Kenji flicked his short blade, sending blood droplets spattering across the dirt. The Suna ninja at his feet had stopped twitching. He was about to turn and leave when he heard it.
Whoosh.
A kunai cut through the air behind him.
In the split second before impact, black iron sand erupted from the ground in front of him. The kunai struck the barrier and deflected away.
At the same moment, Kenji's form flickered and vanished.
He reappeared behind the ambusher, his blade already in motion. The short sword sliced cleanly across the man's throat. Blood sprayed in a wide arc as the Suna ninja's eyes went wide. He hadn't even seen Kenji move.
2... 1.... 0.
The body was still falling when Kenji activated Flying Thunder God again. This time he materialized behind the last remaining enemy ninja. His blade went straight through the man's back and out his chest, piercing the heart. The Suna ninja gasped once, blood bubbling from his lips, then went limp.
Kenji withdrew the blade and let the corpse drop.
The combination of Magnet Release and Flying Thunder God was devastatingly effective in situations like this. He'd scattered iron sand across the entire battlefield earlier, embedding Flying Thunder God markers throughout the particles. It let him teleport freely anywhere the iron sand reached, far more flexible and covert than Minato's technique which relied on thrown kunai.
The downside was the disorientation, and the two seconds.
Even with Swift Release enhancing his reflexes and processing speed, he didn't have Minato's natural compatibility with space-time ninjutsu. The constant spatial jumps created a nauseating sense of vertigo that built up with each teleportation. His inner ear couldn't keep up with his body moving through space instantaneously. It made the technique perfect for overwhelming weaker opponents or executing surprise attacks. But in sustained, high-intensity combat against skilled and fast enemies? The accumulated disorientation and the brief time each jump required would eventually compromise his combat effectiveness.
He pulled out a small scroll and bit his thumb. Blood smeared across the seal as he channeled chakra through it.
"Summoning Technique."
White smoke erupted, and a small puppet materialized. It was about the size of a hawk, constructed from Wood Release materials for lightweight durability. The body was streamlined, designed to minimize air resistance. Four propeller-like structures jutted from its frame, each one embedded with positioned iron sand particles.
This was one of his flying reconnaissance units. A prototype he'd been refining for months.
He'd considered using Magnet Release directly on the iron sand to levitate the puppet, simply repelling it against a magnetic base or the earth's faint fields to make it rise and hover. But that approach demanded constant chakra maintenance: gravity's pull is unrelenting, and sustaining the magnetic field strength required ongoing output to counteract it, especially with wind gusts or shifts in position that would force real-time adjustments. It would drain his reserves quickly, particularly while splitting his consciousness, leaving him vulnerable on the battlefield.
Instead, he'd engineered the propellers with embedded iron sand configured as permanent magnets after an initial chakra pulse. By channeling a burst of chakra through his threads, he could align and magnetize the particles, creating a rotating magnetic field that spun the blades up to high speed, like inducing torque in a simple electric motor via electromagnetic forces. Once at full RPM, he flipped an internal switch in the puppet, disengaging the active field. From there, no further chakra was needed: the blades' angular momentum, conserved due to low-friction wooden bearings, kept them spinning against minimal air resistance. The lightweight design meant the gradual slowdown from aerodynamic drag was slow enough for a 10-15 minute flight window, plenty for reconnaissance, without constant energy input. The trade-off was some whirring noise from the blades cutting air, but the chakra efficiency made it worthwhile.
He activated the Mind Clone Switch Technique, splitting his consciousness. A portion of his awareness flowed into the puppet while his main consciousness remained in his body. Through the puppet's eyes, he could see himself standing there, covered in dirt and blood. The visual quality was sharp. He'd mounted adjustable lens arrays in the puppet's optical sensors, creating a mobile telescope that he could control remotely.
