Chapter 71: Sealing the Victory! (Happy Little New Year, requesting first subscription!)
Sarutobi Asuma and the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, faced off from a distance, both confident in their comrades.
Rasa looked at the still-young-faced Sarutobi Asuma and thought, If I can take him down, we'll have a significant bargaining chip against Konoha!
And to take him down, I must deal with his Shadow Clones simultaneously!
The method was found.
But the difficulty was immense.
This was because Sarutobi Asuma was incredibly fast, possessed the Scorch Style Bloodline Limit, and his advanced Lightning Style meant he wasn't afraid of Rasa's Magnet Release.
Although, here, Rasa had the absolute advantage of terrain.
Still, no matter what, he had to try.
If he could eliminate him…
Rasa's mind raced, and he quickly formulated a plan.
Suddenly, the sand dune where Sarutobi Asuma stood collapsed.
As he fell, streams of gold dust flowed like golden pythons, wrapping around Sarutobi Asuma.
But with a flash of purple light, Sarutobi Asuma entered Lightning Style Chakra Mode and vanished from his original position like lightning, evading the entanglement of the gold dust.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Streams of gold dust surged upwards, some attacking Sarutobi Asuma like crashing waves, while others formed dense gold dust shuriken and senbon that rained down.
Under Lightning Style Chakra Mode, combined with the Ink Dyeing Sky Dizziness Technique, Sarutobi Asuma flickered repeatedly, either dodging or slashing with his sword, cutting through layers of gold dust and deflecting countless gold dust shuriken and senbon.
Rasa watched Sarutobi Asuma approach him and showed surprise once more.
He wasn't shocked by Sarutobi Asuma's speed or his ability to withstand his gold dust infused with Wind Style. Instead, he was astonished by Sarutobi Asuma's reaction speed.
With such a dense barrage of attacks, Sarutobi Asuma could completely evade and block them, something even the Three-Tomoe Sharingan he had seen might not achieve.
100 meters!
50 meters!
30 meters!
10 meters!
5 meters!
Suddenly, the blade of Sarutobi Asuma's sword extended into a purple lightning beam, piercing towards Rasa.
Rasa raised his hand, and a shield of gold dust appeared before him.
But the next moment, the purple lightning blade pierced the gold dust shield, only to stop about a foot away from Rasa.
The gold dust conducted electricity, and the force of the purple lightning blade was channeled outwards by the gold dust, preventing it from advancing further.
However, Rasa's expression immediately changed.
To his left, a flash of purple light appeared, and Sarutobi Asuma materialized, slashing down.
Such high-speed jutsu execution, there's no time!
It turned out the one performing the jutsu from the front was a Shadow Clone. He hadn't noticed at all that Sarutobi Asuma had used the Substitution Technique.
Rasa's peripheral vision caught the purple electrical light. Sarutobi Asuma's sword, enveloped in purple lightning, rapidly enlarged before his eyes, then sliced into his neck.
Rasa's head separated from his body.
But the next instant, with a boom, Rasa's head and body both turned into gold dust, quickly entangling Sarutobi Asuma.
The body had swapped with the Shadow Clone outside. With a boom, the gold dust contracted, but the Shadow Clone had been released prematurely.
However.
Just as Sarutobi Asuma's body appeared in the Shadow Clone's place, gold dust surged from the ground, binding his feet. Simultaneously, gold dust flew up from all around, forming dense gold dust pellets that shot towards Sarutobi Asuma, raining down like a storm.
Sarutobi Asuma used the Substitution Technique again.
His true body appeared a li away.
The Shadow Clone was riddled with holes by the gold dust pellets, then dispersed into intense purple electrical light. Rasa, hidden underground, was immediately struck by the current and, with a bang, transformed into a pile of gold dust.
At the same time.
A li away.
As Sarutobi Asuma's true body just appeared, massive waves of gold dust, hundreds of meters high, surged from all sides, threatening to engulf him.
Clearly, Rasa had long ago locked onto the Shadow Clone he'd left here. The true body had lurked nearby, waiting to strike as soon as Sarutobi Asuma's true body arrived.
Moreover.
Rasa was certain there were no other Sarutobi Asuma Shadow Clones hidden within a 10-li radius, which was why his true body had been lurking here.
And all ninjutsu had limitations. Before leaving Sunagakure, he had meticulously analyzed all information on Sarutobi Asuma, down to the smallest detail.
Knowing that Sarutobi Asuma liked to create Shadow Clones on the battlefield, combined with the intelligence he had just received, he could deduce that there was a distance limit for the exchange between the Shadow Clone and the true body.
