The villagers of Sunagakure had never seen such a lush and verdant forest in their entire lives. Those who witnessed the scene couldn't help but pause whatever they were doing and marvel at the greenery that surrounded them, something they had never seen before. Instinctively, they exclaimed:
"Is this... a miracle?"
For the people of Sunagakure, living amidst endless sand and desert, such vast greenery felt like a divine blessing.
But for the higher-ups of Sunagakure, this was nothing short of a nightmare!
Kazekage's Office
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, immediately leapt from his seat, staring out of the window at the rapidly growing forest with an unusually grim expression.
"What is this?! Is it Wood Release? Could this be an invasion from Konohagakure?"
Meanwhile, in a cave near the outskirts of Sunagakure, Chiyo also sensed the overwhelming surge of vitality. She rushed out of the cave, only to see Sunagakure enveloped by a forest. Her face turned pale as she exclaimed:
"Deep Forest Emergence!"
As a ninja who lived during the same era as Hashirama Senju, she immediately recognized the Wood Release technique. However, her expression soon twisted into one of fury. "Mitarashi Kai! I can't believe you dared to come to Sunagakure!"
With that, Chiyo dashed toward the village.
At the same time, the Fourth Kazekage also spotted Kai, who made no effort to conceal himself.
"You are... the 'Reaper of Konoha'—Mitarashi Kai!"
The Fourth Kazekage's pupils contracted sharply, and his face turned ashen. He had fought in the war in the Land of Rivers five years ago as an elite jōnin. The memory of Kai slaughtering nearly ten thousand Sand Ninjas was still vivid in his mind.
Rage quickly consumed Rasa. If it weren't for Kai annihilating the majority of the Sand Ninjas, he wouldn't have to struggle so much as the Kazekage, nor would Sunagakure be on the brink of being removed from the list of the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
"Sunagakure has already been defeated. Why are you here in our village?" The Fourth Kazekage suppressed his anger and asked.
Seemingly oblivious to Rasa's tone of hatred, Kai smiled faintly and said, "I thought your village had too much sand, so I decided to improve the environment a bit."
"Is that so? Then you may leave now." The Fourth Kazekage replied coldly. He had no desire to fight Kai unless absolutely necessary. The sheer power Kai displayed five years ago was deeply etched in Rasa's memory.
"Of course, but I think I deserve some compensation, don't you? Perhaps you could lend me your village's Sealing Jutsu Scroll for a look?" Kai shrugged casually. This was his true purpose for coming to Sunagakure. There was a technique among the Sand Ninjas that Kai was determined to obtain.
Enraged, the Fourth Kazekage glared at Kai and shouted, "Mitarashi Kai, are you trying to reignite the war between Sunagakure and Konohagakure?"
"Sunagakure and Konohagakure at war?" Kai chuckled. Even with Konohagakure's current weakened state, they would still easily defeat Sunagakure. However, Kai shook his head and replied, "No, no, of course not. I'm here purely in a personal capacity."
Seeing that Kai had no intention of leaving, the Fourth Kazekage could no longer suppress his fury. "Is that so? In that case, I, too, will face you in a personal capacity and experience the might of the 'Reaper of Konoha'!"
In Rasa's mind, no matter how much of a genius Kai was, he was still a shinobi of Kage-level strength, just like himself. As the Fourth Kazekage and the most talented shinobi of Sunagakure, Rasa refused to believe he was inferior to Kai.
Gold Dust Shower!
In an instant, a massive amount of gold dust emerged from Rasa's body, transforming into countless fine needles that shot toward Kai.
Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!
A row of sturdy wooden pillars rose around Kai, forming a protective barrier. Although it was one of the most basic Wood Release techniques, the infusion of Yang Release made the wood incredibly resilient. The gold dust needles struck the wooden wall but failed to penetrate it.
"Damn it!" Rasa cursed under his breath as he quickly formed new hand seals.
Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!
The gold dust, under Rasa's control, detached from the wooden wall and gathered in midair, forming a massive cylindrical structure composed entirely of gold dust. It hurtled toward the wooden wall at high speed.
Despite being a Kage-level shinobi, Rasa couldn't break through Kai's defenses with a single attack. However, with all his strength, he managed to shatter the wooden wall!
The wooden wall splintered into fragments under the force of the gold dust cylinder, but Kai was nowhere to be seen.
Yang Release: Great Flame Fist!
A massive molten fist, tens of meters in diameter, suddenly appeared in the sky and crashed into the gold dust cylinder.
Not only was the molten fist enormous, but its temperature, amplified by Yang Release, was several times higher than normal. Under such extreme heat, the gold dust melted instantly upon contact, falling to the ground in clumps.
While Rasa could sense and manipulate metallic particles, the melted gold dust was now too heavy and unwieldy to pose any threat, even to weaker shinobi, let alone someone of Kai's caliber.
For the first time, the Fourth Kazekage felt utterly powerless. While his gold dust could withstand ordinary flames, the extreme heat of molten lava was a direct counter to his abilities.
Gold Dust World Method!
A massive amount of gold dust erupted from Rasa's body. The originally shimmering gold dust darkened as he infused it with an enormous amount of chakra.
Unlike the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand World Method, the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust World Method required not only vast amounts of chakra but also the user's life force. However, the tradeoff was that the Gold Dust World Method was far more powerful than the Iron Sand World Method.
Gold Dust World Method: Gold Dust Scattershot!
The darkened gold dust transformed into a cloud of black particles that surged toward Kai!
Without evading, Kai brought his hands together, spinning them rapidly. A pale blue chakra barrier formed around him, deepening in color until it became a deep oceanic blue. Then, it exploded outward!
Gentle Fist: Exploding Rotation!
The deep blue Rotation erupted with wave after wave of shockwaves, scattering the gold dust cloud entirely!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (30+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!