater over 300 meters in diameter.
It was easy to imagine how devastating the damage would've been if that technique had been unleashed within the village.
"…Is it over?"
Rasa stared intently at the pitch-black crater, his eyes heavy with caution.
There was no movement from within the pit.
But he didn't dare let his guard down.
After all, his opponent was that man.
After a moment of waiting with no response, Rasa began to believe that perhaps it really was over.
The villagers of Hidden Sand, who had rushed over and were watching nervously from a distance, also began to shift from shock and anxiety to surprise and joy.
"What happened to that Uchiha Dali guy? Not a peep from him!"
"No reaction at all—I thought he'd pull off some flashy counterattack or something…"
"Don't tell me… did Lord Fourth actually take him out?"
"Wasn't this guy supposed to be stronger than Uchiha Shisui? Said to be even beyond the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato! How could this happen?"
"Don't forget—his opponent is Lord Rasa, our Fourth Kazekage and the strongest man in the village!"
"Lord Rasa's amazing! Just one move and he turned the battlefield into that mess—he really is worthy of the Kazekage title!"
"So… is the Fourth Hokage of Konoha really dead? Does that mean we can now take over the Land of Fire and Konoha without resistance?"
"…"
After a brief daze, the villagers of Hidden Sand finally began to accept that Uchiha Dali might really have been eliminated.
There was no sign of movement in the crater.
After Rasa's attack sent him underground and triggered the explosion, it was as if that man had completely vanished from existence.
Everything pointed to one conclusion—it really was over.
"So this Fourth Hokage of the Uchiha clan… wasn't all that after all. Did I overestimate him?"
Rasa's eyes were still burning, filled with disbelief.
Some of what the villagers were saying wasn't quite accurate.
His earlier move hadn't been some casual attack that happened to cause massive destruction.
The Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral he had used was far more powerful than usual.
As a result, the chakra cost was enormous.
At that moment, Rasa had already expended more than a third of his total chakra.
He took a quiet breath.
And gradually, his emotions began to settle.
"That move has subdued rampaging Tailed Beasts many times in the past. Even the One-Tail Shukaku would be knocked unconscious if caught in it."
"In any case, it's over now."
Rasa recalled the times he had worked with the Third Kazekage to suppress berserk Tailed Beasts.
Even those powerful creatures couldn't withstand his technique.
Let alone a mere human of flesh and blood.
Thinking this way, maybe his strength really was that overwhelming—defeating the Fourth Hokage in a single strike wasn't so far-fetched after all.
He was just about to relax—
When suddenly, the earth trembled again.
The sudden, violent quake made Rasa's face change instantly as he snapped back into battle mode.
The villagers, who had just begun to celebrate, were also startled out of their joy.
"What's happening?"
"That guy's not dead after all?!"
"Knew it—we were too early to celebrate!! Everyone, get out of here!"
"…"
The Anbu and elite jonin weren't new to handling crises of this scale—every time a Tailed Beast went on a rampage, it was just as dangerous.
So they quickly began evacuating the surrounding civilians in an orderly manner.
And at that moment, a pillar of red light shot into the sky from the bottom of the crater.