"Father!"
"So the Kazekage-sama is alive after all!"
"Let's hurry and join the fight!"
A red-haired boy with short hair and pale green eyes excitedly pushed open the door to the Kazekage's office.
Rasa, who had been seated in the soft chair behind the Kazekage's desk, spinning it idly, suddenly stood up upon hearing the news. The force of his movement sent the chair rolling into the wall.
"Gaara! What did you say?!"
Rasa's eyes burned with astonishment.
"The Third Kazekage-sama is alive!"
"There are still many hidden forces in our village!"
"Elder Chiyo, Senior Pakura, Brother Kimimaro, and Brother Shira are all fighting against the enemy!"
"Father, let's go quickly!"
"Kazekage-sama is at the eastern gate!"
Gaara's cheeks were flushed with excitement as he spoke.
"Is that so…"
"So there were so many secrets in our village that I didn't know about…"
"Gaara…"
"Go join the battle…"
Rasa's gaze drifted blankly toward the window.
"Yes, Father!" Gaara replied.
Although he found his father's behavior somewhat strange, Gaara didn't have time to dwell on it. He was eager to fight alongside his comrades and defend the village!
"Kazekage…"
"So all of this was just your way of testing me?"
"You've never trusted me, have you?"
"Even without Sōmi…"
"I'm still unworthy of inheriting the title of Kazekage, am I?"
Rasa collapsed weakly into the soft chair, turning his head to gaze out the window with a complicated expression.
Previously, he had secretly rejoiced over the strength of Kirigakure, for it gave him a chance to ascend to the pinnacle of power.
Even if it meant becoming Kirigakure's puppet…
That was still the Kazekage he had longed for.
But now…
If the Third Kazekage was still alive, then his secret dealings with Kirigakure would undoubtedly…
No, with the Third Kazekage's cunning, even this must have been within his calculations. His feigned weakness in front of me… it was all just an act…
Ridiculous!
Rasa sat there in a daze, listening to the shouts and battle cries outside, growing louder and clearer.
Once, he too had been so earnest, so selfless in his devotion to the village.
When had he become like this?
A slave to power, a sinner to the village…
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A dense volley of black iron arrows arced beautifully through the air, piercing into the Purple Flame Formation.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The thumb-thick arrows struck the earthen walls with dull thuds, their fletching vibrating slightly but rapidly.
Crack... crack...
The earthen walls, created by the combined Earth Release of the Mist ninja, finally began to give way under the relentless rain of arrows. As the cracks spread, the massive wall eventually crumbled entirely.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Splash!
A massive blue torrent of water surged forth in front of the Mist ninja, blocking the arrows that had broken through the earthen walls.
But soon, another wave of arrows followed.
This time, the tails of the arrows were wrapped with explosive tags.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of violent and concentrated explosions echoed within the Purple Flame Formation, leaving the ground riddled with craters and littered with black arrows.
Yagura, trapped within the barrier, was furious. Despite his strength, he couldn't fully shield his forces from the seemingly endless rain of arrows.
He noticed that the attacks were becoming increasingly insidious.
After the explosive arrows detonated, they would release countless iron spikes, sharp and numerous. Worse still, these spikes were coated with a mysterious poison.
Those Mist ninja who were unlucky enough to be struck quickly turned grotesque shades of color, their flesh rotting away as they died in horrifying agony.
Realizing the dire situation, Yagura finally made up his mind. If he didn't go all out, even he might not make it out alive.
Shriek!
With a high-pitched, piercing sound, a massive slug-like creature with six pale white tails appeared within the Purple Flame Formation.
This was Yagura in his fully Tailed Beast Transformed state!
"Corrosive Wave!"
Standing over thirty meters tall, the Six-Tails reached half the height of the Purple Flame Formation. It spewed a large mass of milky white liquid toward the purple barrier in front of it.
Sizzle!
Thick white smoke rose as the highly corrosive liquid clashed with the flames on the surface of the Purple Flame Formation.
However, the barrier, created by Sunagakure's elite sealing team after years of training, didn't budge an inch.
The noxious white mist, unable to escape the barrier, began to roll back toward the Mist ninja behind the Six-Tails.