He channeled the initial chakra burst through his threads, connecting to the iron sand in the puppet's propeller blades. The magnetic fields activated, and the blades spun up rapidly. The puppet lifted off the ground smoothly, rising into the air with a low hum. He sent it climbing higher, gaining altitude until it was roughly 110 meters up. From this vantage point, the entire battlefield spread out below like a map. He could see the flow of combat, identify troop concentrations, spot enemy movements that would've been invisible from ground level.
And there, near the center of the fighting, he spotted a figure surrounded by swirling particles that glittered gold in the sunlight. The man was attacking a group of Konoha ninjas, sending waves of sand at them. Three chunin were desperately trying to defend themselves. As Kenji watched through the flying puppet's optics, one of them took a hit that shredded his leg. He went down screaming.
That distinctive golden color could only mean one thing.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
He adjusted the flying puppet's telescope lenses to zoom in closer, getting a better look at the Kazekage.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust," he murmured to himself. "I need that bloodline."
He'd studied Rasa's abilities from intelligence reports. Like the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand, Rasa's Magnet Release allowed him to manipulate gold dust extracted from the earth. The exact mechanism behind controlling gold, which was anti-magnetic, remained a mystery. But that didn't diminish his interest. Because while Rasa's combat abilities were impressive, the real value was economic. The man could literally pull gold from the ground.
More importantly, he was curious. Which was stronger? Iron Sand or Gold Dust?
He wanted to test that, but not in person.
Using Iron Sand directly would be idiotic. The entire war had started because of the Third Kazekage's disappearance. If he showed up wielding the dead Kazekage's signature technique right in front of his successor, Rasa would lose his mind.
No, he needed a proxy.
He recalled the flying puppet, bringing it back down to his position. Once it landed, he dismissed it and pulled out a different scroll. This one was larger, the seal more complex.
"Summoning Technique."
White smoke exploded outward, and when it cleared, his Magnet Release puppet stood before him.
"Mind Clone Switch Technique."
His consciousness split again.
He sent the Magnet Release puppet charging toward Rasa while keeping his real body safely positioned in cover. The puppet's featureless face shifted, forming the face of an average, unremarkable man.
The worst-case scenario? Rasa would learn that "Konoha has someone who uses Iron Sand." Tracing that back to Kenji specifically would require an extensive intelligence operation that Suna simply didn't have the resources for during wartime.
---
On the battlefield, the Magnet Release puppet closed the distance to Rasa rapidly. When it was about thirty meters away, it attacked without warning.
Black iron particles erupted from the ground, forming a solid barrier between Rasa and the Konoha ninjas he'd been attacking. The wall of iron sand absorbed the incoming gold dust completely, the two magnetic materials grinding against each other.
Rasa's head snapped toward the puppet, his eyes going wide.
"Iron Sand?! Who are you?!"
"Nobody. Don't take it personally."
The Kazekage's stance had shifted immediately to full combat readiness, gold dust swirling faster around him. His chakra signature spiked. His arm swept forward and waves of gold dust surged toward the puppet. "Whoever you are, you're dead!"
"We'll see."
The Magnet Release puppet's hands moved through seals. More iron sand erupted from the ground, forming a dome-shaped shield. The gold dust slammed into it with tremendous force, but the iron sand held firm. Other Suna ninjas were starting to notice the confrontation. Some were moving to support their Kazekage. He had maybe two minutes before reinforcements arrived.
The puppet counter-attacked immediately.
"Iron Sand Drizzle!"
Hundreds of iron sand projectiles condensed in the air above Rasa, then launched downward. Rasa reacted instantly, his gold dust flowing upward to create a thick barrier overhead. The iron projectiles hammered into it.
Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk.
The barrier was holding, but it was taking damage.
Then, without warning, his expression changed. He exploded backward in a burst of speed.
A fraction of a second later, his gold dust barrier shattered. A massive triangular spike of iron sand, easily three meters long, pierced through where the barrier had been and slammed into the ground.
"Impressive," the puppet commented.