So this time, he used his full power!
The Gold Dust in the high altitude closed in first, sealing off any possibility for Sarutobi Asuma to easily escape from above.
At this moment.
The billowing Gold Dust formed a giant hemisphere, trapping Sarutobi Asuma upside down.
"As expected of someone who could become the Fourth Kazekage!"
Sarutobi Asuma exclaimed as he looked at the sky full of Gold Dust.
The next moment, he had already turned into a purple lightning bolt and charged towards Rasa.
Boom!
Boom!
He pierced through wave after wave of surging Gold Dust.
The Gold Dust behind him, the Gold Dust to his sides, crushed in.
The fastest was the Gold Dust from above, which condensed into blocks and smashed down with a rumble, submerging Sarutobi Asuma.
But the next moment, accompanied by dazzling electric light bursting forth, Sarutobi Asuma once again broke through and charged forward.
Just as the Gold Dust from the sides and behind also closed in and submerged him, Sarutobi Asuma's body suddenly paused. He switched from Lightning Style Chakra Mode to Scorch Release Chakra Mode, and five thick Adamantine Sealing Chains roared out from his back.
Adamantine Barrier!
The Adamantine Sealing Chains pierced through the Gold Dust, forming a semicircular barrier that enveloped both Sarutobi Asuma and Rasa, blocking most of the surging Gold Dust outside.
Rumble!
Wave after wave of Gold Dust crashed against the barrier, but couldn't break it.
Then, with a clap of his hands, nine Scorching Style dragons drilled out from within him. They intertwined to form a Nine Dragon Fire Wall, connecting to the barrier on his sides and above.
Boom!
Rasa's final two waves of Gold Dust crashed down, colliding with the Nine Dragon Fire Wall. However, they couldn't shake it in the slightest. Instead, the Gold Dust was rapidly melted by the terrifying high temperature, flowing onto the ground.
Scorch Release Nine Dragon Fire Wall!
This was a product of Sarutobi Asuma developing the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, with a difficulty rating of A.
It was a defensive barrier Ninjutsu.
Seeing it temporarily emerge, its defensive capabilities seemed quite good, and Sarutobi Asuma nodded with satisfaction.
On the other side, Rasa's expression changed.
"Hmm?"
"I can no longer control that Gold Dust. Has it been suppressed by the barrier?"
There was still a large amount of Gold Dust inside the barrier, but Rasa could no longer control it remotely. It was being suppressed by another force.
"As expected of the powerful Fūinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan!"
Rasa looked at the Adamantine Sealing Chains, his mood becoming unprecedentedly solemn. Then he spoke, "You knew from the beginning that the Rasa I appeared as wasn't my main body?"
The Nine Dragon Fire Wall dissipated, and Sarutobi Asuma smiled slightly, "I wasn't sure. I took a gamble."
With his senses, he couldn't ascertain if the Rasa he initially saw was his main body.
Especially since they were in the desert, and Rasa was proficient in Magnet Release and could control Gold Dust. If he hid beneath the desert, his senses wouldn't be able to distinguish.
However, Rasa knew that Hatake Sakumo was tracking him.
Using a Shadow Clone to test the waters was a very common basic tactic.
Furthermore, when facing a powerful individual like the Fourth Kazekage, no amount of caution would be too much.
Therefore, Sarutobi Asuma assumed that the secret of his Substitution Technique would be quickly analyzed by Rasa.
So, he played along with the plan, all for the sake of Rasa's main body.
And the barrier formed by the Adamantine Sealing Chains was enough to prevent Rasa from using Shadow Clones or other clones for substitution within the barrier, nor could he escape from underground.
From the outside, this barrier appeared as a hemisphere.
But in reality, it was a complete sphere, with a barrier extending underground as well.
Looking at Sarutobi Asuma, Rasa said solemnly, "It seems I underestimated you!"
"It's no wonder you managed to capture Chiyo and the One-Tails Jinchuriki."
Sarutobi Asuma remained silent. The Adamantine Sealing Chains roared out, heading straight for Rasa from five different directions.
Rasa, however, pulled out a stack of explosive tags and threw them towards the edge of the barrier. Simultaneously, the Gold Dust beneath his feet surged up, wrapping him layer by layer.
Crack!
As the Adamantine Sealing Chains pierced through the first layer of defensive Gold Dust, Rasa raised his hand and shouted, "Explode!"
-----------
Machine Translation by: beta.randomtranslator.com
Read 1400+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: www.randomtranslator.com