"My name is Uchiha Fugaku," he answered coolly, eyes sharp as steel.
"I see," Rasa said, nodding slowly. "I'll remember that name."
The Fourth Kazekage flicked his arm, sending a storm of glittering golden shuriken whirling toward him.
"You asked for my name," Fugaku said, dodging the razor-sharp projectiles with effortless precision. "Tell me, do you make a habit of remembering those you're about to kill?"
Rasa froze for a moment, caught off guard by the question. He hadn't thought that deeply about it. "I… suppose so," he muttered uncertainly.
Fugaku smirked slightly. That's something straight out of a Shinigami's playbook.
For a fleeting second, the urge to say something dramatic pulsed in his mind: How funny. I'm the opposite—I tell my enemies my name before I kill them. At least that way, they know who sent them to the afterlife.
But he shook the thought away. Tempting as it was to sound cool, provoking an already dangerous opponent wasn't exactly smart. He wasn't bald, and he didn't plan on losing his hair early from stress either.
Besides, he couldn't afford to expose his trump card—not yet.
The Mangekyō Sharingan slumbered within him, its power untapped. It could end this fight in an instant, but the cost was too high. Without a brother to awaken the Eternal form, every use of the Mangekyō brought him one step closer to blindness.
Until he found a solution, he would keep that power hidden, no matter what.
The battle raged on.
After evading another barrage of golden shuriken, Fugaku extended his hand, lightning chakra crackling at his fingertip. A blinding spear of energy burst forth, cutting through the air with a deafening roar.
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
The lightning lance streaked toward Rasa, splitting the sand like a blade.
But the Kazekage merely bent his knees slightly. The ground beneath him rippled like water, and waves of golden dust carried him effortlessly aside, gliding across the battlefield to safety.
Fugaku narrowed his eyes. The desert was Rasa's domain. The sand beneath his feet was both weapon and shield. Every grain could be infused with chakra, turning it into deadly gold dust at his command.
He has the advantage here, Fugaku thought grimly. And the longer this fight drags on, the more he'll control the battlefield.
Sure enough, Rasa clasped his hands together and slammed them into the sand. "Magnet Style!"
The ground erupted. Golden dust exploded upward like a tidal wave, forming a massive dune that lifted the Kazekage high into the air. Standing atop the glittering mound, Rasa spread his arms wide.
Golden spears materialized behind him, dozens, then hundreds of them, their points gleaming with killing intent.
"Let's see you dodge this," he said, his tone calm, almost regal.
The air screamed as the spears launched.
Fugaku's Sharingan spun, his mind predicting the trajectories before they even left the ground. He darted left, twisted right, each movement narrowly avoiding death. While maneuvering, he flicked his wrist, activating the seals on his arm.
A giant Fūma shuriken appeared in his hand. He quickly attached a thin wire, lightning chakra buzzing along its length like a swarm of angry insects.
The weapon whirled to life, and as Fugaku swung it forward, the blade cut through the incoming spears, lightning bursting on impact. One by one, the golden projectiles shattered, crumbling back into sand.
Rasa arched a brow, mildly impressed. "Adaptable," he murmured.
But admiration didn't mean mercy. His hands moved again.
"Gold Dust Shower!"
Thousands of golden shuriken rose into the sky, swirling above the desert like a metallic storm before raining down in a blinding cascade.
"Again with this move?!" Fugaku muttered under his breath, exasperated.
He hurled his Fūma shuriken upward, letting it spin above his head in a rapid rotation. Lightning chakra surged through it, forming a shimmering blue barrier that deflected the falling blades.
From afar, it looked almost like he stood beneath a massive glowing umbrella, sparks flying as golden projectiles clashed against blue lightning.
Rasa's lips curled into a grin. Watching his prey forced into a defensive corner, he looked like a cat toying with a mouse. Then, with another flick of his hand, he commanded the sand again.
The golden dust twisted, forming massive clawed hands with gleaming talons, each one bristling with deadly barbs. They lunged forward, ready to crush him.
Fugaku remained calm. With his free hand, he pulled several kunai from his pouch, each one wrapped in explosive tags. He threw them in rapid succession toward the incoming claws.
The kunai collided midair, igniting each other's tags.
A chain of explosions tore through the desert.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shockwaves shattered the golden constructs, scattering molten fragments across the battlefield. The sand fell back to the ground, useless and dull.
Rasa squinted through the haze, watching as the last of his golden storm faded. But rather than frustration, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"It should be enough," he murmured quietly.
Before Fugaku could process his words, the sand beneath his feet suddenly shifted. A hidden current of gold surged upward, swallowing him whole.
"What—?!"
In an instant, he was trapped from the neck down, his body encased in shimmering sand that tightened with every breath.
Those were the remains of his earlier attacks, Fugaku realized, his expression tightening. He never stopped controlling them. He was waiting for this moment.
He had focused too much on dodging what moved—and had ignored what lay still beneath him.
Rasa exhaled slowly, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. Throughout the battle, he had never once lost track of Fugaku's movements. This was no clone, no trick. He had the real one.
"It's over," he said calmly, raising his hand.
His fingers curled slowly, the sand around Fugaku tightening like a crushing vice.
"Magnet Style, Lapis Burst!"
The air trembled. The golden prison began to shimmer, ready to compress, ready to end the life of the Uchiha before him.
But Fugaku's eyes—those crimson, spinning Sharingan—blazed brighter than ever, refusing to yield.
The clash between Konoha's proud Uchiha and the might of the Fourth Kazekage was far from finished.
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