But it wasn't done. While Rasa was still recovering from his dodge, the ground beneath him erupted. Iron sand burst upward and condensed into the shape of a giant hand.
Pop.
Rasa's body transformed into a piece of wood. The iron sand hand crushed the log into splinters. The Magnet Release puppet had already tracked Rasa's real position through the iron sand network covering the battlefield. He had substituted to a spot about twenty meters east, partially concealed by a low rise in the terrain. The puppet formed more than a dozen iron sand spears and sent them stabbing down at precise angles. Rasa burst from cover in a spray of dirt, moving erratically to avoid the spears. Most of them missed, but two grazed his left arm and side, leaving bloody tears in his clothing. He landed hard, breathing heavily. Only a small amount of gold dust remained circling his body protectively. The rest was scattered across the battlefield where the iron sand had disrupted his control. He moved to recall it.
The puppet didn't let him.
Iron sand that had been spread across the ground suddenly surged upward and wrapped around every particle of gold dust Rasa had deployed. Like a constrictor coiling around prey, the iron sand completely enveloped the gold dust and held it tight, cutting off Rasa's connection to it.
"What—" Rasa's eyes widened in horror as he felt his control severed.
He tried to force his will through. But it was useless. The iron sand responded faster than his gold dust could move.
"Your gold dust has two critical weaknesses. First, gold content near the surface is extremely low. You don't have much material to work with. Second, gold is far denser than iron. That density makes your attacks hit harder, but it also makes the particles slower and less responsive to manipulation."
As much as he hated to admit it, everything the puppet said was true. He tried desperately to break through. He formed chakra blasts, attempted to force his way past the iron sand barriers, even used what little gold dust he had left to attack the puppet directly.
Nothing worked.
The iron sand was everywhere, responding instantly to every move he made. It formed barriers to block his path, created walls to deflect his attacks, and constantly tightened its grip on his captured gold dust. Within two minutes, he had accumulated half a dozen new wounds. Nothing fatal, but enough to slow him down and make him more desperate.
Then he made a mistake.
During one dodge, he didn't notice the thin layer of iron sand that had been slowly spreading across the ground beneath his feet. When he landed from avoiding another iron spear, the particles suddenly surged up and wrapped around his ankles. He tried to jump away immediately, but it was too late. More iron sand erupted from the ground and coiled around his legs, then his waist, then his torso. Within seconds, he was completely immobilized, wrapped in a cocoon of black metal particles with only his head exposed.
He struggled violently, chakra flaring, but the iron sand just tightened further with each movement.
The puppet walked closer, pulling out a sealing scroll.
This was it. Capture the Fourth Kazekage, extract tissue samples for the Gold Dust bloodline, maybe even use him as a hostage to force concessions from Suna.
Then something shot out from the nearby tree line. A sealing pattern in the shape of a lion's head, moving fast and trailing chakra.
"Sealing Technique: Lion Closing Roar!"
The puppet reacted instantly, forming an iron sand shield. The sealing technique slammed into it. The sealing technique was designed to seal chakra constructs, and the puppet registered severe strain on its systems. When the technique dissipated and the iron sand cleared, Rasa was gone. The iron sand that had been binding him lay scattered on the ground.
From his position on the distant hillside, Kenji smiled faintly.
He'd sensed Chiyo hiding nearby from the very beginning. The legendary puppet master had been watching the entire fight, clearly waiting for an opening. She'd stayed hidden specifically because iron sand was a natural counter to puppet techniques, she couldn't risk direct engagement. But the moment Kenji's puppet had been about to capture Rasa, she'd been forced to act. Better to reveal her position than let the Kazekage be taken alive.
He had expected that. In fact, he'd been counting on it.
Because while Chiyo had successfully rescued Rasa, she'd also been forced to touch him directly. Skin-to-skin contact, however brief.
And during that contact, some microscopic particles of iron sand had transferred from Rasa's body to Chiyo's hands.