Thankfully, the Six-Tails noticed this and opened its mouth wide, inhaling the deadly mist back into its body.
Seeing that the corrosive liquid was ineffective, the Six-Tails began preparing its most powerful attack: the Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Quick!"
"Form a straight line behind me!"
Yagura's voice echoed from within the Six-Tails.
As the Mist ninja quickly complied and adjusted their positions, the Six-Tails tilted its head upward.
Small blue and purple Chakra orbs rapidly gathered at its mouth.
Meanwhile, the rain of arrows continued unabated, but the black arrows that struck the Six-Tails were no more than toothpicks against its massive form. The corrosive liquid on its body instantly dissolved the arrows and their explosive tags into black puddles.
"All units!"
"Cease fire!"
"Focus on defense!"
"Reinforce the barrier!"
The Third Kazekage's voice rang out as he issued commands.
Thanks to the abundant iron sand and resources at its disposal, Sunagakure could afford to use expensive methods like puppets and machinery to deal with its enemies.
However, against an opponent of the Perfect Jinchūriki's caliber, such tools were clearly insufficient.
But the Third Kazekage had never intended to rely on these alone to defeat the enemy. The goal was simply to reduce their numbers and exhaust their Chakra and stamina.
Before him, countless black iron sand particles swirled in the air.
The Kazekage couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret that the other Three-Tails Jinchūriki, Kisame, hadn't come here.
Was it Yagura's overconfidence, or was Kisame being held back as a reserve?
Regardless, the priority now was to take down Yagura and seize the Six-Tails within him.
The Kazekage's strategy of feigning defeat and luring the enemy into Sunagakure had a clear purpose. With Sōmi missing, Sunagakure lacked a top-tier deterrent.
If they continued to engage Kirigakure at the coastline, the Land of Wind would eventually be drained dry.
Two nearly infinite Chakra reserves rampaging at the border daily—who could endure that?
Thus, from the very beginning, the Kazekage had planned a strategy of "progressive defeats" leading to a "desperate last stand."
Only by drawing Yagura and Kisame near Sunagakure could they cut off their retreat and unleash the village's hidden forces.
Capturing these two Tailed Beasts, even at the cost of exhausting Sunagakure's accumulated resources, would be worth it.
Boom!
A massive deep-purple sphere slammed into the Purple Flame Formation, erupting in a dazzling flash of light.
The previously unshakable barrier began to tremble slightly. At the point of impact, the purple flames thinned noticeably, becoming almost transparent.
Yet, even as this section of the barrier teetered on the brink of collapse, it held firm until the Tailed Beast Bomb's power was fully expended.
"Open the breach!"
Buzz!
Unnoticed by the enemy, the Third Kazekage had already condensed a massive iron sand drill in front of him.
The drill, over twenty meters in diameter, was a dark, ominous black.
As the dust from the explosion still lingered within the barrier, the Kazekage, now in his Cursed Seal Level 2 state, launched the roaring drill through the breach in the Purple Flame Formation, driving it directly into the Six-Tails.
The sealing team's coordination with the Purple Flame Formation was flawless. Their ability to open and close the barrier with precision, combined with their seamless teamwork with the Sand ninja, was clearly the result of extensive training.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
Milky white liquid sprayed from the Six-Tails' body, sizzling against the ground with a sound that made one's teeth ache.
The unluckiest Mist ninja found his face completely covered by the liquid, as if wearing a mask. But this "mask" would corrode his entire face beyond recognition.
"Huh?!"
"Is that…"
"Teacher and the Six-Tails?!"
"What's going on?"
"Those reckless Mist ninja actually dared to attack our doorstep?!"
In the distance, a golden streak finally reached the outskirts of Sunagakure.
In Sage Mode, Sōmi immediately sensed the ongoing battle within the village.
But as he carefully analyzed the situation, he was surprised to find that Sunagakure seemed capable of achieving victory without his intervention.
This realization filled Sōmi with immense pride.
Even without him or Sasori, Sunagakure had grown strong enough to face Kirigakure head-on.
Even against a village with a Perfect Jinchūriki!
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