"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Cube!"
High above the battlefield, Rasa hovered atop a cloud of floating gold dust. With a sweep of his arm, the shimmering particles condensed into a massive golden cube that plummeted toward the crimson figure below.
At that moment, Kushina Uzumaki was already in partial Tailed Beast Mode. Six chakra tails lashed out, smashing one of Chiyo's puppets to pieces before she extended an arm unnaturally and drove her fist straight into the falling cube.
Boom!
The golden construct was blasted backward midair.
Without pause, Kushina opened her mouth and fired several miniature Tailed Beast Bombs toward Rasa.
"Magnet Release: Airborne Sand Barrier!"
Rasa's expression darkened. He thrust out his hand, gold dust surging forward into a thick defensive wall as he retreated rapidly.
Explosions chained across the sky—
His barrier shattered into a glittering rain of gold.
Only his swift withdrawal spared him from being swallowed by the blast.
Rasa's face was no longer composed.
Before this battle, he had estimated that the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki would be stronger than Sunagakure's One-Tail—
But not by much.
He was wrong.
Utterly wrong.
The gap between the Nine-Tails and Shukaku was not incremental.
It was the difference between heaven and earth.
In the past, whenever Shukaku rampaged out of control, Rasa had suppressed it with overwhelming tides of gold dust.
But against Kushina—
His proud Magnet Release might as well have been paper.
It barely slowed her.
Worse—
Her speed was outrageous.
His gold simply couldn't keep up.
If not for Chiyo supporting from the side, Rasa doubted he could land even a single clean hit.
And that regenerative speed—
It was visible.
Obvious.
It felt like fighting a crimson version of the Fourth Raikage.
Most ridiculous of all?
Kushina wasn't even a Perfect Jinchūriki.
She was only borrowing a fraction of the Nine-Tails' power.
And it was already this overwhelming.
Rasa couldn't even imagine the Nine-Tails at full cooperation.
They were all Tailed Beasts.
The One-Tail. The Four-Tail. The Five-Tail. The Three-Tail. The Six-Tail. The Two-Tail. The Eight-Tail. The Seven-Tail.
They were comparable.
So why—
Why was Konoha's Nine-Tails on a completely different level?
Rasa glanced toward the wider battlefield.
Three thousand alliance shinobi were clashing with only five hundred Konoha defenders.
On paper, it should have been a slaughter.
Instead—
The field was locked in parity.
Because Minato Namikaze was there.
Every time the alliance gained even the slightest advantage—
Minato appeared.
A flash.
Several elite shinobi dead before they understood what happened.
Under that pressure, morale was cracking.
Three thousand versus five hundred—
And yet the alliance was teetering.
Rasa understood instantly.
The surprise assault had failed.
If they didn't withdraw soon and reorganize—
Once Konoha's two thousand reinforcements arrived—
Retreat might no longer be possible.
"Puppet Technique: Three Treasures Suction Collapse!"
Seizing the instant Kushina turned her focus toward Rasa, Chiyo activated three puppets arranged in a triangular formation.
Their mechanisms—"Buddha," "Dharma," and "Monk"—opened simultaneously.
A violent vortex erupted.
The suction force yanked at Kushina.
Caught off guard, she stumbled forward—
But reacted instantly.
A massive black-red chakra arm shot into the ground, anchoring her.
For a split second—
Her body stiffened between opposing forces.
Chiyo's eyes flashed.
"Sealing Art: Lion Closure Roar!"
She hurled a small puppet head into the air.
With a hand seal, it expanded to human size mid-flight, jaws lined with fangs snapping toward Kushina.
If it bit down—
It would completely seal her chakra.
That single moment could reverse the war.
In just ten minutes, six of Chiyo's White Secret Technique: Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu had already been destroyed.
Another few minutes—
And she would lose outright.
There was no exaggeration here:
A Nine-Tails Jinchūriki could decide a war.
Which was precisely why—
If an opportunity appeared—
Chiyo was prepared to trade her life to kill Kushina.
If Kushina ever became a Perfect Jinchūriki—
Sunagakure's future would darken irreversibly.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Golden chains erupted from Kushina's back.
They lashed out, smashing the incoming puppet head aside before spiraling toward Rasa in the air.
Crack.
A faint sound beneath Chiyo's feet.
Her pupils contracted.
She bent her knees, ready to leap—
Too late.
A massive black-red chakra hand burst from underground—
And seized her.
With brutal force, it swung her body like a hammer—
And smashed her straight into the three suction puppets.
BOOM.
The impact carved a crater into the battlefield.
Fragments of puppet limbs scattered into the air.
Dust and debris roared outward.
The battlefield trembled.
And in that rising cloud of smoke—
The tide tilted further toward Konoha.
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