"I'll give you a chance to surrender gracefully. Step off the arena yourself," said Rasa, glancing at Heiyan coolly.
After speaking, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, clearly not even planning to take the fight seriously.
"If I refuse?"
Heiyan asked calmly, meeting his gaze.
Earlier, he had watched five matches from below. This Rasa reminded him of Gaara from the original plot.
Gaara was Rasa's son. In the original storyline, he nearly became unbeatable during the Chunin Exams thanks to his sand techniques similar to Magnet Release.
However, Magnet Release wasn't without weaknesses.
"Hmm?"
Rasa seemed to have heard a joke when he heard this, immediately sneering mockingly. "But you've already lost. Haven't you realized yet?"
"What?"
Only now did the people below notice that throughout the previous matches, Rasa had unconsciously spread his Gold Dust across the entire arena. Even the air was filled with floating particles of Gold Dust.
This arena had completely become his Magnet Release domain.
As soon as Heiyan stepped onto the stage, those tiny Gold Dust particles silently adhered to his body.
"Sigh, I already gave you the opportunity to surrender. Since you don't know how to appreciate kindness and refuse to do it gracefully, then I'll help you make it clean."
With a sigh, Rasa extended one hand, preparing to repeat his technique, manipulating the Gold Dust from afar to subdue Heiyan.
"Heiyan, surrender quickly!"
From below, Tsunade immediately issued an order upon witnessing the scene, acting as Konoha's team leader.
However, before she'd even finished speaking, she saw something astonishing.
Zzzt!
Countless arcs of electricity emerged from beneath Heiyan's skin, producing a crackling sound as they rubbed against the air.
The Gold Dust attached to his body instantly lost its magnetism and fell off entirely.
Heiyan had figured out that Rasa's Magnet Release fundamentally controlled the Gold Dust through magnetic fields. Lightning Release—in particular powerful Lightning Release—could affect or alter magnetic fields, making it a natural counter to Magnet Release.
"What?!"
Rasa's pupils contracted sharply. His outstretched hand hung midair, his expression frozen.
An expert could tell everything with just one move.
Without even forming a single hand seal, Heiyan had spread Lightning Release Chakra over his entire body, effortlessly shaking off all the sand.
Rasa realized—he had underestimated his opponent.
At this moment, he dropped his dismissive attitude and started taking this opponent seriously.
"If that's the case, then try this technique!"
With a low shout, Rasa knelt on one knee, placed both hands on the arena floor, and poured large amounts of Magnet Release chakra into the ground.
Boom! Boom!
With a deafening roar, a giant swirling vortex of Gold Dust appeared on the arena. Spinning continuously like a quicksand pit, it threatened to swallow Heiyan and bury him within.
This technique, called Sand Waterfall Funeral, consumed enormous amounts of chakra. It had originally been prepared by Rasa specifically to fight Hiashi Hyuga.
He was confident that once this move was unleashed, no one could resist it.
But at that exact moment, on the opposite side of the arena, Heiyan quickly finished forming Hand Seals and slammed both hands onto the arena floor.
[Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!]
Zzzzt!
In an instant, a powerful surge of Lightning Release chakra burst from Heiyan's hands. It transformed into countless lightning bolts that shot into the swirling gold dust ahead, tearing through everything.
When it came to chakra reserves, Heiyan had never feared anyone.
This clash of ninjutsu soon reached its conclusion.
The swirling gold dust on the arena disappeared, leaving only heaps of demagnetized gold dust scattered around.
"How is this possible?!"
Rasa cried out in disbelief, his eyes unable to accept what they saw.
His Magnet Release had been completely neutralized.
"Do you still want to continue?"
Heiyan asked, offering Rasa the courtesy of a chance to surrender.
"Don't get too cocky!"
Rasa shouted back in anger. With a fierce yell, he clapped his hands together and without hesitation unleashed his ultimate technique.
[Magnet Release: Gold Dust Rain!]
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, Rasa summoned a wave-like torrent of gold dust. The particles floated in the air, forming countless fine needles that shot toward Heiyan.
This move engulfed half of the arena where Heiyan stood. The unceasing waves of golden needles rained down like a storm, evoking feelings of despair and helplessness.
"Step off the arena! This is your only way to survive!"
Rasa shouted, but the next moment, his voice was drowned out by a piercing thunderclap.
ZAP!
Heiyan lowered his center of gravity and concentrated his Lightning Release chakra into his right hand, instantly producing Chidori.
Eyes locked on Rasa, he charged forward without hesitation—[Chidori Slash]!
Offense was the best defense.
At that moment, Heiyan surrounded his entire body with Lightning Release chakra, creating a powerful magnetic field. As the golden needles approached, they twisted under its influence and fell harmlessly to the ground.
"He's truly insane..."
Those watching from below stared in shock.
Because while Heiyan's technique made perfect sense in theory, using it in actual combat was like playing with death. A single misstep would result in being pierced by countless golden needles. In short...
Only those with true skill dare to take such risks.
"How is this possible?!"
Seeing Heiyan charge forward like a raging storm of lightning and fire, Rasa finally panicked. He desperately manipulated the gold dust, forming no less than three defensive barriers in front of him.
But all in vain.
Boom!
Heiyan shot forward like a bolt of lightning, crossing the entire arena in the blink of an eye. The sheer force of his Lightning Release chakra shattered Rasa's magnetic field in an instant.
Slash!
Heiyan's fingers sliced through like blades, breaking straight through all three layers of defense before stopping mere inches away from Rasa's wide eyes.
Rasa swallowed hard, his face drained of color as sweat poured down.
After a long pause...
"I lost."
With a defeated expression, he staggered backward and stepped off the arena.
A stunned silence gripped the battlefield.
Everyone remained stunned, still reeling from the shock of the intense battle.
Then, after a long pause, the crowd exploded into delayed cheers and exclamations.
Tsunade kept her eyes fixed on Heiyan standing atop the arena, her beautiful face full of astonishment, as if seeing him for the first time.
"Rasa actually lost."
"Third Kazekage," the man wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Sarutobi and Danzo also showed shock on their faces.
Hiashi Hyuga fixed his gaze on Heiyan's silhouette. To him, this was an opponent even more worthy of defeat than Rasa.
"Chiyo, let me go up there!"
On the Sunagakure side, Pakura could no longer hold back; she stepped forward to volunteer for battle.
Before the Chunin Exams began, she had met Heiyan once — at that time, she assumed he was just a regular Genin who wouldn't even dare participate. She never expected him to be such a hidden expert.
"Pakura, don't act rashly. Be patient."
Chiyo tried to calm her down before speaking gravely, "Your true opponent is Hiashi Hyuga."
In Chiyo's opinion, one important reason why Rasa lost to Heiyan was that he had already fought five matches and exhausted too much chakra.
Their side still had six fighters waiting to enter the arena, giving them a clear advantage.
Chiyo immediately made her decision — before Pakura took the stage, she would send others to continuously wear down Heiyan's stamina. Ideally, they could wear him down entirely.
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